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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Whizbang Dustyboots" data-source="post: 3407353" data-attributes="member: 11760">Hearing the chapel door open, Hazel turns with an expectant smile, but it's just Emmerson coming out. She nods to him as he passes, but finds she has little to say to him these days. He's been different since the forest. Her mind supplies a picture of his body laid out on the forest floor, and she hastily finds something else to think about."Reed, c'mon." She steers him away from the juggling, shaking her head at the gnomes even as she glances back for another peek at their smooth motions. "Da wouldn't want you getting any ideas."Although it's more the thievin' than the fancy tricks, she adds silently.She keeps one arm firmly around his shoulder and walks over to the crowd around Aspen, who's near half a dozen boys, but none are the boy she's mentioned to Mama lately."Lining 'em up for the dancing already, Aspen?" Hazel eyes the preening lads, glaring at one or two who seem a bit old to be courting her little sister. "You should save a turn or two for Da and Reed, don't ya think?"Reed hops about and swings his feet in the dirt, raising dust that clings to everyone's finery."I ain't dancin' with any girl. Dancin's for courtin', and courtin's fer makin' kissy faces, and tha's where babies come from.""He's got the finer points down, that's fer sure," one of the young men says as the other boys chuckle. "So I'll be seein' ya for that dance then, Miz Sawyer."Aspen's answering smile is thin."Well, I suppose I might --""If she gets tired of boys her own age and wants someone past his prime, she'll be sure to come runnin' to you, Jacob. Until then, she's got family affairs to tend to." Hazel jerks her head toward the chapel, where Jack and Rosalind Sawyer are emerging after prayer.Jack's smile turns stern as he takes in the crowd of boys appreciating Aspen's dress. He was certain she'd had a cloak on when she left the house, but her neckline is clearly visible clean out to her shoulders. Leaning down brings his mouth to his wife's ear."I don't recall that dress looking like that last year, Lindy."Rosalind lightly squeezes her husband's hand."I told you not to worry, she's fair settled on the Cooper boy. You 'n' Hazel just keep the wolves off 'er tonight, an' she'll get that boy's mind on a proper wedding." She grins at him, her eyes glittering. "Worked for me, didn't it?"Aspen, following Hazel's gaze, gives the boys an apologetic smile and heads toward her folks. Hazel grabs Reed around the waist and flips him over her arm; when his hands reach the ground, she shifts her grip to his ankles and helps him balance upside-down. She suspects he's sticking his tongue out at the older boys as they depart, but she's too busy keeping herself from stepping on his hands to notice."Thought I might head over to the Cat, say howdy to some friends," she calls out as her parents approach. "You need me to keep an eye on this possum, here?She waggles Reed's feet a bit, sending the boy into a fit of giggling.Her father nods."Aye, keep him out of trouble, if you would. Your sister insists on showing us the new dance step that 'everyone' is doing in Tarsis this season before tonight."Aspen's expression suggests she had intended to show the step to her mother, not her father, but she goes with her parents, scowling all the way.* * *"Are ya nervous?" one big-eyed brunette asks Tock. He's pretty sure he should remember her name, but that's not one of the parts that interest him."Nah, I'm not," he says, looking up from his banjo. "I ain't really here for some prize or contest or nothing of that sort. I'm here for the music. These little things, they build their fancy machines to make music for 'em, but I like hearin' a man or a woman or a dragonchild just make music from their very souls.""Y'mean the Fiddler? My pa says his type is killers." This one is a different brunette, with green eyes and freckles. Jenny Linn? Paula Sue? Damn it, how come they all got two names? "Your pa wouldn't know a dragonchild from a dire weasel. He ain't left his house further than 10 yards long as he's been alive. Otherwise he might have seen something a few nights ago."The girls giggle, especially the freckled one in question."What about the ones that killed the Emmerson boy and nearly killed that dwarf and the gnome?" This one had a sharper look and he remembered her as Lucy Middleborough."Listen, you don't back out on a deal with the dragonkin. They got old blood and old ways. You don't lie to no dragon and you don't cheat no kobold. Doc Asshigh'd not suffered a scratch hadn't those damn fools tried to get killed. Damn Emmerson always was a self-satisfied prick." Lucy looks like she knows something more so Tock changes the subject. "But this ain't no night for talkin' about uptight guys who could just use a bit of attention from one of you lovely girls, if'n they weren't so damn stupid about ya. This is a night for music. Would you girls like to hear a new song?"</blockquote>

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