"My understanding is that you'll be back very quickly from our perspective? Not in that case."

She nods. "Okay."

"Oh, Raafi's staying with me, I'm not sure you've heard about that. I'm not sure how long they'll be willing to stay - my guess would be at least a month, if Ana keeps having time to show them new planets, but it's hard to tell with Raafi."

"I'm glad. Spending time with him ought to be good for Ana."

This gets a grin. "I think so too - I actually suggested that they take Ana back to their world for a visit when they go, which it seems like they're going to offer to; they've been trying to figure out what Ana would need for something like that."

"I'm sure they'll figure something out."

Nod.

Hug.

The kobold is definitely going to miss Satele while she's gone. It's bittersweet - she's definitely pleased to have met someone she likes so much, it's just the situation that's complicating things. She's even tempted, sort of, to move here, but in the face of her loyalty to her tribe, that temptation doesn't get any farther than a daydream.

Ah, well. This moment is nice, anyway.

Indeed.

While it lasts, but alas, Satele must eventually return to work.

The kobold is readily shooed, as usual. Next stop: Milliways; what have Ana and Raafi found for their day trip destination?

A planet called Chandrila! Mostly plains and farmland, and it has some canyons with really pretty crystal formations.

Nice.

Canyons are pretty easy to find; here, have a portal to a town near a canyon, and also the translation necklace.

Bye, kobold! Don't wait up!

Heee.

Magic students: In the courtyard?

Two out of the four remaining.

Practice practice.

She'll hang out and wait, then, maybe one or both of the other two will turn up while they're casting.

Neither do, but one of the ones still present has a question casting on a blooming flower.

The kobold enspells the flower to glow: blue for the stem and petals, yellow for the internal bits shading to orange as they approach the pollen-bearing structures, which don't glow at all. She shows this to the questioner, and then blows gently on the flower to dislodge some pollen, and then shows it again, still glowing. Question answered?

What you cast the same spell on a flower that hadn't opened yet? What would happen when it did?

... Milliways, this needs Milliways. Hand?

Hand.

"Sorry, try that again? I've been working on my Basic but I don't have all the vocabulary yet."

With the question repeated, it turns out to be convenient that they're in Milliways anyway; she hasn't tried that particular thing before and isn't sure of the answer, so she solicits a book from Bar to check. "If you're starting with a bud and you have enough practice or know the healing form, you can sense what the different parts are going to turn into, and then if you make the spell forgiving enough you can cast so that it'll stay while the flower finishes growing - the closer to opening it is the less forgiving the spell has to be. You'll need a lot of practice with forgiving spells, though, unless it's practically ready to open - it's definitely an advanced technique; I don't think I could cast reliably on a new bud, from this description."

"So live plants don't have the same self-sustaining properties as people?"

She shakes her head. "Only things with souls."

"I see. That answers my question, then."

She nods, and continues conversationally, "one of these days I really need to get around to checking your world's droids."

If this doesn't get any particular reaction, she offers her hand to teleport back to the courtyard.

A tilt of the head, but they don't comment.