"I like reading," Benji said simply, careful not to display his thoughts toward the new book rule. He wondered vaguely if he could convince one of the good professors left to assign him the next book in the series he'd been reading. Probably a long shot, but maybe... "Are you a reader, too?"

Benji continued working on the giant pile of snow he was building when something Rylee said intrigued him enough to make his head pop up, a curious expression on his face: "Foxes?" Did she hang out with foxes? Raise them? What was the deal with the foxes?! It sounded cool!

"Sledding..." he echoed wistfully. He wished he'd had somebody to do that with this year. He had gone before when he was really little, but not since he'd been old enough to actually enjoy it properly. He'd like to try it again, but doing it alone wasn't very fun, so he hadn't given it a go this time around.

Lastly, some exciting news! Or at least Rylee seemed happy about it. "Congratulations to your sister," he said with a smile. "How much older is she? Do you like her fiance?"

Lots of questions, but Benji was curious about his new friend. They were friends now, right? Benji thought they might be, anyway.