Twenty-one

The 'poof' startled Sylvie, and she dropped the bread. She looked at the... thing and wondered if it was normal here that people randomly changed shape, and if it would happen to her, too.
She watched Ayu-Asra land on the floor, and carefully approaching the blobby thing, sniffing.

When the builders adressed the visitors, Sylvie asked, "Wouldn't it be better to make them safe?" She knew it sounded stupid, but she hoped she could help with the building. No work meant no money, food or anything, which was a Bad Thing.

"Yes!" said the builder, apparently happy that someone had understood him.

After a while it was obvious that he was waiting politely for them to leave.

The barking from outside wound down.

Jaina yawned just as she caught up to Suitov. Her jaw stubbornly refused to close quickly. Dammit. She covered her gaping maw with one hand and reached for the mage's elbow with her other.

"Hey you," she greeted him, and smiled embarrassedly. "Ooh, what's the shiny thing? Looks, uh, shiny."

She plowed on with another question before he could answer. "We kinda missed the slumber portion of the night, so I was wondering: in lieu of a nap under a sturdy roof, could I wrangle some more Djew out of your stores? I think its lovely effects are wearing off right when I want them to endear -- I mean, endure." There was her famous blush again.

Sylvie just stared.
Somewhere on the way she had lost a night's sleep, and wasn't entirely up to speed, or up for intelligent conversation, so she decided to let it go and get some more fresh air.

"Oh yeah, about that Dew stuff..." The delivery rider waved a hand. "We could only find one can in the place (actually it was part of Ernest's lunch), so hope that's okay and stuff."

"Ernest's sacrifice is greatly appreciated."

"It might have got a bit shook."

"We'll bear that in mind," Suitov told the rider, tipping her.

Baskerville tipped the horse - he tried to, anyway, by leaning against it, but got nowhere. Dogs are lighter than horses. When it moved, he toppled over.

"Ms Katamara - breakfast?" called Suitov.

Bowman trotted outside, his secondary processes blurred from the motion... or maybe that was just Basky's vision.

He "Puh!"ed cheerfully at the other occupants and attempted to attract attention.

"I'm not sure I've got any tender that's legal here," began Sylvie, then she was distracted by the puh-ing blob, which was closely followed by a curious dragon.
"Say," she asked Suitov, "is it normal for this place that people change shape, or is that normal for those two people?" She pointed from the blob to the dog and back, looking a little bit worried.

"Just one Dew?" Jaina asked with trembling lip. "But -- but I -- but Dew!" she begged nobody in particular.

Luckily, her attention quickly diverted to Bowman and Sylvie. The redhead boggled at the former and replied to the latter, "I've never changed shape, but I'm kinda abnormal. And there was that one time everybody's bodies got mixed up. But never a shape-change, no."

"Has my associate here been alarming you?" Iceheart shot Baskerville a look of sternness.

Baskerville, who had just seen the horse off with a few woofs, ingratiated over and rolled onto his back at Sylvie's feet. "That won't win anyone over," Suitov told him with forlorn optimism.

"Breakfast's on the teetering house," he added. "We're far from open, so who cares?"

"That's very generous, thank you."
She gave Suitov a bright smile before turning to the dog. "I guess it was rather two suprising shape-changes in short order."

Part of her mind wanted to consider how weird exactly it would be to scratch the belly of a dog who had been a man a short time ago, but her feeling told her that it might be good for her sanity if she loosened up a little. Besides, it seemed now that he was more on the doggy side over all.

One of Ayu-Asra's heads turned to watching her. He somehow did not like when she paid to much attention to other critters.
The other head tried to nip Bowman to see what it would do, and if it was edible.

"Puh!" squeaked Bowman, in a shrill pitch that cracked a nearby bottle, as he galloped away on his secondary processes.

He decided not to let Baskerville's comment about him not being "smexy" deter him from using him as cover.

Poof!

"I'm sorry, I was in a darkish place and heard breakfast so decided to come back."

Aggy stroked Basky's tummy and waved cheerily at Bowman. In reply, he wiggled a primary process tentatively so as not to attract the attention of either of Ayu-Asra's heads.

"This is the life," Baskerville said. "Suitov mate, you jealous?"

"Tuck in, do," Suitov said, holding the breakfast basket out to Jaina. The pastries looked (and smelled) inviting.

There wasn't any furniture out here except for grass, but one could sit comfortably on the builders' wagons, and he intended to.

Jaina dug gleefully into the food and filled her mouth with it before she remembered her manners. "Thank you sir!" she said around a danish.

A sound of leathern wings folding heralded Sunev's arrival. He buried his face in the basket and emerged with something that scented of apple filling, which he carried off several yards before settling in to eat. If anyone approached him before he was done, he would fan his wings and make a show of strength; he really liked anything apple and would not let it be thieved away.

"Any going spare?" asked Agueda, her manners temporarily forgotten in the wake of too much alcohol, a rumbling stomach and a basket of very very tasty-looking pastries.

"I think a bone would be appreciated too" she added, patting Baskerville on the head.

"'Course; there's plenty. Pass it around."

Baskerville eyed the flappy lizard, but didn't make anything of it just yet. Too busy being fussed over by pretty chicks.

"I didn't notice bones, but you can try for 'em," Jaina said and pushed the basket to Agueda. The redhead stared intently at Sunev until his winding tail twitched in delight.

"Never seen a bat with a tail, so..." Satisfied, she returned to the food and those gathered around it.

Bowman sat on a small lump of pastry that had fallen nearby. He was only absorbing it very slowly, by means of a magical enzyme, of course, but he didn't need much and he was getting lots of sugar per unit time anyway.

Agueda anticipated a sugar rush from the little critter but decided not to worry about that too much. Bowman seemed to be able to get himself into all sorts of dangerous and bizare situations and up to now had always managed to get himself out of them too. Agueda gave him the benefit of the doubt and used the hand that wasn't petting Basky to pick up a pastry with chocolate and cherries in the middle.

Jelly crept through the grass towards the rather oddly asorted party outside the door of the ramshackle inn. Making his way to the middle unnoticed... rather difficult when you're unbearably cute, even if you are only the size of of a five-year-old's clenched fist... he sat next to the odd human who smelled like a dog. Two seconds later he got it and flinched back suddenly, a shocked look on his face.
Kittens are good at shocked looks.
It was several moments before he could recover his composure enouch to say hello. He stretched smoothly and flopped to the grass in front of the... thing's rather unfocused eyes. He supposed he could forgive them for not having noticed him yet if they were all as drunk as this one.
"Hello, hell-doggy. Nice day for sleeping, no?"

"Even nicer for having your tummy tickled," Baskerville started to say, before his nose kicked in and his speech turned into a GRROWL. "Cat!" he added. "I'll protect you, Aggywaggy!"