"That one," Seamus replied, not even bothering to look, "is going to make some lady's poor handmaids very, very upset." Because yes, he knew it was the orange one, and he knew it liked rubbing on things.

Kaladin snickered. "Only if someone wants that one," he reasoned. "It may end up staying with us. Actually, I might elect to keep it. It'll be good for when it's old enough to breed."

"Orange?" Seamus asked. "Why the orange one? It isn't like it's any more affectionate than any of the others, and we know now that we can get just about any color from them, regardless of the one we start with. So why not keep a blue or a green or something?"

"Because I'm betting we can get some metallics out of this one, especially if we breed it with the silver one. And I doubt many ladies would like a bright orange little fluffball." Kaladin shrugged.

Seamus considered that for a moment. His brother had a bit of a point. He nodded, and then grinned and picked up the orange lamb, handing it to Kaladin.

"It's yours then," he teased.

Kaladin snorted. "No, it likes you more. Besides, you've already been elected "dad" by the rest of them." He grinned.

"Have not," Seamus argued, although it was half-hearted at best.

"Oh yes you have. They're flocking around you, not me." Kaladin set the orange one down, watching as it bounded back over to Seamus, climbing on top of one of the others to try to get to him. "Case and point."

"Shut up," Seamus retorted as he waded through the sheep again. As soon as he got to the fence, he climbed over it to the other side. His pants were covered from the knees down with fluff.

Kaladin snickered at him but didn't comment. Although that had been the reason he'd been on this side of the fence rather than wading in with the sheep.

Seamus rolled his eyes and gave his brother a shove.

"What was it you were supposed to be doing, again?"

"Nothing in particular." Kaladin grinned. "Bothering my baby brother. Things like that."

"You're in an oddly good mood," Seamus observed cautiously. "Just what happened at that tea party?"

"It wasn't at the tea party. It was after." Kaladin just smirked at him and sauntered away again.

"Wait, what?" Seamus jogged a bit to catch up to his brother. "Oh no, you can't leave it there. What happened?"

"She kissed me when we got back." Which may sound like some little thing, but Kaladin was still extremely pleased.

Seamus raised an eyebrow.

"It's not like the two of you haven't kissed before," he pointed out. "You told me about it yourself, it was when you took her to the garden."

"Yeah, but she kissed me. Not the other way around. She's getting bolder." Which he most definitely approved of.

"Interesting..." Seamus said. "And you like that, I know you do." He looked at his brother. "What's your plan now, then?"

"Start going out in public together." Kaladin shrugged. "Get her used to things, which will probably take some time. But I don't mind waiting." He smiled a little.

"Well, good luck with that, Kal," Seamus said. "Sounds like you may need it still."

Kal just grinned briefly and nodded to Seamus, going to go check up on some of the other animals. Because he did actually still have to work.

A few days later found Hazel attending a formal social hosted by one of the other ladies. She didn't have a new gown made this time, since she had a few others to choose from, but she did make sure that her hair and jewelry were up to par with the rest of the women. The gown she did choose was different than what she normally would have worn, but it seemed to fit right in with the rest of the ladies in their frills.

Brit had been brought to the party as well, although she looked extremely uncomfortable in her dress. She wasn't quite steady on her feet, since her feet were trapped in high heels, and as soon as she was inside she started looking for a place to hide.

Kaladin was also attending again, for the moment just kind of watching what was going on.

Hazel was, for the moment, chatting with a few of the other ladies while she was waiting for the social to really get moving. They were still waiting on a few others to arrive, but she knew the dinner and dancing would start soon. When she happened to glance around, she noticed someone new in the room, and it took her a few tries to realize it was Brit. Carefully, she excused herself from the conversation and made her way over.

"I have to admit, your matron has good taste in gowns," she said.