Of Parties and Potions

Of Parties and Potions - Part 5

Blythe was pouring the end of her bowl into a potted fern when she heard clanging again. "Sol, you really shouldn't be walking around like that. Since people are people again, you're going to scare them."

"Like what?"

Blythe looked up. Sol was Sol again, other than balancing the pot on his head. So basically Sol again.

"Oh. How did that happen?"

"When you spilled it, I guess some splashed on me. I guess it's what happened when I splashed Dray with the punch, too."

Sol looked forlorn, so she stood and patted him on the shoulder. "You're still a pretty good stove even on two legs."

She paused as the other part of Sol's sentence made its way into her tired mind. "Wait. Dray. The lizards!"

She darted across the hall and into the room where she had left the box of lizards. She arrived just in time to see Adair place his bowl inside.

"There you go," he said. "Now everyone drink this and you'll be normal soon."

"Addy, no! The box! You have to-"

Too late. As she watched, the box exploded outwards as the reptiles changed shape. Green claws became hands, tails became simply extensions of costumes, and silent animals became confused and bickering humans.

Sitting at the top of the human pyramid was Dray who blinked slowly at her. "About time. Did you really have to stick me in there with them?"

Dray hopped lightly down to land next to Blythe. Of course Dray would only be mildly affected by being a lizard, having spent six months with a tail and scales.

She folded her arms across her chest and glared at her sibling. "Don't you have something to say for yourself?"

Dray ignored her question and brushed at the now dry stain on their coat with their hands. "Do you know how dull these lizards were? I could have thought of a better way to spend the evening."

Blythe bit back her retort when the now familiar clanging entered the room. "Hey, guys! I found another glass!"

With speed he didn't normally possess, Adair cleared the gap between them and knocked the glass out of Sol's hand with a sound somewhere between a "mrowl!" and a "no!" It bounced off the floor and upturned over the carpet.

While Sol pouted at the spreading stain on the floor, Blythe reached over to scratch Adair behind his now-round ears. "Good boy. Now let's get out of here before anyone starts to wonder what happened and why they have feathers in their teeth or a desire to sit in a pot of dirt."

Dray fell into step beside her and nudged her with their elbow. "You're taking this awfully well."

Wait for it... a few more steps... now! Blythe caught her foot around Dray's ankle at precisely the right moment and kept walking as though nothing had happened.

Before she stepped out of the room, Blythe called over her shoulder. "I am, aren't I? I'll be back in the morning."

"I probably deserved this," Dray muttered as they pushed themself up onto their hands from their sticky spot on the floor – hands which were just starting to turn green again.   

The End