Kaladin nodded. That was very true, although he would want to keep one of the dogs around the corral for a while after the sheep started selling (if he could talk Brit into it). Yes, he was paranoid, but he also had reason to be, since the ranch had been sabotaged once already.

Brit grinned, highly amused, and let the ladies get their fill of the little sheep. Now she was just waiting for a sign from Hazel to herd the little ones back home.

Hazel let the ladies fawn over the sheep a while longer before nodding to Brit. They could all go back now, they'd spent enough time there. The social was going to end fairly soon, anyways. Once she'd signaled to Brit that she could go, Hazel turned to face the inevitable questions about the sheep.

Brit herded her sheep and Seamus back outside to the cart, getting the sheep loaded up before she finally let herself slump a bit. She was now officially tired.

"How many colors are there?" "How much bigger do they get?" "When will they be available?" "How many will there be?" The ladies all tried to ask at once, and Kaladin smothered a smile.

"The while, ivory, and pink that you saw here tonight were adults," Hazel answered, sorting through the questions. "They do not get any bigger than that. We are still working out how many colors there are, as new ones seem to crop up sporadically during breeding." Here, she paused. "Ideally, I would like to have some ready for sale as pets in a year or two. That will give us time to figure out the best ways to get certain colors, and to build up our breeding stock."

Seamus herded his own sheep into the cart, and then wrapped an arm around Brit's shoulders.

"Let's head home," he said softly. "I think it's about time to crash for the night."

The ladies all murmured their agreement. It would be better for Hazel to bring up a breeding herd.

"Will you let others breed them?" one lady asked. She knew that some breeders like to keep a very tight reign on their stock and didn't let others breed them, even for non-profit reasons.

"I'm going to decide on that once I have a better idea of the annual numbers and colors," Hazel said. "As of right now, however, I don't think so. I might change my mind in the future, though."

That was fair enough, and the ladies murmured among themselves before coming up with more questions.

"How old will they be? Will we get little ones or adults? And do we have to train them?"

Brit nodded, leaning against him briefly before she moved around to get up in front of the cart. At least she didn't actually have to ride a horse home again; she wasn't sure she was awake enough to do that.

"Those are questions that will best be answered once we've had time to work with the little ones now," Hazel replied, neatly dancing around the 'I don't know.' "Tonight was something of a test for myself, to see if the sheep are attractive enough to be pets. Now that I know they are, I can see what it would take to turn them into proper pets."

Seamus let her lean against him when they sat at the front of the cart. He could get them home, that wasn't a problem.

The questions subsided some after that, although much of the buzz for the rest of the social was about the little creatures, and what kind of pets they'd make. Many of the ladies were already planning at least inquiring later on in the year about their progress.

Brit yawned, leaning against his side the whole way home. She did manage to get out and unload the sheep to take them back to the corral, but she wasn't awake enough to do much else.

Hazel made her last few rounds of the evening, going to a few of the ladies she knew best and making some final smalltalk. It was getting late, and the guests would be filtering out soon. She was glad for that: she was getting tired. She hadn't realized how exhausting it was to host a party, rather than just attend one.

As soon as Brit had the sheep in the corral, Seamus wrapped his arms around her and gave her a kiss.

"I think you should head to bed," he said to her. "Before you fall asleep on your feet."

Kaladin was keeping track of the number of people, and was very glad when it finally started to dwindle. It was about bloody time. He hadn't done nearly as much work as Hazel, and he was tired.

So when the last few people headed for the door, he was very glad.

Brit nodded, cuddling into him. Then she tugged on his wrist, heading for the dorm building. He needed sleep too, after all.

As soon as the last person was gone, Hazel sagged into a chair. She couldn't sag all that much, with her corset keeping her posture perfect, but she tried.

"I'm so glad that's over."

Seamus chuckled and let Brit pull him along.

"Okay, okay, I get it," he said.

"I can imagine." Kaladin pulled over a chair next to hers, sitting down as well. "But hey, that was a big success. Even if it was a pain."

Brit grinned briefly and headed back to the dorm building, although she paused outside his door. She knew it wasn't proper or anything like that, but she kind of wanted to fall asleep next to him. Nothing else, though.

"And hopefully the next event I have to go to won't be for a while," Hazel said. "I might be able to just send my regrets for the next one... Focus on the ranch."

Seamus noticed when she paused, and gave her a gentle nudge.

"Wouldn't want to give anyone the wrong idea," he said softly. Although, really, he wouldn't mind waking up with her in his arms... But that kind of thing could start rumors. He'd seen it ruin someone before.

Kaladin nodded. "Yeah. I think the next one you mentioned to me isn't for a few weeks." He shrugged. "So we'll see how things go, I suppose." He smiled a little and pulled her closer.

Brit nodded reluctantly and slipped of to her room to go get ready for bed. It didn't take her long to flop over in bed and fall asleep, though.

Even if she was missing Seamus.

Hazel sighed softly and snuggled into his arms. After a few more moments, though, she reluctantly stood up again.

"I should go change," she said. "Put this gown away."

Seamus watched her go, and then went into his own room. It seemed too empty, somehow, although he was tired enough to fall asleep regardless.

Kaladin nodded. "I should probably head back soon," he said quietly. "Get some sleep while I can." Not that he wanted to, but he knew it would be smart for him to head back to the ranch.

Hazel reluctantly nodded.

"Alright," she said. "I'll see you in the morning, then." She paused for a moment, and then leaned down to give him a small, cautious kiss.

Kaladin smiled faintly against her lips, returning it. But he didn't do more than that, letting her dictate how quickly they'd go. It was, after all, her house.

The kiss was over all too quickly, and Hazel couldn't scrounge up the courage for another one.

"I suppose this is good-night, then," she said softly.

"Only until tomorrow." Kaladin smiled and kissed her cheek. "I'll see you in the morning. Bring your bathing suit, if you got one."

Hazel blushed slightly.

"I don't have one," she said. "I'll see what I can do."

Kaladin nodded. He'd half expected that, but that was okay. She could always go get one on her next trip into town.

"I'll see you in the morning, then," he said quietly.

Hazel nodded, and watched him go. She knew she would have to get up early to see about a bathing suit, but it would be worth it.

The next morning found the ranch as busy as ever. Brit was working on getting a small section of the ceryneian pen sectioned off so she could have somewhere to sit with the youngsters and let them get used to her.

Kaladin was busy finishing up his rounds for the morning, checking on everything once more before heading over to the pond to check and see how cold it was. And, of course, the selkies all slid over to him.