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Owle stood in the foyer uncertainly, until Rand darted off into the house.

"Rand!" she shouted, and grabbed him undr the arms, hoisting him up. "No running in other people's houses!"

The boy gave her a sullen look, but didn't protest.

Owle felt awkward just barging through other people's houses, so she hung back a little while. So it was that they had barely gotten anywhere when Jade came in.

"So...where is Nikolai?"

Owle approached slowly, making small, careful movements so as not to startle the small Herald. She pitched her voice low, preparing to give a gentle greeting.

And then Rand made all her efforts moot.

"Hi, Nikolai!" he shouted, dashing forward to the bedside. "I'm Rand, and that's my mom. She's weird, but she's nice."

Owle put a hand to her head and inwardly groaned.

"Um...hello..." she stammered, hoping Rand hadn't completely scared the poor boy.

"I love hot chocolate! Thank you miss...miss...uh...miss." Rand's tail was wagging eagerly. Apparently promising him chocolate was a good way to get him to be polite for once.

When Jade left the room, he turned his green eyes back on Nikolai. "So, Nikolai, do you want to play? Do ya do ya?"

"Rand, Nikolai's sick..." Owle said softly, stepping forward and gently pulling Rand away from the bed, struggling to keep him beside her if not behind her. He gave another one of those funny looks of his, but didn't see how one more foot away was going to matter.

"I'm sorry, Rand is a little enthusiastic," Owle apologized to Nikolai, her voice honey butter. "He means well, though."

"I'm not mean!"

"Shh."

"Why've I got to be quiet? Miss Jade didn't say I couldn't talk!"

Owle ignored Rand, and continued to smile at Nikolai. After all, answering the wolf boy would only encourage him. When Nikolai held out his hands, Owle looked uncertain...then took one hand in hers and shook it lightly. "Pleased to meet you Nikolai. I'm Owle."

"You're a sweetheart, aren't you?" Owle asked.

Rand stared at the other boy, then glared at his mother, fuming quietly. They were both ignoring him!

Miss Jade's voice broke through his angry cloud like a lightning bolt. She still paid attention to him, and she had brought chocolate!

With an exclamation of unbridled joy, Rand ran to Jade's side and reached for a cup, being oh so careful not to spill one precious drop. It wasn't that he was concerned about being neat; oh, no. He just didn't want to keep any chocolate from getting into his mouth. It was all his, and the floor couldn't have any.

"Thank you, Miss Jade!" Rand exclaimed, then buried his face in his hot chocolate.

Owle smiled. "Thank you...I do try to teach him manners. We live in a restaurant, so he's learned better than to run into people carrying food." When Nikolai released her hands, she accepted the cup of hot cocoa. "Thank you," she said again, taking a cautious sip after blowing on it a few times. She turned to look at Nikolai. "He seems really lively, much more so than Rand was when he was like this. Rand didn't want to leave that rock I found him by, even though I was sure he was going to die if I just left him there."

There was a loud gulp as Rand swallowed the hot cocoa in his mouth. "What rock? I don't remember any rock. Mmm..." He screwed up his little face in concentration. "Though I think I was sitting on something a long time ago...it was wet. Maybe it was a rock."

Rand stuck his tongue out at her. "Nu-uh! I never messed up like that!"

"His memories seem to start around the time his body changed..." Owle explained. "Since he wouldn't leave the rock, I sat by him through a thunderstorm...I fell asleep leaning against him. When I woke up he didn't look like he had anymore, but more like a little white-haired boy." She turned to Rand. "...is that what you're remembering?"

Rand reached up to scratch one of his ears. "I dunno. It was wet, that's all I know." It wasn't. There had been someone warm up against him, holding him...but mom didn't deserve to hear mushy stuff like that. Not when she was paying more attention to Nikolai than to him!

Owle turned away, and Rand instantly wished he'd said something more, something to keep her eyes on him. This was supposed to be their day, their trip, and now she was just looking at this other boy who wouldn't even talk or play.

"Well...maybe he can't. Maybe he needs to change first," Owle speculated. "He looks healthy otherwise though...a little pale but I think that's natural, for angels. He's moving about and interacting, which is more than Rand really did."

"..." Speaking of Rand, the kid was looking really grumpy right about now.

Owle thought about that for a minute, then shook her head. "I...don't remember. It was a really rough time for me back then, I was going through stuff you wouldn't believe. The days kind of blurred into one another, and I was never really sure how much time had passed."