We took a detour to grab John on the way.
"Hey, John! Wanna stay at my house today?"
"Sure! Why not?" John walked to his kitchen window "Hey, ma! Can I stay at Ingen's today?"
"Yes, you may. Be back by noon tomorrow!" She shouted after us
********
We played tag on the way home and when I ran inside, I was met with my father's gaze.
He seemed unconcerned "Why you gotta leave your father like that? I wanted to ride Orin too."
'My mom seems to have accepted that I'm not anything like other kids, she's still smiling even though I basically ditched dad.'
'No, you should fear her the most when she's smiling...' Spirit's voice somehow trembled through the mind-link.
"No, Ernest, it's fine."
'By the five! Here it comes!' If Spirit could cower, he would.
"He just needs a 'stern' talking to." She took a length of wood with long-ruined runes on it out of her pocket.
'Oh no! She's getting the wand!' Spirit paused 'Wait... I can't feel pain, you're on your own kid.' The mind link shut down.
Mom lifted the wand into the air and was preparing to 'correct' my bad behavior when Laura stood in between us.
"What are you doing?" Mom was curious more than angry. "Can't you see I'm punishing my kid?"
"It's not his fault. He was... uh, helping me." Laura looked embarrassed
Mom glanced at dad and smiled.
"I guess that explains the lady who was ranting about an ungrateful child in front of your house."
Laura stifled a laugh at the image. Embarrassment forgotten, she spoke up.
"Can we stay here tonight? We want to have a sleepover."
"I'm here too by the way!" John shouted over the rest of us.
"Ah, so you haven't skipped all of your youth, sure, just don't hurt yourselves."
Mom was about to start going over the rules, but before she could start, John noticed a stack of blankets on our couch.
"BLANKET FORT!"
"Blanket fort!" Laura echoed
"Yeah! Blanket fort!" We were all in agreement.
"No! you're doing it wrong. It goes this way." I said that at least ten times throughout the endeavor, and in the end, we had the most over-engineered, up-to-code blanket fort in existence.
"They don't call you an engineer for nothing, this thing is crazy strong." John jumped up and down on its roof.
"Well of course it is! Triangles are really structurally stable, plus blankets have decent tensile strength..." I explained the principles behind the strength of the blanket fort to the wall.
"Hmm..."
"Yes..."
While Laura and John pretended to understand, a pleasant scent floated in from the kitchen.
"Dinner!" Mom shouted
Now with their excuse to leave, they ran to the kitchen. I followed.
"What's for dinner ma?"
"Fried Milfoil."
"Alright! My favorite!" John and I said in sync.
Laura was hesitant, I had never seen her horns before, but I'd be willing to bet that they're the same as a predator's, whose horns are usually hidden.
"So, sorry if this is rude, but what kind of horn do you have?" Mom asked before I could.
"I guess I'll have to show, why do you guys keep asking embarrassing questions?" She said as she turned around and lifted her hair.
She had a horn similar to Orin's but hers was vandalized, with paint and gashes covering the surface, just deep enough to cause pain, but never enough to affect her Eneru.
My mind blanked for a moment, then I had the memory of having my horns forcibly grown played in my head. My anger peaked.
"Who did it?" My teeth were bared, and my voice had a strained calm.
"I'm not telling, if I did, you would go recklessly hurt them."
"They did it to you, what's the difference?"
"The difference is that hurting someone because they hurt someone else just means that there's more pain in the world, and they would just take it out on another person in a loop of pain and suffering. Trust me, I know."
"I didn't ask for a life lesson. I asked who."
I felt a warm sensation in my head and I fell asleep.
--------
"Oooh, catch him!" Jordan commanded
John received the unconscious body of his friend and walked him to the blanket fort.
"You'll have to forgive him, he's going through the binding, and he's experienced the pain of damaged horns firsthand."
"It's ok, he's just concerned for me." A little red snuck up Laura's cheeks.
"You seem concerned for him. What do you think of my son? You are going through your binding right now if I'm right, ladies bind a year later."
The red in Laura's cheeks exploded "Well... I suppose I uh... like him? But I've only known him for a little and I kinda tried to hurt him when I first met him."
"Well the first problem can be solved with a little time, and you're already friends with Orin and you tried to hurt him too." Jordan's motherly instincts told her something was wrong, but she let it go.
"That's different!" Laura objected
"Nope, Ingen is quite simple despite his rants about structural integrity, you helped him out and now he thinks of you as a friend. You wouldn't be able to get rid of him if you tried."
John reentered the room and the conversation abruptly stopped.
"Now Laura, go see Orin, he's probably got some meat, I'll cook it up for you."
--------
I woke up early the next day and I was hungry.
"Dangit John! How did you eat so much milfoil!?"
There was not a single bit of it left.
"I am a big man alright!"
John was my age but was already almost double my height.
"Ugh, humans."