a profusion of whistles

[self_composed]

"I didn't wind up interacting directly with Micaiah much," says Stella, after returning home from a certain visit. "Does he deviate from template significantly? He didn't have wings, so I imagine it was by less than Angela deviates from my template."

Comments

[truthwright]

Petaal climbs forward over Kas's hand, leans down, and touches her nose to Stella's fingertip.

Kas inhales audibly.

[self_composed]

"Okay?" asks Stella.

(It feels like mindreading - the deeper kind, the emotion-blob-poking kind. It isn't. She has no new information. But it feels like that.)

[truthwright]

"Okay," Petaal declares, and bumps her nose against Stella's fingers a few more times. "You can pet me if you want," she adds.

Kas is smiling.

[self_composed]

Stella pets her very gently. "Feels like mindreading," she remarks aloud.

[truthwright]

Petaal decides she is feeling cuddly enough to be a viscacha.

Floof!

"Yeah, Amariah kinda said that too," says Kas.

[self_composed]

"Does she know what mindreading feels like or is it that obvious a comparison?" Stella's still gentle with Petaal, after a startled flinch at the shift under her hand; she doesn't know much about how this works and is erring on the side of caution.

[truthwright]

"It's that obvious," says Petaal, closing her eyes and making happy little hm-hm noises.

[self_composed]

"- Does she let you touch Pathalan?"

This wouldn't startle her overwhelmingly. But it would be an interesting piece of information about Amariah.

[truthwright]

"Yeah," says Kas.

"After I killed that guy for her," says Petaal.

[self_composed]

"Ah." Pet pet. So soft.

[truthwright]

"Mm," says Petaal. "Aren't I cuddly?"

[self_composed]

"You are. What kind of creature are you? Or doesn't it really exist, like the dragon?"

[truthwright]

"I'm a viscacha," she says proudly. "They're really real. And really fluffy."

[self_composed]

"No kidding they're fluffy. You're like an overstuffed rabbit plushie crossed with the concept of huggableness."

[truthwright]

"Amariah said so too," giggles Petaal.

[self_composed]

"We are very much alike," laughs Stella.

[truthwright]

"You are!" says Petaal. "You give nice pettings."

[self_composed]

"I am glad to hear it." Pet pet pet. "You wanna take me to your world so I can meet Amariah?"

[truthwright]

"Sure," she says contentedly, and nuzzles Stella's hand, and hops back across the table into Kas's arms. He hugs her for a moment, kisses the top of her head, and then stands up.

[self_composed]

Stella follows after him. She floats.

[truthwright]

Petaal turns into a brightly iridescent snake and loops herself around Kas's shoulders as he opens the door.

[self_composed]

Stella steps out into a strip club in Rio, takes in the Portuguese signage with tolerant amusement, and puts Amariah and Kas both on the brainphone network for a conference call. [Hi, Amariah! Guess who!]

[dark_light]

[...Stella?] guesses Amariah. [Goddesses all, did Kas bring you back? Oh wow.]

[truthwright]

"Hey, count me in here," says Petaal.

[self_composed]

"Sorry," says Stella, and she includes the daemons on the network too. [Yep! Are you in the middle of anything? Can I come teleport you to the door here in - some Portuguese-speaking country?]