we have a complex relationship with our sisters and our cousins

[dark_light]

Amariah is starting a circle in her yard - minting and enchanting can pull heavier duty than witchcraft, and faster, too, but they won't scale unless she wants to hand out copies of her trump cards; novel spells will, since there are many witches across the globe.

And then Jane asks if she wants to be visited, by Juliet's Sherlock - Minus - and Amariah's reply is "Sure, I could take a break." Because she's been at this for a while now and was just about to wish a crick out of her back for the second time this afternoon.

She puts down her pitcher of oil and waits for him to appear.

Comments

[truthwright]

"What would you have described her as?" says Petaal.

[dark_light]

"That bitch who led my Tianetta's beloved into temptation," says Hendasamon. "This was a good two hundred years ago, so at least there was nothing stopping my Tianetta from putting a dagger in her chest. Ah, those days. You'll have a harder time of it if this one leaves your Isabella for some ghast of a temptress."

"That's our business," says Path frostily.

"I bet you've never even killed anyone," snorts Hendasamon. "All these fancy ideas about immortalizing mortals. Magically fascinating, shortsighted as policy."

"You'd be wrong," says Path in a low, dark voice.

"Ooh," says Hendasamon, "do tell."

"You know perfectly well that wouldn't be very smart of me. But my Isabella has called Yambe Akka's knife."

[truthwright]

Petaal shifts into a honey badger. Kas scritches her unconcernedly.

[dark_light]

"That really is very interesting," Hendasamon says to Petaal. "You don't feel any pull to any shapes?"

[truthwright]

"Nope," says Petaal. She turns into a viscacha again, then a small brown lizard, then a lap-sized dragon, then a genet.

[dark_light]

"How curious," says Hendasamon. "Does it run in your family?"

[truthwright]

She hops out of Kas's lap and hits the floor as a massive male tiger.

"Nope," she says, sitting down and putting just her head back into Kas's lap now that the rest of her will not fit.

[dark_light]

Hendasamon peers at her. "Fascinating," he says.

And then he hops out the open window and flies away to join his witch.

"You can close the window," Path murmurs. "And the door."

[truthwright]

Kas closes the window. And the door. And then hugs Sherlock.

[eversomuchfun]

Sherlock hugs back.

Steph tucks away again.

[dark_light]

"Sorry," sighs Path.

[truthwright]

Kas cuddles Sherlock lots. Petaal turns into a maned lioness, for maximum fluff, and does likewise.

"...Should we not be doing this while Queen Whatserface is here," wonders Kas, "in case she looks in through the window and decides Isabella should be killing somebody and makes a big fuss?"

[dark_light]

"She's not our queen. If we couldn't convince her it was all right it wouldn't necessarily ruin everything. But maybe you should draw the blinds."

[truthwright]

Kas wishes the blinds closed and goes back to cuddling Sherlock.

[dark_light]

Path cannot safely enter the cuddlepile. He sits redundantly on the footboard.

Amariah updates them all on her progress in getting rid of the queen periodically. She finally manages to shoo her, and the obnoxious pardalote, after an hour and a half, and then she lets herself back into the room.

"Ugh," she says, "I am so sorry."

[eversomuchfun]

"He may have backhandedly accused me of seducing your boyfriend away from you," Sherlock remarks. "Didn't seem keen on the spread of immortality, either."

[dark_light]

"Eugh, no wonder the Manitoba clan is such a mess," says Isabella, shaking her head, "she's awful, I hope she's got one sane daughter plotting to take over after she gets the wrong end of a cursed arrow or pines for one too many husbands. I think she left convinced of my - harmlessness, at least, you're right she doesn't think much of the project so I talked a lot about problems I don't have solved yet. And didn't explain about motion components. I know that if you have any designs on my boyfriend they won't lead to him leaving me, don't worry," she says with a weak smile.

[eversomuchfun]

"At the moment my designs on your boyfriend mainly involve cuddling him," says Sherlock.

[dark_light]

"I can see that." Isabella pets Path, then flops into the cuddlepile.

[eversomuchfun]

Cuddles.

[truthwright]

Petaal extricates herself and gambols over to Path as a linsang.

[dark_light]

Path snuggles with linsang-Petaal with a relaxed hoot.

[truthwright]

Snuggles.