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

[alicornucopia]

They are wiggly, and the electric ones have sensors in their tanks to tell you how electric they are being at any given time.

[carillons]

Kalavar becomes a snake and coils around Helen's shoulders while Helen peers at the wiggly eels and reads the sensors on the electric ones.

[alicornucopia]

After eels are funny fishes that pop up vertically from the sand at the floor of their tank, like grass.

[carillons]

She giggles at the funny fishes! They are funny.

[alicornucopia]

Next are manatees. They drift about peacefully and eat lettuce.

[carillons]

"They look huggable," Helen declares.

[alicornucopia]

"No swimming with these ones, sorry," says Ranata, peering at the sign. "But they do, don't they?"

[carillons]

"I will just have to hug you instead," says Helen, and she does.

[alicornucopia]

Hug!

[carillons]

"You are huggable like a manatee," says Helen.

[alicornucopia]

"Oh, I'm not sure I'm like a manatee. I think I'm differently huggable," laughs Ranata.

[carillons]

"But you are huggable and they are huggable! And you are out here where I can hug you! You're the best manatee ever," Helen declares.

[alicornucopia]

"I do seem to have a practical advantage, there!"

[carillons]

Beam!

Hug.

[alicornucopia]

Hug.

Here there are frogs. Brightly colored poisonous frogs.

[carillons]

"Ooh, pretty colours," says Helen. Kalavar turns into a dragon with many colours again, but a more rounded froggy sort of dragon.

[alicornucopia]

There are many pretty colors, and the frogs are cute, and tiny.

[carillons]

They are so tiny and cute! Kalavar flaps her colourful wings in glee, clinging to Helen's shoulder with her rounded froggy toes.

[alicornucopia]

"If Kalavar ever becomes something poisonous to touch," Ranata tells them, "she won't hurt you, Helen, but she can still hurt other daemons."

The question of her hurting other people is not mentioned.

[truthwright]

"And animals. And people," says Petaal.

[alicornucopia]

"Well," says Ranata. "Technically, but people wouldn't be touching Kalavar anyway. And if they did, and they didn't stop right away, she can turn into a poison frog and Helen can scream at the top of her lungs. Understand, dear? If anyone ever does that and it's not an accident they correct right away, you be poisonous or spiky or slippery and you get away. That's not ever okay until you are grown up and decide so."

[carillons]

Helen nods.

"Because it's bad," she says.

[alicornucopia]

"That's right. Everybody's daemon belongs to them and nobody else."

[carillons]

Helen hugs her rounded froggy dragon daemon.

[alicornucopia]

Next are water bugs, that skim across the surface of their water.