"But it's true," says Tanalin, giggling down at her lapful of small fluffy things.

"It i-i-is," allows Carinna. "Or the Caves of Blueberry and Cucumber?"

"The Cave of the Crystal Maze. The Cave of Pocket Creatures," says Kiawen, trying her black-and-white in her pocket and finding it a good fit.

"The Cave of Soft Fluffy Things," says Tanalin, when one of her puffballs rolls into her hand.

"They are very soft."

"And they make cute little noises."

"How about," says Tanalin, petting her puffballs, "the Gentle Cave?"

"I like that," says Carinna. "Most caves are nasty and just want to trap you in the dark or shut you up with monsters or something - this one is nice."

"Sounds good to me," giggles Kiawen.

A green puffball hops onto Kanim's foot and squeaks at him.

Kanim picks it up and pats it. "Gentle Cave it is. I'll write a paper on it."

Kanim's puffball glows brightly and whmmmmms.

"What should we name the creatures?"

"I'm not sure!" says Tanalin. "Round Fluffy Glowy Things With No Discernible Features is a bit of a mouthful. And it leaves out how warm and soft and nice they are. And the cute little sounds they make. What about yours, Kiawen? They almost look like round little bears."

"They do! Little black and white bears that don't bite and fit in my pocket. Hmmm. They are black and white. Piano bears?"

"Poofs," says Carinna of her purple poof.

"Poofs," giggles Tanalin. She gathers her lapful of poofs into her arms and hugs them all at once. They squeak a chorus of tiny squeaks and glow softly.

"What does it mean when they glow? Is glowing happy?" wonders Carinna.

"How would you tell?"

"It seems like they glow when you touch them," says Tanalin, setting her poofs down in her lap. They all cuddle up together, still glowing. "Kanim, what do you think?"

"I'm not really sure how to tell what the glowing means, but they don't seem to object to being handled; they can get around just fine and they come right up to us," he says.

"They do! It's adorable," says Tanalin.

"It is!"

"Are you sure Cricket would terrorize them," sighs Carinna.

"You'd have to get Bella to ask him, but they are pretty rodent-sized."