Open: Well young lady, have you been good to your mother?

[biteybaby]

Sunny Baudelaire has been having quite an exciting time lately. For once, "exciting" means "filled with fun" and not "filled with terror, pain, panic, and an inordinate amount of running and hiding". Without the threat of Count Olaf and his associates finding her in an attempt to steal the Baudelaire fortune, Sunny has had more time for her studies. "Her studies" is a phrase which here means, "catching up on learning how to do things most people take for granted".

She has finally learned how to walk. She thinks the amount of words she is now able to say has increased. Magnu has even taught her a few things in sign language, which she finds is a little easier than speaking. The biggest news is that she now has five very sharp teeth, as opposed to the four she started with when she arrived.

Shortly before she arrived, Mr Poe had told the Baudelaires about an aphorism: It takes a village to raise a child. She wonders if that is why she has had so much time to grow. Her days are spent rotating around between several different guardians, babysitters, and friends, and it has been lovely. She hopes her siblings are having just as good of a time in the village of V.F.D.

Unfortunately I must report that her siblings are not having just as good of a time in the village of V.F.D., nor are they even still in the village of V.F.D. Sunny does not know this. It would probably be for the best if nobody tells her.

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[biteybaby]

"Go go go!" Sunny giggles, cheering Galahad on.

[summerdude]

Luckily, there's not much farther to go. Magnus makes a great show of almost getting his hand on the door first, and then lets Galahad take the win in the last segment. It's a good thing he packed all those snacks... he's getting the sense that Galahad deserves a juice box.

As soon as the door is opened, though, he sighs, "I guess I'm a stinky rotten egg," sounding very aggrieved indeed, and then says, "Sunny, cover your eyes while we get situated in here? So that it's, like, a surprise or whatever."

[onthewillowsthere]

"Very stinky," Galahad says, in his most solemn voice, although he definitely sounds winded.

[biteybaby]

"Shoo," Sunny says, covering her nose with a giggle. She then very carefully covers her eyes.

[summerdude]

Magnus signs, Want me to take her? Do you need something to drink? Some summer? It's too many questions, and he knows it, but Sunny won't keep her eyes closed for very long, and he wants her to be surprised and delighted by all the bugs in here. Maybe by setting her down in the middle of gently-sloping hillside, so they can rise up around her when she opens her eyes.

He tells all this to Galahad, too, fingers flying quickly.

[onthewillowsthere]

It's too many questions, but Galahad understands that the important part is pressing through to the surprise. He can answer questions after.

He has one hand behind himself to support Sunny's body, but he signs back open door with the other.

[biteybaby]

Sunny doesn't know any of this is going on, of course, as she has her eyes covered and cannot see.

[summerdude]

Magnus holds the door open for Galahad, and then follows him inside the room. ("Room" is a word which here refers to a mid-sized open field with a gently sloping hill, a small pond at its base with flowers crowding down to its edges and frogs leaping about, and so many insects, especially dragonflies. The sun is shining brightly and, once more, it feels like Frey might show up at any minute.)

[onthewillowsthere]

Very, very gently, he sets Sunny down in the grass by the pond. Immediately dragonflies begin to settle onto her head; the air is noticeably warm and humid. A pickerel frog leaps next to her foot and sits there.

Galahad collapses to the grass beside her, wiping sweat from his forehead.

[biteybaby]

Something is tickling her, but she keeps her hands over her eyes anyway! "Asflaudge?" she asks, which here means, "Can I look yet?"

[summerdude]

"On the count of three, okay?" Magnus says, quickly signing to Galahad, too much? Sorry. She's tiny I thought it'd be fine. Need anything? and then slowly saying "One... Two... Two and a half... Two and three quarters..."

[onthewillowsthere]

It's okay, he signs back, equally quick. I will drink after she sees. He's winded, but it will be worth it if the surprise delights her.

[biteybaby]

Sunny cannot count very high, but she does know how to count to at least three. There are three Baudelaire orphans. She is one of them. There are two Quagmire triplets, but there used to be three. She is not one of them. Sunny might be a very patient young lady, but she is still roughly 20 or so months old, so her patience only extends so far.

"Three!" she finally shouts, and uncovers her eyes. She gasps as she looks around. "Wow!" she says, which here means, "Wow!"

[summerdude]

Magnus grins. He doesn't ruffle Sunny's hair even though he kind of wants to, because he doesn't want to upset the dragonflies, and instead opens his backpack and tosses Galahad a juice box. "You like?" he asks Sunny. "How many bugs do you see?"

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad takes it gratefully. He finds the strong taste of apple juice mildly unpleasant, but right now, when he's so thirsty, it's completely acceptable. He's watching Sunny closely, and when she gasps he smiles -- without actually smiling, but he's very pleased.

[biteybaby]

Sunny tries to count the bugs she can see, but she loses track quickly, and instead just holds up a number of her fingers.

[summerdude]

"Yeah, definitely at least eight," Magnus says, grinning as a dragonfly alights on his nose.

[onthewillowsthere]

"There are four or five genera," Galahad tells her, in his serious way. "At least. Those are different kinds. They shouldn't all be here together, so I think this place is like the mansion."

[biteybaby]

Sunny smiles at Galahad. He's reminding her of Klaus again. She thinks that whenever Klaus shows up she should introduce them, as they will likely get along very well. "Klaus ekajorlaj friend," she says, which here means, "Whenever my brother Klaus shows up I'm going to introduce you two, I think you will likely get along very well". She then looks at Magnu expectantly, hoping he will translate. She would have signed it herself, but she doesn't know all of those words just yet.

[summerdude]

Magnus translates it word for word, signing each word as he does. Then he adds, "Klaus likes to read a lot and know a lot of things," as clarification.

[onthewillowsthere]

"I would like to meet him. I have liked meeting new people here."

[biteybaby]

"Me too!" she says, which here means, "Me too!"

[summerdude]

"Sunny has great opinions about the people here," Magnus informs Galahad. "She keeps me updated." To Sunny, he adds, "Galahad likes to keep Claudius updated on people here, too^*."

*Obviously he knows this happens because he's the secondary beneficiary in many (but not all) circumstances... but does he really grasp the whole scope of it? Who can say!

[onthewillowsthere]

"What do you know?" Galahad asks. This is actually very important -- anything she knows about people is valuable information that Claudius might not already have.

[biteybaby]

"Who?" she asks, meaning, "About who, specifically?" She knows a lot of things, she isn't sure where to start.