Let's keep this between us

[waits_at_the_maze]

Who: Kernan & Jack
When: Some time after they establish themselves in the warehouse.
What: Kernan decides a young ice lad needs a bit more scope to training grounds.

Kernan scratched one of the hounds under her silken chin and watched the children from under his hood. Today was a good day, fewer nightmares among the group and general good spirits over breakfast. They were even taking math lessons well, led by Khemrys and Raistlin both since two pairs of eyes and minds helped keep the others in line.

Perhaps it helped that there were a mere few days left before the Ren Faire up the coast in Oregon. It was a treat and one they felt safe in attending. Khemrys had been working for some time with fabric from the rag bins and remnant stores to make appropriate costumes for everyone. That would let them attend and camp and live with the group for some time and in the case of Sette he was pretty sure the girl was looking forward to robbing tourists silly.

Yes, that would put people in a good mood.

For the most part.

"Jack," he noted softly to the pup. The hound would be sure to get the lad's attention after the class. He could sense the prickly restlessness so it was time for his own brand of oversight.

After he did his own maths anyway.

It was something like a few hours later, after classes and after lunch, before the hound came wiggling back happily crunching a pigeon bone and trailing the lad. Ah, yes, restlessness. "You'll want to come with me," he noted simply. "Now."

Portals were easy. Giving him time to go off and sulk elsewhere would be quite silly.

The paths were never straight, they slipped between realms and the only thing they had in common was the fact that each glimpse of a reality got colder. "Our new home is rather warm," he noted over his shoulder as they moved. "I believed you may wish to see where the hounds enjoy playing..."

His hounds liked snow as much as any other element after all. They could be quite silly things, and for that he blamed Khemrys most days. She was something of a softening influence. Regardless, the plain they tumbled on to eventually was pristine, meters deep in snow and with cliffs and evergreens poking up through the whiteness. His hounds didn't sink in the least. Kernan on the other hand, well, he sank a few inches upon arrival. "Duck," he suggested, given the fact that the hounds were now going to try to tackle everyone in to the drifts.

Comments

[justanexpression]

Perhaps unsurprisingly, that warning fell on deaf ears.

Prickly restlessness had been about right, but then, summer did that to him. The weather was slower to listen to him in the heat, he felt half-melted all the time, and the sun hurt his eyes, not to mention the inevitable rounds of sunburn. He just... didn't much care for it. Maybe if they'd settled somewhere in Canada instead of California, but they hadn't, so there it was.

This, though... This more than made up for it, and in the split second between stepping through the portal and flying through the air on a hound-powered trip, all he could do was stare. If there were anything in his short memory that Jack would have wanted to call beautiful, it would be this.

But then he was face-down in a snow drift and the moment was broken. He came up coughing and shaking his head to get rid of the packed flakes, already reaching for a handful to pack into a ball. He didn't - quite - dare to throw it at Kernan, but any of the hounds would be fair game.

[waits_at_the_maze]

THE HOUNDS LOVED WHEN KIDS THREW BALLS YES! And they were just as happy to crunch snowballs as they were the rare tennis ball, but how many missiles could the boy throw? Because for every one distracted another hound was working on tackling Jack again.

And Kernan wasn't escaping, not in the least. The pack was more than happy to fly at the Huntmaster too, and that led to some interesting dodging. And flopping. A lot of flopping. "I would have brought you sooner..." he noted, swinging one pup around by her teeth in his hood, "but you did not need it so much sooner."

[justanexpression]

Quite a few, actually, especially when they sort of started throwing themselves. There were still a lot more of the pack than there were of him, but he wasn't doing so bad at holding his own.

Finally, he laughed, a wave of snow following his gesture as a distraction as he heaved himself out of the snowbank he'd originally been tackled into. Now that he was expecting it, the wind he called to himself could keep him light enough not to sink into the snow a second time. All the better for dodging. "Why do you say that? Not that I don't like it here and all."

[waits_at_the_maze]

Luckily the hounds were well behaved enough to not use their powers while playing. That could have ended badly, teleporting should not be mixed with self propelled snowballs after all! Besides, it was more fun to try to wiggle and dash through the barrage anyway to resink Jack!

And for those not engaged in that game (because somehow the pack seemed larger here than back home), Kernan was tossing a variety of sticks out over the snow pack. "Can you honestly tell me you haven't been chafing and itching at life on top of the warmer weather?" Kernan smiled slightly under the edge of his hood.

[justanexpression]

Honestly? Honestly, he had no idea what had been up with him lately. He'd mostly just blamed it on the weather alone, but...

He backed off from the game, hoping the hounds would pick up on his not wanting to play so much as he glanced at Kernan instead. He was probably the worst person to confide in about stuff, considering he and Khem were... something... but it wasn't like Jack had anyone else to talk to, and he certainly wasn't going to go to Khem over it. "It's just... I know Khem means well, okay, but what's the point? I mean, really?"

[waits_at_the_maze]

"The point in which of her actions?" he asked simply. "She has many, most of them good in my opinion, but I cannot narrow it down without a specific set of frustrations," he chuckled, watching the hounds turn to tackle each other through drifts rather than staring at Jack. He knew his stares could be uncomfortable things.

[justanexpression]

Lots of things about all of them could be uncomfortable. That was kind of the point. But Jack appreciated it nonetheless, and he shoved his hands in his pockets as he watched the hounds, too. He'd rather be playing with them, now that it came down to actually talking. "Just... treating us like we're all normal. I mean, Raistlin can pass, or just glare at anyone who thinks he can't, and Glass could, too, if she wanted, but you and me? Sette? When are any of us gonna need to know how to write book reports?"

[waits_at_the_maze]

"Ah," he noted, voice almost a purr. "Schooling." And of course a child would question the need wouldn't he?

"Think a moment, Jack. What skills do those book reports require?"

[justanexpression]

This was a test. This was a test and Jack was so not on board for this. His eyes narrowed a little, trying and failing to find the trick in the question. "Writing?" He shrugged a little. "And reading, I guess, cause of the books. But I know how to do those already."

[waits_at_the_maze]

"Try again," he laughed softly. "And think. What skills do you stretch and employ in such a pursuit? Reading and writing and merely...tools."