[SE] Out, Damned Spot!

The mud was beginning to get ambitious, there was no doubt about that. Normally Jigano encouraged all who wished to learn and expand their horizons to make use of the Atheneum, and he didn't care whether they came on two legs, or four, or six. But even he had his limits, and the mud that was slowly schlorping its way up the Atheneum's stairs? They'd found them.

Barrels were lined up nearby, and shovels that had recently been used to move snow were already being put to work by Jigano and a few willing souls among the townsfolk who also wanted to keep their reading hoard from being overrun with animate mud. The Provost was working with grim determination to shovel back the ambitious goop as it oozed up the steps, buying time while others tried to corral it and get it dumped into the barrels. Once they were full they'd hammer the lids on them and cart them out to the fields where the stuff could do less damage, and maybe fertilize the earth a bit with the magic in it.

Here, though, it was nothing but trouble, and Jigano paused to wipe his brow as he surveyed the difficult task still underway. The only upside to the situation was that the mud moved slowly.

Thank goodness for that!

Peter

More and more often, Peter was finding himself in the aetheneum, some book or another in his arms and a quiet, hidden spot picked out. He had a few favourites, and he’d actually become quite adept at keeping away from anyone else who might be in the building. It was a nice, quiet place. Today was different. The steps were overrun with mud, and, almost worse, other people gathered around, trying to stop the slow encroach. Peter considered turning around and waiting until this was cleaned up by other people, but something about that felt... scummy. So instead, he struggled through the mud to the top of the stairs, where a man with silver hair seemed to be directing the people working. So, Peter did what he did best, and presented himself as useful. ”Hello.” He said softly, not wanting to interrupt. ”Is there... I mean, can I... can I help?” Just to emphasize, he gestured out towards the mud. Peter Perfectly able to hold my own hand, But I still can’t kiss my own neck;

The dark-haired man who approached was only vaguely familiar to the bard. He'd seen him around the Guildhall during LongNight, he thought, though at the time Jigano had been so sunk in mourning that he had made little effort to reach out. Now, though, every helping hand was a welcome addition in the fight, and Jigano nodded, flashing the stranger a subdued but grateful smile.

"Thank you, yes, anything you're willing to do would be welcome," he agreed. "We need all the help we can get with this. There are shovels up against the building - grab whichever one you'd like. I could use a hand up here on the steps trying to push the mud back so the others can try and wrangle it into the barrels." He nodded to those on the ground a few steps down who were fighting a (not very efficient) battle to get shovel-fulls of mud into the barrels, where it promptly tried to ooze back out. "If we can just get it off the steps here I might be able to help corral it on the ground." There wasn't much he could do with the stone steps, but once they had it all back on the earthen ground below, he had an idea...

"I'm Jigano, by the way. Of the Loreseeker's Guild," he added with a flicker of a sad smile. "I don't think I've caught your name before...?"

Peter nodded, glad his help was accepted, though he hadn’t really thought it might be turned away. He turned to grab a shovel, fighting his way through the mud again. Honestly, he wasn’t sure if he was relieved or annoyed that he’d lost his boots earlier, but at least it meant he didn’t have to worry about it now. ”If you have um... access to water, I can probably... uh, I can push it down easier.” He offers, a little cryptically, though he’s already going to work with the shovel. Might as well not waste time, right? And a wave of water would be more efficient than the shovels, at least until the ground, and whatever the silver haired mans plan was then. The introduction caught him a little by surprise, blue eyes turning back to Jigano, his hands still moving the shovel. ”I’m Peter. Do um.. do you... take care of this place? Not just um, you, loreseekers you?” He asked, tipping his head back towards the library they were trying to protect. Peter Perfectly able to hold my own hand, But I still can’t kiss my own neck;

Jigano nodded gratefully as the stranger rejoined him with shovel in hand, and between the two of them the work went a little faster. He hummed thoughtfully at the mention of water, but could only shake his head regretfully. "There's not much water in the Atheneum. Too much chance of damaging the books if it spills. We've got sand barrels set up in case of fire, but unless it rains I don't think we'll be able to just wash the mud away so easily." He thought that the man just meant dumping some barrels over and diluting the mud, but even that he wasn't so certain of. Given the mud's magical properties he wasn't sure it could just be rinsed away. Still, it was worth investigating. "If you can get some and bring it back here, though, we can try it."

Peter's surprise was a curious thing to Jigano. Introductions to people you just met weren't usually unexpected, but the man seemed the quiet and nervous sort - a lot like Sam when they had first met, and the bard found himself smiling more warmly than he might otherwise have as he nodded and heaved another shovelful of muck back down the steps. "Unofficially, I suppose we do," he agreed easily. "Our Hall is in the basement, and much of our work involves the archives here, so we have a vested interest in keeping up the place. Last year we worked together with a number of the people from town to repair the hole in the building, and now... well, here we are again," he agreed with a grin that held a tinge of sadness. Here he was, with some of those same townsfolk who owed the guild favors or were inclined to pitch in, or just wanted to protect their favorite reading spot...

But the members of his guild who would normally be there to support him (Caiside...) were not.

Peter bit his lip, but nodded. It made sense to not have water near the books, even if he wouldn’t have considered it without the other mans prompting. He could still go get a bucket, but the amount he could carry wouldn’t put a dent in the stuff trying to enter the building. It might make it even more determined. ”No, I... I don’t think I’ll um... be able to being in enough... enough to help.” Still, he tried to pull at the mud a little bit, to use his magic to force it away, or at least dry it out enough to make this easier. But if his efforts made a difference, he didn’t really notice it. ”Only unofficially?” That seemed a bit strange to Peter as well. If the guild was hosted in the basement, and had a vested interest in the place, why wouldn’t they be the official caretakers? ”That’s um... why I wanted to help though. I spend... a lot of, uh... I spend some time here. And it... I mean, with uh, with everyone, it’ll be better fast, right?” Peter tried to add a proper smile to his words, wanting to ease the melancholy that came from Jigano. He assumed it was his words that brought it about, and felt at least a little responsible, though it hadn’t been his intention. Trying to change the subject, Peter floundered for a moment before speaking. ”Do you um... what kind of uh, of work... do you do?” Well, so much for getting away from the subject, and it was too late to take the words back. Peter Perfectly able to hold my own hand, But I still can’t kiss my own neck;

The bard merely shrugged at Peter's decision to not get water. If he'd had a way to create it, or telekinetically lift heavy barrels of it, it would have been worth trying. His decision not to didn't make the current situation any worse, and his presence with the shovel made things visibly better as they were able to force the mud down a step and towards the barrelers helping below. "It was still a good notion," was all he said. "But we're making much better progress together than I Was alone."

The question earned a wry smile as Jigano sent a shovelful of goop sailing to the bottom of the steps where it promptly tried to schlorp around a man's boot. "We don't own the Atheneum, even if we work in it. The building and the books belong to everyone... and there aren't really enough of us to maintain the building without help anyways. Not anymore." Their numbers had been greater, once, but that was seasons ago now and those that remained were barely holding together at the seams as it was. Still, he smiled back encouragingly at Peter's reason for helping and the attempted smile to lighten the conversation. He seemed painfully shy and nervous, but he was trying, and that was enough for Jigano. "It's already going faster. Every hand helps with things like this." And every shovel - though Peter would find some tenacious mud trying to cling to his blade and crawl up the handle as the not-quite-sentient stuff grew bolder.

The question that came was one Jigano was usually prepared for, and today was no exception. He shook some grabby mud from his own shovel with a faint grimace as it spattered his already-muddy trousers, then bent his shoulders to scoop more of the enterprising muck away as it tried to reclaim lost ground. "I... well, we, in the guild... collect and preserve knowledge," he panted, tackling the mud with renewed vigor. "From books in the Atheneum... from the memories and stories of the people here... or by going out in the world, exploring and discovering new information to bring back and chronicle here... so people can more easily access it," he explained between shovelings.

"And you? What work do you do here?"

Good notions weren't worth much when they didn't do anything, but Peter couldn't argue with the fact that they were making progress. A whole step, cleared off, the muds approach stymied by their efforts. Honestly, Peter didn't think he was doing that much to help, strength had never been his strong suit, and the mud was literally fighting the the entire time. ”Oh... I didn’t know there wasn’t a um... a...” Peter tapped the blade of the shovel against the step as he tried to coax the word to his tongue, his face screwed up with the effort. ”...book boss?” Not right, but hopefully close enough Jigano would know what he was talking about. The fact came as a bit of a relief though. There was a sliver of guilt in his chest, stemming from the idea that he was stealing the books somehow, even if he brought them back when he was done. It was good to be able to let go of that. ”It’s good that people,” Peter gestured towards the assorted townsfolk who were loading mud into barrels, using the opportunity to shake the mud off his shovel, ”want to help.” They had reclaimed enough of the stairs that Peter could step down, and start working on the lower ones, where the mud seemed even more stubborn, and all but rose up against his shovel. Though he was working diligently, Peter was focused on the bard, drinking in his words with clear curiosity. ”What kinds of... do you um, collect and preserve all kinds of knowledge? Or just... specific things?” It sounded simultaneously exciting and boring, adventuring and learning new things, but also cataloguing it and keeping things in order. ”And do you... do you just write it down? Or... do you un, teach things?” Little by little, his voice was growing more steady, even as exertion made it more ragged. Focusing on questions made the time go by a little easier, made it a little bit nicer. Hopefully for both of them. What kind of work did he do? It was a good question. Peter felt like he’d been spinning his wheels, not accomplishing anything. ”I... Not lots. I guess... whatever people need me to do, I do.” If he were more suave, he might say something like I’m in the business of bad business or something else dumb. It was probably a good thing he wasn’t more bold anyway, the silver haired man seemed like the type who wouldn’t find something like that amusing. Peter Perfectly able to hold my own hand, But I still can’t kiss my own neck;

Jigano smiled at the mention of a 'book boss' but held his laughter back, not wanting Peter to think he was laughing at him instead of finding simple delight in the alliteration of the title. "I think Loren, the Launceleyn lad, once styled himself as such," he admitted with a shrug. "But it seemed... well, a bit arrogant, since he wasn't even from here. The Loreseekers are simply caretakers of a priceless resource that belongs to everyone from the Hollowed Grounds. Some of our members have been outlanders and others are naturals and it's something we can all work together and agree on. I wish we had more people to help us with it," he admitted wistfully, "but... we do the best with what we have." It might as well have been the motto of the Hollowed Grounds.

He smiled more warmly as he glanced over the helpers, most of whom were regulars of the library for their own reasons. "It is," he agreed proudly. "All most people need is a little push, such as for someone else to do the organizing, and then they're happy to show up to help." Maybe that was being overly optimistic about people in general, but the local book-lovers were willing to defend their refuge from the difficulties of the Hollowed Grounds - something Jigano appreciated immensely, being one of their number.

The fight against the mud was a frustrating fight as their progress slowed again on the lower stairs, but Jigano was pleased by Peter's curiosity, and he smiled encouragingly at the stumbling questions. "Each member of the Guild has their own areas of special, personal interest," he explained, always cheered by talking about his colleagues and vocation. "Things that they focus on more intently, yes, but we gather whatever information we can find that we think could be of use to people, now or in the future. We write it down, if it isn't already, and we loan books out, but we also teach things." He grinned a bit, thinking of Maea and Adam. "We teach reading, for instance, and writing. Practical lessons on flora and fauna for newly arrived Outlanders, so they know what to watch out for. I've taught the basics of rapier combat before, and simple medical knowledge and first aid as well." Perhaps Peter would like to learn something as well, at some point? At least he would know the option was there now.

At the other man's hesitance on what he did for a living, Jigano simply nodded sympathetically. "It can be hard to get your feet under you, here," he agreed. "If you'd like I can try and help you find a place that could use an apprentice, if you're looking to learn a trade that will be useful in this world. What was the place you came from like?" Because it seemed probable that the shy man was an Outlander, if he didn't already have a farm or shop to tend to, and didn't seem to know much about the Atheneum.

"Loren?" It was strange to hear the other Launceleyn's name out of the blue, to hear other people talk about him. But it was nice as well, to hear little facts about his kin outside of it. Even though Jigano didn't seem to like him too much. "I don't know, or, no... I didn't know he had been." He was doing everything in his power to avoid saying book boss again, and managed it rather masterfully, in his opinion. "So... anyone can be a loreseeker? They... they don't need to be..." Peter gestured, as if to say something more, but he clearly wasn't sure what that more was. Peter nodded his agreement to the Loreseekers words, focusing back on his shovelling. After all, it was the only reason he was helping. Someone else had organized it, and he had just happened to stumble along at the right time. ”People weren’t... no one helped like this where I came from. Everyone was so... beat down.” Peter rolled his shoulders in a shrug. It was the easiest way to explain things without going into a whole bunch of detail that he honestly wasn’t that clear on himself. Different specialties sounded interesting. A good way to cover a lot of information quickly, but maybe also a good way to get confused. ”What’s your um... special and personal interest?” Peter didn’t hazard a guess based on Jigano’s outward appearance, there was no way he was going to be close. ”Are this the only kinds of things that are... that you teach? I’ve been.,. I’ve been reading about lots, but... if there’s other things to learn I... I think I wanna do that too.” It’s like a switch has switched in his head, words suddenly pouring out, Peter unable to stem them right away. And even when he gets control, his tongue is still loose. ”Not combat, I... I know that, but... other things? Like... flora and fauna?” Whatever those were. A soft laugh huffed out of Peter at Jigano’s worry, and he shook his head. ”I’m not... not really looking for anything. I um... I already, or... I can already make stuff I need.” To demonstrate, he pulled a cloth out of thin air and wiped his face with it, clearing away some mud that had splashed onto him. ”I didn’t... didn’t really have a job where I came from either.” There was another laugh, this one more nervous, and he shrugged. ”It was... hot. And dry. And... rough, really rough. So there was always uh... always work, or.. stuff to do.” He might as well keep his wording clear, if he was going to insist he hadn’t had a job before. Peter Perfectly able to hold my own hand, But I still can’t kiss my own neck;

"Do you know him?" Jigano asked curiously of Loren, catching the familiarity in Peter's phrasing. "He's a great improvement on Zariah, that's for sure. It's not a family I'd recommend getting too close to, though. They're all a bit - or more than a bit - crazy. And there's a cruel streak in most of them... even him, though he's trying to overcome it, thankfully." Still, what he'd done to Remi by abandoning the young alchemist struck a chord with Jigano, who had done something similar when he had been ill, albeit for a far shorter time. He could understand why Loren had done it, but just as he wasn't inclined to forgive himself, nor did he gloss over the weakness in the Launceleyn man.

"Anyone can be a loreseeker," he agreed, his expression lightening back to a smile. "All you need is a strong sense of curiosity, and a desire to learn more about something. Usually several somethings," he added with a chuckle. "But there's something to be said for specializing!"

The mud was giving way reluctantly, but the two men were determined and worked steadily, giving it no chance to regain the ground it was losing. The other helpers were having more difficulty dealing with it on the ground, as it schlorped its way under the wagons or clutched at boots and shovels to spread itself around, but until it was off the stairs there was little Jigano and Peter could do to help. They were getting close, though, and talk of the guild put renewed strength on the Provost's arms as he grinned at the personal question. "History, geography, and music," he said cheerfully. "Trying to piece together the past of this world and the truth of what happened three hundred years ago, exploring beyond the barrier now that it's fallen, and learning new songs and tales from natural and outlander alike."

He hummed a few bars of a song he'd learned from Rory in demonstration, then turned the questions back on Peter. "What about you? What interests do you have? And what do you want to learn? If it's something I or one of my guildmates knows, we can certainly share that knowledge. It's part of our purpose." His smile softened as he heard the uncertainty in the other man's voice, and he nodded apologetically. "Ah, sorry. Those are just fancy words for plants and animals. Things like Wicker Women and Gilded Lilies, or Magna Vermis and Bloatbeetles... or Banshees and Boggarts, if we're talking about things to watch out for." Neither of which were things he wanted people running into unprepared, if they were unlucky enough to run into them at all.

As they finally scraped the last of the mud off the bottom step, Jigano raised a brow at the useful display of magic. "Like Remi and Deimos," he agreed with a chuckle. "That's a useful talent to have." His own abilities went in a different direction, but he flashed Peter a brief grin before he reached out with his own power, running invisible fingers over the sparkling green and brown strings in his soul and plucking them in quick succession. He couldn't make the effortless constructs that Remi could; his own were far cruder in comparison. But he could still raise a lip of earth up between the ground and the bottommost step of the Atheneum, curling it back at its top to prevent the mud from lunging back up the stairs while they worked. Three more walls of earth and stone lifted around the largest pile of Memory Mud they had just beaten back, corraing the rebellious muck so that it couldn't keep escaping.

A faint sheen of sweat shone on the Provost's brow as he looked back to Peter with curious blue eyes. "Are you from Korofi, by chance? Sunjata mentioned a similar world where he came from."

"Yes I do, he's..." Peter went to interrupt, but fell silent as Jigano continued, something on his face growing quietly worried. It was difficult to hear criticisms of people he trusted, even if it ended on a more less good note. Well, neutral note. It was better than bad, but it did very effectively rob any further emotion from his voice as he continued what he'd been about to say. "He's my... cousin. Family." There was a very tight smile on his face as he said the words, blue eyes locked on the loreseeker so as to not miss his reaction. The claim that anyone could be a loreseeker was met with a quiet, disbelieving hum. Everything had some kind of limit, though he didn't really want to say that in the face of Jigano's enthusiasm. "What if... someone want's to learn about everything? But... they're not really..." Peter shrugged, and tipped his head back and forth. The word coming to mind was smart, but that didn't feel quite correct. Focused was maybe a little better, though still not by much, so he ended up simply shrugging, and leaving the words as they were. More and more, the shovel was scraping against the bare stone of the steps as they made headway against the sludge, taking back inch after inch. It was rather satisfying, actually, to see how much they cleared away. It made the work that that was left seem more manageable somehow. And it was made more manageable again by the conversation, the renewed cheer in the silver headed mans voice. "What... what happened three hundred years ago?" It seemed a very specific time, and Peter had managed to stay mostly ignorant of the history of the world, having spent most of his time around other outlanders. "Are you uh... do you plan on going... on going to Halo, then?" A quirk spread over Peter's lips as he listened to the humming, tried to pick out anything familiar about it. Music was never something he'd had an ear for himself, but he did have a good enough memory for tunes. This was utterly alien to him, a more accurate description than he really realized. Music from another world. "I um... I don't really know about uh... about interests. I just... I wanna learn about everything. Houses, and plants, and... and stars." The list was simply the last few books he'd read in the Atheneum, things that immediately stood out. There might be something to be said about specializing, but it wasn't anything Peter wanted to say. His smile grew a little warmer as Jigano explained flora and fauna, Peter nodding to show he understood. "I didn't know there was... there was different words. For that." The talk of creatures brought something to mind though, and he was suddenly animated as he asked his next question. "Have you ever heard of a... a water lady?" There was a huge sense of accomplishment as the stairs were finally cleared, Peter turning to look at Jigano properly, catching just the end of his chuckle. "Remi is more um... more... he's better at it than me. And Deimos..." Peter just shrugged again. He had met he other man once, and hadn't had the chance to learn about any of his magic. He was probably more advanced as well though. The other man wet quiet, seemingly concentrating very hard on the mud, reason enough for Peter to turn, amazement blooming over his face as he saw the very earth move to creating blocks against the mud. "I can't do anything like that." He mumbled, quietly amazed, and even more quietly jealous. Then, he shook his head, and turned back to loreseeker. "No, I'm not... not from where Sunjata's from. I'm from um... Kalma, and more... more specifically from uh, Vita." The words were said with a certain amount of harshness, holdovers from an older, sharper language, one Peter had no use of here, save for maybe with Adam. He'd have to remember to ask the other man. Still, this wasn't the time to be wondering, this was a time to be doing. Peter stepped down onto the bottom step, eyes focused on the organizer, and asked: "What now?" Peter Perfectly able to hold my own hand, But I still can’t kiss my own neck;

For half a breath Jigano said nothing, surprised at the statement that seemed so uncertain from the quiet man. Then his laughter bubbled up, delight at the joke interrupting his shoveling as he chuckled, and shook his head. "Ah, Peter, good one. The delivery was a little flat, but you've got a fine sense of humor." He continued to chortle a bit as he steadied himself and went back to his shoveling, shaking his head ruefully. "You're no Northhavener, though, thank all the gods for that, and when Edy told me about her family you weren't on the list." Though now that he mentioned it, the name Peter was familiar. Something about Zariah...

The other man might not have believed Jigano about the Loreseekers, but the Provost only smiled. "Then they seek the lore of their choice at the time at their own pace," he said simply. "Three hundred years ago, for instance... well, no one knows the truth. No one who's telling," he amended with a faint grimace for the gods who played so coy. "Somehow the Voice and those like her became gods and used the Ascended to wage a war against the Old Gods. The Old Gods managed to contain her - and presumably all of the Ascended - in the Hollowed Grounds in a magical barrier that even the gods couldn't get through. But exactly who started what... it's still pretty murky." He shrugged as he scraped the last bit of living muck off the stairs. "It's hard information to find, so I gather it as a go, in and around other projects as circumstances permit."

Halo, though... "I haven't decided yet," he said with a sigh. "I want to at least see it with my own eyes, but to stay? No. My home is here now." With Rory, he didn't say aloud. Didn't need to say it, when his heart so firmly knew which direction to turn. "But you should learn as much as you can," he encouraged, slipping back to Peter's interests. "Maybe something you come across will catch you interest and set it afire one of these days. Until then, 'everything' is a good place to start." The bard grinned as Peter learned something new, but the question of the 'water lady' had him tilting his head curiously. "You mean the Undine of the Crimson Cataract?" he asked curiously. "Or mermaids of the ocean?" He'd never seen any himself, of course, being from a landlocked nation, but such creatures existed on his world and on the Plane of Water.

Mud met earth and fell back, momentarily stymied. Jigano flashed Peter a smile, albeit a crooked one. "You'll get there," he assured him. "Time and practice help with almost everything, magic included." He knew a great deal about the magic of Caido thanks to an old journal he'd read, but this wasn't the best time for a lesson. For one thing, the mud was trying to climb out of its container even as the townsfolk hurried to begin scooping it into the barrels. Jigano kept his concentration on the dirt walls, pushing them up wherever it looked like the mud was starting to make a break for it.

"Kalma? Interesting..." Before he could ask more a glop of mud escaped from a woman's bucket and Jigano pointed to it distractedly. "For now, grab that mud! We're almost done!" Indeed, he had to keep shrinking the edges of his earth-box as more and more mud was removed and lids began to be pounded onto barrels squirming with almost-sentient brown goo.

The reaction Jigano had wasn’t what Peter had expected. Which was saying something, considering there were a lot of reactions he had been expecting, an immediate recoil amongst them. But it made sense when the other man spoke, Peters face dropping just the slightest in response. ”I’m not... I don’t joke, uh...” His eyes fell, and he couldn’t bring himself to lift them again, focusing instead on his work. ”I was... adopted in. S-so... no, not Northhaven.” He couldn’t bear to watch the reaction this time, though every part of him was still acutely focused on the other man, knowing for a fact there was going to be some kind of drop. The story of what happened three hundred years ago seemed like it would be a good distraction, a good change of pace, but Peter was disappointed. It wasn’t something he could understand, though he had never understood grand gestures for power. He had been a little cog in a big machine, and that was all he would ever be. He was interested in the specific way Jigano phrased something, and had learned enough boldness to speak up about it. ”What... what do you mean the the Voice and... and those like her? What was she like?” Honestly, he doesn’t know much about the Voice, or the gods in general, but if someone was willing to teach it, he was willing to learn. If Jigano was even willing to teach him more. If there even was more. ”Oh, I thought...” Peter shook his head, stifling the idea that Jigano was a natural. ”Nothing. Nevermind.” It seemed the other man wasn’t too eager to talk about himself anyway, the subject very quickly coming back to him, his interests, or rather, his lack of focused interests. All he did was shrug in response. Perhaps something would grip him, perhaps not. ”With everything I’ll uh... I’ll never run out of things. Right?” It still wasn’t a joke, not really. It was the truth. His shovel came up excitedly as Peter whirled, flecks of mud flying everywhere. ”Yes! In the red Lake!” The loreseeker had been the first person to actually know what he was talking about. ”Undine? Is she the only one?” Clearly not, but his outburst had come before the other had finished speaking. ”Mermaids? No, they... they’re not the same.” At least not what he knew of mermaids. Seeing Jigano’s seeming mastery of the earth, Peter doubted that he’d ever to get any kind of similar skill. He resigned himself to helping the townsfolk and shovelling the mud into barrels, slowly but surely reducing the mess more and more. ”I... don’t know if I... I mean, a little, but... it doesn’t feel better.” Most of his talking was being done over his shoulder now. He leapt in action as Jigano shouted, reaching out with his magic and his bucket, holding the water back just enough that he can scoop up the wayward muck into the bucket, skidding to a stop too sharply to stop all his momentum, and tumbling forward, the mud that wasn’t now on him tucked triumphantly in the bucket. ”Got it!” Peter Perfectly able to hold my own hand, But I still can’t kiss my own neck;