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[ Oh, no. Oh, no. The bird groans. ]

Oh, that was awful, Cordelia...Please tell me you haven't got some secret love of punning.

[ She laughs lightly. ]

Aral's better at it than I am when he wants to be, but that was just begging to be used.

[ Hold on. She changes into a mouse in answer to her ripple of surprise. ]

Aral? Really? Puns? Him?

[ Whoop, she makes sure to cup her hand so she won't upset Kitty's balance. ]

Not all the time, of course, just when he's in a good mood for it. Though I guess his darker humor isn't immune either.

Oh, I'd very much like to see that. I thought that the Barrayarans were hardly capable of joking in a way that's not ridiculously dark. Even Gregor has a very dark streak to him, doesn't he...

Him and Aral more than most, I would imagine. [ Cordelia's smile doesn't fade so much as sobers. She could imagine quite a lot, even if she didn't already know the details. ]

But you know what I'd like to see?

[ The mouse blinks up at her. ]

What?

As adorable and interesting as your new powers are, I'd like to see your face.

[ She lifts her hand to pet Kitty's head with a fingertip, her voice growing softer. ] Or perhaps you're still working on the second half of "safe and sound"?

[ Oh. The mouse's head lowers; she looks away. Still human, underneath it all - forgetting that you can't exactly read a mouse's expressions. ]

No, I'm...sound. Everything is fine. It's just a little hard, you know. It takes a lot more energy to be something big than it does to be something small.

You know, I've found that when someone says "everything is fine", it's usually the opposite. Why would being in your normal body take more energy than shifting shapes?

Well...

[ She hesitates just a little too long. ]

You know. It's sort of like - the physical kind of...presses down on the spiritual. Bigger means that there's more...physical matter to drag down my spirit. Sort of. I think.

Kitty. [ She says her name softly but firmly, cutting off any further excuse. ]

[ A beat. And then she tells the truth. ]

My normal body...isn't my normal body any longer.

... What does that mean?

Some things happened back home.

I was...sort of...changed.

"Sort of." [ It's not a question; it's an expectation of answer. ]

Oh - you don't want to see it.

[ Cordelia just raises her eyebrows at Kitty in response to that. ]

[ And she hesitates a very long moment. Then, in a small voice, she says: ]

All right. Put me down.

[ She lowers her hand and Kitty to the floor just in front of her legs. Cordelia doesn't move to get up though, remaining on the ground with her legs crossed. ]

[ And the mouse hops off her hand and onto the floor. There's a moment's pause - while she thinks about it, thinks about whether she can do this - and then she takes a breath and changes forms again.

The woman who sits opposite Cordelia with her legs curled up, a little painfully, is odd-looking. She's hunched and thin and frail like an old woman, and she has the hair and skin of an old woman. But her eyes are clear and bright, and her voice is light and girlish. And there's something undeniably girlish about the way she sits, too. An unselfconscious youthfulness. ]

Like this. This is what I look like now.

[ There's no doubt that it is shocking to Cordelia, not at all what she was expecting (she didn't even know what to expect). But there's no rejection in her eyes, no horrified or abhorrent expression as she looks her over, taking in each and every juxtaposing detail. ]

Oh, Kitty ... [ she breathes out those few heartbeats of observation. She then leans forward the next moment, reaching for Kitty's hands if she'll let Cordelia take them. She also tries for a light smile, softening her tone as well, ] I thought you seemed mature for your age, but maybe you've taken it a little too far this time.

[ Oh. It's a funny joke - Kitty actually lets out a bleak ha before her eyes fill with tears. She presses her eyes shut and squeezes Cordelia's hands, both at the same time - a gesture that underlines just how little strength there is in her bony fingers. But the gesture gives her enough strength that, at least, she doesn't cry outright. ]

Yeah. I mean, I think I can probably look like I did before. But it's...hard. When I tried before, I just sort of...collapsed.

[ She squeezes back, encouraging and supporting all in one, waiting patiently while her surge of emotion crests and passes. She's glad to have made her laugh though; sometimes humor is the only answer to a tragedy like this, for however brief it can be. ]

You needn't put on airs here, not ever with any of us. Besides, I'd rather you not collapse, even if you're already on the ground with me.

Oh -

[ She gives a little shake of her head. ]

Um...not that sort of collapse. I mean, like, I actually collapsed. In on myself.

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