15 Harvest Festival 3 (2/2)
With a big smile, Seran bowed to her overdramatically, ”My pleasure to meet you, Lady Layla.” His cheeky behavior earned him a knock on the head from his father, making the boy stick his tongue out at Etienne with a playful look.
Layla had a slight grin as she looked at the pair, ”Quite a charming lad, he is, Etienne.” With a kind nod, she said, ”Layla Moontears. Pleased to meet you as well, Seran. You're very impressive for your age.”
Seran giggled just a bit, ”Hopefully not too impressive. Any more than usual and Nan would knock me senseless.”
This statement made the elf lady's smile widen, ”That she would, indeed. She's always been a strong woman, Eleanor. Takes a lot to rein in two hot-blooded men, let alone the many villagers she does now.”
”At the risk of sounding rude, did you know Nan when she was younger?” He asked very cautiously, knowing how dangerous it was to ask a lady her age.
While noticing Seran's nervousness from his question, Layla laughed, the bright sound mingled with the sounds of the festival, ”Yes, I have. From when she was no bigger than you. She was just as hot-blooded as her kin then, but she had better control over it. I've seen her give her father and brother more than a dozen knocks to the head. Of course, that was before she was blessed by your guardian spirit. After that, she spent more time throwing them into the river that runs not far from here.” The elf lady had a reminiscing look in her eyes, recalling many interesting moments involving Eleanor.
Etienne shivered a little, ”I've experienced her river-throw enough times to not want to endure it again... That river is cold year-round, so it's quite shocking to the body.”
As Seran and his father both started to overthink things, Layla shook her head with a smile and was about to continue when a little figure squealed and tried to tackle-hug Etienne. Since the chief was lost in his mind, he didn't react in time, but thanks to Seran, the little trouble-maker was caught in a big hug. The odd-eyed boy was halfway between giggling and pouting, ”Big brother caught me again...”
”Fen, I know you like to give big hugs, but right now isn't the time, okay? You don't want to embarrass dad in front of everyone, do you?” Seran nuzzled his little brother's hair softly, knowing it would calm him down.
”No...” mumbled Fenmore, who looked very sad all of a sudden.
”Don't worry, you can give dad big hugs later. Right now just isn't the time.” He set his little brother down on his feet and said, ”Fen, this is Nan's friend, Lady Layla.” He gestured to the elf woman, who still had a grin on her face.
”Hi, lady. You're very pretty,” the odd-eyed boy was always good at voicing his thoughts, which brought peals of bright laughter from the elf.
With a small blush of embarrassment, Seran introduced his little brother while ruffling his hair, ”This cheeky little bugger is my little brother, Fenmore.”
Layla smiled at the little boy, ”Well, aren't you an energetic bundle of giggles?” This only earned a big grin from Fenmore, who then heard several children calling for him to join them, so he ran off to play after saying goodbye. ”He's just as lively as Eamon was.”
”He's a special boy, Fen. He's been through a lot. Having lots of energy is the best thing for him.” Etienne could only watch his youngest son play with the other children, a spectacle which attracted the attention of many villagers, and just as many elves, all of which were at least slightly smiling at the sight.
The elf lady also watched before shaking her head amusedly; the sight of giggling and happy children was too pure to not enjoy. She was planning to continue talking about something else, but she noticed a male elf with dark grey hair and spectacles making his way over to them, a glitter of interest in his wise blue eyes.