"Did we all just go crazy?" Seraphine asked.

"I was going to build her a bed," Bork said, looking at the pile of wood he had apparently gathered without knowing it. "Why was I going to make her a bed?"

"I was going to make a seven-course meal," Lylia said in a soft voice. "At 10 a.m."

"I hate these gloves," Marina said. "Greg, these are worse than the shoes you wear to dance."

"How are they worse than the dancing boots?"

"Because they hurt you so much when you care! You just had to dance in the boots, but these make you care about someone's health to an insane degree!"

Greg carefully picked up the gloves, as if they could explode. "I was trying to make gloves that would keep me warm. How did I end up making weapons of love?

"Because you are who you are," Marina said. "You can use anything as a peaceful tool, even good feelings, it seems."

The door to the workshop flew open, and Bernard, the chief of the village, ran in looking scared. "Greg! There is a problem!"

Just by looking at his arrival, Greg already know what's about to happen next. "Hahhh... What now?" Greg asked, sounding worn out.

"Someone in the village got a pair of gloves. I don't know how, but they've been touching everyone, and now the whole village is going crazy!"

Greg said, "Oh no..."

"Oh yes!" said Bernard.

"The baker won't bake because he's afraid his apprentice will hurt himself on the oven!"

"The farmers won't work because they're worried their coworkers will get too tired."

"The weapons dealer won't let anyone near the weapons because they could get hurt."

"The whole village has come to a stop because everyone is too worried about everyone else to let anyone do anything!"

"How did someone get the gloves?" Seraphine wanted to know. "We have all six pairs right here."

They did the math. And of course the undesirable result is that there are only five sets.

Greg said again with a full realization, "Oh fuck..."

"WHO TOOK THE SIXTH PAIR?!" Marina asked.

"... ...!" Greg then remembers that one of the gloves fell out of the window when he gave it to Elwen, but he didn't pay attention to it.

"I... I might have left one pair by the window on accident," Greg said while scratching his chin to make an excuse. "I was going to give it to Thomas for his fence work because his hands are always cold, but someone must have taken it."

"We have to get it back," Bernard said. "Before the village falls apart completely. People are already putting up walls to keep each other safe, and the market square looks like a castle."

The Brotherhood quickly got ready, putting on coats and going out in the cold Ferndale morning. What they saw was just as crazy as Bernard had said it would be.

...

In the market square, different groups of villagers had formed circles around each other to protect them. Each group was trying to keep their protected person from doing anything that might be dangerous. That seemed to be everything.

One woman yelled at another, "You can't carry that basket! It's too heavy! You could hurt your back!"

The person carrying the basket said, "I'm fine!"

"You're not okay! You need to take a break! Sit down right now!"

"I have veggies to sell!"

"THE VEGETABLES CAN WAIT! Your health is more important!"

There were similar scenes happening all over the square. It appears that someone talked the butcher into closing his shop because it was too dangerous to cut meat.

A group of worried people stood around the fruit seller and wouldn't let him lift any crates. The town guard wouldn't patrol because they were afraid of getting cold.

"This is a disaster," Marina said, but she was trying not to laugh.

Greg said, "This isn't funny."

"It's a little funny."

"It's not funny at all!"

"Okay, that's really funny."

They found the missing gloves on a young woman named Sarah. Who was being kept out of her own bakery by at least seven worried neighbors.

"Hey, Sarah," Greg yelled. "I need those gloves back."

"But they're so warm!" Sarah said. "And everyone is being so kind to me all of a sudden!"

"Everyone is being too protective, which is silly," Seraphine said. "Please take off the gloves."

"Can I keep them? Just for a little while?"

"NO!" everyone yelled.

One of the worried neighbors suddenly lunged at Sarah. "Let me take those gloves off you! You could hurt your hands trying to take them off yourself!"

After that, there was a strange chase scene through the village. Sarah ran while wearing the gloves, and different villagers chased her while trying to keep her safe. The Brotherhood tried to catch everyone while explaining that the gloves were cursed.

They finally caught Sarah in the village square after twenty minutes. Marina convinced Sarah to remove the gloves by promising that Greg would create a normal pair of warm gloves that wouldn't cause everyone to act like overprotective parents.

The affected villagers blinked and looked around in confusion when the gloves came off.

"Why was I trying to build a wall?" one man asked.

"Why did I close my store?" the butcher asked.

"Why do I have seventeen blankets?" another person asked.

Greg showed the gloves to everyone. "Does anyone else want to put on the love gloves?"

Everyone in the crowd took a step back.

Greg said, "That's what I thought."

...

The Brotherhood gathered around Greg as he looked at all six pairs of gloves back at the workshop. They looked like normal, warm, and comfortable winter gloves, but anyone who touched the person wearing them felt a strong urge to protect them.

"What are we going to do with them?" Lylia asked.

"Lock them up," Greg said with authority. "These are too risky to have around."

Marina said, "They're more dangerous than weapons. You know what a weapon will do, at least. These things make people feel like they're falling apart."

Greg went to the cellar door and opened it. The Tea Kettle of Eternal Comfort was still sealed behind several protective barriers inside, after the time it made everyone too calm to work.

Greg said, "The gloves are going to the same place as the kettle. These are now officially banned items."

Felix said in awe, "You made things that are against the law. That's really impressive."

"It's not impressive! It's worrying," Seraphine said. "You've made things so powerful that they need to be kept safe."

"Peacefully strong," Marina said. "Which somehow worsens it."

Greg carefully put all six pairs of gloves on the shelf next to the tea kettle and locked the cellar door with every spell he could think of.

"There," he said. "Nobody ever touches these again."

"What if it gets really cold?" Bork asked.

Greg said, "We'll get regular gloves from the store. Like normal people."

"But your gloves are warmer," Elwen said in a low voice.

"Plus, they make everyone into overprotective parents!"

Donetta asked innocently, "Is that really so bad?"

"YES!"

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