[Citanul]

Setting up for the kids had proven to be an easy enough task. Kinead hummed to himself as he set up the tables full of treats, arranging them in such a way as to be easy to access for small hands. There were lollipops shaped like dragonflies with a rainbow of colors, tiny ham sandwiches cut out into dinosaur shapes, and many vegetables cut into similar shapes with little cups of dip. There were even little 'ants' made of grapes and pretzels, and a few bowls of cheddar crackers shaped like fish. Hopefully enough to satisfy the tiny stomachs that would have them. The groups of school children were here to learn about insects, and Kinaed had been told that the curator of the exhibit would be in with a few species to do a demonstration. Hopefully he wouldn't mind the bug-shaped treats.

[Freezair]

Coleo both loved and hated this time of year. He loved it because he himself got a thrill out of the nip in the air and the feeling of good cheer that pervaded the world. But he also hated it because it was a time when so many insects went dormant--either they hibernated, or they died off, leaving their eggs to hatch in spring.

But not the bugs at the zoo. They depended on him to take care of them, and people depended on him to talk about the bugs!

He walked into the warm, climate-controlled building the zoo used for its bug displays. Much of the zoo was done up in bright decorations for the season, and this warm building tended to draw crowds when it was nippy outside. The caterer was already there, setting up the goodie table for the kids who were doing the holiday zoo tour.

Coleo bent down over the dragonfly-shaped lollipops and his wings buzzed a little. He was a bit small for a Paragon, so that thankfully wasn't too much of a stir. "Absolutely incredible! The detailing on these is absolutely divine! Why, look at the veining on those wings! I'd half expect these to buzz away beneath my nose!"

[Citanul]

"Ah, thank you. I spent hours looking at illustrations to make those. I know the kids won't mind if thy don't look like dragonflies, but the adults will notice." The rest of the treats were rather simplistic and childish, but he had wanted to do this as a test of his own skill as well. They had turned out beautifully, he had to admit.

"There are plenty, you're welcome to have one as well! I think the kids should be here at any moment. You're the bug guy, right? Sorry, I don't know the proper name."

[Freezair]

"Oh, no no no! I could never take anything intended for children! Besides, the true artistry of these lies in the way they taste, and I would spend forever just gazing at it! That wouldn't be doing your delicious treats justice!"

Coleo buzzed happily at being recognized. Some people might take offense to being called "the bug guy," but the Carapice could think of no higher praise. "Ahh, of course! I'm Coleo," he said. "Or Coli, as some people call me, or just Cole, or even, yes, 'the bug guy.' Not too far off from what my stage name for children is--Mr. Buggy. I considered making a pun based on the scientific names of several arthropods, but I eventually decided they were far too tongue-twistery."

He grinned. "I do hope you're staying around, Mr. Artisan. Although I do love children, I confess--it's a great deal of help to have someone around to help corral them!"

[Citanul]

Kinaed couldn't help but chuckle softly, nodding along to Coleo's words. At least he was a happy fellow - but you had to have a great disposition to work with kids. Especially kids you didn't know. It was easy to be prepared for some kids with attitudes if you knew about it first, but you got a mixed bag from the public. Just had to smile through it and be kind.

"It's honestly great to meet you, Coleo. My name's Kinaed, and I would love to stick around to help with the children. I want to make sure they don't get too engrossed in their treats." These kids would be 6-7 years old, so still in the 'playing with my food' phase, but hopefully old enough to not gorge themselves. "Ah, yeah. Those old latin words don't roll off the tongue easily, do they?"

[Freezair]

"Yes, yes," Coleo nodded. "Horribly tricky to say. I used to have a butterfly-shaped ornithoper in the show, you know, that I called the Lepicopter. Well, it started out as the Lepi-copter-a, but that was too hard to say. Most people got Lepicopter. Unfortunately, it did not survive collision with a particularly robust visitor. A linebacker, as I later found out. Dearie me."

Coleo shifted awkwardly. "Heh heh. Never was terribly good with my claws anyway. Unlike you, clearly, those I suppose there is a difference between making delicate lollipops and piloting remote-control toys..."

[Citanul]

"Lepi-copter-a? Oh, oh, I get it." He laughed happily at the joke, grinning as he heard the sounds of scuffling shoes outside, and someone ushering the kids to move along. "Hey, we're all good at our own things. Cooking and baking are pretty much the only things I can do well. I'm no good with technology, or even magic. ...I've been told I do magical things in the kitchen though." He winked at Coleo as the kids stood at the door, paused for a few moments in wonder.

"Come on in, no need to rush." Kinaed walked over, crouching and smiling as he ushered the small group of kids inside, pointing over to the tables. It helped to be on their level - he was quite tall, even as a human. "Why don't we get plates of snacks, and see what Mr. Buggy has to teach us today?" Most of the kids seemed happy to agree to that, and he walked back over to the tables with them to help serve up the snacks.

[Freezair]

"Yes, yes! Welcome, one and all, to Mr. Buggy's House of Insects! Home of all things creepy and crawly and tickly and clicky! I'm your host, Mr. Buggy!" He wove in a circle to show them the inside of the arthropod display. The kids had already clearly been to some of the other exhibits. Many of them held on to coloring sheets, and a number of them had fingers gone sticky and red from the mini candy canes they were sucking on.

"You don't know it, but you've stepped into a special place right now. Or maybe you do!" His wings buzzed. "In much of the outside world right now, it's coooold. And when it gets cooold out, many of the insects we know disappear. Some of them, like ladybugs, hibernate. Yes, just like bears do! Others cannot survive the cold, so they lay eggs that will hatch in the spring. But in this special place, it stays warm year round. This is a paradise for bugs! And so, here, you can meet and play with creepy crawlies all year round!"

Some of the children looked a little unsettled by the prospect. Others seemed enchanted. It seemed there was no middle ground with bugs when it came to kids--either they were terrified of them or loved them.

[Citanul]

Kinaed seemed more than happy to let the other man work his magic while he helped the kids, getting them all settled down with their plates of treats. He even found one of his towels to wet with warm water and help the sticky little ones clean up to have their lunch. At least all of them were watching on with wonder, if a bit of trepidation. Even adults seemed like that, either fascinated or horrified by bugs, and nowhere in between.

"But why do they hibernate?" One of the little girls asked curiously, watching the small Paragon with some wonder. "Do they get sick if they get cold?"

[Freezair]

"An excellent question!" Coleo replied. "And it's a reason you'll find... right over here!"

Coleo swept his claw over the treat table. "You see, we have a lot of food in here. We can import fruits, veggies, and grains from places where it's still warm, or keep food fresh in refrigerators. But animals can't do that. So when winter comes, they have less food to eat. Some, like birds, migrate--when it gets cold here, they fly someplace warm where they have lots of food to eat still. But some hibernate. They eat a lot of food to store up energy, and then they enter a kind of sleep where they use up energy verrry slooowly until it gets warm enough for there to be a lot of food again."

"Isn't it nice that we don't have to hibernate?" he laughed. "If we did, we'd miss out on Christmas and Hanukkah and Valentine's Day and other holidays! Like Making Snowmen Day! ...Well, I think it should be a holiday."