Dorm Front Lawn, Sunday Afternoon

[nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com]

It was a lovely day today. Exactly the sort of day to spread a blanket out on the lawn, wear sunglasses, read a book and enjoy the sunshine.

Elsa -- usually an ice princess, but temporarily a polar bear cub -- was scampering around on the lawn, making the most adorable honk-growling noises. There was a very localized sort of storm around the cub: the lawn was frosting over under Elsa's feet. Little snowflakes danced in the air; Elsa was striving valiantly to catch them on her tongue.

It was incredibly cute. In fact, Eleanor was too busy watching to get very far in her book.

If anyone asked about the implausible snow, Eleanor would claim there was some Fandom-ish weather strangeness going on. Hopefully, they'd be too distracted by the adorableness to question that.

(SO VERY OPEN.)

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[nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com]

"She sleeps in my arms at night," Eleanor said. "She insists upon burrowing in. It's marvelous, but another thing I hope she forgets."

Elsa, for her part, was honk-growling a greeting at Celia. Hello! Hello! Could she nip at the ankles, please? ANKLES!

"I don't know how long transformations last," she added. "I'm getting a touch worried myself."

[pasunereveuse.livejournal.com]

"Has it been longer than a week?" Celia asked, dropping to her knees to let her skirts pool around her, so she could reach out to scritch Elsa behind her ears. There might have been face-making, but Celia would never admit to it. "I feel like if it goes longer than a week, someone should consult a doctor, or...Principal Winchester, or something. She seems like she's quite taken to bear living, though."

[nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com]

"A week as of last night," Eleanor said, looking thoughtfully at the Elsa-bear. "I've been making sure she gets enough food, but ... I suppose you may be right. About ... seeing a doctor."

Forgive the involuntary shudder. She would be brave, for Elsa. And she'd hover and make sure no one turned her into a lab rat, if it killed her.

[pasunereveuse.livejournal.com]

Celia looked up from where she was playing with Elsa, frowning. "I wouldn't worry, Eleanor," she said gently. "She seems happy and healthy, and...well, you heard Ender. This sort of thing happens all the time. And I don't even know what I'm talking about -- it's not as though I see doctors very often. They might not have any idea what to do with her."

Or they might recommend a veterinarian.

[nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com]

"The clinic may know what to make of her ailment, though," Eleanor said, musing. "I suppose I have to overcome my phobias sooner or later. This would be a reasonable push in that direction."

Or she could make someone else do it. Like Joker. He liked doctors.

[pasunereveuse.livejournal.com]

"They're not phobias when they're justified," Celia noted softly, reaching out to take Elsa by her forepaws and wrestle with her a bit. Again, denying if anyone mentioned it later. "I could try and change her back, but she'd probably still act like a polar bear, unfortunately."

Not that that wouldn't be hilarious.

[nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com]

Eleanor tried to stifle a giggle. But she failed. Horribly.

When she finally recovered herself, her eyes were still dancing.

"Absolutely not," she said. Do not ask her how tempted she'd been, Celia. That would be so adorable.

Okay, giggling again.

[pasunereveuse.livejournal.com]

"She'd probably still make that noise," Celia pointed out, clearly trying not to laugh. "And stomp around, and play with snowflakes, and never forgive me."

But it almost might be worth it, seriously.

[nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com]

"You aren't helping," Eleanor said, shaking with poorly-suppressed laughter. "It's cruel to make me laugh this hard."

It would be even crueler to put a poor polar bear cub back into Elsa's normal elegant frame. She was refraining from enabling her friend. But only just.

[pasunereveuse.livejournal.com]

"If making people laugh too hard was cruel, then I am afraid I strive to be a very poor friend," Celia decided. "I'd probably get her hair wrong, or something, anyway. And there's the issue, as I mentioned, of how Elsa would probably hate me forever. So best to not even think of it as a possibility."

Except now that was all she was thinking about.

"How has cub-sitting been, anyway?" she asked. "Aside from any medical concerns. Has she been a terrible burden?"

She didn't look it, at all, but then Celia had always been partial to animals.

[nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com]

"Not in the least," Eleanor said easily. "The biggest worry I have is that she scratches me in her sleep. I have --"

Eleanor had tugged upwards on her shirt, to show off her midsection, but her midsection looked perfectly normal.

"-- I had scratches," she sighed. "I didn't realize they'd vanish this quickly."

[pasunereveuse.livejournal.com]

"You heal that quickly unconsciously?" Celia asked, surprised. She leaned forward to inspect her friend's stomach, eyes narrowing. "I have to work at it, every time I heal. It's awful. I'm jealous, really."

[nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com]

Eleanor was flushing as she tugged down her shirt. "Stem cells," she said. "They can take whatever shape they need to. They're all through my bloodstream. When I was younger, it was almost instantaneous. One girl shattered her legs jumping from a great height, and it took the doctors several tries to set the broken bones properly. They healed too fast."

[pasunereveuse.livejournal.com]

"Oh my god," Celia breathed, eyes wide. "There's no rhyme or reason to it? It just -- heals, even if it's wrong?"

Poor Eleanor. Celia really wished she could take back that comment about being jealous.

[nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com]

Eleanor nodded, trying not to think about the myriad ways in which something like that could be abused. And, considering Rapture, probably had been.

"It's not a conscious thing," she said with a shrug. "The body tries to heal itself. Sometimes it fails. Allergies work much the same way, on a much smaller scale."

That made it seem more ... normal, and less freakish. She hoped.

"I suppose it's useful for when one's pet polar bear likes to cuddle."

[pasunereveuse.livejournal.com]

"Having to consciously heal is awful," Celia offered with a slight shrug, "but having no control over it at all sounds like a nightmare. Though handy. Polar bear claw marks aren't something I'd necessarily want to wake up and deal with."

That made it better, if she kept it light and stopped imagining bones growing back wrong.