Ira couldn’t hold back a giggle at the impromptu can-can, but didn’t join in for fear of his longer legs sweeping Theo and Staas straight off the sidewalk. He made up for it with a little swing dance move to help twirl Alida around, sweeping his hand at her in a theatrical “ta-da!” gesture towards no one in particular when she spun neatly out of it. The song and their performance ended there, with Theo perched up on his father’s shoulders and Alida sashaying happily at Ira’s side. A pocket of pre-teenagers standing in front of a clothing store were staring at them in confusion as they passed, but there was scattered applause from a young couple and a wrinkled old lady strolling nearby.
There was a minute or two of happy, breathless silence, before Staas spoke up. Ira blinked and glanced at him, quiet for a second. He broke the pause with a smile and nodded casually. “Okay.” Ira knew what kind of trust that being given a key meant, and at this point it’d be redundant to ask if Staas was sure about it. “Your call,” he shrugged, straight-faced once more in spite of the warm and fuzzy feeling all over again. And though Ira had every intention of knocking if he ever was to drop by unexpected, he added teasingly, “Increases the odds of a ninja attack, though.”