Aderyn watched Engie suspiciously. He was giving her a queer look, staring at her in a way she strongly disliked. They stared at each other for a very, very long time, each of them sitting on an opposite side of the snowbank.

"What?!" Aderyn yelled after about ten minutes of this.

"You do know that you and your friend are the last hope of mankind," he said.

She looked at him with narrowed eyes, guessing where this was going. ". . . how. . .?"

"Repopulation," he said, suddenly unable to meet her gaze. "Obviously."

"EW," she said loudly. "Do you know how idisgusting/i that is? I'm FOURTEEN. You know that, right?"

"But humanity-"

"Humanity can rot! I'm not repopulating with ianyone!/i" She gave him a glare that would make even a monster like Photoshop get on with what it was doing.

"What about Scribbles?" he asked, almost pathetically.

"Listen to yourself," she said. "Do you even hear what you're saying? She's got a six year old brain in a twenty year old body, and she's only been around as long as I have!"

"Point," said Engie. "I'm not even sure if she knows what repopulation consists of."

"What iis/i repopulation?" came a familiar voice.

Aderyn and Engie turned to see Scribbles, holding onto a thick book the size of a plate.

"Well?" she asked. "What is it? I know that it would mean making people come back, but how would we do it?"

Aderyn and Engie looked at each other.

"You tell her," he said. "You're a girl, too."

"Whoa, iI/i didn't bring it up," she said. "It's your fault she's even wondering!"

"I can't tell her about ithat/i," he hissed. "How'll I start?"

"You know," said Aderyn loudly to Scribbles. "I'm surprised you don't have a book on this."

"A book on what?"

Aderyn sighed. "Engie, do the honours."

"But-"

"No."

"I'm not-"

"Nor am I."

Engie sighed. "Um. . . Okay. . . How will I explain this? Uh. . . Well, you need a man and a woman. . ."

"Uh-huh?" asked Scribbles expectantly.

"Okay, you need a man and a woman, then you get some scented candles and blankets and stuff. . ."

"Candles?"

"Okay, forget the candles. Um. . . Well, they're a nice touch, anyway."

"Not that you'd know," said Aderyn with a smirk.

Engie shot her a glare, then turned back to Scribbles. "Well, think of it this way. . . The process of repopulation is like. . . Tying a knot."

Scribbles tilted her head. "Tying a knot?"

"No! No, bad example. Um. . . It's like sharpening a pencil. . ."

Scribbles looked a little horrified. "WHAT."

Aderyn snickered, but neither of them noticed.

Engie gathered himself again. "Um. . . It's like. . . Playing pool."

"Like that game with the sticks and balls and holes? How is repopulation like that?"

Engie flushed dark red. "Um. . . Well, there are many parallels. . ."

"Like what?"

"Ugh! Forget the analogies!" he said, exasperated. "To make a baby. . ."

Scribbles stopped him. "Wait, you were trying to tell me where babies come from? I thought you were trying to explain repopulation to me."

"They're the same thing, in this case."

"Oh. Well, that's two questions answered, then."

He coughed. "T-to make a baby, you need a man and a woman. Th-they need to – preferably – find somewhere private, then they. . . T-take their clothes off. . ."

She looked at him with wide eyes. "iWhy?!/i"

He stammered really badly as he said, "I-it's p-part of the p-process."

Aderyn was laughing silently at Engie's predicament.

"So ithen/i what do they do?" asked Scribbles.

Engie opened his mouth, closed it, opened it once more and said, "I can't do this!" Then he jumped up and strode away, his arms stiff down his sides and his face so red it almost burned.

Aderyn was laughing really, really hard, now, and she held her sides in pain. "That. . . was. . . hilarious!"

Scribbles giggled. "Thanks!"

Aderyn paused. "Wait. . . You knew all along, didn't you?"

"Of course. I learned about when I was little."

Aderyn slapped her thigh. "Ha! Brilliant! That was hilarious!"

She grinned widely. "Maybe I should try that on the others. . ."

"Yes! We're got to try that tomorrow!" She flopped back into the snowbank. "Whew, that was funny."

"I'm glad you think so," she said with a small, mischievous smile.