At first light, the mirror-crystal on the dresser woke up and began to glow like a bruise.
Ash stopped growling the instant the light steadied, then plopped onto Hajin's feet like a warm sack of flour. His pink eyes stayed locked on the glass, unblinking, as though the crystal owed him a very large apology.
"Daddy, the glowy thing smells like a liar," he announced, tugging at his trouser leg.
"Smells like a what?" Hajin croaked, pressing two fingers to his bruised nose.
"Like when Juna says she isn't hungry."
"That's fair, but I'm still not answering a king in my underwear."
"You should, though, your face does the angry thing when you're underdressed," Ash said, patting his shin with one fluffy paw.
"My face does not do a thing, and quit punching it while you're at it."
"Daddy, why do kings ring in the dark?" Ash asked, scaling his leg like a very small mountain.
"Cowards like the dark, kiddo, they think it hides a bad idea," he said, hoisting him up by the scruff.
