"People have problems?"

"Mmhmm. It's hard to make a list of them, even a vague list, because there's so many different kinds of things that people can want and need, and so many different things that can go wrong to stop them from getting them, and all of those can be problems, and sometimes very different ones. It doesn't work very well to try to help everyone with everything, since they are so different; most people narrow it down somehow. Either they pick a group of people to help, and learn to do the kinds of things they need, or they pick a kind of problem and learn to solve it, or they pick a kind of solution they'll like to do and learn that. Lots of people do the last one, since it lets you decide ahead of time what you'll be doing, and pick something you'll like - that's what I did; I like travel a lot and decided to help people that way. You might like the first one, though, since you like people so much."

The being makes an understanding noise. "I like a lot of people!"

"I noticed! It's very charming."

Happy noise. "People are charming!"

"You know, you might actually want to try living in a city. It'll be harder, and it might take some pretty strong magic to let you do it, but that's where you go if you want to be around lots of people all the time."

Considering noise. "Magic?"

"Mmhmm. My kind of person - we aren't always very good with surprises. A lot of people assume that if they see something they aren't expecting, it's a problem, even before they know anything about it. And that's good, a lot of the time, because it means they'll be careful with things that might be dangerous, but it's not going to be very good for you, since you're kind of surprising." Pat pat. "But there's magic that can make you look like one of us, if you want, and then people won't be surprised."

Considering noise.

The being then slowly goops up into a very wobbly humanoid. Still orange, of course.

"Oh!" He stands as they goop up, moving to offer a hand to help with balance or catch them if they fall. "That'll help, yes." 

The being doesn't seem about to fall, at least, and does wobble into a more human-ish shape, even forming eyes (mushroom caps) and a crude mouth (that's somewhat too wide).

"Not bad. I don't think that's quite close enough not to worry people, but I'm sure you'll get better at it. Eyes are the most important, I think."

The being nods. "Want to look at people!"

"Everia should be back soon, and then I bet we can meet some more druids. Or I know a couple of other places we can go, if she doesn't want us to stay."

"Yeah!"

"Do you want to learn a game while we're waiting?"

"Game?"

"Mmhmm. Something fun to do to pass the time. Like, we could see who can spot more fish before they get back, that's a simple sort of game. The more complicated ones usually have more rules, and sometimes the person who does the best gets a prize. We could do something like that, if you want, but I don't know what kinds of things you might like yet - I don't think it would be fair for me to get a prize if I win, I probably have a lot more practice at this kind of game."

"Complicated ones!"

He chuckles. "All right. I think I have a deck of cards -" He does, but he only gets partway through explaining suits before Everia comes back, leading a man a little taller and more slender than Raafi, with darker skin and mossy green hair and a reddish-brown scaled creature about the size of a cat, but much longer with neck and tail taken into account, perched on his shoulder. Just before they get close enough to call a greeting, the little dragon launches into the air toward Raafi, the flaps down his sides unfurling into wings as he gets enough clearance for them.

    "Mister Raafi mister Raafi mister Raafi! Is that your friend? Are they nice? Where did they come from?" He flaps twice in the intervening distance and then pulls up to land claws-first on Raafi's vest, scrambling up to his shoulder to peer at the stranger. "Are they a boy? Everia said 'they' but they look like a boy."

"Hello, Juuni," Raafi grins, offering his free hand for the little dragon to butt his forehead against. "I don't know if they're a boy, I don't think they've seen enough humanoids yet to know how to look like a girl. And you should pay more attention to what people want than what they look like, anyway."

    "Yeah, all right."

"This is Juuni," he tells the shapeshifter. "He's a baby dragon - dragons are another kind of person, and babies are very young people who don't know very much and still need a lot of help with things because they're so new to everything."

"Hello Juuni!" the being says, rippling a bit. "Am I a baby?"

"Maybe! I didn't think so, because babies usually already have someone around to look after them, and if they don't they're usually in a lot of trouble, but maybe your species doesn't do it like that. Do you remember anything from before you were in that basement where you met me?"

"Anything. It is different."

"I remember my egg, a little bit." Juuni looks to Leaf and Everia, who've come up while they were talking, and hops over to the newcomer. "-you're squishy."

"You're not squishy!" says the being, firming up under Juuni a bit, then rippling.