"Yeah, even if we make it explicitly temporary... you could wake up and your mindscape could expect you to have wings, which might not be temporary because Milliways fucks around with time, and then you'd go around with phantom limbs until you came here again, and we're not guaranteed to be around to fix it."

"Or something. I'm not sure it's safe."

"I wanna fly, though," he says.

"Little bitty Whistle, I am a magic space empress who invents new superpowers for herself like some people buy new socks. I don't have wings. Doesn't mean I can't fly. You wanna do it my way? I'm faster than her anyway," laughs Stella, aiming a thumb at Angela. "And then, worst case scenario of that is that you wake up and you can fly, no phantom limb issues."

"I'm not a little bitty Whistle," he asserts, pointing at Alice and Micaiah, who are watching all this with fond amusement. "They're great big Sues."

"I'm not hearing a yes or no on flying sans wings," says Stella.

"Yeah, I wanna fly!"

"There you go," says Stella, performing no visible action whatsoever. "C'mon, this place has an outside." And she lifts two inches into the air and drifts towards the door.

Stella giggles and tows him to the back door.

Angela follows after them, looking forward to stretching her wings.

When they get outside, Sue abandons the hug and rockets up into the sky.

Angela offers her arms to Micaiah, if he wants to be carried, although she doesn't just scoop him up as he's in the occasional habit of growing his own wings.

Stella zooms into the air herself, catapulting herself into balletic spins and laughing.

Micaiah decides to be carried this time. He snuggles into Angela's arms.

Alice follows Stella and Sue.

Sue chases Stella.

Angela can't keep up with any of this, but she can go aloft and hover and kiss Micaiah on the forehead and begin to sing. Not a prayer, but a ballad.

Stella, meanwhile, leads Sue on a merry chase. Their flying power's the same, so their speed is equal, but her reaction time's better; she's the zigzagging antelope to his sprinting cheetah.

Well aren't you a little surprise, he pushes back, and cheerfully lets Sue direct him on a coordinated mission of capture.

And Sue's reaction time catches up to both of them.

"What kinda brain steroids are you feeding my boyfriend, Sue?" laughs Stella, turning the race into a straightaway where her head start will keep her at the front regardless of anyone's mental horsepower unless Alice starts cheating with extra coins or teleportation.