[h2]Elastasia[/h2]

When the kitten--[i]why had a kitten known to go for her?[/i] had made that jump--Elastasia reflexively froze up, presenting a harmless and ineffectual target... one that would have been able to do nothing to maintain their little corralling effort. Fortunately for her, the totally-just-a-maid came to her rescue, and the barrier maintained its integrity. Barely; the little jumping trick [i]did[/i] cause the entire thing to shimmer ominously before recovering its strength.

How odd that he'd caught a holy bird, though. Was that even a good thing? It might do... something, when panicked, and it wasn't exactly the [i]holiest[/i] of all individuals that had just made a grab for it. Maybe they'd be lucky and it would make a beeline for someone more suitable, even if nobody with the exact magical affinity was in the area.

Of course, her brother now had [i]his[/i] hands full, as well as his face. It looked rather like an ordinary puppy. A very [i]large,[/i] very affectionate, very slobbery puppy.