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Wren laughed and put one hand on Miyuki's head to calm her down. "Come now, if there are things your parents need then we should do that first, yes?" she grinned.

Earendil glanced at Lin. "Well ... we had hoped to pick up some wooden toys for Andarien," he conceded. "So that was one of the places we had hoped to visit. He doesn't have any toys yet, and if he's going to be chewing on them, like your ball this morning, then we'd prefer something safer than rubber or such things."

He also needed clothes, if Earendil was remembering correctly.

"That's a good start, anyways," Wren grinned. "The wood smith is this way."

She led them down the street, past a candle shop, manuscript shop, and many others, and turned the corner. About halfway down that street, there was a large shop with a beautifully carved sign out front: clearly the wood smith's shop.

"After you," she smiled, holding the door open for her guests.

The interior of the shop was lit mostly by sunlight that shone in through windows on three sides of the shop, though the displays that were in the windows did cast shadows on the furthest recesses of the room. There was the usual furniture - tables, chairs, book cases, writing desks - as well as jewelry boxes and games and so on. At the back of the shop, a man was sitting on the floor next to a small boy, and both of them seemed to be carving something.

Wren followed them in and, since Lin and Earendil would be looking together, decided to tag along with Miyuki - mostly out of curiosity of what interested the child.

"Do they smell good?" she asked, her eyes sparkling with amusement.

Earendil browsed through the games and toys with Lin, trying to think of what Andarien might like, and that would be good for his age. There were building blocks - would he be interested in that? - and a small post with stacking rings of various sizes and colours, as well as puzzles that ranged in piece size, number of pieces, and complexity. There were cubes made of many pieces of wood that seemed to need to be slid together, and spheres that were the same idea; mosaic puzzles and shaped puzzles and more.

"What do you think?" he asked Lin. "We should probably get a few different things so that he doesn't get bored with the same thing, too."

The way she said it made Wren giggle. "You like the smell of pine, then?" she asked. "It is a nice smell, I agree. My favourite though is maple. It smells sweet like the syrup we make from its sap."

She leaned down and inhaled the scent of the box Miyuki was pointing at. "This one does smell nice, though."

"Maple sugar candies are my personal favourites," Wren confided to Miyuki. "But I've been told it runs in the family, which is a bit odd, since in almost everything else our tastes differ."

It amused her, actually.

Earendil liked the idea of the blocks, but he wasn't so sure about the puzzles or figures.

"I think he would be too young for puzzles or figures," he mused. "He's too young to recognize anything like that. I think something a bit simpler, like the blocks. Maybe ... the stacking rings? And perhaps the puzzle and figure when he's older."

Yes it was good for them to think ahead, but at the moment they really needed to focus on the present. They could buy more sophisticated toys later, for now they just needed simple.

Wren blinked at Miyuki. "Pancakes?" she repeated, her tone puzzled. "What are those?"

She had never heard of them before.


Earendil blinked. She had dismissed his suggestion out of hand, no explanation? Now he had no idea what she was looking for. He looked over the toys again, but now his expression was doubtful.

"I don't know," he said finally. "I just remember some of the things I've seen other children playing with."

"I'll have to ask them sometime to make me some," Wren grinned. "There are a lot of things I haven't tried, even though I've been traveling somewhat. Not nearly as much as your father's family, of course, but some."

Her smile turned wistful. "I hope my father agrees to let me go."


Earendil nodded slowly. "On the other hand," he said slowly, "we have no idea how long it's going to be before he grows, and in the meantime, something simple might be good. And if he does outgrow it, that doesn't mean it will be wasted ... with our record, who knows if we'll somehow end up with another child somehow? And even if not, there are plenty of other people we know who are having or will have more children that could use it."

Clearly money wasn't the issue for her, since she said she didn't mind buying new ones, but he wasn't sure what she meant about 'replacing' toys.