the animorphs

[instar]

Renée is gone in the morning, a pot of maple oatmeal for the girls and Trouble cooling on the stove and a note on the fridge, she's going to be gone all day on a day trip to Tucson with her friends.

Andi wakes up first. Bella's not far behind.

Comments

[palmofyourhand]

"Me too," says Ethan.

[hold_infinity]

"Me three," says Robin.

[instar]

Lunch, being so delicious, goes pretty quick. And then home.

Bella locks the door, makes sure all the curtains are still in place over all the windows, and says, "All right, who wants to practice being pigeons?"

[pandion]

"Can't I do it tomorrow?"

[instar]

"Too tired to see if you can manage 'angel' the same way you can manage 'fairy'?"

[pandion]

"I morphed the butterfly so many times. I guess I can do the pigeon once but I don't want to work on anything fancy, okay?"

[instar]

"Yeah. That can be it for today."

[hold_infinity]

"I want to practice being a pigeon!" says Robin cheerfully.

[aeskhyne]

"Count me in," Trouble agrees.

[palmofyourhand]

"Why not," says Ethan.

[instar]

Bella and Andi are already in snug clothes and have learned to morph them. The others are not. "Do you three want some amount of privacy? We can include clothes but it takes a little practice."

[palmofyourhand]

"Privacy would be appreciated. By me, if not by these two."

[instar]

"Hmm -" Bella peers down the stairwell into the basement. "I think there's enough room for pigeon wingspan, if you want to go down here - or we could just have Andi go first and then demorph and open and close doors for us as necessary."

[palmofyourhand]

"Basement is fine," says Ethan. Down he goes, trailed by Trouble and Robin.

[morphbox]

The twins turn into pigeons.

<I'm home! Yay, I'm home,> Andi-the-pigeon says merrily to the others. <I like being home.>

<...Did you get high on something when I wasn't looking, Andi?> inquires Bella-the-pigeon.

[aeskhyne]

Trouble flutters up out of the basement. <Pigeons really like being home, turns out! This is fun, I love it.>

[morphbox]

<I'm home, Bella! And you're home too!>

<What is wrong with you?> asks Bella.

<Everything's great! We're home!>

[aeskhyne]

<...Are you not getting any of this, Bella? I mean, I am really glad to be home right now. Not so glad I can't talk about anything else, but pretty fucking glad.>

[morphbox]

<I am aware that my pigeon has this set to "home" and I could find it again, but I'm more curious about whether that's because we morphed here or because this is, in fact, home ->

<Home!>

<- or for some other reason than I am glad about it. This didn't happen with the butterfly.>

<Butterflies don't have homes. Silly butterflies, homes are great. We're in ours!>

[aeskhyne]

<I have it set to 'home' too, and I definitely don't live here,> says Trouble. <Ethan? Robin?>

[palmofyourhand]

<Yes,> says Ethan from the basement, <we're home too.>

[morphbox]

<Well, good for you all, I guess. Are you guys going to have this problem with any animal more complicated than a butterfly and less mindful than a human or an Andalite, I wonder.>

[aeskhyne]

<What problem?> says Trouble. <Andi's the only one who's high on it. >

[morphbox]

<Even you make it sound like it's having mood-altering effects.>

<That's 'cause being home is great!> enthuses Andi.

[aeskhyne]

<Well, yeah,> says Trouble, <but it's not a problem, it's fun.>