Stella: thank you, reese. how was your day?
Reese: Uhhhh, I went to work again, and oh! Inalia was there today. She's usually with her father, but I guess she was just over at the tavern for some reason. She helped me with work, and so I did better today. It's still really scary, but she's super nice, so that helped.
Stella: i'm glad she was there. did you two talk about anything?
Reese: Welllllll, she told me yesterday that Kenik had to go to see her father because he got in a fight. He helped him, and the whole time, Kenik was looking at her, and she was blushing, because she thinks he's super cool, even though he's like all the guys who grow up and become bad guys in stories, but anyway-
Stella: in which stories do children like him grow up to be villains?
Reese: I, um, it, the, um-
As Reese stammers for an answer, Stella smiles to herself. It's amusing, and furthermore, she's secretly very happy that her daughter is teaching herself to read. After her husband passed, literacy left the family. All that said, she worries that Veli is at fault for Reese's tendency toward isolation and secrecy, though he's so hard on himself it's difficult to be upset with him.
Reese: But ANYWAY, mom. GEEZ, I'm just trying to tell a story.
Stella: alright, dear, continue.
Reese: So like I was saying, Inalia was telling me about this, and how they were totally going to get married when they grew up. But then I asked her if she really wanted to marry him, because his father is so mean and everything, and she asked me what I meant. I pointed out his father, the man I told you about that's always at the bar, and always getting in trouble with Ireta? Do you remember?
Stella nods, as she would remember the man even without Reese's words. Kenik is the only reason that man hasn't been kicked out of town yet.
Reese: Right, so, I pointed him out, and Inalia was super surprised. She was like, there's no way that's him, he's all stinky and ugly. But then he heard her! And glared at her. We were really scared, like, I'm always scared, but this time we were really, really scared, but Ireta came over and was like, if you so much as steal a glance at my daughter again, I will claim your tab right now and you will never return to this tavern again. So then he glared at her, and she did her piercing gaze thing (remember how she looks at you, and Inalia calls it her piercing gaze?), and she was super cool, and eventually he like did the, like, the breath thing where you go---
He scoffed. She's looking for scoffed.
Reese: And then he turned away. Then we went back and I was like, see? I don't know if marrying Kenik is a good idea, especially because he's kind of mean to me as well. But Inalia was like, no, he's not actually mean, he just looks like it on the outside. I don't think that makes any sense though.
Stella: no? She may be right, darling.
Reese: But mom, he pushed me down and kicked me like a week ago. He called me a book girl.
And only CG is allowed to call her a book girl.
Stella: ...oh, reese, you never told me. were you alright,?
Reese: Yeah. I was fine. That's just where those bruises came from.
Stella figured it must have been one of the other kids, she just didn't want to pry.
Stella: well, please tell me next time something like that happens, okay? i can't to do much like this, but it eases my mind to know you are not lying to me.