Penny nodded a bit, but stayed where she was, watching Markl and Amelia with the candies as she covered her mouth and nose with the handkerchief. It was sad, but there were quite a few instances where Penny (though she loved her little brother possibly more than life itself) was insanely jealous of him. He was so full of energy all the time. He could run and jump and leap and get hurt and not require massive surgery afterward. He could eat chocolate without potentially going into a coma. It was frustrating, but she was happy he was healthy nevertheless.
Markl's attention was torn between the dog and the candy, though obviously, candy trumps dog any day of the week and twice on Sundays. He giggled happily when she playfully closed the bag on him, retracting his hand quickly but returning it to choose a candy almost immediately. No fear, thought Penny with a grin. "This one," said Markl, choosing the mini Reese's cup and holding it up high like he'd just won a track trophy.
"What do you say?" Penny asked him.
"Tank you!" replied Markl cheerfully, who didn't care how much snow had fallen the night before because his bum was going straight for the floor to sit and eat his chocolate.
Penny sighed at Markl's antics, though she couldn't ever really be angry with him. She thanked Amelia again for giving Markl the candy. "I know what you mean," Penny said with a little roll and a sigh, "You would think news gets better over time, but it really doesn't. Just crazier and crazier. I'm used to it though. We both are," she said, referring to Markl who had somehow gotten peanut butter and chocolate all over his face.