[FIN] But Getting There is Half the Fun [Harps]

[Lucca]

Mirriam wrinkled her nose as Joel explained his father's likely reaction. "Well, then your Dad just doesn't understand how important the Sprouts is! But Mr. Birdy Man made the Sprouts himself. So that's why he'll probably agree how important this day was," she said. But once she saw the park, Mirriam was distracted enough to drop that thread of conversation in favor of one of her favorite activities: exploring!

She fluttered into the park, past the nice police man (she didn't judge the distance too well, and actually felt her feet brush one of his pointy looking horns on the way) and immediately gravitated toward the fountain, staring in amazement. "It looks really pretty, Joel!" she called back, and then curiously stuck her nose into the stream of water. "Ah! Cold!" She fluttered back from it, giggling.

At having the park confirmed as the correct one, Aberforth nodded gruffly, though he was inwardly relieved. Though that paranoid little voice in the back of his head piped up to say the day was only just beginning, and what if it was the wrong park after all, the Goat staunchly ignored it. He didn't care as long as the kids were satisfied. "Good," he said to Joel, as Mirriam immediately zoomed right past his head. "Then, if that is all you need at the moment, I believe I shall be on my way back to the station. After all, we police officers are quite busy keeping you safe." Judging from the attitudes of the children towards him, he had a feeling that would be the right thing to say to encourage them to let him get back to his job.

[Harpsdesire]

"He doesn't understand it at all." Joel agreed mournfully, shaking his head at this regrettable state of affairs. Still, he was never one to dwell on the disappointing, and Mirriam's low-flying rush to explore made him grin, rekindling his excitement for the park he had visited many times before. It was so much more fun when he had someone to play with!

He burst into giggles when she stuck her face into the fountain's chilly waters. He had only ever put his paws in. Although it was sometimes tempting on warmer days to jump in altogether, Joel was sure his parents wouldn't approve. He also wasn't a big fan of the heavy, soggy fur that resulted from swimming... or baths, for that matter.

The cat-deer grinned at Aberforth, apparently immune to his grumpy ways. "Yeah!" He was about to run into the park after Mirriam when he remembered, "Thank you for saving us. I hope you have a good day and save lots more people!" It didn't occur to Joel that saving more children was actually not what made a good day for Aberforth. He gave the goat a grateful smile, turned and galloped a little awkwardly toward the fountain.

[Lucca]

Mirriam turned to grin at Joel, all thoughts about trying to find her way back to the park she was supposed to be staying at pushed out of her mind. "Your park is great!" she said happily, wiggling her nose which was slightly cold and wet, but even so, she could still smell the delicious aroma of flowers in the air from the little garden. This park was larger and more...crowded than the one she was used to (with both children and general stuff), but it was a nice change. She fluttered around the perimeter of the fountain, wondering if a cool fish or sea monster lived inside it!

Aberforth grunted slightly in surprise at the child's words. How simplistic a view he had of the world! Part of him, a very small part, felt strange, as if trying to remember when he himself had been so young and naive...but he shook his head and nodded curtly to the boy, beard blowing in the slight breeze that was picking up. "I will. Take care and don't wander too far again, all right Joel? And keep Mirriam in line." Dark only knew she needed someone to do that, the Goat thought as he half watched the little Bat circle around like a butterfly hyped up on sugar. Not that it was any of his concern, of course. If it were up to him, he'd never need to cross paths with these two children ever again.

He snorted, and then turned and clopped away from the small park.

((ooc: I'd say we can about wrap this up, if you're ready? )

[Harpsdesire]

"Yeah." Joel sighed happily, "It is pretty great." The park seemed more interesting and attractive than usual, maybe due to his relief to be back, or when seen through Mirriam's fresh eyes. What was even better was that he didn't see his frantic parents yelling his name and cooking up plans to scold him or take away his laboratory privileges for a week. Apparently he hadn't actually been lost for all that long, although at the time, the walk had seemed like miles. Huh. The child had previously noticed the tendency of time to vanish quickly when he was studying ants, yet creep along when it came time to sit still for history classes. It was a mystery.

He waved to Aberforth's retreating back, calling after him, "I will!" until he was distracted by a bright flash of color at the edge of his vision. "Hey, look Mirriam! The butterfly is back!" And what an amazing exoskeleton it had!

((Ending here sounds fine with me =D))