She nods thoughtfully. "But even if it isn't...Completely right, it won't hurt him? Will it?"

"It might, a little bit; we'll have to watch and make sure he's okay, and if something is hurting him, we can fix it. But it doesn't have to be perfect, he'll be okay as long as things are good enough."

Rhoda looks a little upset at the idea of the quail being hurt, but then nods. "More?" she asks quietly.

"Mmhmm." They finish the quail books, and Daisy pauses to ask her about how she wants to take care of him, reminding her of various inconsistencies between the books and pointing out a couple cases where their advice will be hard to follow as given - offering live insects as part of his diet, for example, is more complicated when they can't buy them regularly and the books recommend against feeding wild-caught ones. ("I think wild ones will be okay; the chickens eat bugs all the time, and they're fine," she puts in. "It's a risk, but only a small one, out here.")

She considers each option carefully, tries to provide her opinion on them, occasionally asks for Daisy's opinions on some of the things she's more unsure of. The food thing makes her pause for a long while. "I- would it be. Wrong? To feed him regularly on the pellets and give him the live insects when we can get them?"

"That sounds fine. It might be good to give him a few extra toys, if you're going to be doing that; part of what live food is good for is giving him something to do. But he won't go hungry or anything."

She nods a little. "Just seems. Wiser than relying on our insect catching skills?"

Nod. "We could put up traps, but it'll take a while to figure out good ones. And when he's a little bigger we can let him run around and catch them himself, but I don't think we should do that yet, I think the chickens would bother him. Pellets and extra toys will do for now."

Was that all the decisions they needed to make about quail-care? (Rhoda feels accomplished having managed to make so many, even with help.)

Yep. "What do you want to read next?"

She points at one of the science books.

And Daisy reads it to her. Midway through the next one, Dusk comes in to join them - taking a break, she says, and cuddles up on Rhoda's other side.

Rhoda continues to be an attentive listener. She hesitates for a moment when Pradnaket joins them, before cuddling into the other woman while still being able to see the book.

She hangs out for the rest of the book, and then ruffles Rhoda's hair affectionately before getting back to work.

She smiles after Pradnakt, and shifts closer to Daisy again. "Thank you," she says. "This is...nice."

It is, yeah.

Days pass, and they begin to settle into a routine. Breakfast in the morning, and then some quality time with the quail before Pradnakt settles in to work on the new batch of machines and Daisy gets started on whatever chores need doing in and around the house; Rhoda can join either of them, and they'll happily explain what they're doing and show her how to help if she can, or she can entertain herself, with the quail or the art supplies or the books or climbing the tree or whatever she'd like. Then lunch, as sunset approaches; Pradnakt cooks more often than Daisy, now, turning out all sorts of interesting-looking and -smelling meat dishes, most of which are fine for her to try little bits of, or have in small portions once she's sure she likes them. After lunch is the sunset, and at Daisy's suggestion they use the time while Pradnakt is meditating and practicing with her 'saber to work on Basic, spoken and written, and then the three of them all do something together - a chore that can use the extra hands, or a quiet night at home watching a holo and listening to Pradnakt recite poetry, or they can always visit the art trails. They make a point of getting home a little early, though, for a nice relaxed dinner and plenty of time afterward to curl up in Pradnakt's bed to read - and if Rhoda falls asleep before she makes it back to her bed, well, the other two don't seem to mind.

One night, after a few days of this, Pradnakt signs for Daisy to wait a second rather than starting in with the next story. I'm ready to do that healing, if you want; have you thought about it at all?

Rhoda ducks her head. Not-not really, she admits. I- She pauses. I'm...not in pain? I don't...think? (Given Pradnakt's insistence on this, she's starting to question her own perception of that.)

She nods. I know you aren't really feeling it, but that doesn't mean it's not affecting you. If you don't want me to, I won't, it's your choice, but I expect you will feel better if I do - I can leave any scars you want to keep, if that matters.

She bites her lip. I- if you. I. You- think I should? The question isn't about getting Pradnakt to make the decision (perhaps surprisingly), it's feeling she doesn't have a good enough read on her own body to make it. I- if you. Think I would feel better? she adds.

Yeah, I do. She gives her a gentle squeeze.

I'll need to meditate for a little while first. If you change your mind while I'm doing that that's fine.

She leans a little more into Pradnakt at the squeeze, and then nods.

She will not, however, change her mind.

She meditates right there, cuddling her, and then after another check-in, suffuses her with blue light.

She's slightly on edge, not sure what to expect exactly, but hasn't changed her mind. She startles a little at the blue light but...

But it doesn't hurt.

It feels...weird. Soothing, a little, like how Pradnakt or Daisy hugging her feels, only...cool. (A little, maybe, like cool water when she's been out in the sun too long.)

She keeps it up, soothing old hurts, restoring to wholeness places where old injuries healed wrongly, smoothing old scars, internal and external. It's a quick process, happening all over at once, lasting only a few minutes from start to finish, leaving her feeling whole and strong even apart from the more obvious changes.

Pradnakt snuggles up as the light fades. Good?

It takes her a moment to answer, cuddling into Pradnakt. ...Weird, she admits. I- better than I remember being? She's sure of that, even with the strangeness of everything suddenly feeling...better, less like something in the background was wrong.