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Briar dusted off her front; it didn’t do very much for the gnoll blood, just spread it round more. Neera decided not to tell her. “Good job, Briar!” she said enthusiastically, still thrumming with nerves, a bit. Adventuring could be scary sometimes!
Jaheira’s eyes were flicking between Minsc and Dynaheir like she was thinking about something. Neera composed her expression to one of polite, serious listening. Briar was trying to wipe the blood on her hands off on Imoen’s cloak, and hadn’t noticed yet. Imoen said, “Briar!!” and wiped her bloody hands on Briar’s sleeve in retaliation.
Jaheira didn’t say anything about any of that. She turned towards Briar and said, in that Teacher Voice she used when she was trying to get Briar to learn something (which was always Neera’s favorite part of any day, because it was pretty obvious by now that Briar really wasn’t learning anything), “The party is getting a bit full, don’t you think?”
“What?” said Briar. “Well, yes, if you count Boo as a full-fledged member—”
Jaheira got this look on her face and said, “No. No, actually, I have hit my limit. Khalid, will you take this one?”
Khalid squeezed his wife’s shoulder and stepped forward. “I-I believe my wife is ref-referring to our newest…associate,” he said, nodding towards Dynaheir, “and. Not. Ah. Boo.”
“Oh,” said Briar, “well, we can’t exactly—I mean, Minsc said he has to travel with Dynaheir, and Minsc has a hamster,” gods, Neera was obsessed with Briar’s priorities, “so we can’t leave him out—”
“Briar,” said Khalid, a slight laugh in his voice, “criteria for entry into an, an adventuring party doesn’t usually have anything to do with hamsters.”
“Boo is a miniature giant space hamster, Khalid,” Briar countered. “I feel that that should change things up a bit.”
“A sensible observation!” Minsc boisterously interjected, clapping Briar on the back and nearly knocking her off her feet. “Boo is indeed a vital aspect of our adventures forward! His diminutiveness is more than made up for by his princely valor—”
“Khalid,” said Jaheira, “please handle this expediently; I have already hit my limit and the hamster’s princely valor is testing me.”
“Patience, my love,” said Khalid easily. He turned to Briar. “Parties are comprised of six,” he elaborated.
“Well, then we’re already—” The penny dropped. “But we can’t send Neera away,” gasped a horrified Briar, wrapping her arms round a startled Neera in a squeezy hug, “Neera’s my best friend! And Immy’s my sister, and it’s not as though I can send one of you off without the other going, and—and—and Minsc has a hamster, Khalid!”
“I-I am very clear on the p-point of the hamster, yes,” Khalid agreed.
“Seven’s not that much different than six!” Briar pressed.
“I-if we are counting the, the hamster—”
“You said you weren’t counting Boo! You and Jaheira never count Boo!”
Khalid’s brow furrowed, and he said, half to himself, “Did I say directly—?”
“Best friend?” Neera said to Briar. “I don’t think I’ve ever had one of those! Or, I mean, when I was studying back home, but, well, it’s hard to make really long-lasting friendships last when you’re always almost about to blow up or something, so I guess, yeah, actually, possibly never!”
“I’ve never had one either!” Briar confessed, warmly delighted.
“Excuse me?” said Imoen.
“Sisters are like a whole different thing, Immy, you know that,” said Briar. “And it’s not like Neera can’t be your best friend too.”
“Best means best of,” Imoen argued, “which means there’s only one—”
“Best means best of all,” Briar countered, “which means it’s in comparison to a larger group, which means Neera can have two best friends and it can totally be both of us.”
“You are losing them,” said Jaheira to Khalid.
Khalid pointed out, “Personally, I, I think it something of a feat that I had them for a moment.”
“Mum!” said Briar, turning the world’s largest brown eyes in Jaheira’s direction. “Mum, you wouldn’t deprive me of my best friend, Neera, would you? Or my friend’s hamster? I’ve already been having such a difficult time on the road, and I simply find Neera’s presence so cheerful, and Minsc is abs-o-lute-ly right when it comes to Boo’s utterly princely valor—”
Avoiding Briar’s gaze, Jaheira said to the sky, “I have told you that there is really no need to call me that.”
“I am handling this,” Khalid reminded Briar.
Briar half-pushed, half-pulled Neera in front of her, presenting her to Khalid, and said, “Tell Neera she has to go, then.”
“Wh—”
“Tell Neera she has to go. I won’t do it. If you’re handling this, it’s your call to make, and you as my guardian have to tell my first ever best friend that she has to go off and find her fortune and go back to being alone, and scared, and all by herself—”
“Gorion really did just give you everything you asked for, didn’t he?” said Jaheira.
Khalid said, “Sev—seven really isn’t that much more than six, is it, Jaheira?”
Jaheira flushed and said, “I am not handling this! You are handling this! If you make the decision to give our ridiculous girl what she wants, that is not me making that decision, that is you, you decided on that, and I would like everyone to remember that I had no part in this decision! At all!”
“Oh, you’re the best!” exulted Briar, and all but threw herself at Jaheira.
“Direct yourself towards my husband if you wish to thank someone!!” objected Jaheira, who did not seem to be trying as hard as she could have to shake Briar off. “And I would like it known in the here and now that this will not be a repeated occurrence!”
“Wasn’t I handling this?” said Khalid, eyes crinkled as he watched Jaheira.
“Yes!” said Jaheira. “You were! You did! Good job!”
“So we’re probably going to have a small circus or something by the time this is all over,” said Imoen to Neera, “but hey, at least you get to stay with us!” She beamed. “I like you too, you know.”
“I know,” said Neera, smiling back. She felt all sparkly, and not just in the wild-magic sort of way. She really hadn’t had friends like Immy and Bry before.