[for Niko]

[onceaqueen]

The hurricane had been rather frustrating for Susan. Her house had mostly remained undamaged, save for a few small things here and there that had been inconsequential enough that Susan had been able to fix them herself quite easily in her free time--although as anyone with two small children under the age of three knows, free time is a precious

Comments

[fears_nothing]

Training a direwolf was a bit more of an undertaking than Niko was used to but it was a nice way to pass the time when there was a surplus of it on the island. Training Hal and Cal took less and less time daily, especially when the idea of a threat seemed so far away and almost as if it were another life entirely. Still, no need to let the sword go dull, even a proverbial one and to that end, Niko still trained.

Today, however, he'd decided to go to see Susan and allow his new direwolf the opportunity to bond with his mother and siblings, as well as Susan's own children. As close as friends as they'd become, Faolan would need to be as accustomed to their family as he was to Niko's own.

He wasn't surprised to see Susan in the garden as she was often there but he was surprised to see the mess it was in. The hurricane, he mused, and drew a little closer.

"Edmund hasn't taken care of that?"

[onceaqueen]

"Oh, no," Susan said, looking up with a smile. She was never quite sure when Niko would appear, but his visits were never unwelcome. "I haven't asked him to. For one thing, the ground has been far too soggy to even attempt to do anything--just a huge patch of mud, really. It's only now dry enough to work with."

[fears_nothing]

"I don't mind," Niko said, kneeling down next to her in the garden. Faolan ran off to sniff at Shadow and Niko busied himself with clearing away a few of the ruined plants. "I just imagined Edmund would rather take care of it for you. He was a little...perturbed when I did the roof repairs in July. I don't want to encroach on a brother's place."

[onceaqueen]

"Edmund is very good to me," Susan said, with a great deal of fondness in her voice for her brother, who she knew would drop anything for her to help her out if she asked him to. "And he's more help than I really deserve. But I don't like to bother him for every little thing. The garden is sort of my pet project, I suppose. I like doing it myself--not that your help is unwelcome. It's most appreciated."

[fears_nothing]

"I can stop," Niko promised, smirking a little before going back to his own task. "I wouldn't want you to feel like I was infringing on your independence. You have more of a real home than most people on the island. I've never had anything like this, not here, not anywhere. It's...comforting, in a way, that some people have."

[onceaqueen]

"I've been here longer than most people on the island," Susan said. "In a few months, it will be five years. Things sort of happen when you're in a place for so long. And I like to stay busy."

She pulled a soggy vine from the ground, checked to see if anything could be salvaged (it couldn't), and discarded it. "If you were infringing on my independence, I would tell you. But you aren't. I rather enjoy polysyllabic conversation from time to time," she teased.

[fears_nothing]

"I am good for that," Niko promised, laughing a little before falling into companionable silence to work. "How's Rickon today? I don't see him around wreaking havoc as usual."

Susan seemed calm, which meant he wasn't missing.

[onceaqueen]

"He's out 'fishing' with Jack," Susan answered. Her emphasis on the word fishing meant that they were likely poking at the water with sticks--or at least Rickon was--as opposed to actual fishing. "He'll be back around lunchtime, I suppose, ready for his afternoon nap."

[fears_nothing]

"Hopefully something approaching worn out," Niko said wryly. "Jack is a patient man, to take him off your hands. I think karma took pity on you with Helen. I assume she's asleep?"

It was fond, because Niko was fond of Rickon, but he much preferred Susan and Helen's quiet natures as they were more in sync with his own.

[onceaqueen]

"She is," Susan said. "She usually has a nap in the morning and one in the afternoon--but when she isn't sleeping she likes to entertain herself. Sometimes I have to check to see if she's actually awake." Helen rarely made a sound, never cried, and Susan often went to check on her and found her happily playing with her toes or her blanket and quite content to stay there.

[fears_nothing]

"She favors you," Niko said, his hand brushing hers as he reached to pull out a tangled vine. "Beautiful, actually. You'll have to keep her locked up once she hits thirteen."

[onceaqueen]

Susan blushed, and her hand felt hot where Niko had touched hers. He'd given her a compliment she hadn't expected. "She looks like my sister Lucy did when she was small," Susan demurred, and concentrating a little more than necessary on the task in front of her.

[fears_nothing]

"I'm just glad I had a brother and not a sister," Niko mused, shaking his head a little. "I don't think I'd want to keep a sister with Cal's temperament from getting into trouble. It'd be even more of a full time job than it is right now."

[onceaqueen]

"So you think girls are less trouble than boys?" Susan teased. The majority of the ruined plants had been removed, and Susan began planting from the small basket of seeds nearby.

[fears_nothing]

"I think anyone is less trouble than Cal," Niko said, snorting a little. "I'm glad he's not a girl and that he didn't give me as much grief growing up as I like to say he did."

[onceaqueen]

"I trust he's staying out of trouble here on the island? It seems most people are, in general, as they don't have the same sort of situations as at home that bring on bad behaviour." That was her experience at least. Some people might be worse than at home, but Susan didn't usually see it that way.