[for Niko]

[onceaqueen]

The hurricane had been rather frustrating for Susan. Her house had mostly remained undamaged, save for a few small things here and there that had been inconsequential enough that Susan had been able to fix them herself quite easily in her free time--although as anyone with two small children under the age of three knows, free time is a precious

Comments

[fears_nothing]

Training a direwolf was a bit more of an undertaking than Niko was used to but it was a nice way to pass the time when there was a surplus of it on the island. Training Hal and Cal took less and less time daily, especially when the idea of a threat seemed so far away and almost as if it were another life entirely. Still, no need to let the sword go dull, even a proverbial one and to that end, Niko still trained.

Today, however, he'd decided to go to see Susan and allow his new direwolf the opportunity to bond with his mother and siblings, as well as Susan's own children. As close as friends as they'd become, Faolan would need to be as accustomed to their family as he was to Niko's own.

He wasn't surprised to see Susan in the garden as she was often there but he was surprised to see the mess it was in. The hurricane, he mused, and drew a little closer.

"Edmund hasn't taken care of that?"

[onceaqueen]

"Oh, no," Susan said, looking up with a smile. She was never quite sure when Niko would appear, but his visits were never unwelcome. "I haven't asked him to. For one thing, the ground has been far too soggy to even attempt to do anything--just a huge patch of mud, really. It's only now dry enough to work with."

[fears_nothing]

"I don't mind," Niko said, kneeling down next to her in the garden. Faolan ran off to sniff at Shadow and Niko busied himself with clearing away a few of the ruined plants. "I just imagined Edmund would rather take care of it for you. He was a little...perturbed when I did the roof repairs in July. I don't want to encroach on a brother's place."

[onceaqueen]

"Edmund is very good to me," Susan said, with a great deal of fondness in her voice for her brother, who she knew would drop anything for her to help her out if she asked him to. "And he's more help than I really deserve. But I don't like to bother him for every little thing. The garden is sort of my pet project, I suppose. I like doing it myself--not that your help is unwelcome. It's most appreciated."