Welcome to Gaia! ::

Oh dear, ye're right. *thinks for a moment, then offers* I have . . . a few things, here . . . they'd not fit ye quite right, but I'm afraid 'tis all I have that might do . . .

*nods, seeing his point, but seems a bit disappointed that she can't show him around more*

*brightens suddenly, a thought occuring to her* I . . . I know of one person who'd not be frightened by ye. *pauses, then asks, almost shyly* Would ye . . . would ye like te meet Will?

*bobs her head up and down* I . . I'd like for ye to meet him. *smiles*

*her smile widens, and she motions for him to follow her*

*opens the door in the kitchen that leads to the staff's quarters, peeking her head out first to make sure nobody else is about, then leads him down a narrow hallway to another door. Swings it open, revealing a small but neat room*

*a blanket is draped between the foot of the larger of two beds and a storage chest, creating a little fort of sorts. At the sound of the door opening, a young boy of about five or six peeks out from beneath the blanket, his hair an unruly mess of brown curls, his freckles and brown eyes clearly marking him as his mother's son*

Oh, Mama, I- . . *cuts off as he spots the stranger behind her, not at all sure what to make of him*

*Maggie walks over and crouches down next to her son, giving him a hand as he scrambles out from under the fort and stands next her*

*speaks to him reassuringly* Will, do ye remember the stories I've told ye? About the place where there's no time, but lots of magic that brings people there? Bard is from that place, and he's come to visit us for a wee bit.

*at his mother's prompting, the uncertainty in his eyes shifts to something akin to awe* T-truly? *he shifts a little closer to Maggie, but offers Bard a smile* Hullo . . . *opens his mouth to say something, then closes it . . . but his curiousity gets the best of him* Do ye know lots of magic, then?

*Maggie grins at the trick, amused by her son's reaction*

*Will laughs, delighted both by the trick and the attention, and reaches his hands up to his ears to check for himself if there are any more coins behind them* Mama always makes me wash behind my ears, but I ne'er find anything but dirt!

Really? Thank ye! *he takes the penny, flipping it over in his hand to examine both sides, quite fascinated by it* Is it from where you come from, then? Are ye truly from a whole other world?

Are ye alright? *Maggie and Will look at him with nearly identical expressions of concern*

*Maggie thinks back to how Tavin got them back before, hoping she can manage it herself* When we went with Tavin before, he simply told us to grab hold of his shoulder, and then we were back . . .

*Will looks back and forth between the two of them, his shoulders drooping in disappointment, turning back to Bard* Ye need te leave? But, ye'll come back sometime, won't ye? In case the penny goes back to ye?