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Alys is not on the council, but she is her line representative as of fifty years ago. She hears about the news.
She wonders whether Piro is likely to have contacted his son, even about this.
She decides that it is worth checking, and calls her brother-in-law.
shrennaki
Well, Mial appears on the outside of the house, so it is up to Aurin whether or not to answer the door.
One of her eyes twitches. That's all.
"Are you here to see Aurin? He has his girlfriend over, but I believe she was planning to leave in time to have lunch with some of her friends."
shrennaki
"Yeah, I came to tell him. Also, I heard I'm not contagious anymore, the miracle worker said something about somebody dropping a natural-formed shren into the middle of a council meeting and nobody catching, can you confirm?"
"My representative must not have gotten to me on the list of people to call with news, yet. I haven't heard anything about that."
shrennaki
"Well, if you hear about it, I'd like to know."
He is feeling an increasing urge to obnoxiously walk around in natural form, and he wants to be damn sure and then some that he can do it without casualties. He does not choose to mention this motivation to Alys.
He is feeling an increasing urge to obnoxiously walk around in natural form, and he wants to be damn sure and then some that he can do it without casualties. He does not choose to mention this motivation to Alys.
"Tea?" asks Alys, leading Mial past the necking Aurin-and-girlfriend towards the kitchen. The fireplace has long been replaced with more modern equipment.
Aurin starts coughing, which is a really unfortunate thing to start doing while one is making out with one's girlfriend. The girlfriend splutters.
"You couldn't've waited?" says Aurin plaintively, wiping his sleeve across his lips.
"Ew, ew," says the girlfriend.
"I'm sorry," says Aurin. "My inconsiderate ass of a cousin. I'll walk you home?"
"Yes, please," says the girlfriend.
Aurin shoots Mial a dirty look over his shoulder as he escorts the girlfriend out.
"Ew, ew," says the girlfriend.
"I'm sorry," says Aurin. "My inconsiderate ass of a cousin. I'll walk you home?"
"Yes, please," says the girlfriend.
Aurin shoots Mial a dirty look over his shoulder as he escorts the girlfriend out.
shrennaki
"I'm sorry I made you choke all over your girlfriend," he says, "that was inconsiderate and unnecessary. Do you actually want to know why I'm staying a shren?"
shrennaki
"I was unnecessarily inconsiderate because I'm getting wound up in advance about the amount of shit I expect to catch over this decision," he says, "and I unfairly and impulsively decided to tweak you about it, so, sorry again. I'm staying a shren because... well, first of all because if the miracle worker is to be believed we're not contagious anymore, that's what pushed me into a definite permanent decision."
shrennaki
"Yeah. Okay. You are without a doubt going to call me fucking crazy, but: I don't really care that much about whether or not I can fly in my natural form," he says. "I don't miss it or anything. By itself it is a non-issue to me. So with contagion out, the only remaining reason to stop being a shren is purely to get out from under that word and all the nasty letters to the editor and estranged grandfathers and internal emotional conflicts that go with it. And if I stop being a shren for that reason, I'm letting the word win. In a sense I'd be agreeing that a shren is such an awful thing to be that even if I don't care about the actual impairment, I still need to stop. And of course I can't do that. I have spent my entire life not doing that as aggressively as possible. I'm not about to quit now."
"I just - have you given any thought to whether Finnah might have, like. Thoughts. That are specific to having been the one who got you."