She flaps out of a neighbor's tree after the second call: She couldn't sleep inside, sorry.

"- okay. Next time you need to sleep in a tree, can you make it one of our trees, in case the neighbors mind?"

She manifests a net in one of their trees and lands in it.

She'll try.

"Do you need me to cancel the visit today?"

Sigh.

No, she can do it.

"Okay. Do you need some more sleep? It's still a little early for you."

She wasn't sleeping very well anyway.

She glides down.

Julie makes French toast with some leftover bread.

Nom.

"This school's actually closer. Usually you wouldn't be looking at it until you were a little older, but you're pretty close to the right age and if it's a better fit accommodations-wise they can make it work."

Okay.

"So it'll be a short walk and we don't have to leave for a couple hours. Anything you wanna do to help psych yourself up about that?"

She has to think about that one for a minute.

Go someplace pretty? The church would work but it doesn't have to be that.

"You know what, I think going to church is a great idea."

The church is a longish walk, but it's not far from the relevant school either. Off they go.

Flora pokes her head out to see who it is. "Julie! Dusk!" (She's been kept up to date.)

Hi, Flora.

"It's good to see you. What brings you here?"

"School visits are kinda stressful. Church is relaxing. I might pray about it as long as I'm here."

Yeah. It will be good to be someplace that wants her to be there. Not that the Glories' house doesn't but the church is better at it.

"The church will always want you here," Flora smiles.

Julie sits under a cryptid statue and looks up at it for her prayers.

Dusk walks around, carefully running her fingers along various features of the sanctuary. She hums a few bars from some of last week's hymns, too, very quietly.

Julie's in no rush and won't suggest leaving till they're coming up on the school visit.

The sanctuary doesn't have a couple hours' worth of walking around in it, but she's content enough to sit cuddlesomely with Julie when she runs out, and she goes readily enough when Julie says it's time to.

It's a reasonably scenic stroll to the school. This one is bigger than the other - a few stories, wrapped around a courtyard, with the athletic fields across the street. They again go to the office and meet the guidance counselor. Julie tells this guidance counselor that she's going to wait outside the rooms to help Dusk relax in the unfamiliar environment and the guidance counselor can talk to her there. Dusk's native guide in this school is a girl named Winnie Hoffman. Winnie conducts Dusk to her art class, where they are doing scratchboard.

She observes for a minute and then makes a cartoon scratchboard and tool; she draws one of the succulent-and-moss installations from the church.

"- is that magic?" asks Winnie. "What's wrong with the one I got you?"

Yeah. Nothing's wrong with it, this just works better.