"I will make sure to," Hazel replied, tilting her head and bending her knees just slightly to imply a curtsy. It was just formal and polite enough without being impudent or mocking.

He nodded and watched her go before returning to his work.

Kaladin had everything all figured out with the overseer and looked over at Hazel as she walked over. "Well, it'll take another day, but we should have them by tomorrow evening."

"That's fine," Hazel replied. She smiled at him. "They're paid for, so they're officially ours."

Kaladin grinned briefly. "Cool. This will be interesting." He looked at her again. "So, anything else to do while we're out or shall we head back?"

"I had nothing else that needed to be done," Hazel replied. "Unless you did?" She wouldn't mind letting him run a few errands, if it meant spending time with him.

Kaladin thought about that briefly. It was something he'd been considering for a little while, actually. Some of the other ranches he'd been at had done this, but it was still a fairly new thing to do.

"You know, we could go look at toys for the animals. Most of them are still fairly new, within the last few years or so, but some ranchers claim their animals are happier with other things to do."

Hazel blinked. She'd never thought about such a thing before. Toys for the animals?

"I suppose we could try," she said, nodding. "What should we get?"

Kaladin shrugged. "It's up to you. I've seen things like cat-climbing trees, things you can hang from the top of cages for flying creatures like gryphons, large balls for creatures to play with. I know of a store that's usually well-stocked and has some good suggestions."

"Then why don't we go there?" Hazel suggested. "You would know better than I would what would be best to get for the menagerie, and there is plenty of room in the ranch budget."

Kaladin nodded and headed back towards the front to get back to the carriage. "Alright. As long as you don't mind making another stop..." Internally, though, he was cheering. Yay he got to spend more time with Hazel.

"No, not at all," Hazel replied with a slight blush. Oh yes, she would jump at the chance to spend more time with him.

Kaladin shot her a crooked smile and opened the carriage door for her. He gave the directions to the driver once she was in, and then got in and sat across from her again.

Hazel couldn't help but blush slightly when he gave her that little smile, although she did her best to fight it off.

She was pleased when the selkies were delivered the next day. The flurry of activity that came with getting the selkies to the pond and settled left a few of the other animals a little skittish, but things seemed to calm down some once the workers from the other ranch left again. When she had most of her paperwork for the day done, Hazel went down to see the selkies.

Kaladin was already down there with Brit, talking quietly. When she nodded, he took off his shoes and headed over to the pond, just going in up to his ankles. The littlest selkie came over to investigate him first, rolling over and looking up at him from under the water.

Brit just grinned as she watched. Hey, she could go swimming with these things! That would be awesome. Then she spotted Hazel and grinned, beckoning her over.

Hazel picked her way over to the pond, trying her best to stick to the driest parts of the ground to avoid getting mud on her shoes. She stopped just shy of the ground turning to all mud.

"Are they settling in okay?" she asked.

Brit nodded. I've seen them exploring already, and they don't mind us being here, which is good. Seems they're settling in fine.

"That's good," Hazel replied, watching the selkies for a moment. She also watched Kaladin for more than a moment.

Kaladin sighed when one of the selkies decided to spit water at him, getting from his knees down soaked. At least he hadn't been squatting there; otherwise he'd really be in trouble.

"Yes, you're a playful bunch. I suppose that's a good thing."

Hazel couldn't help it, she covered her mouth a bit with her hand to hide her giggling.

Kaladin grumbled to himself as he slogged out of the water, only to have the little one follow, making big eyes at him. "What? No, it's not feeding time. Hey, come on! You can't follow me! Pond is that way, just--Oh man..." Kaladin looked down at the little selkie, who had quiet happily squicked over to lay on top of his feet.

Hazel bit her lip to keep from laughing outright. It wouldn't be ladylike to do so.

"It's so sweet," she said instead.

"It's only sweet until you realize she's already two hundred pounds," Kaladin grumbled, trying to roll the selkie off. "Really, little one, I have to get back to work. Go back to playing in your pond."

"But look, she likes you," Hazel teased gently. She didn't move any closer to the pond, though. Again, muddy shoes.

"At least we know we won't have a problem with this one being aggressive. Ever." He managed to get the selkie off his feet and stepped away. She slunk back into the pond, but she watched him go before going back to playing with the other two. Shaking his head, Kaladin made his way back over to Brit to retrieve his shoes again.

"Lord fer Toren is known for being able to breed exceptionally affectionate and even-tempered creatures," Hazel said. She wasn't surprised that the selkies were a bit cuddly.