"We have ways of making it work," Marian promised, taking her hand gently and passing it to Art. "Would you like to put that in the box, Art?" she tried not to fall instantly into the tone of Mother, but it was certainly there. Marian felt like the most useful thing she had taught Art since getting back - at least in the sense of making him feel less caught out - was that you could turn almost anything into a faraday cage with enough layers of tinfoil. She'd only given him the rolls she had as long as he promised not to start making tinfoil hats, as those were useless.
Once her hands were free, Marian slowly looped her arm with Qebhet's. "I'll lead you upstairs," she said, bringing her slowly into the pub. "The floor is flat here, I'll tell you when we get to the first step." This felt weirdly familiar, like being back in the forest almost.
At the steps she moved slowly, guiding Qebhet with her voice and at the top she let go of her so that she could close the apartment door. (The apartment above the pub was nothing special, but it was tidy enough to be seen by company.) "You can take that off now," she said, running a hand through her hair. "Thank you for doing that."