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When he didn't lash out at her or look shocked, Brownie's hands slowly moved away from her face and rested on his arms.

Did she think it was bad? No! It was exciting and irritating and itchy and warm, and she knew no one else felt the way she did. "No," she said, the smile on her face in her voice as well.

"Yes." She struggled for a second before saying, "Dey afraid of stuf I do." She was trying not to hurt people anymore, but it was sometimes very hard, especially recently for some reason.

"Cut..." She couldn't very well call her father The Man like she did in her head. Lonan wouldn't know what she was talking about. "Dad. Cut Dad." The first couple of times had been accidents, but after a while she found that she liked it. She enjoyed making a grown man screech like a little girl. "Mistake. Dad's gone." She frowned, angry that Lonan was making her think about her father again.

She nodded and then said, "Yes," to clarify. "Mistake, but not sorry." It wasn't a nice thing to say, but her father deserved it.

Brownie thought about the postcards he had sent since he'd been gone, his stories of new siblings that she would probably never meet. Those kids were stealing her time. Brownie balled her fists for a brief moment before unclenching them and letting her anger seep inside, leaving only her sadness. She would seek him out, go to her father and show him that he had made the biggest mistake of his life by leaving her.

Brownie shook her head. "No." He hadn't really, at least not physically. She didn't yet understand that mental abandonment was nearly as bad as physical abuse.

"Assi-dent. Miss him." The last was said in almost a whisper, almost as if she hadn't meant to. She was glad that Lonan couldn't see the tear that slid down her cheek. Stupid. She shouldn't be crying, she should be out finding the idiot and doling out revenge.

Brownie scrubbed her fist roughly against her face and took a deep, shuddering breath. She had never before cried in sadness, and she certainly didn't like it. Lonan's voice soothed her, and she thought about his words.

Yes. There was no need to go out in the world, small as she was, to exact revenge on a man who obviously didn't care about her. She would stay right here and make him care.

A little of the cockiness she had used to display in an effort to make people feel she was worth something returned, and Brownie smirked, sadness tucked away for now.

"Guess so." Brownie nodded, the matter settled. Lonan was nice like Asra, except with more clothes. She settled back against him and looked up at the leaves above her head.

The toddler yawned, pressing a fist to her mouth to stifle it. She was tired, and not only in body. She was tired of what had happened to her in the past week, tired of her great swings in mood for no good reason, but most of all, she was tired of people disliking her for things she couldn't control. They weren't worth her time.

Good advice. Brownie nodded again, wings gathered against her back. They were as warm as her skin, so it was no hardship if Lonan was not.

She had just nodded off when Smerdle appeared in the distance, carrying a can of root beer and a box of those mini Klondike bars. The woman scuffed through the grass, shaking her head in astonishment. The kid found solace with the most random people.

"Hi again," she said softly. "I hope she hasn't been too much trouble."

"Hmm," Brownie mumbled, pushing herself into a sitting position and glancing over at Smerdle. She really did want to stay, but she wanted a mini Klondike bar as well.

"Thank you," she said, trying to stand on legs still shaky from her brief nap. "See you?" She hoped she would, but she hadn't had any luck meeting any of her kind twice, except of course, ribbon boy.