21 A Fearful Earful (1/2)
The entire company sat, wearing a range of hand-dog expressions, in the parlor. Nelda took the time to dress, and picked up the shell under her bed, before joining them.
[Maybe the shell is just something Lapis likes.But why would she have it in my room?]
She made every effort to hop into the room in a dignified manner.
SmithGuild sat on his chaise upright like a cat and was very still.
Herby was closing a laceration on HoneyBeard's shoulder with tight, briskly-applied stitches.She nipped the thread off the last suture with the hooked tip of her beak.
Well, almost everyone was hang-dog. BugleHead sat on the window sill and ate grapes from a bowl.”I like grapes,” he said.
[At least that broke the silence.]
Nelda coughed.”Ah, HoneyBeard.Thank you for… that.”
HoneyBeard peered to inspect his stitches.”You may be an idiot, but you are my idiot.Somehow I've become an idiot collector.Or is it an idiot herder?And now I've been embroidered by a cat-bird. Life has become very interesting,” he concluded with obvious disapproval.
”You have to understand my point of view….” Herby began.
”I don't have to do shit for you.” HoneyBeard jumped off the couch and went to join BugleHead on the windowsill. ”You are not one of my idiots and nor is he.” This as he pointed at the frozen SmithGuild.
Nelda gave a strained smile.”We are their guests right now, and we are all being friends.”
”Speaking of which,” Herby regained some part of her indignation.”What did you do to him over there? He's obviously shocked.”
Nelda took a deep breath.”For some reason when we were transported back to my world, Gryphon SmithGuild was… translated, into one of my kind.He was there, but he was… in a form like mine.”
”Exactly like yours?” quizzed Herby.
”No,” blurted SmithGuild.”There was a thing! Between my legs!”
Both of the satyrs giggled in a somewhat unsympathetic manner.
Nelda glared at them.She hopped over to sit gingerly next to SmithGuild, but still leaving a few feet of space between them.”For some reason, it translated you into what would be a perfectly normal form for a male of my species.But obviously, that was all wrong for you.That was why I pushed you back through the portal as quickly as possible.”
[And un-saved myself in the process.]
[Again.]
”I did explain to you brother that my people did not exactly intend to send me here.It seems like they are attempting to retrieve me.SmithGuild was just caught in the net.”
BugleHead muttered: ”Like a cat-bird-fish.” And started giggling again.
Herby's brows furrowed, sending her small feather up in a vexed 'V'. ”But you god must have intended to send you here, in order to do so?”
Nelda pressed the fingertips of her left hand her forehead.”To explain my overall situation to the satyrs, it seemed more correct to describe the entity that sent me as a god.The power to do so is of... that sort of order of magnitude.”
”But...?” prompted Herby.
”The entity that did so would be more accurately described as a type of mechanism.”
”Mechanism?”
SmithGuild suddenly became animated again.”Your god is a machine?!” He seemed rather enthusiastic about the idea.