Sadism was not the answer here. Even if he wanted to, he would not be able to beat me up and force me to comply with any demands. I still spread my arms wide. "I know that I did something that made you upset. Can we hug it out now?" I asked him seriously. Usually, the triplets had no problem in getting some affection from me. As a group of hybrids, they were different from purely human children. They were well aware they were not going to get it from anyone other than Lyari and me. It was a good gauge on how they were actually doing. When they were in a more sadistic mood, they were not really interested in a hug from me unless it was in front of whoever they were bullying. It was a way they could flaunt that I was not angry at them for what they did. When the boys were in a deep masochistic mood, they also declined a hug. They did not want to feel so good. They wanted to relish in whatever negative thing that was happening to them. Leonardo pouted and sharply turned his face away from me. I knew he was actually furious with me still. "I still love you a lot." I said, calm.
I sighed and looked at Holly and Molly. "Go to your mother. Make sure you hug her and tell her that you love her so much that you love her more than the total amount of water in the ocean." I said. They could get the hint. Both of them fled. "I had another change of mind. All things worth doing are worth doing right away. Let's go over to the village and see Celosia now." I said as I took Lenard and Lennox's hands. I looked at Leonardo and said "You can lead the way." Leonardo's eyes went wide. A blush spread on his face. "Alright. As long as you understand!" he added before running off towards the front door. I put a shoe rack there. In his mind, being all pissy got me to cave in. In a way, that was exactly the case. He won this time. Next time, I would be sure to be extra firm so this did not become a habit. We already had our shoes on. It was a bit of an oversight. Holly and Molly did not live here. Neither did I. When Leonardo was ready, he led the way. He was calling out for Celosia. All of us were looking around for her. I did not know what to expect. I was armed, but I was holding 2 children.
Questioning a dryad was futile. She would do whatever she felt like. Celosia had not shown herself before me yet. It was not like I did not go over to the free folk village every once in a while. People sometimes needed to be taken away from the town. They just did not fit in. None of them wanted to assimilate anyway. At times where we got tired of them, a guard would just shoo them away. If we were not sure they would stay away, we would walk them back to their village. We really were in their debt for helping us in the beginning. None of us really wanted to hurt any of them. I was of the impression that they knew all of this and played up their innocence. That was not something I would ever say in public though. It was impossible for Celosia not to know I was trailing Leonardo when he spoke to her. She was a tree spirit in a forest. She did not kick me out. She also did not try to talk to me either. I had no clue what she wanted. I doubted that it was as innocent as wanting to see the faces of her other 2 children. Celosia rose up from the ground in front of a tree I saw Leonardo go to a lot.
