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Aubri took a deep breath, held it for a moment, then took a few steps towards the kitchen. "Make yourselves comfortable. And Sileust, answer the door when the others arrive. And somebody please keep Dau out of the kitchen!"

At that moment, a large, black creature with some very odd physiology padded out from the short hallway nearby, just in time to grab Dau by the scruff of the neck as the young Dumyr made an attempt at the kitchen. The creature rolled its eyes behind small glasses perched on its nose.

I'll take care of him, it - he - said, his voice heard more in the mind than by the ear.

"Thank you, Abolesce." And with that, Aubri disappeared and returned to trying to make brownies.

Well, then, Abolesce said, looking at the two women in the room while Dau kicked and struggled and whined to be put down. Do take a seat. I can answer any questions you might have. My name is Abolesce - I'm the... father-figure of the household, I guess you could say.

Sileust looked up when she heard the knock at the door. "I'll get it!" She opened the door and smiled. "Hello! Come in, have a seat!"

((Long post! Hopefully the colors make it easier to read. 3nodding ))

Abolesce blinked and gave what looked like a shrug, padding over to Kat and depositing the unruly Dumyr in her lap. Go ahead. He kept his eyes on Dau, though. The boy could bolt at any minute.

Dau sat nicely, though, straightening up and doing his best to look dignified and pretty. His red eyes sparkled - he seemed to like attention.

It had been a while since Kat petted a cat, even if this one had scales, wings, and the ability to speak a human tongue. Realizing petting scales would be futile, she decided to ask Dau, "Where do you prefer to be petted?"

Kat glanced up at the new newcomer. "Hi! I'm Kat. I would get up, but as you can see, my lap's full at moment," she said.

"Right behind the ears is good. Or under my chin." He tilted his head, making an odd laughing sound. "Go ahead!"

Abolesce nodded in greeting to Hakim, then turned his attention to Maggie. No, I'm not a Dumyr, he began, bumping his glasses up his snout a little with the touch of a paw. I'm something called a "Caelith." One of the first created, actually. Lab creatures - unnatural, you might say.

Sileust slipped out the front door, going to sit on the front step to wait for the other two guests.

"Sorry. I just wasn't sure if you had a preference. Cats are picky things, so I had no idea what a Doo-meer might think," Kat said, rolling her index finger on the fur under Dau's chin.

Unnatural? Now she rembered where she had seen something like Abolesce before! There was an aqua blue one that prowled around the forest with a cougar-sized purple thing. So that was a Caelith, eh? Kat wondered how that one had gotten free if they were lab beasts, but she didn't have the audacity to ask aloud.

Kat laughed herself, though what came out resembled more of that of a bull's snort. She half expected him to flip over for better chin coverage. If this all there was to a Dumyr, Kat thought this might not as bad as she had once thought.

Though, she still had to ask, "Do you know how large Doo-meer get, Mr. Abolesce?" Abolesce was still giving off that weird teacher vibe, so she thought it polite to add a 'mister.' No wonder he's the father-figure.

"I'd be Daumyin," the Ellundel purred, blinking contentedly at Hakim.

From what Aubri has told me, Dumyr reach about my size... roughly the size of a leopard or lion. Then they shift in form - they cease being cat-like animals and become more humanoid creatures. I'm not quite sure how that works.... Dau? Do you know?

"No clue. I think somebody told me once that... uh.... whassit... it's a magical ritual thingy."

"I... don't know..."

After naming a country made up mostly of uninhabited desert and populated mostly by archaeologists, Abolesce explained Dau's response further. The Dumyrciedel have been sealed in their underground settlement for centuries - they know nothing of the world in its current state. The whole purpose of bringing the Dumyrciedel here to Barton and pairing them with a caretaker is to begin, gently, to integrate them into the modern world.

"And what that means is tons of paperwork and negotiating with the local government," Aubri grumbled, emerging from the kitchen with a bowl of chips and some dip, which she set down on the coffee table.

"Hello, Hakim. Maggie, I forgot to actually say hi earlier. Sorry about that." The woman sat down on the floor, drumming her fingers on the table for a moment. "We're still missing two. Huh."

What happened to the brownies? Abolesce asked, rising and padding over to his human companion. He lay back down, curling himself around her and wrapping his tail around her waist.

"Cooking. They'll be done soon."