Chapter Four Hundred and Eighty-Six - Where Do Babies Come From?

Chapter Four Hundred and Eighty-Six - Where Do Babies Come From?

Chapter Four Hundred and Eighty-Six - Where Do Babies Come From?

Since we had to go to the Guild anyway, it only made sense that the official members would form one of the shore parties and be the same ones to escort Booksie home. The exception was Desiree, she insisted on coming with us, and I didn't have it in me to say no.

Of course, Booksie could have returned with Rhawrexdee, but she admitted that the last time they'd had a date in the city, the city council had been somewhat annoyed at all of the destruction of public property. The roads of Port Royal were nice and wide, but they weren't 'dragon' wide.

Booksie sheepishly pointed to a row of street lights where only the bottom third of the poles remained. They were getting around to replacing those.

So, she told Rhawrexdee--when he returned from saying hi to his sister--that she would be seeing him at the shop. Then she smooched him on the cheek, and I had to cover Awen's eyes and my own because that was a lot.

I noticed that we were getting a few looks as we made our way across the city. Whether that was because people recognized Booksie, or if we just stood out for being such a mixed group, I didn't know. We had two buns, a harpy, a human, a catperson and a foxgirl, which I supposed did mean that we were halfway to a menagerie.

Booksie paused at the front of her shop and turned to us. "Did you want to come in?" she asked.

"I mean, I am carrying all your stuff," Calamity noted. "You want it back, right?" He had Booksie's things with him. She'd packed light, but had accumulated a few little souvenirs along the way, as one did. Calamity had been gentleman... gentlecatly enough to carry her things for her.

Booksie laughed. "Right, I can take that from you. You're all heading to the Exploration Guild next, right?"

"Yup!" I said.

"In that case, try to grab work that's around the city! I'd appreciate having you all visit while you're still around Port Royal. Plus the wedding... oh my World, I haven't made invitations yet." Booksie squeezed the bridge of her nose with forefinger and thumb. "Gosh, this little vacation was nice, but now that I'm back I'm kind of realising that I left a lot of work undone."

"We'll be around," I promised before raising my arms. "Bye-bye hugs?"

Bye-bye hugs were had by all. It was the best way to say goodbye to a friend, and the bit of pain that came from saying goodbye was mitigated by knowing that we'd be back soon enough and that Booksie was probably safe.

Just in the time we'd been around, I noticed two guard patrols on the street and several ruffians sitting and chatting in the corners. The shadow of a dragon even passed over us. I was sure there were more eyes around that I couldn't see. Booksie would be as safe as a bun could be.

"Alright!" I said as we started back towards the centre of the city. "Straight to the guild?"

"I can't imagine anyone needs to stop for food or the like," Amaryllis said. "We had supper just an hour ago."

"I mean," Calamity began. Amaryllis gave him a look, and he turned his gaze elsewhere. "Nevermind."

"Hmhp, that's right," Amaryllis said. "Now, best behaviour at the guild. We can pick which mission to take, but there's also some leeway on the part of the guild itself. They can refuse us for a multitude of reasons."

"Anyway, the tadpoles will show up once they can walk around, and then they're reunited with their family and start their education. I think they're only children for a couple of years. Not like humans that are babies for a long time, then take a while to grow old enough to take care of themselves."

Desiree hummed. "They don't have a kit stage, where they are more tail than child?"

"Wait, more tail than child?" I asked.

Desiree nodded. "Of course! As a babe, my tail was nearly as long as it is now. Though of course I only had the one, and my tails have lengthened a little."

I had a brain flash image of a tiny Desiree as a kid with a tail that was longer than she was tall and all fluff. It was a very cute mental image. "That's so strange," I said.

"There's nothing strange about it," Desiree said. "It's perfectly natural."

"Oh, uh, yeah, I guess it is," I said. "Sorry. It's just different than what I'm used to."

"All of you mammals are weird," Amaryllis said. "Being born from an egg is how it ought to be. Can you imagine giving birth? That's disgusting and uncouth. Not to mention unsanitary."

We all gave her a look and she huffed, dismissing our curiosity with an upwards tilt of her nose.

"What about cat people?" I asked Calamity.

He shrugged. "Same as humans and buns and such, I suppose," he said.

I sighed. At least that was normal.

"At least after the baby loses its second head," he continued and I almost missed a step. Calamity's sharp eyes caught me and he guffawed in laughter. "Ah-haha! You believed me!"

"Wait, so you didn't have a baby head that you lost?" I asked.

"What? Of course not, I was pulling your tail," he said with a dismissive wave and a chuckle. "You know, for some this is a delicate thing to talk about, you might want to pick up a book about it. Nyeah?"

Amaryllis sighed. "I know you're flexible enough to fit your foot in your mouth, but unless you want to get used to the taste of toe, then maybe take a minute to read up on it first?"

I nodded along. I was definitely going to see if Booksie had something on the subject. I didn't want to embarrass myself any further if I could avoid it.

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