"-Uh. If you try that you'll probably regret it. Fuck! You really have to check don't you though, you can't just accept me going, no don't worry they're definitely all irredeemably evil! Galasa's courage..."

Shavolhan nods gravely.

"We must check, yes. We don't must be careless, but we must check."

They put a hand to their chin and think for a moment.

"If a —" they hesitate momentarily as they try to recall the word that was in her book "— if we send an adventuring party, to try to talk to the cryptids, is this probably okay with Tirra?"

"-I mean. It might not be okay with any specific polity but I don't think Tirra-par-Tirra would... Object... Otherworlders are exciting. The inquisition will be really nervous about trying to talk to cryptids because historically sometimes people do that, decide cryptids are maybe okay and the cryptids use that as a trick to kill a city later, or decide that if the cryptid hurts those guys over there it's not hurting us... There are a lot of things you shouldn't trust on Tirra. Almost all kitsunes are mostly nice-ish or at least not very mean, more 'steal bread' or 'haha I tripped you' than 'I'm going to kill someone'. But a few of my sisters are very bad, cruel, lying and saying things that hurt and doing magic that changes people's minds, makes people attracted to them..." she taps her head, "...I don't know why Tamamo tolerates them. But it is absolutely reasonable to verify things."

"I'm glad you agree," Shavolhan tells her. "You are ..."

They don't know a good equivalent of the SCOL word 'honorable'.

"... good to trade with, and I want us to be just as good to trade with for you. I will send my notes," they say, gesturing with the notebook, "to the Body, and they will think about how to make it safe for people here, and also fair to everyone, and how to verify this."

She sighs and rubs her forehead.

"Doing the right thing is annoying. And tiring. And apparently your job. You're going to want magic things in addition to technological tools if you send an adventuring party to Tirra. I know a kitsune named Sinnah whose best life involves sitting in a room forever making magic things and being paid a lot of money for it. I bet she'd love this place for the chance to do that alone."

And rubbing the rest of her face now too.

"I like my job because — someone has to do it. Someone has to say, we cannot agree on all these things, but we can agree on a few things, and we can do those things well," Shavolhan tells her. "But it is hard, sometimes. It's okay; we have time to do meeting Tirra well. You are helping."

"I'll drink to that," she says, slightly muffled by her hands. "Except, that usually means alcohol and I don't like alcohol so I won't, actually, drink to that. I think we're done here? For now? And someone else would be better for my next questions?"

"Yes, I think we are done," Shavolhan replies. "Thank you again."

They poke experimentally at her sound baffle.

She dissolves it, then looks around for the Diplomat or anyone color-coded precisely like her.

Đorvat is still here, and presumably still tasked with assisting her.

Down the hall, however, she can spot someone in a long purple dress walking by.

Hovering indecisively near noticing range sounds AAAH so she will find a corner and listen to the rolling babble of conversation and try to pick out sentences or words in this language.

Đorvat will hang around nearby, just in case.

But otherwise people seem content to let her stand in the tent and listen, if that's what she wants to do. She can hear the low voices of dispatchers coordinating over the phone, and slightly further away a more casual conversation between some people who are off duty but still on-site because of the quarantine. After a moment, she picks up Diplomat Tatenika's voice coming from the other direction, although she seems to be talking to herself because there's no responding voice.

?? Why

No

She is a fox now

A red-wearing fox

And going back in the warehouse

And hanging out there following individual voices and trying to understand words

Well, they definitely aren't going to bother her in that case.

Over time, she can gradually pick up more words and get the cadence of the language. It doesn't help that things seem to conjugate by formality, and also that half the speakers are signing, but she can make some progress on learning it.

If she stays in there long enough, some of the people will wonder if they offended her somehow, and Tatenika will end up back at the table in the street with a tablet, in case that helps. But as long as she stays red, nobody is going to try and approach her.

Ughhhhhhhhhhh whyyyyyy is she liiiiiiike thiiiiiiiiis.

Because being found out as a kitsune has, historically, not been a prelude to a good time for her?

Because the attention of a whole city usually involves suspicious stares and whispers?

Because she can practically FEEL how thousands are shifting subtly in response to everything she does and UGH?

Normally she would go hang out with sisters or just go nap in the woods about this kind of spiral. THIS TIME she is wondering if the locals will WORRY if she vanishes for days. Is it unfair to them? So many hopes and dreams riding on this... But... And she's still mad about the silver coin. It's stupid. She doesn't endorse it, it's just a few ecu, but, she's mad.

She wants a hug. But she doesn't KNOW these people except the cop and Tatenika a little bit and it'd be weird. They'd get someone to brush her tail but she can't just ASK someone to BRUSH HER TAIL what if they have more important things to do. And it'd still be a little weird if less so.

She's still inside, but a little fairy-light ball that's linked to an illusory screen in front of her (another of her long list of tricks) will go float to Tatenika and say in Notal, "I'm anxiety spiraling. Also I'm irrationally upset about those centimes and ecu I sold. And want a hug but it would be weird. There's too many people. It's less weird if there's... If it's... If I know if it's weird to you? Is there someone who's - a hair person, who could brush my fur and it not be weird?"

Tatenika considers this.

"Well — I almost don't know what you mean by 'weird to me'. This is not what I usually do? I usually lead discussions and parties. Today has been a weird day," she answers. "For the centimes and ecu — now that we know they are foreign coins, and they have ... history ... the shop is probably willing to give you more money, to be fair."

Left unstated is that Tatenika will absolutely put pressure on them to make it up to the friendly alien if necessary.

"For the hair person — do you want a person who is paid to brush hair? Or a person who wants to brush you but isn't paid to do that?"

"A deal is a deal and it would be unfair to demand more but my emotions don't believe that, and also I feel stupid and greedy for being stuck on it. Don't bother the guy please. I'm... Not sure about the brushing. I don't like upsetting people who haven't done anything wrong, and people will be upset by upsetting me but I don't know how to not be upset and it's a negative feedback loop. I think people who work with hair and get paid for it are less bothered by - quiet - and people who want to brush me might want to talk to me and that might be good or bad bad bad. Also making everything here about my worries instead of - country things- I should talk about magic or the Kingdom of Notal or something instead..."

"We do want to talk about magic," Tatenika admits. "But — there's a SCOL saying: 'You cannot ask the water not to run out.' It means ... you can only do what you can do, you can't do what you can't do. Sometimes you don't know what you can't do, and trying is good. Sometimes you know what you can't do, and trying is like asking a cup not to empty of water. You have helped. Let me find a hair person until you can help again."

She sends for a hairdresser.

"Talking about things that aren't about me might be easier... But later..." (And then the wisp winks out.)

She de-reds her outfit (her fox shape usually wears a neutral black/brown/red highlights sort of cape-robe-thing that doesn't get in the way of motion but still looks somewhat classy) and produces her favorite brush from her tail of holding and curls up on either the street or a convenient table with it sitting nearby. Her tail is almost as big as her torso, rather floofy, orange with a white tip that sways slowly even as the rest of her radiates slight discomfort.