Author's Note: And here we're getting into a lot of stuff that's fairly simple, but was still fun to dig into. Lots of other characters' reactions to Hector, some good family scenes, and the introduction of a recurring character I'm quite fond of, to name a few. So let's get started.

Chapter Twelve: Educational

The first day of school quickly arrived, and Hector was apprehensive as he approached the building. It was a strange feeling: both nervous and excited. Papa walked him and Elena to school, but Elena was old enough to start attending the secondary school down the street. Hector had only known her for a few weeks, compared to several months for Papa. Still, he'd gotten used to her, and Hector felt like he was losing a bit of security when Elena skipped into her own school.

Papa must have sensed Hector's nerves, since he stayed long enough to walk him all the way to his classroom. He squeezed Hector's shoulder and said, "You'll be fine. Go on; I'll see you at the end of the day."

Hector nodded and reluctantly let go of Papa's other hand. He swallowed, hugged Papa, and darted into the classroom before he could change his mind. The classroom was already full; Hector was the last one there. Everyone studied him with a mixture of expressions, and Hector squirmed as he looked around for a place to sit. They were all staring at him—

"Your seat is there in the back, Hector," Mrs. Miller said patiently, pointing to the corner.

Hector scrambled to his desk. He'd seen Mrs. Miller at the fish market a few times. He didn't really know her, but he was vaguely familiar with her. She seemed nice enough, but…Hector hoped she didn't change her mind when she actually had to deal with him.

Mrs. Miller took roll, and Hector listened to the list of names. He tried to memorize them as she said them, glancing at each student as she called their names. Finally, she said, "Hector Vanstein?", and it took him half a second to respond.

Obviously, that was him. He was the only "Hector" in the class (there were two girls named Elizabeth), and he'd heard the name "Vanstein" at Papa's trial. Still, despite the fact that it applied to both Papa and Elena, Hector hadn't subconsciously attached it to his own name until now.

He awkwardly raised his hand, and he lowered it when several people giggled. Mrs. Miller smiled sympathetically as she set down the roster. Then it was time to start work for the day, and it didn't seem too complicated. There was a short book to read, followed by a few simple math problems and some cards they were supposed to match; similar to but easier than what he'd done with Papa. She needed to see where they were in terms of various skills, and Mrs. Miller assured them she'd have more interesting things to do as the school year went on.

This wasn't bad, Hector decided. The only thing that gave him "trouble" was lunchtime. There was a cafeteria that served food to the students, but…Hector didn't want to go. He'd brought some food of his own along (a roll and a small tin of soup that Clarissa had brought over a few days ago), and he sat in the hallway just outside his classroom as he ate.

He'd heard the other students in his class whisper as they looked in his direction. Hector didn't think he wanted the rest of the school staring at him, too. Fortunately, no one seemed to notice that he hadn't gone to the proper place. There was no one to pay attention to the strange-looking boy in the corridor.

Finally, the end of the day arrived. Hector gathered up his things and tucked them into his bag as his classmates filed out of the room. Some of them were whispering rapidly to each other nearby, and Hector glanced in their direction. They noticed he was looking at them, and they all elbowed each other insistently.

Then, one of the girls asked, "What are you?"

Hector furrowed his brow. He could tell her question was innocently curious, but the phrasing puzzled him.

"A person?" he said, a little uncertainly, deciding to go with the answer Papa always told him to use.

"Then how did you get those?" a boy asked, pointing at Hector's face. "Are they real?"

"Yes? I-I mean, they're just…there—"

"I want to touch them."

Another boy shifted closer to Hector and lifted his hand. Hector backed away, not sure why he was so nervous. He'd already let Papa and Castti touch his frills. This wasn't any different, was it? But they'd asked, and his classmate had just said so—

When the boy kept going, Hector's first instinct was to gulp and jump away. His legs sprung into action, and he cleared several rows of desks at once. As Hector skidded to a halt, the group of children stared at him. They shifted awkwardly, and Hector swallowed again.

"That was weird," one of them announced.

"I thought it was cool!"

Hector glanced around, hardly believing his ears. His eyes fell on one of the girls named Elizabeth. She'd been halfway to the door when Hector landed nearby, and she adjusted her schoolbag and grinned at him.

She leaned forward and giggled. "I got in trouble for climbing one of our trees last week," she announced. "Mama sent me to bed right after dinner. But I bet I could climb it anyway if I could jump like that!"

Elizabeth pointed at her shoes, and Hector leaned down to examine them. He could see they were scuffed and dirty; she'd clearly kept playing outside to some degree, even without the tree-climbing. The hem of her skirt had a few loose threads, too. Hector couldn't help returning her grin as he straightened up.

"I can jump as high as a wall," he told her, feeling more confident. "Ochette says that's the highest she's seen anyone jump."

"Who's Ochette?"

Elizabeth started walking towards the door again, and Hector followed her into the hallway. The other students were still in the room; Hector saw Mrs. Miller walk over to them out of the corner of his eye. She'd probably seen the commotion, but it was easier to put it out of his mind now that he had someone to talk to.

"Oh, she's one of my papa's friends," Hector explained. "Ochette lives in Toto'haha. She's a Beastling, and she likes to eat meat and teach everyone how to use a bow." Then he nodded and added thoughtfully, "And she has a nice owl named Mahina."

Elizabeth gasped. "Are Beastlings real? I read about them in a book Mama has. She got it when she and Papa went to Tropu'hopu a while back. I thought they were just dressing up or something!"

"Yeah," Hector replied proudly. "We stayed for a few weeks, and there's a bunch of Beastlings there."

"I'm so jealous." Elizabeth sighed gustily. "Maybe Mama and Papa will go back someday, and I can go with them…"

By now, they'd reached the front door of the school building. They had to push past a few other students to get outside, and both of them glanced around in search of their parents. Hector squinted. It took a few seconds to spot Papa; he was standing several yards away, clearly trying to avoid the crowd. Elizabeth quickly found her own mother: a freckly red-haired woman who greatly resembled her.

"Bye, Hector!" Elizabeth shouted as she latched onto her mother. "See you tomorrow!"

The woman gave him an awkward smile as they turned and walked away. He nodded before dodging a few other children and making his way over to Papa. Upon noticing him, Papa smiled and offered Hector his hand.

"Well, how was it?" he greeted.

Hector pondered his response before settling on, "Fine."

"Just fine?"

"Mrs. Miller is nice," Hector elaborated. "The rest of the class is okay. I got scared when they tried to touch me, though."

Papa paused and frowned at him. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I…" Hector looked around furtively. "I-it was just a couple. And they wanted to see my frills. But I jumped over the desks."

It sounded even stupider when he had to repeat it. Why had he freaked out so much? It was no big deal—

"You don't have to let them if you don't want to," Papa said reassuringly. "There's plenty of time for them to see what you're like. They don't need to touch you to get used to you."

Hector nodded, but he glanced down at his feet as they walked. Then, Papa squeezed his hand and kept speaking.

"But I see you made a friend."

Hector glanced back up, smiling again. "Her name's Elizabeth, and she said she likes to climb trees. So I told her about that time I jumped up the wall when we were staying with Ochette. I think she liked that."

Papa raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Well, I'm glad to hear it. You'll have to see if you can talk to her again."

Hector nodded again, in a considerably better mood now. Elena's school was just down the street from his own; it only took them a few more minutes to walk there. Classes had just let out by the time they arrived, and Hector could see students leaving the building. Soon, Elena herself appeared on the steps, and her face lit up as she spotted them.

"Papa! Hector!"

She immediately hugged both of them, and Papa rested an arm on her shoulder as he replied. "How was it, Elena?"

"Pretty good," she said as they started walking. "I've already got some homework, but it doesn't look too hard. Just a book for Harborlands History to start on, and a few math problems." She giggled. "Mr. Dressler's questions are almost as good as yours."

"Oh? I'll have to work on some better ones, then."

"Almost means they aren't as good," Elena hastily pointed out.

Papa shook his head, and Hector could tell he was still amused. Elena kept talking as they walked, and Hector mulled over his thoughts as he half-listened to her. School had been…mostly good, he decided. He wasn't sure what to make of his classmates, but the activities had been fun. And Mrs. Miller and Elizabeth were nice.

So when they arrived at home, Hector decided he'd be optimistic and see how the next few days went.

By the end of the week, Hector had a good idea of what to expect.

Mrs. Miller slowly introduced more concepts to the class. More reading, more math, worksheets that covered a variety of questions. Hector was good at the reading and math. He was currently the best in the class at both, but he knew it was still early. He couldn't help feeling proud of himself anyway.

They'd done a few projects that required the use of scissors, however. And Hector could barely use scissors; his webbing prevented him from holding them properly. His hands stretched awkwardly when he tried to grip them, and he made large, clumsy cuts.

Hector wrinkled his nose and tried to ignore the giggles from several nearby students. He'd eventually gotten the hang of forks and knives. Those could be shifted around more easily until he found a comfortable way to hold them. But this—

Eventually, he'd put down the scissors and tore the paper instead. Hector squinted and worked slowly. He was the last one finished, but…it worked. His circles in particular were wobbly, but he was close enough to the lines.

"Well, it's not what I'd intended," Mrs. Miller said gently. "But I know this is hard for you, Hector."

He nodded, feeling embarrassed. He'd done it wrong, hadn't he? But…she didn't sound angry. Did that mean he should keep doing it like this?

One thing Hector was surer about was that he enjoyed lunch periods now. Elizabeth had invited him to sit with her, so he always ate in the cafeteria. She had a group of friends she sat with: two other girls named Lily and Morgan, her cousin Michael, and his neighbors Cyril and John.

"Hector's in my class and he's going to eat with us from now on," she announced on the first day he sat with them. "He can jump really far and he knows a Beastling and I like him, so there."

"How far can you jump?" asked Michael, at the same John said, "Do you really know a Beastling?"

"Um," Hector replied, not sure which question to answer first. "A-a couple rows of desks? Or as high as a wall. And yes. Papa brought me to visit her."

The girls didn't seem to care about his jumping distance, but the latter tidbit impressed them. Hector wondered for a moment what they had in common with her, but he got his answer soon enough. It turned out Elizabeth loved to ramble, and eventually the topic of flowers came up. Elizabeth's mother had a garden, and, while she mostly enjoyed the digging, they were excited about the different flowers she could name off.

Michael and his friends tuned out the gardening conversation, but Hector interrupted at one point. "My sister's growing a rose bush, too," he said proudly when the topic came up. "Hers are yellow. Or they're going to be yellow. The bush is still really small."

"Well, I want to come see it when it grows up! Do you think I could?" Elizabeth asked. "Also, I've never seen your sister. Why doesn't she sit with you?"

"You probably could," Hector said, startled yet pleased with the idea. "And Elena goes to a different school. She's a lot older than me."

Elizabeth nodded as she and the other girls continued their flower discussion. For some reason, he felt shy; he listened, and was glad to be included, but didn't speak up as much. He and Papa had stayed with friends before, of course. But being asked for a visit by someone he'd met all on his own—well, Hector wasn't sure how to feel about it. It was good, he thought, but very new to him.

At any rate, by the time classes were over on Friday, Hector decided he liked school. Sometimes, students pointed at him and whispered in the hallways, and he always scrambled into his classroom or the cafeteria as quickly as possible when that happened. But in class, Mrs. Miller could tell people to stop. She was good at explaining things to him, and the work she gave them was fun. So Hector tentatively gave school his approval.

Still, he thought he understood what Elena meant by schoolwork being "less interesting" than the things Papa gave them to do. Most of it was nice; even the things that were meant to test his reflexes were novel for the newness. But Mrs. Miller had given them a book to read over the weekend, and it was so…simple compared to some of the ones Papa had read to him. The book itself was shorter, as were most of the words and sentences.

"Well, not everyone is as good of a reader as you are," Papa explained as Hector squinted at the pages in annoyance.

Hector paused to mull it over. "Do they not have books?"

"They do, you just learned to read very quickly. Some children take longer."

Hector nodded, figuring it wasn't too different from how it had taken him so long to learn how to handle utensils. (And he was still the worst in the class with scissors.) Meanwhile, Elena was perched on the couch with her history book, and she grinned as she flipped a page.

"Of course, Papa started right away with you, didn't he? I could already read when I was three."

"Well, you can thank your mother for that." Papa looked oddly embarrassed. "She picked out the correct books for you. I had nothing on hand but magic tomes for a while."

Elena covered her mouth and failed to suppress her laughter. "Well, yes. But you always read to me, too, when Mama didn't. Besides, I kept trying to get into your tomes anyway."

"Ah…you did. We could practice some magic this weekend, if you'd like."

Elena straightened up and nodded excitedly. Hector felt slightly left out again, but he didn't blame Papa and Elena. He just thought he was…missing something compared to them. They had this thing they both enjoyed, and Hector didn't know much about it.

"Hector?" Elena glanced over at him. "You can watch if you want."

"Right, I…haven't shown you much magic yet." Papa paused, and then added, "Only if you want to, though."

Hector hadn't given it much thought, but watching them practice couldn't hurt. Besides, it might help him decide how much he wanted to learn, too. So, after a few seconds, he nodded again.

"I will," he announced.

Papa and Elena both smiled, and Hector decided he had something to look forward to, which made his assigned book seem less dull when he turned back to it.

Hector seemed to be adjusting well to school, Osvald thought.

He hadn't reported any more incidents with his classmates after the first day, and he spoke fondly of the girl Osvald had spotted him with several times. Hector was the best in his class at reading and math, but slightly behind in coordinated tasks (and even then, he was coming up with his own workarounds for those). Osvald supposed this "balanced out" and made him average overall, but…he was impressed with Hector's progress.

Honestly, Osvald was apprehensive on the first day. He hadn't known what to expect, and he'd worried about Hector's ability to fit in. And it was the first time that Hector would be truly away from him: out of his line of sight without anyone he knew nearby. But now, it was a few weeks into the term, and Hector was getting more and more comfortable with school.

"We practiced spelling today," Hector announced when he arrived at home. "I was the best one in the class, but Elizabeth and Michael were second."

Osvald paused to brush the wood dust off his hands before patting Hector on the head. "Very good, Hector; I'm proud of you."

Hector grinned contentedly at the praise. Then, he squinted up at Osvald's current project. He'd spent the past few weeks working on the new swing set between breaks in his research. Clarissa had volunteered to pick up Hector and Elena that afternoon, as she occasionally did, so Osvald had decided to get some extra work in.

It wasn't the same as a good workout, but…there was something satisfying about the precise measurements, cutting, sanding, and assembling. It was laborious yet methodical: the kind of thing Osvald could get behind. He still needed some good weights to ground the frame, but it was going well.

Elena was sitting outside, too, legs tucked beneath her as she read from one of her schoolbooks. She glanced up, smiling nostalgically as she examined the swing set. The frame itself was mostly finished; Osvald just needed to get the swings attached.

"Just remember," she said good-naturedly, "you can't get the ropes too long on Hector's side. He'll outgrow it too quickly if you do."

"You will outgrow it soon if I'm not careful," he replied. "But I think this is enough for today. Let's go inside."

Elena and Hector gathered up their belongings as Osvald rolled down his sleeves and shook his hair loose from its ponytail. Then, he gave a fond-yet-amused glance in Elena's direction as they went inside. She'd clearly started an early growth spurt; her limbs were subtly lengthening and turning into that awkward kind of too-slender. Hector was lankier proportionately than she was, but Osvald suspected Elena would be tall someday, too.

At any rate, as soon as he closed the front door, Elena called out her standard "We're home!", and Hector mimicked her.

"We are. What do you say to some magic before dinner, Elena?"

Her face instantly brightened. "Ooh, can we, Papa? I'll be right back!"

Elena darted away to put her school books in her room. Hector watched her go before hesitantly looking up at Osvald. He knew what Hector was going to ask, but Osvald stayed quiet and let him say it.

"…Can I watch again?"

"Of course you can. Put your things away and meet us in the basement."

Hector nodded and obediently went down the hall towards his room. He'd watched Elena practice a few simple spells with Osvald three times now, counting the first offer. He was also fond of sitting in Osvald's study and quietly watching him work. But so far, Hector had been content to observe, and he hadn't done any magic himself yet.

Perhaps that would change; Osvald refused to push him, but there was a part of him that hoped Hector would want to try soon.

He organized a few tomes as he waited for Elena and Hector to join him, moving them to one corner of his desk. Elena arrived first, and Hector apprehensively trailed after her. Osvald took one of the tomes off the stack, flipping it to an early page and setting it on a small stand in front of his chalkboard.

"I thought we could review some lightning magic today," he explained, gesturing to a diagram on the page. "We've done a little fire and ice already, so this will be something different. Here's a simple spell for you…"

Osvald copied it onto the board, partly for Hector's sake. Elena nodded as she looked it over, and then she leaned down to examine the book. There were a few extra captions to help explain the spell, and her lips moved silently as she read everything over. Finally, she looked back up and took a deep breath.

"I think I get it. Can you do it first? Just to show me."

"Of course." Osvald stepped aside, putting some space between them, and raised a hand. "Strike true."

Osvald's hand tingled as the lightning erupted from his fingertips. It sparked through the air with a sharp crackling sound before fizzling out quickly. Hector jumped at the sudden noise, but then he grinned, perhaps impressed by the light. Elena smiled at him before giving one more look at the spell.

"All right… Strike true!"

She raised her hand as the lightning burst out of her own fingers. Elena jumped as well, clearly surprised by her own casting. But the spell was well-crafted; the size and strength were good, and it fizzled out quickly as it should have. There were only one or two sparks that wobbled, which was impressive for her first attempt.

"I did it, Papa!"

"You did," he replied warmly. "Would you like to try again?"

Elena nodded and repeated the spell. That time, it was even better: she formed it more quickly and consistently. She bounced up and down on her heels as she watched the sparks dissipate, obviously pleased with her results.

"…Can I try?"

Osvald glanced over at Hector. He'd mumbled the question, and he bit his lip and looked down at the floor when he noticed the attention. While Osvald was pleased that he'd spoken up, he didn't want him to be nervous, either.

"Of course you can. Come here, Hector."

He nodded and padded over to them. Osvald put a hand on his shoulder as Hector leaned up on his tiptoes to examine the book. He let Hector read it over, waiting until he stepped back to say anything.

"Remember, this is just practice. It's fine if you need to try it a few times."

Hector nodded and swallowed. Then, he raised his hand and said, "Strike true!"

His own attempt at the spell was clumsier. The sparks were larger and less steady, and the crackling was much louder. Hector jumped, clearly not expecting his hand to tremble so much, and one of the sparks hit the rug with a slight bang. Still, it faded quickly enough, and Hector stared at the black spot on the rug with wide eyes.

"Hector? It's all right. Would you like to try again?"

"…I don't know," he replied uncertainly.

"It wasn't bad for a first try," Osvald said, realizing that probably wasn't as reassuring as he'd intended. "Elena's just older than you are and has read more about magic than you have."

Hector nodded hesitantly, and Elena patted him on the arm. He relaxed a little at the gesture, and Osvald sighed in relief. Then, something occurred to him, and Osvald wondered if it was a good idea to bring it up. Still, it might help him figure out how to properly teach Hector.

"How did you do magic when you were…with Harvey?" He swiftly added, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I just thought it would help."

Hector blinked, and he chewed his lip, but he was clearly thoughtful rather than nervous. After a few seconds, he replied, "He had…pictures? Kind of like that—" he pointed at the diagram on the board— "and he told me what to say. But it's easier with the words."

Ah…that made sense. Spells took practice, even when you had a tome open in front of you with explanations. While Harvey had never bothered to teach Hector how to read, he'd obviously found a workaround. And the fact that Hector had managed to cast spells at all, even with bare-minimum teaching, was…well, it was both depressing and impressive.

"…You said you read the notes, Papa," Hector said after a moment, clearly not sure how to interpret Osvald's silence.

Osvald shook himself. "I did. Harvey mentioned he was making you use magic, but…he didn't write down his teaching methods."

Hector nodded in consideration. Meanwhile, Elena was looking awkwardly between them. Osvald had told her a little of Harvey's work on Hector, but she hadn't heard him discuss it directly with Hector, either. She probably felt left out—and unsure of how to make Hector feel better.

"But if having the book makes it easier for you…you can try again."

"Okay." Hector took a deep breath. "I will."

He squinted at the tome before repeating the spell. The lightning was large and wobbly again, but Hector had better control over it this time. None of the sparks flew off in random directions, and it faded away without incident. Hector glanced over at Osvald, smiling nervously; he looked pleased, but probably wanted some reassurance, too.

"Much better," Osvald said, and Hector's grin widened. "Now, both of you look at this part of the spell. It's easier to control the size if you focus on this specific variable…"

He added an extra formula to the board, and he underlined the variable in question. Elena and Hector nodded as Osvald launched into his explanation. This was something he could do, something he could easily teach them. Osvald knew Elena enjoyed it: she was utterly entranced as he demonstrated various equations and spells. As the evening went on, Hector grew more comfortable with it, too. He only tried a few more times, but it was progress.

And if it was something everyone enjoyed, then…well, Osvald could be proud of himself. It was hard to feel like a poor father when his children looked so happy, and he decided this was a good thing for all three of them.

Between schoolwork and magic lessons with Papa, Hector was busy. He still mostly watched when Papa and Elena practiced together, but he joined in a few more times after the lightning lesson. Hector had been certain Papa would yell at him for hitting the rug, but…he hadn't. That made him much less wary on the topic. His progress was slow, but Papa made it easier to understand than Harvey ever had, and Elena usually hugged him in excitement when he got something right.

It was…well, it was nice, for lack of a better word. He knew Papa and Elena liked him, of course. But Hector felt like he was really fitting in with them now.

School got easier, too. He still got weird looks in the hallways and cafeteria, but his classmates put up with him. Some of them just kind of ignored him, and Hector wasn't sure how to feel about that. But Elizabeth was nice to him, and her friends were used to him. She asked several more times when she could come over to play, and, a month and a half after school started, Papa finally said she could.

"Once I've finished the swing set," he always said. "It'll be easier to keep an eye on you when I'm less busy. And you'll have something extra to do."

So, that afternoon, he and Elizabeth met each other on the stairs like they always did. Sometimes both her parents met her after school, but today it was just her mother. She took Elizabeth's hand as they searched for Papa, and Elizabeth bounced excitedly on her feet as she narrated their day at school.

Finally, Hector found Papa in his usual spot off to the side. Elizabeth paused and whispered, "Why does your papa always look like that? He's kinda scary."

"No, he's not! Watch," Hector replied confidently. Then, he turned and called, "Papa!"

Predictably, Papa's face softened from its neutral, borderline glare into a much warmer smile. He accepted Hector's hand and said, "Ah, Hector. How was your day?"

"Good! We got the math papers back today. I got all of them right!"

"Very good; I knew you would."

Then, he looked up and started talking to Elizabeth's mother as they walked to the secondary school. Hector didn't pay much attention; he was too busy explaining to Elizabeth that they had to pick up Elena before they went home. Still, a few phrases popped out here and there. He very distinctly heard, "Well, she's been talking about him so much, it hardly seemed fair to say no," and "I see you're giving him a chance, then."

Then, Elena disentangled herself from a few other girls in her class and eagerly greeted Hector and Papa. She added to Elizabeth, "Your hair ribbon's cute! It reminds me of one I used to have." Not long after, they arrived at home, and Elizabeth's mother paused to examine the house before relinquishing her.

"A nice place you have here," she observed. "She'll be all right. Elizabeth? I'll be back to pick you up by six thirty."

Elizabeth wrinkled her nose. "But Mama, that's so early!"

"Maybe I would let you stay longer if you hadn't brought that bird in the house last week." Her tone was an odd mixture of exasperation and amusement. "Now please behave, young lady."

"Fine," Elizabeth groaned as she waved goodbye. Then, everyone went inside to set their things down, and Elizabeth immediately poked around Hector's room. She took an instant liking to some of the shells Hector had picked up on his trip to Conning Creek, as well as the flute Papa had bought him in Toto'haha.

"See? I'm pretty good," Hector said proudly after playing a few notes. "Oh, let's go outside. I can show you Elena's flowers."

Elizabeth followed him to the back yard, and Elena was happy to point out which flowers were which. "Mama's got some roses, too, but she always plants pink ones," Elizabeth commented as she looked at the bush in question. "And I helped her plant some new stuff yesterday. Oh, can we climb that tree?"

There were several scattered around the yard, and Hector squinted at the one she indicated. It was one of the taller ones, and he'd already tried jumping up most of the others. The challenge would be fun; he just hoped Papa agreed to it.

He'd followed them outside, spreading a few books out on a small table on the porch. Papa glanced up, obviously having heard the discussion. Then, he sighed and said, "I don't think that qualifies as 'behaving,' but I suppose if no one gets hurt, I can pretend I didn't see it."

Elena laughed; she was perched on a nearby chair with a book of her own. "That means 'You can do it, but be careful.'"

"You should behave, too," Papa replied flatly, but he said nothing when Elena giggled again.

Hector grinned as he looked back at the tree. Then, he shifted carefully and sprung upwards. He just barely reached the lowest branch, and while the bark scraped his hands and knees, he kept his grip well enough. He slowly edged upwards until he got his legs over the branch.

Soon, Hector was perched comfortably, and he glanced down at Elizabeth. She was laughing in excitement as she inched her way up the trunk. Her shoes skidded against the bark every now and then, but she didn't care. After several minutes of work, Elizabeth was proudly seated next to him, and she observed the yard beneath them before nodding decisively.

"…Want to do it again?"

Hector nodded in return and scrambled back down the tree. This way, he climbed as intended—it was easier going down, and he didn't think jumping when there wasn't a convenient Beastling there to catch him qualified as "behaving." Still, they scaled the tree three more times before Elizabeth declared she wanted to try the swing set.

Papa had to lift her up so she could reach the seat. It had specifically been adjusted to Elena's height, and Elizabeth was much shorter than she was. She whispered an amazed "Whoa" when he picked her up with one arm, and Hector glanced over at Papa expectantly. After a few seconds of silence, he sighed and lifted Hector up as well.

"You're tall enough to reach," he said, but he did it anyway, and there was a hint of amusement in his voice.

They spent a long time on the swings, with Elizabeth rambling about how she had to have one of her own, but her mother certainly wouldn't let her after the bird incident, which meant she had to come over and use Hector's as often as possible. She was further cheered up when they went inside and Hector let her try out his flute, too. Dinner was at the tavern that evening; Papa could cook a little, but this made it feel "more special." Besides, Hector could get the roasted octopus he always liked to eat there.

By the time Elizabeth's mother picked her up, Hector decided he'd very much enjoyed himself. Elizabeth pouted as she left, but declared that Hector would have to visit her next time. She waved as she darted off, and although he waved in return, he was sad to see her go.

"…Hector?" Papa said as they closed the door. "I'm glad you're making friends."

Hector thought there was more to Papa's statement than what he'd said. But considering how awkward Hector felt on his first day of school, he understood the intention well enough. He, too, had been surprised yet pleased that Elizabeth was so happy to talk to him.

"Me, too," he declared with a nod.

It did make school more bearable—so Hector decided he'd be fine after all.