Midnight Manor, Room 1-A, Saturday morning.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden woke up shivering. Somebody had left the verandah door open, even though it was very cold out and she didn't seem to have a scrap of blanket. The door was going to remain a mystery, but the blankets were easily solved - there was a lump made up of blanket and bright red hair curled up next to her.

"Hey," she hissed, poking the blanket lump. She was trying to stay quiet, because she didn't want the grownups to hear her making a fuss. "Hey, those are mine!" She reached for the edge of the blanket and started tugging. "You can't hog them all, I'm cold, too!"

[For the snatchy blanket hog, but also open!]

Comments

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"What's a Jedi?" is the very normal question that Cal is certain to have been expecting.

[moreofaponchoguy]

"You've never heard of Jedi?" Cal said, lighting up like a lamp. "We're the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy! We make sure people are safe and happy and bring the light of the Force everywhere we go. And if anyone is doing bad stuff or hurting people, we make them stop. I mean, if you pass the training and all."

Did he sound worried about that part? He wasn't worried!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

It was definitely a sign of how unworried you were, making sure to tell everyone that you're very unworried about it!

"You mean training for your magic powers?" Arden asked, wide eyed.

[moreofaponchoguy]

"They're not magic," Cal said, rolling his eyes. "They're just, like, part of me. And if I get really good and strong then I won't be a Padawan anymore and I'll get to be a Jedi Knight."

There was a lot of reverence in that for such a tiny body.

"But I have to do a lot of training and I get really tired sometimes. What are you gonna do when you're big?" Surely something for really pretty girls!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"I'm gonna be a mommy," Arden said with conviction. "But not the kind that dies and leaves you all alone." That was very important. "A foster-mom, too. So all the weird kids and the kids nobody wants and keep sending back will have a place to go and be a part of a forever family, too."

No reason.

"Also, magic powers are part of you too, where else would they come from?"

[moreofaponchoguy]

"I think you'll be a good mommy. You just have to know how to cook and read books and give hugs," Cal said. "Magic is when you do spells and stuff and there's magic words and you just have to know the words, right? Maybe I don't know what magic is." Ugh, getting outsmarted wasn't a fun feeling at all.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"I don't know how magic works, I don't have it," Arden said. "I don't have a mommy either. Or a dad. All I've got is a necklace. You've got magic and a Master Tapal and my blankets. That's a lot of things."

Share the wealth, Cal!

"But I can read and I help cook a lot of times and--" Now she was leaning in to give Cal a big, warm squeezy hug. "Is this good?" she asked.

[moreofaponchoguy]

Oh. Yeah, that was a good hug indeed, and Cal froze for a second before realizing he should hug her back. "That's good, yeah," he said, his voice wavering a little. "I don't get a lot of those."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Not even from Mister Tapal?" Arden asked, giving him another one because everybody should get hugs. "Fosters are s'posed to give hugs, unless it makes you uncomfy."

[moreofaponchoguy]

"No, he's kind of strict and gruff and grrr," Cal said, laughing softly as he hugged her back. "And he's really, really, really tall. He might break me if he tried to hug me! But... he's also not supposed to, Jedi aren't supposed to need hugs and kisses and stuff."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Why not?" Arden was very confused. "Everybody needs hugs'n kisses'n stuff. 'Specially kids. It's important for our devel'pment."

[moreofaponchoguy]

"Jedi don't need hugs and stuff because we're strong. Just like we don't need to cry," Cal explained like it made complete sense.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Look at this wee baby expression of doubt. Just the tiniest wtf face, even though she wasn't supposed to know those words.

"I don't think that's how it works," she said slowly. "Pretty sure it's all kinds of wrong actually."

[moreofaponchoguy]

"Well... you don't even know what Jedi are, so you wouldn't know. You can be a good mom to people who aren't guardians."

He flounced to his side, away from her, but let her have more blanket because he was strong and nice, even without the hugs.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Moms are guardians and they get hugs," Arden protested. "Parents and guardians! They're in the same category!"

That's why schools asked for either one on slips!

[moreofaponchoguy]

Cal would know that if he went to school, but he was too busy learning cool Jedi stuff, so there.

"Master Tapal isn't a mom, he's a boy, and I'm a boy, so it's different." Yeah, that sounded weak even to Cal. "You can have more blanket since you're a girl and need more things."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"I can have more blanket cause it's my blankets," Arden reminded him, in case anyone wondered if she'd always been sassy. "I don't think boys and girls are that different, I just think boys say that cause they think they're better."

[moreofaponchoguy]

"I don't think I'm better than anyone. Some people say that and I don't like it," Cal said, flipping back over to look at her. "Some of the other Padawans think we're better than others because we get to be Jedi, but I don't think it's like that at all. Everyone has stuff they're good at, and there's lots of girl Jedi too. Some of the Masters are girls and they're amazing. I just... hugs feel weird, I don't know." After a moment, he added, "I'm sorry I stole your blankets. Can we share?"

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"We can share," Arden said, "thank you for asking."

She shifted closer, offering more of her blankets to him. "Why do they feel weird? I think they're nice. I don't get to have many, so each one it really nice."