He leaned back on his heels to watch, shifting his gaze to the snow-covered ground, brows lifting as he watched the little feat of magic. Piper had told him about the recent and apparent murders and the threats made against mages and magical types, and Des' brows furrowed. He swept a glance around to see if anyone had been watching before turning back to the little half-fae child with a small, strained smile. "Lynnie, that's....that's wonderful, but your mother is right. You have to be careful not to do that where anyone can see you."

"But it isn't bad magic," the little girl objected, her innocent face open as she pointed this out. "Look, I made a little person." She pointed with one gloved hand at the sapling. It was true; a tiny feminine shape was forming in the fresh green wood, drawing herself free to look around with new eyes and wonder. The tiny face was beautiful, looking up at Des and Lyneth with an equally tiny smile as her new oak shook its leaves. But the little smile turned to a wide-eyed look of terror as a shadow fell over the trio, and to Lyneth's utter shock, a heavy boot slammed down on top of her newly formed friend.

As the tiny girl cried out, the sapling withered where it stood, turning instantly from green wood to dead, lost without its spirit to care for it, while a harsh voice from the man who had approached them snarled, "Filthy mage. People like you should be locked up."

"What?" Des blinked in surprise when Lyneth pointed out the little person she'd just created, along with the sapling, clearly startled. The sapling wasn't all that unexpected, but the little fairy that came with it was. His eyes grew wide with wonder, his heart opening to the beauty of the moment, but the moment didn't last. "What the hell..." Des muttered as the shadow fell over them and a boot came down to stomp all over the beauty of Lyneth's creation.

Des' expression darkened as he rose to his full height, one hand guiding Lyneth behind him to shield her with his own body. Clenching his jaw, he curled one hand into a fist, blue eyes flashing with anger. If it wasn't for the little girl beside him, he would have decked the man without a moment's hesitation. "You have a problem?" he asked the man, face to face, almost daring him to repeat his words now that Des was standing at his full height.

Their unwelcome interloper didn't bat an eyelid. He was at least as tall as Des, thickset and bristling with anger that only just concealed the fear that had caused him to act. Fear of a tiny girl who was even now sobbing in the snow, cradling the broken body of her newest friend in her hands. "Yeah," he said in his harsh, unforgiving tone. "Yeah, I have a problem. That thing belongs to you? Keep it on a leash." Beside Des, Loki bared his teeth, growling at the man who had upset his mistress' daughter.

Des clenched his jaw tighter, his face flushing with anger, but on the surface he appeared to be the epitome of calm. He knew Lyneth was sobbing beside him, heart-broken by the man's callous act in destroying her creation and the tiny guardian who'd been born to watch over it. Des was seeing the world through new eyes suddenly, eyes that had once been blind to the magic around him but had been finally opened. "Lyneth," he said very calmly, never taking his eyes away from the man, holding Loki back with one hand. "It's time to go home." He would have sent her home by herself, but she was too young to be walking around alone, even with Loki as guardian.

"But ....h-he ..." The tears were so strong, so heavy, Lyneth couldn't even begin a sentence, much less finish it. But she was aware enough to understand that for some reason this man did not like her, and if Des had not been there, might have hurt her as well as her creation. Holding her fallen friend in her hands, she rose onto her feet, snotty and breathless with those uncontrollable sobs, leaning into Des' leg.

The unpleasant man with them looked down, looked the tiny girl right in the eyes. "Go home, freak," he snarled at her. "Be grateful it was just your magic trick that died this time."

Whatever control Des had on his anger snapped at the man's direct threat to the little girl. One fist shot out to connect with the man's face, solid as a rock, Des' expression as cold as stone, devoid of pity when it came to such a blatant display of hatred and cruelty, especially to one as young and innocent as Lyneth.

Whatever the man had been expecting, it hadn't been a fist to the face. He stumbled back, tripping over his own feet to land in the muddy slush of the path with a roar of pain and anger. Behind Des, Lyneth jumped, shocked again by the display of violence, even if it was in her defense. "D-d-des ..."

Before she could say anything, however, their aggressor was climbing back onto his feet, a fine bruise rising on the high curve of his cheek. "Take that away," he growled to Des, pointing a finger at Lyneth, despite the danger of this being pointed out in the snap of Loki's jaw close to his hand. "It's not welcome. And neither are you, mage-lover."

This man - whoever he was - clearly did not know Des very well. Not easily intimidated, Des stood his ground, hold an arm out to keep Lyneth safely behind him, even as his eyes flashed angrily at the man's accusatory tone. He took one step toward the man, that hand curling into a fist once again, ready to take a second shot if he so much as looked at Lyneth the wrong way. Des lowered his voice for the man's ears alone, his tone of voice stern and unflinching. "It takes a big man to pick on a small child." He poked a finger at the man's chest. "You come anywhere near her again, and you answer to me. Got it?"

The look that was held between the men was venomous, filled with instant hatred and the promise of more violence. Then the aggressor stepped back, a nasty, smug look on his face. "Times are changing, mage-lover," he smirked with twisted lips. "The Baron'll see to that. Your little freak there won't last five minutes. Neither will you." He snorted, looking Des up and down in disgust, and turned to leave, stamping on what was left of the dead sapling as he walked away through the snow.

"We'll see about that," Des countered, letting the man pass, but turning to keep himself between the man and Lyneth. He committed the man's description to memory, fully intending on reporting him to the Watch as soon as they got back to the house. Though Des was not given to violence, no one was going to threaten Lyneth and get away with it. As soon as he was able, he was going to dig deep into the legality of the man's accusations. It seemed to him that in a place like Rhy'Din, where magic was abundant, the rights of mages and magical beings had to be protected by law. Des muttered something crude under his breath that he hoped Lyneth didn't hear as he watched the man stomp away through the snow.

Beside him, Loki whined, padding closer with his precious cargo. There were barely any tooth marks on the brittle wood he held in his mouth, very gently putting the little sapling down on the floor next to Des' feet. Sniffing with her daughter as the sadness began to permeate everything, Piper looked down at the dog, and felt herself smile a little. "Right, okay." Taking charge was something she could do. Even if this didn't work, at least they would have tried. "Uh ....Des, can you grab the tree" There's a little gardening set - trowel, shovel, fork, that sort of thing - just inside the back door; could you get that, too?" She stroked a hand over Lyneth's head, easing the tiny face back to look into her daughter's eyes. "Sweetheart, I need you to talk to your friends, in the garden. They might be able to help us, okay?"

As Lyneth nodded, scrubbing at her eyes, Piper offered Des a hopeful, hopeless look, carrying the tiny girl out through the kitchen and into the beautifully kept garden beyond. Lyneth's garden. As she knelt down in the snow, heedless of the cold, tiny faces and forms began to come into sight, heartbroken for the pain of their Fae-child.

Des blinked out of his thoughts as the dog set the little sapling down at his feet, arching a brow in surprise at the dog's intelligence. "How did he know..." He broke off, leaving the rest of that thought unspoken. He didn't even want to hazard a guess how Loki knew the sapling was important. A normal dog wouldn't have had a clue, but nothing about Rhy'Din or Piper's household was normal. Des crouched down to pick up the little tree, as carefully as he could, meeting Piper's gaze for a moment as he straightened, hiding none of the heartache he was feeling from her knowing eyes. He waited for the two of them to head out to the garden before following, pausing to collect the garden tools on his way out.

"Okay, sweetheart." Piper smiled gently, wiping Lyneth's cheeks dry as the tiny girl finally began to calm down, though the greatest comfort in the heat of the moment still belonged to Des. "We're going to plant the sapling. I need you to ask your friends what else we need to do, all right?"

The tiny girl nodded, sniffling loudly. "But what if there's nothing we can do?" she asked, her voice shaken.

Piper drew her thumb against the little reddened cheek tenderly. "Then we'll bury her," she promised her daughter. "Under our oak tree, where our dryad can look after her all through winter and maybe she'll help make acorns for the autumn. Is that all right?" There was a moment of indecision, before Lyneth nodded once again, extracting herself from Piper's arms to move toward the gathering crush of faery folk, the tiny dryad in her hands.

Piper sat back on her heels, watching for a moment as her hand snaked up to squeeze Des' fingers. She looked up at him. "Can you break the ground here?" she asked him hopefully. "I need to heat some water, but ....could you plant the sapling" I don't know if this will work, but I think she needs both of us close by, in case it doesn't."

Des wondered if they'd have to clap three times and recite that they did believe in faeries, but that was just a story, wasn't it' He followed the pair out to the garden, Loki at his heels, coming to a half a few feet behind them, eyes taking in the gathering of faeries before him, wondering if he'd ever get used to them being part of their lives - and now, by extension, part of his. He blinked out of his thoughts at Piper's touch, nodding his head mutely, hoping the ground wasn't frozen. If they were going to have any hope of replanting the sapling, they were going to have to count on it not dying in the cold. "Yeah, I....think so," he replied finally, a little uncertainly, looking from Piper back to Lyneth, his heart aching all over again.

Piper rose from her knees, ignoring the sodden mix of dirt and snow that had seeped into her tights, and gently pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Thank you." She hugged him warmly, unable to say just how grateful she was that he'd brought Lyneth home in one piece, that he wasn't hurt either. "I'll be back in a minute."

Lyneth didn't even look up as her mother slipped away, sat down on the cold ground with the tiny dryad cradled in her lap. There were faery folk all around her; some drying her tears, others stroking at the little body. Still more were clearing snow away from the ground near where the little girl sat, others dragging leaf mould and moss from around their own plants in preparation to settle the little sapling in the soil, waiting for Des to lay its roots into the ground.

Des accepted Piper's thanks solemnly, his gaze shifting back to Lyneth and the crowd of faery folk surrounding her. Wordlessly, he dropped onto a knee to clear the snow from the place Piper had indicated. He set the tiny sapling on the snow-laden ground as he dug away at the ground with the trowel, slowly but surely creating a small hole in the ground in preparation for the planting. He wasn't sure how they were possibly going to make this work in the middle of winter, but he'd seen stranger things happen since he'd first stepped foot in Rhy'Din.

As he worked, little hands worked alongside him, lifting out the smaller chunks of frozen soil, solemn and silent, and for the first time, unafraid of the male human who was such a frequent face in their home these days. When the hole was deep enough, they stilled, casting furtive glances toward Lyneth as though to be sure she wasn't looking. One familiarly ugly face looked up at Des from the little crowd, making an exaggerated wink for his benefit as, with much whispering and careful handling, a tiny out of season acorn, green and unfertilised, was brought over from the hands of the dryad who lived in the big oak tree growing at the corner of the lot. It was carefully put into the deepest part of the hole and covered up before the faery folk climbed out. They raised their voices in a tiny cacophony of sound, encouraging Des and Lyneth to put the tiny dryad into the ground and plant her sapling over her.

He was all too aware of the little people who were helping him dig the hole, no thought of redeeming himself in their eyes, his thoughts only of sorrow at the tiny creature's demise and Lyneth's heartbreak. If only he'd made her wait until they were home. If only he'd known the man was going to stomp all over her little friend and her heart. If only, if only, if only. He'd never understood the cruelty of man. It had been what had made him go into law in the first place, wanting to bring to justice those who do others harm, but he often wished he could find a way to prevent those actions before they happened, before someone got hurt and he had to take the guilty party to trial. He blinked out of his thoughts at the sly wink of the little ugly brownie he'd come to think of as a friend, but not even that wink could chase the anguish from his heart.

The incident had quite likely had more of an impact on Des who knew only too well how dangerous people could be, Lyneth's innocence helping her forget about what had happened, at least for the time being, where Des' knowledge of the darker side of human nature only made him worry. He stomped the snow off his boots before following her into the kitchen, hesitant to take them off in case Lyneth needed them in a hurry. He took a lean near the sink and gazed out on the little girl in the yard who seemed happy again. "She wanted to show me what she'd learned. She said you told her to be careful around....around people, but that I'm not a people anymore," he started, his eyes never leaving Lyneth.

Piper paused again, this time in the act of putting the pan of milk onto the hob to warm through, raising her eyes to Des' face. She could well imagine what happened next, but she needed to hear it. "I don't know how to explain it to her," she confessed quietly. "Magic is so much a part of who she is. How do I explain to a one year old that she has to pretend to be something she's not anywhere outside home or school?"

"She's not really one, Piper," he remarked distractedly as he watched the little girl outside who'd stolen a little place in his heart all for herself. "She's young, yes....and innocent....But she's no baby." He paused again as he watched her, lost in thought a moment. "I thought maybe this place was different. Maybe it was a safer, kinder world, but there's just as much hatred and ignorance here as back home and, it seems, few laws governing it."

"I don't need to be told." Piper bristled momentarily, though there was little heat in her response to his description of her daughter. It was borne partially from that familiar, shameful sense of jealousy, but mostly of her protective streak. She knew she was at a disadvantage when it came to protecting her daughter from all the dangers out there, but she was trying. She looked down at the pan for a moment, biting her lips to keep the automatic, uncalled for words in as she turned to fetch out cups, cocoa powder, marshmallows. "Flo's certain the Governor won't let things get out of hand," she said quietly. "If it gets too much around here, I'll take Lyneth to Maple Grove for a while. At least we know we're safe there."

He hardly noticed the bristling comment, having made the statement not really for Piper's sake but for his own, as he tried to understand it himself. He pulled his eyes momentarily away from the little girl in the garden to look over at Piper as her statement sunk in. "Maybe you should. Just for a while, until things blow over. I'd feel better if you were there." You. Not Lyneth. Though the you implied that it included them both. No matter what Piper might think, he was there because of his feelings for her. Lyneth was just a bonus.

"This is our home, Des," she objected quietly. "I've already moved her once, I'll only move her again if it becomes absolutely necessary. So, please ....tell me what happened to my daughter in the park." She turned to face him, one hand on the counter, the other on her hip, rapidly losing patience with the delay in giving her the information she needed. "Tell me if I need to be scared, over worried."

He was a lawyer, trained to use words to the influence a judge or a jury to his way of thinking, but Piper was no judge or jury and the safety of her daughter was at stake. There was only one thing he could do and that was tell her the truth, no matter how difficult it might be to hear. "A man threatened her in the park. A full grown man threatening a child, just because she used a little magic. Should you be worried" I don't know. Is she in danger" I can't answer that either, but better safe than sorry." He glanced back at the garden, frowning worriedly himself. "I need to report it to the Watch."

"Threatened her?" The warming milk was abruptly forgotten as Piper advanced on Des, anger flashing in her eyes suddenly. "What do you mean, threatened her" What did he do' I assume she made that tree, but ..." As he mentioned the Watch, she shook her head. "There's very little they can do," she told him. "The source of this bigotry is the current Baron of Old Temple. He has authority, and he's trying to use it to persecute everyone who has the ability to change the world around them, however big or small that change." Her hand suddenly slammed down against the kitchen counter, fury seeping from her as she clenched her teeth. "How dare he ....how dare anyone say that Lyneth is anything less than wonderful, just because she uses magic" It's a part of what makes her what she is - tell me what this man looked like," she said suddenly, whirling back to face Des. "I'll find him and stamp all over his face, see how he likes it."

Strange how her anger made him feel even less useful in this place. The Watch would do nothing. This Baron was getting too big for his britches, by the sound of things. There was a very real chance that good, innocent people would be targeted and persecuted just because of who or what they were, and there was nothing he could do about any of it. He flinched when she slammed her fist on the counter, his own anger seeping away, leaving him feeling despondent and helpless. "I already did that," he replied, turning his head once again to the garden. "If it wasn't for the trial..." He broke off, not for the first time feeling torn between his life back in New York and his life here. The two people he cared for most were right here. Why did he feel such a huge responsibility to those who were counting on him back home" Or had this become his home now" He wasn't sure.

"What, what could you do?" she demanded, not angry with him but with the system that had put a man into power who threatened the safety of her child. "The only thing we can do is wait it out, hope someone challenges him before he gets a chance to make his bigoted, stupid point of view an act of law in this district. I can't do anything ..." She turned away again, her anger subsiding into a tearful admission of her own helplessness. "I can't protect her from the Fae, I can't protect her from this. I can't protect her at all. What good am I?"

Once again, he turned his head toward Piper, this time watching and hearing her long enough to recognize the anger and the underlying fear, realizing there was only one real solution to this problem. She needed him here. They needed him here. Someone else could try the case. His life had changed; his priorities had changed. He belonged here now, with them. He pushed off his lean and drew her into his arms. "Shh, it's all right. You protect her just by being here for her. You're an amazing mom and she loves you." He pulled away a moment to push her hair back from her face and cup her face in his hands, gray-blue eyes meeting hers. "You know who she wanted as soon as it happened? She wanted you. All she wanted was you. You're her mother, Piper. No one is ever going to be more important to her than you."

She fought the comfort he offered for a long moment, not feeling worthy of it, of this wonderful man who had made a place for them in his hectic life. But she needed that comfort. She needed to know she was doing the right things, no matter how little it seemed to her. Clinging onto him, the burning milk completely forgotten now, Piper pressed close until he drew back, looking into Des' eyes as he spoke to her. "I just wish I knew what to do," she whispered, lost in the minutiae of life in Rhy'Din at that moment in time. Her arms found their way around him, drawing herself in close. "Thank you for being here. Just ....thank you. I don't think I could cope with all this without you."

The tiny girl let out a loud squeal of laughter as she was swept up, flinging her arms around Des's neck to giggle excitedly as Piper crowded in against her back, squeezed warmly between the two adults she loved and trusted most. "Are you goin' to live with us, then?" the 'little imp' asked with sparkling eyes, making her mother laugh that rare, rich laugh of hers as she kissed her daughter's cheek.

"If you and your Mom want me to, yes." He shot a glance over at Piper, as if to make sure that was all right with her. Despite everything they'd said to each other, he had to make sure once and for all that it was what they both wanted. He wouldn't barge into their life, unless they both agreed he was welcome there. He just about held his breath as he waited for her reassurance, shifting Lyneth's slight weight to easily rest against one hip. "Think you can get used to having me around on more than just weekends?" he asked them both.

Piper met his gaze, the hope still there but tempered with the understanding that they would still have to ease into the more permanent living arrangements they all seemed to want. It would take some adjusting to, for all of them.

"Will I have to give up my bedroom?" Lyneth asked, her sweet face suddenly quite concerned that she might have to move out of her special room to make space for Des to live with them.

Piper laughed again, stroking her hand down her daughter's back. "No, baby girl, you won't," she promised the little girl, letting out a feigned sigh of resignation as her glance flickered to Des teasingly. "I'll make space for Des in my room, because I love you too much to make you move out of yours."

"Either that or I'll have to share a bed with you, and I snore," he teased Lyneth with a fond smile, tickling her as he handed her off to her mother, and made a snoring sound against her neck, tickling her with his breath. "If I recall correctly, I promised someone hot chocolate," he said, shrugging the coat from his shoulders and tossing it over the back of a chair now that the three of them were gathered back inside the safe, warm kitchen. "Marshmallows or no marshmallows?" he asked, dumping out the burnt milk and rinsing the pan so he could start over.

Momentarily deafened by her daughter's happy shout of laughter at being tickled, Piper transferred Lyneth to her hip, moving over to the door to call Loki inside. The Malamute came trotting in, straight through the kitchen, to throw himself down in front of the fire in the main room as Lyneth grinned over at Des. "You don't snore," the little girl insisted forcefully. "I never hearded you."

"Heard," Piper corrected her absent-mindedly, pulling the hat and gloves off her daughter as they spoke.

"Heard," Lyneth nodded in agreement, flashing Des a very cheeky grin as she added, "-ded."

Rolling her eyes, Piper poked the little girl in the stomach, setting off another round of giggles. "Oh, I don't know about marshmallows," she said over the sound of that infectious laughter. "What do you think, Des, do cheeky, incorrigible little girls get marshmallows on their chocolate?"

Des laughed at the teasing affection between mother and daughter, all his worries and cares evaporating, replaced by happiness and a sense of belonging. "Hm, I don't know..." he answered Piper, going along with the ruse. "I think maybe if they promise to be very good and give their mother a big kiss, maybe we can arrange for a marshmallow or two." He grinned over at them both, before pouring fresh milk into the pan and turning the burner on to start it warming.

"I'm not incorribubble," Lyneth protested, her small mouth opening in an 'o' of shock as Des seemed to join in on her mother's side. But she couldn't resist the teasing feeling in the room for long, dissolving into giggles even as she protested again. "Jus' two' What if I give you a kiss too, do I get a proper drink then?" Just to prove that she was as obedient as they come, Lyneth then turned her head and planted the biggest, loudest, wettest kiss imaginable on her mother's cheek, making Piper grimace laughingly as she wiped her face dry.

"I give, I give," the dark-haired woman chuckled, unbuttoning her daughter's coat. "Maybe if you promise to keep your room tidy as well as give Des a huge kiss, he'll give you a proper drink," she added with a faint grin, easing Lyneth out of her coat one-handed.

"Oh, I think kisses in exchange for marshmallows are a fair trade," he replied agreeably with a warm smile to them both, his eyes dancing merrily. He adjusted the heat on the stove before plucking a single marshmallow from the bag on the counter, turning to offer it to tempt Lyneth with it before leaning his cheek in for the promised kiss, all too greedy for her attention and affection.

"I have to give you a kiss for every marshmallow in my drink?" The look on Lyneth's face was priceless; as much as she loved her mother, as much as she was beginning to love Des, the thought of having to kiss both of them multiple times just to get a decent sweet treat was clearly horrifying. Piper snorted with laughter, stepping close enough for Lynnie to deliver a smacker to Des' cheek before setting the little girl to stand securely on one of the chairs at the kitchen table, tucked in against the table itself to avoid too much risk of her falling.

Des laughed at Lyneth's question, amused by the expression of disbelief and horror on her face, heart warmed by the little girl's kiss to his cheek, even if it was somewhat coerced. She'd give him one of her own free well soon enough. He popped the marshmallow into her mouth and tweaked her nose gently. "No, silly. One kiss equals a dozen marshmallows. Didn't you know that?"

"No-mph," came the rather indistinct response as the little mouth worked around the fluffy treat, small hands gripping the back of the chair she stood on to watch Des making hot chocolate, seemingly oblivious to Piper leaving the room with her outdoor things and Des' coat. Swallowing, Lyneth blinked her big eyes at Des, her head tipping to one side as she looked him over thoughtfully. "You and Mummy talk in your sleep, you know," she offered up a little unwisely. "You say her name. And she says yours. And the bed squeaks."

"Oooh, now we know a secret about our Des," Piper laughed, backing off rather than risk spoiling another batch of milk. She nudged Lyneth lightly, chuckling when the little girl swayed and clutched onto her arm. "Des is ticklish," she stage-whispered to her daughter. "Now you know how to wake him up in the mornings!" Identical cheeky smiles were cast to Des from that side of the kitchen as Piper lifted Lyneth back up onto her hip, wicked plans being laid in each mind that involved him in some as yet undefined manner.

"I am not!" he argued, tugging at the bottom of his sweater against any further attacks of tickling. "You just....took me by surprise. That's all," he insisted, looking more than a little sheepish. Though he might be a lawyer, he was apparently not a very good liar. He looked from one to the other, as if to make sure neither was going to tickle him again, before turning to fetch three mugs from the cupboard. "Besides you know the old saying about payback," he said with a smirk.

"It's a witch!" Piper dissolved into silent giggles at her daughter's exuberant repetition of the carefully doctored phrase Kaylee had been spinning out for her a few nights before. "'Cos it cackles and has icky fingers and you never sees it comin'!"

Des chuckled at Lyneth's slightly altered phrase, eying them both warily. "Is it safe to come back?" he asked, two mugs in one hand and one in the other, unsure if he was going to be attacked again as soon as he got close. "You wouldn't want me to drop these and break them, would you?" he asked, holding the mugs up to prove his point. It seemed Piper had inadvertently found Des' weak spot.

Piper whispered something into Lyneth's ear, something that instantly caused a great deal of hilarity between the two women in his life. Something that didn't stay secret for long. "Des is a scaredy cat!" Lyneth crowed triumphantly. "Scaredy cat, scaredy cat!" She wiggled her little fingers at him as Piper reached out to take one of the mugs in her free hand.

"Come on, children," she told man and child, turning toward the door. "The fire's just waiting for us to cuddle up in front of it."

Des glowered at them both as Piper took one of the mugs from his hand. "I am not!" he denied again. "You're an instigator!" he accused Piper, though there was no venom in his voice. "We'll see who's really ticklish later," he warned with a smug grin, as he followed the two women in his life into the living room to snuggle up in front of the fire.

"Mmm, sounds like fun," Piper tossed back over her shoulder as she led them to the little snug that surrounded the fireplace, nudging Loki out of the way with one foot. The Malamute looked up and rolled obliging out of the warm spot by the fire, making room for Piper, Lyneth, and Des to settle down on the floor. It was an odd arrangement in this house - despite the abundance of comfortable furniture, Piper and Lyneth almost always sat on the floor.

Des made no complaints about sitting on the floor. He'd enjoyed a little impromptu picnic on that same floor recently, so it came as no surprise to him that they had chosen the floor over the furniture. He set two steaming mugs of hot cocoa on the coffee table, one with and one without marshmallows, and lowered himself onto a chair long enough to untie and pry off the boots that he still had on his feet. "I still owe you a snowman," he told Lyneth as he pulled off one boot, followed by the other, privately wondering if the faerie folk in the garden would be tempted to bring the snowman to life.

"You do," the tiny girl nodded as she waited patiently for him to get comfortable, wanting to curl up in Des' lap. Which she promptly did, as soon as he stopped wriggling around, turquoise eyes then turning to watch as Piper blew on her chocolate to make it cool enough for the little person to drink.

"Not today, though," Piper said gently. "It's naptime for you after this, little woman, and then you promised to help me with dinner, didn't you? Do it tomorrow."

Once Des was settled on the floor, his lap was fair game for Lyneth. He brushed her hair away from her face as she settled herself in his lap, his fingers combing through the soft silken strands. "Tomorrow," he agreed, a sinking feeling in his heart at the knowledge that his time here was still limited, but that would all change soon enough. "Tomorrow we make a snowman complete with carrot nose and button eyes."

"Carrots don't have noses, silly," was the inevitably smart response from the little girl nestled close into his chest, but her heart wasn't really in it. She was tired, and she had a mug of something insanely sweet to work on drinking before she fell asleep.

Piper smiled, leaning against the seat of the couch as Loki flopped down to thump his head in her lap, yawning a loud doggie yawn and apparently blaming Des for the fact that he had no chocolate in a cup. That didn't last, though; the big blue eyes closed contentedly as Piper scratched her dog's fur fondly, allowing herself to be completely enchanted with the view of Des and Lyneth cuddled up together.

"No, but snowmen have carrot noses. You'll see." Des, for all his inexperience with children, seemed to somehow sense Lyneth's waning exuberance. He'd been coming around long enough to know their routine, and he knew it was nearly her nap time. He continued to fondly stroke her hair, almost unconsciously causing her to relax against him further. He bent his head and pressed an affectionate kiss against her temple. She was welcome to fall asleep there in his lap if she wanted. He had no complaints.

When the droop came, Piper was ready to catch the cup before it spilled all over both of them. Lynnie yawned, rubbing her eyes with her knuckles, and turned her face into Des' chest, cuddling close to fall asleep, warm and safe. Piper smiled, inching closer to touch a kiss to Des' cheek. "This is going to work, isn't it?"

Des shifted a little to accommodate the little girl and make her more comfortable, sliding an arm around her to support her back so that she wouldn't slip out of his lap or his arms, allowing her to use his chest as a pillow and cuddle as close as she wished, the beating of his heart against her ear soft and regular. He smiled, eyes sliding to Piper as she kissed his cheek. "We're gonna make it work, Pip," he answered quietly, the soft timber of his voice further lulling the little girl to sleep. "I'm happy here with you and Lynnie," he admitted, surprising even himself with that statement.

"I'm glad," the dark-haired woman smiled back to him, drawing her own fingers gently through the close crop of his hair. "We're very happy when you're here. I know I can't speak for Lynnie all the time, but she's told me often enough. She wants you here, almost as much as I do."