the ocean

[instar]

Five pigeons, one with a beetle glued to her foot, fly to Seattle and find the aquarium and the orca tanks.

There is one with just one orca in it.

Five pigeons land on the glass edge of the tank.

Comments

[morphbox]

<I would,> says Ax, <prefer not to be compared to any Yeerk.>

<She's a duck now,> says Andi unhelpfully.

[aeskhyne]

<It's my head she crawled into,> Trouble reminds him. <I'll talk about her how I want.>

[morphbox]

<Sounded to me like he was complaining about talking about him,> Andi says. <With the 'too'.>

[aeskhyne]

<You know what,> says Trouble, <skip it.>

He speeds up. Pigeons are not that much faster than seagulls on the whole, but this pigeon in particular is a racer, and he's been flying slow so as not to lose the entourage.

[morphbox]

<Are you okay? Is this going to be a problem?> Bella asks Trouble privately.

[aeskhyne]

<Not a big one. I'll deal.>

But he's not slowing down to let the rest of the group catch up again.

[morphbox]

<Figuring out how to integrate the alien - who conveniently has decided to take orders from me - would be easier if I knew what I was integrating him with,> she calls after him, fainter as the distance grows.

[aeskhyne]

<I'll talk to you about it. Later. Ask me later.>

[morphbox]

<Okay.>

Eventually they get home, which is harder but not impossible without pigeonly guidance. They duck into the garage. They demorph.

[morphbox]

And Ax says, <I will attempt the Frolis maneuver now. Is a male human form acceptable?>

[instar]

"Yes, but give us a minute to find some clothes - a minute is one-sixtieth of an hour -" Swans duck into the house and raid Charlie's closet.

[morphbox]

<That took two and two-fifths minutes, if the conversions I have are correct,> observes Ax, when he accepts the clothes. He starts morphing.

[instar]

"I don't know if they're exact, it seems unlikely that morph limitations map that closely onto hours. You can do math that sophisticated in your head?"

[morphbox]

<I can keep time,> explains Ax. He completes his morph. He's an odd blend of the bunch - a little Swan family resemblance, but not enough that people would think them definite cousins. A little Trouble, in the hair, around the eyes; Ethan's nose, Robin's chin, a mixed build that's too short for the clothes. He is pretty puzzled by the clothes.

[palmofyourhand]

"Would you," sighs Ethan, "like some help with those?"

[morphbox]

"Yes," says Ax, and then he tilts his head. "Yyyyye. Yesss. Sssss."

[pandion]

Andi (facing the wall) giggles.

[palmofyourhand]

Ethan raises his eyes to the ceiling and then endeavours to assist.

[morphbox]

Ax continues playing-with-sounds while he dons the outfit.

[palmofyourhand]

"Is it really such a fascinating novelty?"

[morphbox]

"It-t-t-t-t is! Zzzz. Izzz."

[palmofyourhand]

"Right." He snorts and tugs down the hem of Ax's new shirt. "He is dressed, ladies. You may cease to shield your maiden eyes."

[instar]

Ladies cease to shield their maiden eyes. "It'll do," sighs Bella. "Okay. Ax, let's go in and you and me get each other up to speed on - everything - and then you can sleep in here in your normal form, I hope you were paying attention to how the clothes worked for future reference."

[morphbox]

"Yes, Princess - prrrrrrinn-sessss! - Belllllllll-ah."

[instar]

"Maybe you should just thoughtspeak for efficiency."