The Nominal Hero, chapter 9: A Council of War
It was Wednesday lunchtime before they all managed to get together again. As expected, the elementary school was closed, so there was no problem inviting Hunter and Masami over to Caden’s house for the day. Ruth didn’t normally come home for lunch, but she was allowed to if she wanted, so they had an hour. Mushroom and Duck reappeared; they hadn’t gone back to the Nouns’ world, but had decided to stay and see a bit more of the human city while they waited to discuss the witch situation. Ruth had advised them to stay near the university campus and tell anyone who asked that they were part of an experimental theatre group. It seemed to have worked; at least, they hadn’t gotten in any trouble. So there were seven of them in Caden’s room, including Paz, whose participation was the price of getting to have his friends over. “Just let her play with you,” Mr. Keller had said tiredly, before disappearing into his office for the day. “It won’t hurt you to make her feel included.” Right now sh