15520/Visiting the Village in the Reeds

Visiting the Village in the Reeds
Date of Scene:	01 August 2023
Location:	Boarder of Sudan and Egypt, Africa
Synopsis:	Tim Drake joins Phoebe Beacon on an errand to her village of birth to join her in updating the code on the magic shield that hides the ruins from society at large. He also gets a lesson in the history of her biological ancestors and pets TWO supernatural good boys.
Cast of Characters:	Phoebe Beacon, Tim Drake

---

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe had mentioned she had an errand to run, and had asked Tim if he wanted to go to Egypt for a couple of hours. Not intending on any combat, just some upkeep.

    So when they arrive via portal, which leaves a clad-in-shorts-and-T-shirt-Phoebe a little woozy due to distance, Tim would find himself in the midst of the desert, with the cloudless blue sky above, the pinkish sands below, and the waters of the nile sparkling in the evening's setting sun.

    It's also ninety-five degrees, but at least it's a dry heat.

    SO THEY SAY.

    The village itself is in disrepair, but at least the dead have been laid to rest. There is a fissure in the sands that leads down to the gaping maw of the Old Library, which has been cleared of its books for some time thanks to Bart's help. The low building which had been a hospital at one point has new windows that were inexpertly put in, and the central well now has a pavillion over it to provide shade for the water.

    Phoebe adjusts her sunglasses, and Idu (wearing boots to protect his paws), lopes gracefully, though stays close to Tim.

    There are signs, here and there, of the battle that occurred nearly two years ago now, but the sands tend to swallow the details.
    "Welcome to Iaru Weyat."

Tim Drake has posed:
    Tim is dressed for the desert, so long sleeves and pants, because he's a delicate Gotham flower who will burn if he's exposed to the sun for any serious length of time. All thanks to Jack Drake's WASPy heritage. He steps out of the portal and puts a hand out to steady Phoebe, eyebrows drawn together under the rim of his Gotham Giants cap.

    Hilariously, Tim still hates football. It was probably a gag gift from one of his brothers, because why else would he have it?

    "You good?" he asks quietly, and then turns his gaze to survey the area. A pair of sunglasses are produced from his pocket and slid on quickly, so they're matching in that respect. For a long while after that he stays silent, just looking, sometimes watching Idu with a small smile on his face. But when Phoebe offers the welcome, he looks over at her and nods once, his expression gone serious.

    He takes a few steps, then blows out a breath. "So much has happened since then."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe forgives Tim his unfortunate paleness. THey both also tend to work nights; tanning isn't a thing the Bats do.

    "I'm fine... I haven't transported someone else out here that way. Just... distance plus power draw with no resistor -- ohms." Phoebe jokes, and she straightens up as she looks over the village. Her expression softens.

    "Yeah. A lot has happened." she replies to him gently, and she blows out a puff of air, and picks up a pack.

    "There's still a spell over the village. You can't see it from outside a certain range. Just looks like a sudden drop into the Nile. The spell has been going for a couple hundred years now, I try to come by once a month to fine-tune it. Zatanna helped me originally, but she got busy. Usually it's me an' Idu."

    Idu's curly-cue tail gives a wag, and he hops up and down a few times, nosing at Tim's hand a moment as the wind picks up off the river, adding some cooling breeze.

    "I... think you're the only other person I've brought here, actually." Phoeb turns to look at Tim. "You're kind of the only person I trust witht he place."

Tim Drake has posed:
    "Makes sense," he says of the magical power required for transportation over such a far distance. Sometimes the supernatural stuff follows his expectations, and Tim likes it when that's the case. Other times it makes no sense at all, and all that's left to do is fumble at the lack of understanding.

    But he's here to be understanding, as much as he can, for Phoebe. So he adjusts the shoulder strap of his own backpack and smiles at her, waiting for her to take the lead on this.

    Tim's no natural leader. It's all learned skill, watching other people. Bruce. Dick. But he's learned well, and now it's more habit than not, to take charge. But he purposefully pushes that instinct down, here. In fact, all he does is bend down a little to give Idu a little rub to his furry noggin. "Thanks, Phoebe. I really appreciate you putting your trust in me like that. Just tell me what you need me to do, and I'll handle it."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    And lead in Phoebe does.

    "We've got the hospital, some of the houses have been repaired enough for overnights. The church doors were too heavy and really too old and even Wayne money can't source the right materials, but at least the canvas curtain is keeping out most of the sand that gets blown in. Everyone's moved to the Necropolis now, so..." she pauses, and realizes she's prattling on. "There's... no remains up here." she states, and gives a momentary frown, pursing her lips.

    "Of course I put my trust in you. I've never doubted you." Phoebe states, and she pulls out grapple line, which makes a very handy belay rope as she secures it to the wood pavillion above the well.

    She doesn't look at him as she prepares ropes. "You're the only one who's never given up on me, you know? You and Bruce. And that's pretty much the reason why I piss Jason off so much when I don't take him up on offers to repair gear at his place." she jokes, "'blind fanatical devotion'."

Tim Drake has posed:
    Tim's quiet on the walk-in, just letting Phoebe talk, letting her words wash over him as he takes in the village as it is now. Already so different than what he remembers, but his memory is dark and shadowed and full of terrors, not this bright place.

    As she sets up the ropes, Tim crouches down and gives Idu some proper attention, rubbing behind the ears with both hands vigorously. Well away from the crevasse, of course, a good safe distance so that Idu won't get too overexcited and risk getting hurt.

    "Blind fanatical devotion? Can't say I know what that's like," he jokes back, looking over his shoulder with a playful smirk on his face. "I get it, Pheebs. We all have our ways of showing it... but I get it."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Idu soaks up the love like he does the rays of the sun, turning and leaning against Tim, his jaws open and blue eyes looking up at him with mirth before he simply rolls onto his back in the shade and puts up his dukes, belly-up.

    Phoebe does give a small snort of laughter.

    "Yeah, I guess we're both kinda tied up in the whole mentor-student thing." she jokes, and then she looks at the rope.

    And then attempts to not burst into laughter.

    "All right, so most of the way down this well there's an opening. That's where the -- ah.. it's basically like a sarcoughagus but there's no one in it -- it houses the spellwork for the shield. We're going down there. Just nice to have company in case I fall in the well... again."

Tim Drake has posed:
    Tim's back up on his feet, leaving Idu there on his back with his legs in the air as he comes to where the ropes are attached. "Most of our family are co-dependent. We just don't like to admit it, along with all of our other unhealthy habits," he points out as he kneels there, estimating the drop down to below.

    His head tilts back after so he can look up at Phoebe. "Sure. I can bore you with more amazing obscure trivia, if you want. Or we can just... talk about stuff. Whatever you want."

    Then he picks up one of the ropes and, out of habit, gives it a quick tug as a test. He does this to every line he repels down, even his own; a symptom of one too many close calls.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    IDU LOOKS OFFENDED. He opens his mouth as if to say something, and then lets his jaw close before he rolls back over, shaking off the sand, and lopes over gracefully.

    One lope.

        Two Lopes...

    "IDU, NO!" Phoebe makes a dive for the dog.

    And then right into the well. There's the whistle of wind, and then a SPLASH that echoes.

    Phoebe Makes the :| face.

    "He's smarter than that." she assures Tim, as if the dog made a completely conciencious decision to swan-dive into the village well.

    Phoebe secures the line, throws it over the stone edge of the well and then just tips back in.

    And ther's a SPLASH that accompanies her as well.

Tim Drake has posed:
    Tim can't help but burst out laughing as Idu swan dives right into the well. He clutches his stomach after a second or two, lifting a hand to point before it drops back to his midsection, and then he's bent over, wheezing with the force of his laughter. There are tears starting to gather in his eyes. "Oh my god," is the only thing Tim can get out for a few moments, just that phrase repeated several times over, in-between ragged breaths.

    Finally he manages, "I can't believe he just did that," and wipes the tears from his eyes on the back of his hand, careful not to get his palms wet right before planning to take a rope over the edge.

    He grabs the other line and descends over the edge, much more carefully than Phoebe (or Idu), it's a slow downward climb towards the bottom.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "OBVIOUSLY on the next LARP run we have to bring Idu along. And you should definitely kidnap Yap for the weekend!" comes Phoebe's voice from the well.

    As Tim decends, it gets cooler -- much cooler -- from ninety five to ninety, to eighty, to somewhere in the comfortable seventies that a Son of Gotham would actually be comfortable with. It's about a forty foot drop, give or take, and 'mostly down' is right about at thirty seven feet, and several feet to the inside.

    What Tim might notice is that... there are a lot of holes. And passages. This rock was carved out and honey-combed, holding items wrapped in linen, tied with copper wire.

    He may be reminded of Phoebe's ill-advised Jar of Hearts work -- but this looks all very, very old. At least with the air coming up from below it doesn't smell musty.

    Just mildly wet.

    Phoebe is wringing out her hair, hair wrap limp around her shoulders as he approaches the bottom, where the water lays deep, occasionally bubbling, and in the distance there is the sound of falling water, out in the darkness.

    Idu has made his way up a narrow ramp in the limestone and sandstone that was carved out here, probably for the church and buildings above. The water reflects the uneven light from above.

    "The well water's very deep and cold. It passes through sand and limestone -- and I think further up there's a primitive charcoal layer, that came from the Nile before it was dammed to make Lake Nasser." Phoebe explains to Tim, with a crooked grin.

    "There's some pipes that lead up to the hospital and the church, I think, but most everyone would just get their water in buckets, if they weren't from the lower fields where flooding happened. Those also were lost when the river was dammed." Phoebe explains, giving Tim trivia!

Tim Drake has posed:
    "I think we might have to retire the story of Sir Yappington," Tim says, and there's a touch of sadness to his voice, his mouth forming into a frown.

    But he doesn't dwell on it, not for long, because now it's time to descend into the depths.

    He's silent as he does it, until he gets to where he needs to swing to the side, and he does so with a little "Urp!" of effort. When he manages to scrabble his toes onto solid ground, it takes him a moment to get properly latched on, but then he's standing and disconnecting himself from the line.

    "Love me some trivia," he says after Phoebe goes into detail, and he nods at her, encouraging her to continue if she has any.

    Then he pulls his backpack around and starts to dig through it. "Have you taken any photographs down here?" he asks. "I was thinking, uh, if you didn't mind... a shot from the well bottom looking up would be pretty cool. Trying to get into some of my old hobbies."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Go ahead, but keep in mind the village is haunted ay-eff. You might get extras. I might even be able to tell you who they are." Phoebe gives a wan smile over to Tim, and she looks up.

    "I'm just kidding. Just make sure you're not tagging on location with geoinfo. Officially you're under a lake." she gives a grin, and grabbing her (thankfully water proofed) side pack, she takes out a lantern and turns it on.

    This antechamber is cool too look at. Onyx statues of eight figures look over the waters, human faces set with lapis lazuli eyes that glimmer blue in the lantern light. Heiroglyphics are carved into the walls around them. The male statues have frog-like faces, and the females serpents. Each paired together carries a torch, an urn, gathered styluses, and empty hands.

    "I figured you'd be into this place more than anyone else. You're technically the first person who wasn't born here to see it in..."

    Phoebe pauses a moment.

    "Ever."

Tim Drake has posed:
    "Nah, don't worry," Tim says as he lefts an actual camera out of his bag. It's an older model DSLR camera, definitely not one equipped with any kind of GPS. "I meant with this bad boy."

    He makes a noise like he's struggling to lift it, because it's old and big and he's a Bat, he can play up the dramatics when it suits him. Apparently right now it suits him just fine. At the end, though, he smiles.

    For now the camera is set aside, as he has no intentions of taking pictures of any of the sacred monuments or carvings in the walls. Nothing that would possibly link anything back to Phoebe, he's too careful for that.

    "Thanks for the invite, then."

    The details do snag him, though, and he takes a long while to study the statues. The heiroglyphs are beyond his understanding just about entirely, but they're still interesting to look at, and he spends enough time that it honestly does look like he's trying to decipher them. But this is one language he does not read.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Well... you're my brother." Phoebe states quietly, and she looks up and over the statues.

    "You're the family I have. And family was important to the village." Phoeb points out, and she motions upwards "That's the history of the village. How when there started to be Hittite influence and concerns about outsiders seeing fear in the worship of the primordial dark, the ancestors decided to take their families and move to Upper Egypt, away from the major population centers. And they took with them their knowledge of magic, since they were blended Human and Homo Magi. They founded this village in the reeds of the Nile to remain hidden from the outside world for thousands of years, but just as Heka had gifted them a light in the darkness, which helped guide them here, so too did he ask nicely they use their abilities to help those outside the village. Kind of an 'or else' situation -- which is unusual because honestly? There's not a lot of record outside the village of gods directly telling people what to do. Other than recently, what with Khonshu and Thoth." her nose wrinkles.

    "That's the Ogdoad. The Primordial Gods, woken to existence at the edge of the primordial waters. My bio-mom wrote on them in her journal. She took a piece of Amunet's eye with her when she went to Oxford."

    IDu shakes off again, and begins to make his way further into the tunnel.

    "My uncle Marius had to get it back."

Tim Drake has posed:
    Tim smiles at that, and nods in confirmation. Brother and sister. Sibs.

    He listens to the story, tracing his gaze over the walls as Phoebe all but spells it out for him, the lines written into the stone. He commits it to memory in the way he does most things, intently, brow furrowed and -- as he removes the sunglasses and tucks them into his shirt -- eyes narrowed in focus.

    "It makes sense. People are always confused by what they don't understand... something that humans might never be able to shake."

    Idu's wandering catches Tim's interest, and he watches after the pup but doesn't move to follow just yet. Instead he stays where he's crouched, with his bag and his camera, and tilts his head.

    "Is that piece back here now?" he asks, mostly as a prompt to allow Phoebe to continue telling the story.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "I would assume so. Considering how I had to kinda --" she motions with her hands grabbing onto things "shimmy my way over to Amunet -- that's the serpent lady with the empty hands at the far end, representing 'what is hidden' -- popularised by the Assassin's Creed videogame." she offers as a joke, and she smiles.

    "Marius is the only one I remember, in person. He was a lab manager in Gotham for a walk-in employee health clinic. I haven't been able to track down a picture -- most everything was wiped out with the tidal wave." Phoebe talks, and she takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

    "C'mon --" Phoebe offers a hand down to Tim. "Wanna see the rest of the tunnel?"

Tim Drake has posed:
    The statue Phoebe indicates gets a side-eye, and then a from-the-front-eye as Tim turns properly to look at it. Her, he corrects mentally, since it's a representation of Amunet. Not one of his gods, but he can respect them nonelethess.

    Even as a staunch atheist. Yes, there is a reason for why he still doesn't believe, after everything. It's probably not the time and place to go into that, though.

    "Let me do some sleuthing, maybe I can find something?" he suggests as he repacks his camera back into his bag for now, since the photography will be a later thing. Instead he takes Phoebe's hand and pulls himself back up into a stand, adding "Yeah, absolutely," with a quick nod.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "That would be awesome actually. I'll get a list of the names he used around the world. I know he also took me to Cypress, Paris and London. I was pretty well traveled for an infant."

    "... and then spent fifteen years being terrified of leaving Gotham City."

    Idu gives a little yodel, and bounces further into the tunnel. Obviously not his first time around in the well -- which explains his swan-dive into the water.

    The rest of the tunnel has other figures carved into the wall, carefully illuminated with paints. Colorful depictions of people dancing, different figures with animal heads, and one male that has what look like touchdown hands on top of his head, surrounded by smaller people, dressed colorfully, though all of them are holding what looks like a star in their hands.

    And on the opposite wall there's a VERY confused man in a World War One-looking Armoured Car.

    "That's from the nineteen-thirties. Shield failed and someone got lost and pulled in to ask for directions."

Tim Drake has posed:
    "Sure. Just send it to my email, you know the drill, I'll see what I can dig up."

    Tim shakes his head a little about that bit on being too scared to leave Gotham City. "Feels like a lifetime ago, being that age," he mutters. But then he's smiling, trailing after Idu as he studies the walls and the dog trots ahead. The early 20th century man and vehicle definitely catches more of his attention, and he bends forward to get a closer look. "Wow," is all he says to that.

    "And now we're here to make sure the shield doesn't fail so something like that can't happen again, right?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "That's right. With no one here full time, there's no way to keep an eye on things. So keeping the shield up is the only way to protect the village and the necropolis." Phoebe states, and more modern scenes.

    WWII with planes and marching Nazis rendered in traditional Egyptian style, along with other soldiers with British, American, French flags. King's speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

    Something that appears to be Woodstock.

    The fall of the Berlin Wall.

    "It does feel like a lifetime ago. The first trip to Madripoor, I was so scared. Flying to the UK. Peru. Man that was fun."

    And then, after a couple more world events -- it stops. Just blank wall.

    And after some twenty feet of blank wall, there are blue and gold squiggles -- mostly blue. A couple that were filled in with white to match the limestone wall. And every once in a while the squiggle -- which are patterned, some sort of writing style, lists something in gold. Sometimes painted. Sometimes metallic.

    And there is another doorway, arching.

    "Okay. So this is the door to the sarcophagus room -- it's going to feel weird when you cross the threshold. Just as a head's up." Phoebe comments, as she pauses on her crossing, the hair on the back of her neck VISIBLY standing up.

Tim Drake has posed:
    The forward march of time is visible on the wall as Tim takes careful, inch by inch, steps through the tunnel. He's visibly fascinated by it all, mouth dropped open a little bit as he surveys the carvings.

    "We should go on vacation again, somewhere fun. Maybe Japan, or New Zealand, somewhere far away," he says quietly, thoughtfully, as he turns back to Phoebe.

    But maybe that's a conversation for another time too, not when Phoebe has duties to tend to down here. Tim is ostensibly here to keep company, of course, and that's a duty in and of itself. One he takes very seriously.

    He notes the squiggles but can't understand what they mean, though he suspects. Now is not the time to ask, though, and they're at the arched doorway anyway, so time to focus on the task ahead.

    "Right," he says, then takes a deep breath and steps through.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "You know that if we go New Zealand, we've got to take Nick, Nacho and JayJay. Ultimate LARP. They would lose their minds." Phoebe comments, and she gives a soft snort. "They'd also go for Japan. We all speak Japanese, thanks to our sensei."

    The doorway's threshold may feel cold. Like stepping through a thin sheet of ice that instead of shattering, it sort of.... stretches around him, like a plastic film. It tingles.

    And when he passes through, Tim would be able to see lights.

    They're blue, and there's the occasional gold blinking in and out among them. They look like fireflies and crystal balls, their lights glowing and growing and fading. A few flicker towards Phoebe, and a few curiously begin to slowly orbit Tim. There's a tinkling sound, like cold metal windchimes striking against itself, distant and ethereal.

    And in the middle of the room, a sarcophagus, made of stone and pitched at a 45 degree angle -- the face is the same figure with the 'touch down' arms over his head.

Tim Drake has posed:
    "Then let's do it." It's as simple as that, in Tim's mind. Gather up the friends and just go. And sure, he's a spoiled Bristol kid, so maybe he just thinks it's as easy as that.

    They have the money for it, after all. Hell, they have the private jet for it. Why not? It's not as if they have certain nighttime responsibilities that means they can't get away for any length of time any more.

    Oh yeah. That. Right.

    He steps through and shivers a little bit, not bothering to hide any reactions like he would if he were in the Red Robin suit. It makes him want to twitch his fingers, curl in his toes, but then he passes through and he's IN.

    His eyes reflect the lights, making them deeper color than their natural baby blue. He stares up at them for a long time, almost unseeing, until finally he can wrench his attention away to stare at the sarcophagus. He opens his mouth but decids against speaking, as if the feeling of this sacred space disuades him from doing so.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "All right. You tell MIT that JayJay has a Wayne Grant award that requires him time away from his studies though." Phoebe gives a smile. "And you know Nacho's going to pack his kazoo."

    The lights circle Tim, appearing to investigate him as he admires them. They dip around slowly.

    "You can ask anything you want." Phoebe replies, and she leans forward at the side of the stone, and pushes it forward, with some effort, enough that she can get a hand inside. "I don't need to talk to do the upkeep. /Thank Goodness/." she adds, and begins to unroll a couple of items. Burned wood. A vial of a red liquid that has somewhat separated. Idu stays near Tim, though he's also fascinated by some lower lights, ears flicking up.

    "This is... kind of like the Core at the Roost. Zee and I did shoring of the shield up above, but it's easier to do it closer to the mechanism."

Tim Drake has posed:
    Tim just shakes his head. Whatever questions he had are unimportant in this moment. To be so visibly confronted with magic is still something of a strange situation for him, because he'll never be anything but baseline human. Its'an experience, alright.

    The lights circle him and Tim obligingly lifts up his arms for their investigation. But then finally he's stepping forward.

    "I can see why you might say that. And they're both water-cooled, after all," he jokes a little bit.

    Idu being nearby is a good thing. The dog is a comfort to Tim, who reaches down again to cup his head around the scenthound's fuzzy head.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Idu is the best boy. He'd tell Tim that absolutely, but sometimes words don't need to be exchanged. However, there are *two* fuzzy heads.

    One is far fuzzier and a good deal more stout than the narrow head and long ears of Idu, and the Dutch Shepherd sits down at Tim's side, tongue to the side.

    "Oh yeah, both water cooled, I get it. Smart." Phoebe gives a small grin, though she doesn't look over to where there are suddenly TWO good boys. though one is see-through.

    "This is a bit like programming, in this manner. I'm basically going through and updating someone else's code so that the program, the shield, doesn't crash."

    Phoebe straightens up. "...it's antivirus updates." she makes the connection, and she takes a deep breath, and lets it out.

Tim Drake has posed:
    And now there are two dogs. This is unexpected.

    Can you pet a ghostly dog apparition? Dammit, Tim's going to try. He hovers his hand over where the big boy's head is and slowly drags his hand back. He has no idea if he'll even be able to feel the dog at all, but he might as well try.

    Successful or no, he still tries.

    "Do you want me to sit down or stay standing? And, uh, is there anything I can do?" he asks.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Tim *CAN* pet the ghost dog! It surprises the heck out of the dog, whose ears flick up, but excitedly leans into the petting with ENTHUSIASM. It feels a little bit like petting through stringy tingly jello, but there is a level of solidity to the dog, whose stub of a tail wags in joy.

    "Oh, you can sit down, this isn't a church. The Ogdoad don't really... they're not *human*? Not in the way we see it? And Heka's not 'here-here'. I'm just doing a circle and recharging with some stuff and things... just nicer to have someone along to run errands. And I mean --" she motions in a round-wristed way "you're family. So you can be down here chillin'."

    Idu allows the ghost dog to have the affection. This once.

Tim Drake has posed:
    Thus, Tim ends up on the ground with both hands busy petting dogs. One hand for Idu, one hand for the ghost dog, and he has the physical stamina of a Bat so he can keep it up for a loooong time. However long it takes Phoebe to do what she needs to do, Tim will keep up with the pettings.

    "Thanks, for inviting me here Phoebe. I really appreciate it," he says as he continues looking around.

    His fingers scritch in the best places, right behind the ears and under the chin.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Thank you for coming with me. It's... it's really nice actually to have someone down here. While I'm work--" Phoebe looks over.

    nd her eyes light up in delight as the sheep dog leans over more into Tim, from the front, attempting to knock him down in order to apply dog-to-human affection via GHOST DOG KISSES! Its butt is wriggling at high speed back and forth, and though there's substance to the dog, there's not a lot of... heft. It's like petting aerogel. Covered with tingling and spaghetti.

    "Oh good! I was hoping the high energy would produce him!" Phoebe plunks down on her own butt.

    "He's been following you around for a while!"

Tim Drake has posed:
    Well, produce him it did, and despite the strange feeling Tim is soldiering on to make sure this Goodest of Boys gets his pet quotient in while he is... at least semi-opaque.

    "Yeah, I figured he was. He's a good boy, though, even when he causes trouble at the Roost."

    But don't worry, Idu isn't being neglected. Even when Tim is being attacked with ghost dog kisses, he makes sure to keep one hand scritching the other good boy. Gotta spread the love.

    "Just let me know when you're done. I could legitimately do this all day."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Good. This might take a bit, so you just give him all the attention. It's been centuries and he's been so good watching his sheep." Phoebe comments, and she gives a whistle to Idu, so that Tim can double-hand pet the ghost dog.

    "I've been calling him Lekker. It means 'nice' in Dutch, but also, y'know. Sounds like Lick-er. Referencing Ghost Pokemon moves." Phoebe gives an embarrassed smile.

    BUt work on Phoebe does, with one hand on the circle doing the work, and the other hand scritching at Idu's still-damp fur.

    And the little orbs continue to swoop in to observe Tim, and the dogs get all the pets.

    ... and Phoebe may take just a little more time to make sure Tim has all the time *he* needs, because that's what good siblings do.