the circle

[instar]

Trouble and Charlie fly to Las Vegas to get their collections of drunks. Ax, newly empigeoned, and Ethan loosely follow Renée's car back to Phoenix, so that Ax will not be stranded in an unfamiliar city obliged to demorph into Andalite form with no garage to hide in.

Renée makes a very large grocery trip. Ax deems alfalfa hay intended for consumption by guinea pigs and rabbits to be the hoof-eating equivalent of palatable; it also turns out he can eat a few other things, like carrot tops and turnip greens. He still doesn't like living in the garage, even though it's a different one. Andi finds him a little planetarium gadget that throws star-patterns onto the ceiling.

Renée installs a cot in the basement for Charlie. (His generic human morph is a man about ten years younger than him, plausibly Latino but just as plausibly not, plain and unremarkable. He also picks up a Renée morph. He will be able to drive the girls places, publicly know their names. They can tell he appreciates the opportunity, however weird it is.) Trouble is allowed to sleep on the couch, when Renée learns that he would prefer not to share the basement with Charlie.

Bella sews weights onto all the curtain hems so they won't be easily nudged aside.

The twins also collect generic-human-morphs. Both of theirs are college-age women, samples collected from going on premature college tours and shaking a lot of hands - Bella's looks maybe half Asian when she's done tweaking it, Andi winds up with a complexion much like her usual one but a surprisingly Hawaiian set of features.

Renée never asks to be enabled to morph. Bella eventually offers, "for emergencies", and Renée aggregates a number of her co-workers into the most stereotypical teacher-lady it is possible to Frolis into without requiring vision correction.

Renée makes the arrangements well in advance to homeschool the twins.

Bella quizzes Ax about all sorts of things, for large parts of each day.

Comments

[megale]

...Rhea looks at her feathered friends.

"What."

[aeskhyne]

<Talking pigeon is what,> Trouble says cheerfully. <Hi.>

[megale]

"Okay, for some reason it's stranger to talk to a pigeon who talks back. How do you be a talking pigeon?"

[aeskhyne]

<It's a long story.>

He flutters up onto the bench and coos again.

<Short version? I'm a guy who can turn into animals and I'm hanging out as a pigeon a lot because I'm in hiding.>

[megale]

"So you're like - a wosscalled, a pooka or something?"

[aeskhyne]

<I dunno, what's a pooka?>

[megale]

"I think they're supposed to turn into horses? They're a kind of fairy."

[aeskhyne]

<I have never turned into a horse.>

[megale]

"Well why not?"

[aeskhyne]

<Pigeons are less conspicuous,> he suggests. <And I've never felt like it.>

[megale]

"You're pretty inconspicuous. How long have I been feeding you bread now? I can't tell you guys apart except for ones with unusual colors."

[aeskhyne]

<A few days. I'm the chatty one you caught the other day.>

[megale]

"Oh my god, I just grabbed and petted a talking pigeon?"

[aeskhyne]

<I kind of maybe let you,> he admits.

[megale]

"Why?"

[aeskhyne]

<Because you're really cute,> he sighs, and steps closer on the bench to nibble a bit of naan out of her hand.

[megale]

She eeps and giggles when he eats from her hand. "A talking pigeon thinks I'm cute. I'm having a really, weird dream."

[aeskhyne]

<Adooooorable,> he assures her. <And you're totally not dreaming, I swear.>

Peck peck! Mmmm tasty bread bits.

[megale]

"Well, but a dream talking pigeon would say that, too."

[aeskhyne]

<Okay, but it's broad daylight, you didn't just fall asleep in the park, if you're dreaming now then when did you start?>

[megale]

"Goooood question. Huh. Okay. Why does a talking pigeon think I'm cute and want to talk to me? Have you got a name?"

[aeskhyne]

<Kinda sorta,> he says. <Might be a bad idea to use it, though, what with the 'in hiding' thing.>

[megale]

"Okay, what about a nickname, I can't really just keep calling you 'talking pigeon'?"

[aeskhyne]

<I dunno, what do you want to call me?>

He nibbles some more bread out of her hand.

[megale]

"I seem to be going with 'talking pigeon' so far, what am I gonna do, use my prospective puppy name on you, what if I actually get a puppy?"