It was a good time to work on floor design. Right now, they had an entrance room, the east and west wings, and then Astrid’s boss room, followed by the core room. But the locals had seen their layout, when they were celebrating, so Clare decided to do a little tinkering.

Besides, she didn’t have a hobby like Kepler did. He looked so handsome cute fiddling with his garden, but Clare wasn’t sure she could put that much passion into anything. In fact, the idea almost scared her; it wasn’t like she had anything she was good at. Would probably mess it up.

But, she was the dungeon. Floor design.

Right now, they had a little bit of unused space under the entrance room and outer ring. The outer ring—she called them the east and west wings since, after they’d gotten the new designs from expanding, Kepler and Clare had made a kind of livable-style dungeon hall of both sides.

Well, sort of livable. There were bedroom-style alcoves shielded from the hall by thick curtains, a desk or two with parchment, quills and other supplies. It had tickled their fancy to make it look like a house, like their little home.

The water pillars remained, as did the random spikes (they’d managed to make the protrusions a lot more translucent, sharper, and thinner, too), but they’d relied a lot more on puzzles this time. Kepler insisted it was because Celio was too dumb to solve any puzzles, so it was a better deterrent.

Both knew, as well, that puzzles tended to be less lethal for children.

I’ve gotten distracted, she said to herself. It wasn’t that she wasn’t interested in designing parts of the dungeon without Kepler. That would be nonsensical, especially with how she’d been keeping him at a bit of a distance lately.

[Mum!] Astrid waved a hand at the core, [Are you listening?]

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Clare felt warm, seeing their first creation. The girl was growing up so fast. I am now!

[Confucious wants his own garden.] Astrid had her younger brother by the hair, holding him up to the light cheerfully, [But dad’s busy with his own.]

Honey, don’t pick him up by his hair—that has to hurt.

Astrid looked puzzled, [There’s no way that’s true.]

Confucious tugged at her hand shyly, [It does.] He admitted.

[Oh, sorry!] Astrid dropped him, the boy hitting the stone floor with a thump. Clare winced. They’d have to work on that, Astrid was under the impression that everyone was as tough as snake-worms. Clare had assumed she’d learn better from the dungeon servants, but no one had said anything.

Confucious stood up, [I’m okay. I do want a garden though.]

Clare beamed. She’d been a bit worried about Confucious (he was so quiet!) but it seemed like he’d learned to ask for what he wanted. Of course!!

Slenderman wandered over to see what the excitement was all about and was largely ignored by the children. They really didn’t find him scary at all.

Clare hollowed out a part of the floor next to their core area, filling it with the dust-ground rock-decayed materials mix Kepler had been using to grow his plants. After another moment of thought, she raised some rocky spikes and boulders around the place to keep the other dungeon dwellers from trampling it.

What kind of plants do you want? They didn’t have much, but hopefully it would be enough.

[Slimy rugs.] Confucious said quietly.

His nickname for Microbic mats was so cute. Clare laid down a thick layer and ported in some water from the general network.

Is that good?

He nodded happily. Cute.

[You’ll have to show me when it’s done.] Astrid told him.

Confucious shook his head. [No way. You’re too rough.]

Clare held in a chortle at Astrid’s expression. She left the two to bicker as Slenderman leaned down to sniff the new garden curiously.

In Kepler’s garden, the symbiote was experimenting with candy and velvet and some offshoot of moss left over from Confucious’ birth. He was humming along with the diplurans, who had began playing ‘Have I Told You Lately That I Love You.’

It made her feel oddly hollow, she realized. The idea of designing the dungeon without him. But, she didn’t want to interrupt him.

And, just maybe, if she took up a hobby of her own it would be fine. Even the kids had things they were passionate about, and it didn’t matter if she messed up something like, say, sculpting, right?

With that thought, she summoned a block marble and lost herself in cheerful busyness.