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Ever since Dacj had mentioned in passing, as she was wont to do, that Sorcha had expressed an interest in her, Philomena Sabina's maternal instincts kicked into overdrive. She'd met her "Uncle Nageya's" adopted kid just once, and Sorcha had attempted to wheedle a fix of dangerous tech out of her. That in itself was not a concern (heck, if she'd known a nontraditional scientist when she was a teen, she'd have done the same thing!) but it hadn't given the cat woman much of a chance to assess Sorcha's overall personality.

So when the yard's proximity alerts told her someone was approaching the Cottage, and she checked the camera feeds and found that someone was Sorcha, she quickly put down what she was working on and jogged for the portal in her utilitarian bedroom in the lab--a portal given to her by Shimy that transported her straight to the entry hall on the first floor of the Cottage. She had just enough time to smooth down and tuck in her clothing to look more presentable, adjusting her lab coat as the door bell rang. With a self-satisfied grin, she moved to open the door. "Hello, Sorcha."

A little surprised by the hug, Mena waved the cow teen into the next room--which happened to be the dining room. "Dacj's out back, I think, though I've mostly been down in the lab today. She won't be going anywhere soon, though, so have a seat! How's Nageya been?" She helpfully pulled out a seat for Sorcha before sidling over to the opposite side of the table to slip into a seat, leaning forward on the table to survey the other Hyte thoughtfully.

Mena raised a skeptic eyebrow--not that she doubted Sorcha, but she didn't like the sound of those two collaborating, especially not after recent events. "Not a clue, but I fear the results," the cat woman said dryly. She'd have to see if she could get proper answers out of her mother later. "And how have you been? Dacj tells me you have an alarming penchant for explosions."

"Old friends with more power at their disposal than perhaps they ought to have," Mena said, finding Sorcha's remark about Nageya specifically preventing eavesdropping all the more suspicious. But if they really were plotting something, there was honestly little she could do to stop them all by herself...

Mena chuckled. "Oh, I know how that goes. It's a bit of a trick, really." One that her family had been immensely grateful that she had discovered. She still couldn't cook; well, one could never overcome all their faults, could they... "Is science your preferred profession then, or just a fun hobby?"

"Fair enough," Mena said with a smile. She'd always aspired to be something of a mad scientist--though, perhaps if she hadn't been so hellbent and focused on her path with single-mindedness, she would've been able to explore her other interests...like shamelessly spying on her family. "Sometimes something'll come of a hobby, sometimes not. I'll admit I was thrown for a loop when Dacj announced she wanted to dance, but it's what makes her happy, so..." the cat woman finished with a nonchalant shrug.

Mena chuckled at Sorcha's enthusiasm. "It'll be a sight, that's for sure. She hasn't offered to dance in front of me yet, but that's how she is--practice in private until she gets really good, and then spring the fact that she can skitter across the ceiling on you." She wasn't sure whether she should thank Wayne for that particular skill of the kraken's, but if it hadn't been ceilings, it would've been something else no doubt...

She propped her elbows on the table and intertwined her paw-fingers thoughtfully before continuing. "Wee little tentacle monsters. I'm working on domesticating a miniature breed--exotic pets and all that. It's not really too much different from a snake or a lizard, though they're far more crafty little mischief-makers. Very intelligent."

"I've actually been breeding them bigger--the pair I got as a child were tiny, maybe fifteen to twenty centimeters," Mena said with a smile. "Very miniature, very wild. Not a terrible danger, but I do have a few I've experimented with quicker methods of enlargement than breeding, and those are the ones I have to make sure stay down in the lab."

Mena tried her best to keep a straight face 'given what [Sorcha] was looking for' but it was impossible for a tiny smirk not to sneak through. Dacj had sure picked a strange one for her first, hadn't she...

That wasn't precisely an accurate thought, the cat woman amended, but given that her other options were unavailable or seemingly uninterested, the sentiment still held true.

"You'd have to have a rolling delay of some kind," Mena said, tapping her elbow absently. "Nanites maybe? Or to be less complicated, setting up a chain reaction that feeds on itself to increase the duration..." She paused, one eyebrow quirked. "What are you plotting?"