"Please address all questions related to my person to me," said Rhodes, but not unkindly. "And yes, I believe I did wink at you; but it rather ruins the effect if you mention it." They walked in silence for a while, with the noise of the crowd and the chattering of the two children accompanying them. Suvi and Elliot were running about here and there, then running back, with all the energy that only children could have. Sivain thought he saw Suvi disappear into the bakery one last time, but he was in no state to monitor her very closely, let alone stop her. That had been her plan with the boxes, hadn't it? Encumber him so that he couldn't interfere with her quest for sweets. He sighed; she was getting to be a devious one.
"I'm, uh... thankful to you. You know, for what you did for Elliot," Charlie said. She sounded as if she wasn't used to saying anything like this.
Rhodes took it in stride. "Your brother is a very sweet child," he said. "Besides, everyone deserves a little cheer this time of year."
"I thought you didn't celebrate Christmas," Sivain quipped. The cat dug his claws into his shoulder, but Sivain was still grinning at having scored a point against him.
"Yes, well," he said, "perhaps I will come around."
[50: Bakery]
((hopefully these posts count; it's close but I think technically it hasn't quite been 24 hours? 8D; ))