the zoo

[instar]

There is one visit during the day from a lady down the street who has made the girls a casserole, on the grounds that it can be hard to remember to eat when bereaved. Bella thanks her sincerely, sniffles a little, and sends her on her way. The casserole is shared around for lunch. Bella asks Ax what Andalites eat, and when she finds out, she locates a bag of grass clippings in the backyard that he pronounces acceptable. She also asks him how he eats them. By way of illustration, he steps both forehooves into the bag of clippings.

Night falls.

They can all go to the Seattle zoo and acquire everything they can get their hands on.

Comments

[aeskhyne]

"...Can I talk to him first? I mean - instead, hopefully?"

[instar]

"And say what?"

[aeskhyne]

"I'm really not sure. But I don't want him to have to suck it up."

[instar]

"Are you going to apologize to him or something, then?"

[aeskhyne]

"Or something. I don't know."

[instar]

"Is there some other form of him not sucking it up of which I am unaware?"

[aeskhyne]

"I really don't know what I'm doing," he says. "I don't have plans, I'm not even sure I have goals, I have... vague hopes. But me and my vague hopes can get a pretty long way together sometimes."

[instar]

Bella sits back down and puts her head in her hands.

She indulges in two seconds of what appears to be exhausted despair.

Then she gets up again. "Okay. Fine. I couldn't even stop you if I wanted, could I?"

[aeskhyne]

"You probably could. But I'm glad you're not going to try it," he says. "G'night."

[instar]

"Mmhm." She heads for the stairs.

[aeskhyne]

Trouble wraps his blanket around himself and brings it with him into the garage after she goes.

[morphbox]

Ax is in the garage. The lights are off. There are plastic glow in the dark stars on the ceiling which weren't there before.

[aeskhyne]

He looks up at the stars as he gently shuts the door, tucking in a trailing edge of blanket before it can get caught.

"Hi," he says.

[morphbox]

<Hello.>

[aeskhyne]

"I wanna talk to you. Do you wanna talk?"

[morphbox]

<What do you want to talk about?>

[aeskhyne]

"That thing where we set each other off the other day."

[morphbox]

Hooves scrape softly on concrete. <Ah. Princess Bella said I was not required to apologize; do you disagree?>

[aeskhyne]

"Nah," says Trouble. "I don't know what you'd be apologizing for if you did. And I don't think you know, either."

[morphbox]

<I do not,> Ax agrees.

[aeskhyne]

"Yeah, I figured," says Trouble. "So there wouldn't be much point."

[morphbox]

<Do humans believe the point of apologies has to do with demonstrating knowledge?> wonders Ax.

[aeskhyne]

"If somebody's sorry for setting me off, but they don't know what they did or why it mattered or what setting me off even means, that doesn't do me much good, does it?"

[morphbox]

<Well,> says Ax, <not if the apology is given under duress. I asked Princess Bella not to order you to do so, but she said that it wouldn't matter if she did.>

[aeskhyne]

"Asked her not to, huh?"

He sits down with his back against the wall, tucking the blanket in around himself and drawing his knees up to his chest.

"Why's that?"