[Mingler] Happy Easter, for the kid in all of us

[chevalier_boy]

The past few days and nights, Riku has been busy, hardboiling eggs and coloring them. And he's also been kindly asking the Plothole to give him several dozen chocolate eggs and plastic eggs full of jelly beans and malted milk eggs. Late Saturday evening, he slips out to hide the colorful treasures in the bushes and flowerbeds and under the trees in

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[ofsandandstone]

Lystra's gone out for a walk in the grounds, though she's not getting anywhere terribly quickly, because Tyan's holding her hand and eighteen-month-olds don't walk very fast. She stops when she catches a glimpse of something colourful in a clump of grass, and she bends down to pick it up.

Anyone else who's around might run into her. She's standing at the side of the path with a painted egg in her hand, staring at it curiously. She has no idea what Easter is, of course, so she hasn't got a clue what it was doing there. But it's pretty and she likes it.

[aperion_oneiros]

Cobb is out and about, getting some fresh air: the Easter eggs remind him a bit of his kids, which has caused him to feel a twinge of homesickness.

But spying Lystra, enraptured by the egg, he snaps out of this. "Found a treasure?" he asks.

[ofsandandstone]

"It's beautiful," Lystra says, eyes wide. Then, a moment later, "What is it?"

[aperion_oneiros]

"It's an Easter egg: little bit of art made from an egg," he says. "Someone likely put it out for an Easter egg hunt."

[ofsandandstone]

"What's an Easter egg hunt?" Lystra asks, probably looking like she's on the verge of squealing with excitement. Because she can just tell that, whatever it is, it's going to be amazing.

[aperion_oneiros]

"Folks hide these in the bushes and the flower beds for kids -- or kids at heart -- to find," he says. "I did this for my kids last Easter."

[ofsandandstone]

"You mean there are more of them?"

[aperion_oneiros]

"Saw a few over by the azaleas and more among the greenery by the pond in the front yard," he says. "Want me to get you a basket so you can carry them? Saw a stack put out on the porch."

[ofsandandstone]

"Yes!" Lystra replies. "I have to find more of them!"

[aperion_oneiros]

"Be back in a shake," he says, and he'll be on his way. He'll return a few moments later, carrying a deep, lavender basket. "This'll do," he says, holding it out to her. "I'll show you to a few I spotted."

[ofsandandstone]

Lystra takes the basket and places the egg in it gently, almost reverently. She is standing on tiptoes because she is just that excited. "Do you know how many there are?"

[aperion_oneiros]

He smiles at that reverence: it's quite sweet, even childlike, really. "Likely several dozen: people usually put out a fair number," he says. "Place this big, whoever planned this probably put out a whole lot of 'em."

[ofsandandstone]

"Then we'll have to find them!" Lystra says, and, typist willing, she may even grab Cobb's hand and start dragging him along after her.

[aperion_oneiros]

He chuckles a bit, letting himself be dragged along, actually charmed by this: she's adorable, like a kid herself. "Lemme get a basket of my own: we'll likely need another one," he says.

[ofsandandstone]

Lystra almost pouts at that, but not quite. "Don't take too long," she tells him, very seriously. She doesn't want her Easter egg hunt to be delayed a moment longer than necessary.

[aperion_oneiros]

He's already turned to set off for the porch, but he calls over his shoulder. "Won't be more than a moment, I promise."

And he'll come back momentarily, walking quickly but with a bit of a spring in his step, carrying *two* more baskets, just to be sure. One for each of them.