Zeus licks his face with a tongue about the size of the face it's licking. Slurp!

Harley cracks up. And hugs him more.

Wag wag wag wag. Zeus cannot talk, so he cannot suggest anything.

Cuddle cuddle cuddle! Zeus is so floofy. It's awesome.

Zeus has brand new quadrupedal super-speed, and he wants to use it, and there will be all the time in the world for floofy hugs later! He stands up, crouching on the porch, and backs away, wagging more slowly. If Harley wants a ride he can have one.

"Hey, you can't talk like this, can you," Harley observes. "I should get Elsie to put you on the brainphone! Want me to?"

Zeus nods; it's awkward but he can do it. (He can talk to the other wolves in the Imperial pack who are wolfing at this time, but that's not the same thing.)

[Elsie, Zeus is floofy and he wants to be on the brainphone so he can talk to me still!]

[There you are, then,] says Elspeth, to both boys.

[Thanks! Harley, Harley, I wanna run, running's amazing like this, come with me, come on,] and he crouches low, so Harley could vault up onto him if he wanted.

"Okay!" says Harley, and he jumps onto Zeus's back and hangs on tight.

Zeus bolts at once, like a bullet, legs eating up yards of empty Québec wilderness with every stride. [I'm so fast!]

[You aaaare, it's awesome,] giggles Harley.

[It's better than roller coasters! Aren't I, huh?]

[You're a fluffy roller coaster, oh man,] cackles Harley.

They're approaching forest; Zeus doesn't slow down, although a few times he pushes a paw off a tree instead of the ground to maneuver. [That's meeee!]

[This is so awesome, I love you,] says Harley, clinging to Zeus's back.

[I love you too! And running! And being a grown-up wolf!]

Harley giggles happily.

[It's weird being able to hear what everybody else is thinking. It's not anything too interesting all by itself, just it's strange.]

[I bet!] he agrees.

[My dad's coming,] he adds. [I wanna see if I can outrun him!] And he puts on a burst of speed, runningrunningrunning.

Harley giggles and clings.

Bartholomew does catch up to them eventually and falls into step beside them. [Dad says I have to be careful not to drop you, but, duh, of course I don't wanna drop you,] says Zeus.

[Duh!] agrees Harley.