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Elspeth supervises tranquilly.

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He knocks a hole in the wall and watches all the water trickle out. Then he patches it up, builds it higher, and runs back and forth to fill it again.

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Awww.

She'll just watch unless he decides to invite her to help.
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He is content to play in the sand by himself, apparently!

His pond walls get higher and higher until they collapse on themselves, filling the pond with loose sand. He giggles.
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Elspeth conjures up a book and reads it with half an eye, the rest of her attention on Harley.

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After a little while, he abandons his pond and comes over to look at her book.

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It's a short story collection. "Would you rather I read to you for a bit than keep working on your pond?" Elspeth asks.

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"Yeah! Read to me," he says, snuggling up.

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"All right," she says, and she finds something loosely age-appropriate - though Elspeth is not nearly good enough at keeping secrets to sustain this perfectly, she can manage as a general rule - and puts her arm around Harley and reads it aloud.

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Harley snuggles and listens, gazing at the pages of the book.

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Eventually the story concludes.

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But the cuddles do not!

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Okay then. Cuddles. Elspeth starts looking for another story acceptable for a toddler.

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Warm sunny cuddles!

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They've been out long enough that he's getting a little pink. She conjures him a bottle of ice water and hands it over; he wanted to try sunburn, not sunstroke. Then she finds a story that she thinks will be okay and starts reading it.

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Mmm, water! Water and reading and cuddles.

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All three of those things.

This story too ends eventually.
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So does the bottle of water!

But there are always more cuddles.
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Cuddles are infinitely available.

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That is good, because Harley wants lots.

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Elspeth does wonder what will happen to a small Joker who is hugged whenever he likes. Perhaps it won't make much long-term difference. But short-term difference suffices.

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The short-term difference is, he feels all warm and snuggly and nice!

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The warm may be partially from his blooming sunburn.

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But the snuggly and nice are from Elspeth.

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Yes. She takes full credit. Snuggle.

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