"I did," Lorcan replied promptly. "At least, the one about Thailand, because there were so many revisions." He and his parents laughed, and Luna explained, "We left our assistant behind to complete the project we were working on, and he kept discovering fascinating new species of insects in the ecosystem we had been working in."
Rolf took up the tale, "And I absolutely insisted that it would be inappropriate to leave any detail out. Accuracy is important. It would be like trying to draw a picture of a hornsnagler and leaving off the scales." Apparently, that was his idea of a completely transparent simile.
Lorcan grinned. "Or writing a book about charms and leaving out the third variation on Goodwin's countercharm." Maybe the point was to be as obscure as possible?
Luna added gently, almost reprovingly, "Or creating a list of similes and leaving off the one about guests being like jewels. Do you like metaphors?" she asked Lucia.
They all turned to look at Lucia, open to her joining in the game or changing the subject or talking about metaphors, though Lorcan looked like he was ready to leap in with something else to say if it looked like Lucia was bewildered or too unsure of herself. Sometimes his family took a bit of getting used to.