Then Vanyel will thank her for the explanations and eagerly head back to the suite to hug Tylendel. 

That's so valid. 

She continues explaining the steps of the purification process in detail to Savil and Donni for the next slightly more than an hour, until the indicator chemical suggests that the mixture is pure enough to start turning from ashes into proper resurrection salts, and she puts it back on the fire and goes off to find the boys. 

They are sprawled out on the sofa, cuddling. "...Oh. Heya, Lucy," Tylendel says absently. Mardic seems to have taken himself elsewhere. 

She considers the situation, and then sprawls across their laps. 

"I spent several days not hugging anyone," she complains. 

"That's pretty unreasonable," Tylendel agrees. "Hugs are important. Er, everything going all right with the - thing?" 

"Everything's fine," Lucy says. "That's technically why I came out here is because I finished the one bit and thought Vanyel might want to see the start of the first. But hugs first." She hugs Tylendel's knee. 

Hugs! 

Vanyel is ready to go whenever Lucy decides it's a good time. 

Lucy wants another couple minutes of hug but then she is ready to go back. 

She shows him what chemicals she's using and explains what they do; her hand hesitates over a flask of dusty yellow-green fluid that wasn't there before before skipping over it for the moment. 

Huh. Vanyel notices it but doesn't say anything. 

After about half an hour she is nowhere near done, but she's done a fairly representative sample of things, mostly. She hesitates again, then picks up the flask and pours some of the fluid into the bubbling container of once-and-future-Staven, and says, "and this part is optional and I mostly wouldn't bother explaining it but, uh, this is my ichor and adding it is part of how I cheat, like, just being Yog-Sothoth's daughter while doing the sigils and incantation helps but this helps too, I have no reason to think Staven needs it but better safe than sorry."

"Huh. Right. Um, that's what you have instead of blood? Does Wilbur have it too?" 

"His is a little greener. It's interesting, when I'm in this form my blood looks red, but if I bleed it out into something like this it starts changing after a little while until it looks like this." 

"That is interesting! I wonder why. I guess you're using your magic to look human, including at least some of your insides? But then the magic might stop working once it's not part of your body anymore." 

"Yeah...it's interesting, I think, figuring out where this body is real and where it isn't. It was supposed to be--just a human body, a pretty face that could finally be mine after a lifetime of having none--but it's obviously inhuman in some of its details. I don't sweat, for one thing. I don't need any more sleep than I did before, and I need to eat as much. But eating works through this mouth, I don't have to turn back into my other form to do it. I usually do for, uh, stuff like the basilisk, just because eating that kind of thing would take so long at this size, but I don't have to. It's sort of frustrating how ostentatiously unique I am, honestly, it makes figuring out my biology so much harder." 

"...Wait, so you could eventually eat a whole basilisk in this shape?" Vanyel says incredulously. "Where would it go?" 

"That's another thing I don't know! I don't have to use the privy, either, in either shape, no matter how much I eat or drink. It's baffling, and there's so much anatomical knowledge I'm not masochistic enough to consent to vivisection for even if I've occasionally been curious enough to be tempted." 

High pitched giggle. 

Vanyel rounds on her. "Donni, do not make a horrible joke." 

"You know, I'm still really bad at figuring out what's disturbing, but I think I might slowly be learning what not to say when Donni in particular is in the room to riff on it."

Donni sticks her tongue out at Lucy. 

She sticks out her tongue at Donni in return and goes through a couple more representative samples and shoos Vanyel to go hug Tylendel some more. 

She continues explaining things as she works, occasionally taking breaks to hang out with the boys when things are just heating or cooling and she can't directly do anything. 

Night falls. Lucy times things right to be able to sing while Vanyel and Tylendel fall asleep. 

It's really nice to have her back, and to resume his usual routine of falling asleep in Tylendel's arms while Lucy sings. 

:Lucy?: Tylendel sends after a bit. 

:Yeah?: