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

[truthwright]

"Nope," says Petaal. "That one's all us."

[alicornucopia]

Narida shrugs. "Is there anything else?"

"I think that's all. Thank you," says Ranata, and she hops on her cloudpine again.

[truthwright]

Petaal changes to human form - female - and scoops up Kalavar. She and Kas leave the presence of the witch queen.

"So that's it, huh?" says Kas to Ranata.

[alicornucopia]

"Narida will put the word out that Helen's mother is not a question of interest, and that I'm sort of fostering her," says Ranata, shrugging. "You were never nearly as well known as Isabella, and even people who might recognize you wouldn't expect you to look like this at this time without having gone revenant, and you don't have the - air of shadow about you that revenants do. People might wonder, but no one will know." She looks at Helen and sighs. "Poor Isabella - when she comes home - she'll have missed so many things, but this most of all."

[truthwright]

Kas sighs.

"Yeah."

[alicornucopia]

"She will come home, right? I've got only your word to go on that she'll be home one day," Ranata says quietly.

[truthwright]

"I think she will. I hope she will. I don't know if I believe she will, but that's just because fifty years is a long time to me and it's hard to keep waiting."

[alicornucopia]

"Where did she go?"

[truthwright]

He shrugs helplessly.

[alicornucopia]

Ranata sighs.

"Well," she says. "I think I should have Helen here - you can take that time off or stay here too, as you like - at least one week of every month, and one solid month out of every year, does that sound reasonable to you?"

[truthwright]

"...Not really," he says. "I wander around a lot. Coming back here once a month for a week would make it hard to do that."

[alicornucopia]

"I can come pick her up wherever you are," says Ranata. "I don't have a lot of demands on my time, and she's important."

[truthwright]

He shakes his head.

"I don't mean it would be hard to get here, I mean I'd only ever have her to myself for three weeks at a time and that's not okay. Why not one week every other month? And one month every year."

[alicornucopia]

Ranata nibbles her lip. "...For now. If she likes magic, when she gets old enough to do it, she may want more lessons than that, to keep up with the other little witches."

[truthwright]

Kas shrugs. "That'd be up to her."

[alicornucopia]

"All right then," says Ranata. "There's really no good place for a mortal in the enclave, but Charlie's house isn't far, I live there most of the time anyway. Shall we go introduce Helen to her grandpa?"

[truthwright]

"Sure."

[alicornucopia]

Ranata leads the way through the air to the house in Forks where Isabella grew up.

Inside, there are pictures of her everywhere.

Charlie's sitting at the kitchen table with a jigsaw puzzle, and apparently Ranata's already briefed him about Helen, because he says, "This must be Helen."

[truthwright]

"Yep," says Kas.

Helen yawns.

[alicornucopia]

"Lemme have a look at her," says Charlie, holding out his arms, and his wolverine Kesathi sits up attentively at his side.

[truthwright]

Kas hands over the baby.

[alicornucopia]

Charlie rocks her. "Hi there, Helen. I'm your grandpa. But that's a secret. You can just call me Charlie. Your mommy did that too when she thought I couldn't hear her."

[truthwright]

Kas giggles.

[alicornucopia]

Kesathi wants to nuzzle Kalavar. Where is Kalavar?

[truthwright]

Petaal has Kalavar!