Elder Crisp often found himself looking for Sputter in the places he really shouldn't have been. Trying to sneak off to hunt with the warriors, trying to challenge one of the older members of the tribe, or jumping into some situation that was way above his head. Rarely, if ever, did he find him in the places a normal child his age would be.

So he was more than a little shocked when he walked into his abode and saw the little fire nymph sitting at a table and… writing. He'd simply stood there, not sure if his old eyes were playing tricks on him or not. And after a few minutes of not waking up, he shook his head and approached the boy.

"Sputter…"

The boy looked over his shoulder and hummed. "Oh, hey gramps," he said casually before going back to what he was doing.

The elder walked over and looked over his shoulder. "Hello. I'm surprised to see you home. I assumed you'd be off running around naked with Char or some such nonsense," he said rubbing his chin. "What exactly are you doing here?"

Sputter narrowed his eyes. "Dottie said that I couldn't write a whole page of different words right, so I'm gonna prove her wrong!" he said irritated. He honestly thought scirbbling down stupid words was a waste of time, but she'd thrown a challenge out there and he never turned one down!

"So you're writing. When did you…?" Crisp had tried to teach him writing before, and the boy never seemed to have patience for it. He never pressed him that hard about it since half the tribe could barely read or write as it was, but… the fact that someone could sit him down and get him to do something he hated so much was surprising.

He had been hearing a bit more about this Dottie girl lately. Whenever he went up to the surface with the others to visit Topaz, he'd come back talking about how she annoyed him in some way, or wanting to show something he'd learned about the surface from her. "Hey, is this how you spell 'purple'?" Sputter asked.

Crisp looked over the paper, and then nodded. "That's, yes."

Sputter smirked and pumped his fist. "Ha! I knew it!"

Crisp hummed as he began looking over some of the other words Sputter was writing down. They didn't seem to be in any particular order, but at least he wasn't repeating any, and they all seemed to be spelled correctly. He was really putting effort into this. It was rather impressive.

Purple.

Green.

Annoying.

Spikes.

Smart

Words

Tail.

Crisp rubbed his chin. "Hmm… Sputter, would you do me a favor. Would you mind describing this Dottie girl to me. What does she look like? What do you think when you think about her?" he asked curiously.

Sputter turned and looked at him confused. "Huh? What do you need to know that for?" Was this him trying to trick him into another lesson or something? He was already writing these stupid words. He didn't want the old man trying to make him waste more time with learning useless stuff.

"I'm just curious. Indulge an old man for a moment."

Sputter grunted and put his pencil down. "Uh, okay… she's purple. She's a half-breed, and she's like a half fish half lizard. I forgot what they call whatever her parents are. And she's like… good at writing stuff. She knows way too many words. It's annoying," he said, narrowing his eyes.

Crisp had a feeling it was something like that. All the words he was writing down on his paper… he was describing her. Could it be that Sputter was actually smitten for this girl? The idea of it was surprising to him. The boy never had anything on his mind but fighting, so he didn't think there was any room for concepts like crushes or education.

But… there was an undeniable feeling of happiness in his chess right now. "Hey gramps, what are you grabbing your chest for?" Sputter asked, tilting his head. "You're not having a heart attack thingy or something are you? Should I go get Cole or something?" Cole was old too, at least to him, so he'd know what to do.

Crisp shook his head. "No, no I'm fine. I'm just… happy, and proud. You're growing up before my very eyes. Turning into a man," he said patting his shoulder.

Sputter narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"You'll understand when you're older," he said, patting him on the head. "Do me a favor would you? The next time you run into Dottie, tell her I said thank you."

Sputter scowled. "Huh? What are you telling her thank you for?"

"For looking after you when you're on the surface…"

"I'm not being looked after! I don't need anyone to look after me! In fact, I only live here because I look after you!" he said standing up in his chair. Elder Crisp was super old after all. He needed somebody who liked him to help him just in case something happened. "You should be glad I really like you. I wouldn't do this for anybody else."

Crisp looked amused, and reached forward and patted his head again. "Yes, I suppose I'm pretty fortunate to have you around. But tell her thank you anyway. Just for keeping you company and such," he said. She seemed to be having quite a positive influence on the boy, and that alone was worth thanking her for.

Sputter huffed. "Sure, I guess." He hadn't told her that much about his gramps yet anyway, so he might as well bring it up the next time he saw her. He turned back around and began skimming over his paper again. He lost his space, and he had to make sure he didn't write any words twice.

Crisp smiled as he made his way out, wanting to let the boy concentrate. He had to meet up with Cole in a bit anyway.

"So he's reading and writing now is he?" Cole asked with a smirk.

Crisp beamed with pride as he set his mug down. "You should have seen him! He was trying to focus so hard on it! And all the words seemed to be about that Dottie girl," he said chuckling. "I never imagined the day I'd see him trying so hard to learn something. Here I was trying to get him to educate himself, and this girl does it with ease."

Cole chuckled and patted the older nymph on the back. "Well, you know how boys are when it comes to things like this. You put a challenge or a girl in front of them and all of a sudden it's a whole new situation," he said.

He was glad to see Crisp so happy. He was one of the only elders in the tribe who offered him his support, and he knew just how much he cared about Sputter. Usually he was always expressing worry about the boy, so seeing him in such high spirits was a nice change of pace.

"That's good to know. Sometimes I worry that boy will turn out just like his father. But then I see him with Topaz and the others, and I see him doing stuff like this…" Crisp said, smiling. "And then I think that he'll actually be fine. More than fine really."

Cole hummed. "Well, there is something to be said about the pride we feel in our children." He knew he always felt his chest fill up with pride whenever he remembered just how much Topaz had grown up.

Crisp stood up, having to balance himself a bit. He was a little tipsy. Cole got up and helped him steady himself. "You're lucky Cole. Having a kid at your age. You were able to see her grow up so much. You'll even get to see her get married, maybe even have a few grandkids," he said.

"Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves," Cole said as he helped the older nymph walk towards the door. That was still his little girl, so thinking about her having kids so soon was a little… she could wait a few more years. Like ten… or twenty.

"I have to make sure I take better care of myself. I have to live long enough to see my great grandkids… or, would they just be my grandkids? Uh, I'm not sure. Either way, I have to make sure to see it! And see him become the tribe's top warrior!" he said, raising his fist up. "I know he can do it! If he just focuses and puts his mind to it! If he can learn to read and write, he can learn to do anything!"

Cole clicked his tongue. Yep, he was definitely drunk. "I'm sure you'll live long enough to see that and more Elder Crisp… maybe a little less drinking just to make sure though."

"I'm so proud!"

"I know."

A/N: Some Sputter content since a few people have mentioned/asked about him lately. Also some Elder Crisp thrown in. He really worried about that boy, but he's a proud papa when it comes down to it. Hope you enjoy!