and my ears will listen

[truthwright]

Time goes by. Shura's mother lets her cut a cloudpine branch, and she and Helen go flying together.

Helen celebrates her eighth birthday by baking all her favourite people a cake again. And then she goes away with Kas, to Iceland and Russia and back by way of Alaska.

When they fly in, Kas on Petaal's cloudpine and Helen on her own, Helen is wearing blue jeans and a pink T-shirt.

Comments

[alicornucopia]

[It is rather like drag. Species-drag.]

[truthwright]

[Wonder what would happen if I started dressing like a witch.]

[alicornucopia]

[I can't claim to recommend it.]

[truthwright]

He laughs.

[alicornucopia]

Eventually, Shura wanders by.

She stares at Helen.

"I thought Kaydi was making it up," she says.

[carillons]

Helen stares back, somewhat uneasily.

"You're not gonna yell at me too, are you?"

[alicornucopia]

Shura peers uncomfortably at the outfit, but she shakes her head.

[carillons]

"Good," says Helen. "I don't like getting yelled at. It's not fun."

[alicornucopia]

"It's not," agrees Shura.

[carillons]

Helen nods firmly.

"Wanna go flying?"

[alicornucopia]

"...Are you going to be dressed like that?"

[carillons]

"Yeah?"

[alicornucopia]

"Why?"

[carillons]

"Because I felt like wearing it and I don't feel like stopping."

[alicornucopia]

"But why?"

[carillons]

"What do you mean, why?"

[alicornucopia]

"The same thing why always means, how come, what makes you feel like it?"

[carillons]

"Well, part of why I feel like not taking them off is 'cause I'm mad that Kaydi thinks I'm not a witch or something," she says. "But I just tried on mortal clothes to see if I'd like them, and then I did, and now I wear them sometimes, there's not a thing that made me feel like it, I just do."

[alicornucopia]

Shura shuffles her feet and doesn't seem to know what to say.

[carillons]

"...Shura? What's wrong?"

[alicornucopia]

"It's weird and I don't get why you're doing it but I'm worried you're gonna be mad at me for not automatically understanding."

[carillons]

"I don't get what there is to understand!" she says unhappily. "Can't it just be another thing about me, like how Kalavar likes being dragons, and I give people cake on my birthday?"

[alicornucopia]

"You never did it before," says Shura.

[carillons]

"Yeah, 'cause I only started now!" she says. "And I never baked a cake before I baked my first cake, but now I like baking cakes!"

[alicornucopia]

"Yeah but - baking cakes isn't a mortal thing like jeans are."