Jennifer slings her rain-dampened trousers over her towel rack to dry and pulls on dry socks and jeans with a little sigh of relief. Maybe the rain will let up before she has to take the Beast out again.

Said Beast has sprawled onto its side, bumper clasped between its forepaws as it licks at the chrome. Jennifer gives the creature an approving smile as she heads into the kitchen to start making cocoa. She keeps half on ear on the conversation, a little curious to hear Aglet's waking response to the idea of exploring.

Since Bee's here, she might as well make cocoa on the stove rather than nuke things separately in the microwave. She sets a saucepan on the range and starts to heat up some milk, then rummages for the powdered cocoa mix. Now that it's summer, it's migrated to the back of the shelf, but there's still some left.