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

[truthwright]

[Yeah. One of the kinds of otherworldly magic, I think - Helen is only about the second or third time it's happened - that if you make a lot of it, your kids get born with superpowers.]

[alicornucopia]

[Make it?]

[truthwright]

[It's called 'minting'; the magic comes in the form of coins that grant wishes. I've made a bunch but hardly used any in comparison, and same for another of me who also had some kids who came out with the kind of superpowers that people from Eos sometimes get - Eos is the world where minting comes from.]

[alicornucopia]

[This is a lot of worlds. How did you keep track of them?]

[truthwright]

He shrugs. [I dunno. I don't, anymore, I know there were a bunch more but I couldn't list them or anything.]

[alicornucopia]

Ranata bows her head.

[Does Helen know - any of it?]

[truthwright]

[Nope.]

[alicornucopia]

[Are you going to tell her?]

[truthwright]

[Yeah. I just don't know when.]

[alicornucopia]

[How are you going to tell her?]

[truthwright]

[What do you mean?]

[alicornucopia]

[What are you going to start with - are you just going to drop in bits and pieces or sit her down like the talk about how sex works or something - what are you going to do?]

[truthwright]

[There's a talk about how sex works?]

[alicornucopia]

[...Most people get one, at about her age, sometimes a little younger. I can do it if you haven't and don't want to.]

[truthwright]

[No, information has changed hands there, it just hasn't been a big sit-her-down conversation. Whatever. I don't know. I've got time to think of something.]

[alicornucopia]

[Okay.]

[truthwright]

He sighs.

[alicornucopia]

Ranata hugs him again.

[truthwright]

He leans on her.

[carillons]

After she has gone flying with Shura, Helen looks for Inkeri.

[alicornucopia]

Inkeri is on her cloudpine, sitting in the sky among some treetops, watching clouds; Veravia is a crane at the moment, perched beside her.

[carillons]

Helen pulls up next to her and says, "Hi," somewhat uncertainly.

[alicornucopia]

Inkeri looks at her.

"Hi," she says.

[carillons]

That is encouraging. Helen brightens a little.

"Whatcha doing?"

[alicornucopia]

"Thinking about stuff," says Inkeri, shrugging.