i might as well be the man on the moon

[truthwright]

Their Isabella having just gone to welcome a new Bell into the peal, Kas and Petaal snuggle up together and take a nap. They'll want to be well rested for the party.

When they wake up, she still isn't back.

[Jane?]

No response.

Kas teleports down to the Janepoint, Petaal wrapped snake-shaped around his shoulders.

The display reads: error 7788: lycanthropy

"...So that's new," he says.

"No shit," says Petaal. "Now what?"

He shrugs. She coils tighter.

"Hang around and wait, I guess."

Comments

[carillons]

Helen giggles at Nicoa, and un-sits from Kas's lap, and thinks for a moment, and yells, "I'm yelling for no reason!"

It doesn't come out quite right; she can feel it. She frowns for a moment and then tries again.

"I'm yelling for no reason!"

There it goes. She giggles again.

[alicornucopia]

Shura laughs and claps.

[carillons]

Helen beams.

"I did a thing!"

[alicornucopia]

"What thing is it, though? How do you do it? I'm yelliiiiiing," Shura tries experimentally.

[carillons]

"I don't know!" she says. "I don't knooooooooooooow..."

This time she does it without the volume, just filling a twenty-foot radius with her ordinary voice.

"Maybe it's magic," she says more normally. "But it's not in the book anywhere."

[alicornucopia]

"And you didn't verse it. Have you been eating funny herbs or spilling honey in shapes or something?"

[carillons]

"Not even a little bit!" says Helen.

[alicornucopia]

"Then how'd you do it?"

[carillons]

"I dunno! I just did," she says. "It's just a thing I can do."

[alicornucopia]

"I don't have a thing like that."

[carillons]

Helen shrugs.

"Well, I don't know what kind of thing it is. Maybe I'm just the only one who has it."

[alicornucopia]

"That's not fair," huffs Shura.

[carillons]

"I'd give you one too if I could!"

[alicornucopia]

"It's not your birth blessing, right?" says Shura, scrunching up her face trying to remember.

[carillons]

"No, my birth blessing's something about Kalavar," she says. Kalavar arches her spiny neck.

[alicornucopia]

Nicoa turns into a puffy rabbit. "Mine is boring, and I don't even get a shouting power," Shura says.

[carillons]

"What is yours?"

[alicornucopia]

"I don't get sick much," shrugs Shura. "I guess it's okay, it's just not interesting."

[carillons]

"What one would you pick, if you could pick one?" wonders Helen. She nudges Kalavar off her book and opens it to the goddess chart.

[alicornucopia]

"Something cool. Like - like my great grandmother only has to sleep three hours a day, I like that one."

[carillons]

"That would be cool," Helen agrees.

[truthwright]

"It sure would," says Kas.

And it's not even a hex. A pentagon will do it.

(There's tricks, and then there's tricks. He's willing to risk this one.)

[alicornucopia]

"Oh well," sighs Shura theatrically. "I'm gonna go find grandma and we are going to the lake to feed ducks." (Nicoa becomes a duckling, illustratively.) "You can come probably."

[carillons]

"Okay!" says Helen, scooping up Kalavar onto her shoulder with a last glance at the book. "Let's go feed ducks!"

[alicornucopia]

They locate Shura's grandmother, and they go to the lake, where there are ducks.