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howth
post one

He had recalled The Amaryllis was a beautiful piece of theater, but this revival had been made all the more entertaining by Xaawo's reactions. She had laughed and gasped and teared up at all the right parts, and he had been looking forward to discussing the twist ending with her after the show when he had heard the riotous patter of torrential rain on the roof of the hall during the bows. Upon exiting, he had grabbed Xaawo's hand and led her a few doors down to an all-night candy shop that his mother had been known to frequent. He doubted any of his family members would be here this late, but he looked around anyway. It would be awkward if he ran into his parents before he was ready to.

"It's a good spot for gifts," he said, trying to catch his breath after the jog over.

howth
post two

He laughed louder than he might have had most of it not been drowned out by the pelting rain.

"Cumbersome, yes. Especially once the sugar is—"

Howth was startled into silence by something quite large and damp smacking into his legs. His first impulse when he saw it was a child was to drop Xaawo's hand and check his sodden pockets to make sure they hadn't been picked, but as soon as he had done so, he felt a chilly wave of shame wash over him. It was just a kid—a little Geian girl no more than seven or eight years old—and she was either genuinely lost or a really good actor.

"Hello there," he said, trying to sound as friendly as possible. "Can we help you?"

howth
post three

Well, that was nice. Despite his ineptitude around anyone younger than twenty and Xaawo's resting spear face, they had somehow managed to look like a safe bet to a lost little girl.

"We can certainly help you with that!" he said with a bit too much exuberance. "I'm Howth and this is my g... girlfriend, Xaawo." Flawless. Or if not, at least it was pretty good for the first time he'd said it out loud. Realizing he was no longer holding her hand, Howth reached in the direction he thought Xaawo's hand might be and slowly grabbed at nothing as he continued speaking.

"What does your father look like?"

howth
post four

"Okay. Got it."

He rose onto his toes, wincing a little at the squelch of his shoes. It was unbelievably weird to think about an entire group of people being made the subject of study for children, but he supposed it was no different than what historians spent their time doing, just separated by decades.

Howth continued his search for Phei's father, choosing to remain silent on the subject of Chiume.

howth
post five

Howth smiled to himself, squeezing Xaawo's hand. Well, that wasn't so bad. She was an explorer, after all.

Catching sight of a frantic bald man speaking to one of the cashiers in a connected store, Howth pointed. "Is that your dad?"

howth
post six

As soon as they got within earshot of the man he turned, relief visibly washing over him as he thanked the cashier and hurried closer. Phei's father had clearly been out in the storm for even longer than they had.

"Thank you!" He grabbed Howth's hand and shook it. "Thank you so much. If I had lost my girl—"

"That's okay, sir." Howth smiled, resisting the urge to wipe his hand on his trousers. It wasn't like his were any less clammy and moist right now. "We were happy to help."

howth
post seven

"She's usually far more careful around strangers..." This was said with a mildly scolding tone, as if the man didn't want Phei to forget that fact, even though things had worked out this time. "But I'm very glad you were the ones she found. I'm Rolus."

"As are we," Howth said with a nod. As brief as their interaction had been, this encounter had been enlightening, to say the least. "I wish you well, Phei. And it was nice to meet you Rolus, even if it wasn't for long."