God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
-Genesis 1:28 (NIV)“I don’t think this Slakoth is a pet,” Melissa said. “At least, not yet it isn’t. If it is, we’ll probably have to have a whole building meeting and set up schedules and certainly pick a name.” She wasn’t sure why she was getting all into this. Well, she knew why, but the thought still surprised her. A long time ago, back in her own universe, Melissa had lost a pet goldfish (named Jonah, because of course it was) and been inconsolable for weeks, even after being assured of the existence of fish heaven and everything. Her family collectively decided afterwards to wait on further pets until Melissa said she was ready, and though she probably could have handled even a dog by the time she enrolled in Blue Yonder and moved out, the topic never came back up again.
She turned to acknowledge the new entrant. “Anyway, um, hi, Morgan. Glad to see you’re back in one piece. Did you order those off those tablets too?” But Aduain had more conversation to offer, and, when Melissa looked at her watch, she realized she probably couldn’t be pushing back pushing off for much longer. “I can probably ask about the Slakoth at my appointment, too,” she said. “We can see what Mauvache has to say about it.” Or at least, she thought, she would try. She added it to the long, long list of other things she had to think about ahead of this, in any case.
“Speaking of, can you help me remember all this?” she thought.
The reply was immediate. Of course.
“Okay, well, we’ll work on a list as we head over.” Melissa returned to the group, but only for a moment. “Speaking of, I need to get going. If you need me for anything, I think you can text me on this.” She held up her watch and really, really tried to suppress the fear that none of them knew what she was talking about. “I’ll try to be back as soon as I can,” she said, and hurried outside to try and find a cab.