“Hey, Julia!” Phoebe’s ears pricked up at an unfamiliar voice.

Image: Julia’s friends. The first is a black man with an alpaca aspect and dreadlocks; next to him is a larger black woman with a rabbit-like aspect. Next to her is a thin, black woman with a white snake aspect. She also has a wolf tail attached to a belt around her hips. End description.

Julia called back, and Phoebe turned to see three people walking towards them. These must be Julia’s other friends- she’d heard a bit about them, but they hadn’t stopped by Avernus since she’d come to live there. Julia greeted them and Yuli wagged their tail more (“Sorry we missed your birthday!” one of them said.) She hung back, but suddenly realized that everyone was looking at her.

“This is my new housemate, Phoebe,” Julia said.

“Hi,” Phoebe nodded, and Julia’s friend group smiled back and said hello in turn. With that they were off, leading her down the crowded street.

Image: The group all walking down the street and talking together. End description.

“If you’re working together, are you going to become a witch, too?” a man with an alpaca aspect, Kamari, asked her.

“I don’t think so,” Phoebe replied.

“You don’t think so?” Julia turned around and flashed her a sly grin.

“Sorry if it’s rude, but is your fur dyed? It’s really pretty,” a woman a few years older than her, who’d introduced herself as Bree, asked next.

“No, I was born with a melanistic aspect,” a term Phoebe had learned to say early on in her childhood. “Is yours a rabbit?”

“It’s a viscacha! Totally different. But that’s okay, everyone thinks I’m a bunny at first.”

Soon the conversation was moving onto other things. There was something different about the way that Julia spoke with her friends. These were people she’d known for years, of course. Bits of inside jokes made them all laugh before Phoebe could even pick out what the funny part was supposed to be. They talked about Julia and Yuli’s work in the Society, and Julia’s family, and their own families and video games and television and more.



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8.14.2024
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The hiatus is over! Thanks everyone for your patience.

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