Aura’s eyes grew wider and wider as the conversation went on. She shifted uneasily in her chair, still blushing furiously. Having a cat - talking or not - watching over her wouldn’t be so bad. She’d always liked cats, and having them talk to her was less odd than she’d expected - they were still decidedly lazy, plotting, adorable cats. If only it were as easy to see the other shelter-goers like that… or herself, for that matter.<br/><br/>She looked - really looked - at Nesea for the first time. She had an excuse now, at least, and probably wasn’t at risk of being eaten alive for it. Probably. She was a surprisingly beautiful woman of a race Aura had always thought would be more… scaly. The marriage of pale skin, striking blue eyes, and long, powerful tail was really unsettling. She was… going to take some getting used to. Still, trial by fire… by sleeping arrangements would probably be the fastest way. She wouldn’t get anywhere by avoiding transhumans, but… it was so easy not to face them. It was so easy not to look herself in the mirror and wonder what being only half of this world really meant. And really, she didn’t know anything about transhumans or the world beyond the rifts.<br/><br/>If possible, Aura’s teal eyes got even wider when Debbie mentioned tying her down, and she visibly paled at the thought of being trapped by the lamia’s tail. “Um,” she said after she’d taken a long sip of orange juice. The catgirl didn’t seem so scary, even if she said scary things. “I… guess that would help.” She paused. “Not the… rope or t-tail thing, I mean… I can’t really sleep like that.” She had a hard enough time getting to sleep with any clothes on, let alone ropes.<br/><br/>“I don’t think it’ll stop just because you’re there, but at least I’ll have a hard time getting outside.” She was going to have to figure out why she was doing it eventually. It wasn’t like she<i>hated</i>waking up in that garden - it was really nice, actually - but it scared her that she didn’t know why it was happening.<i>Probably something elfy.</i>She offered each of the three a sincere smile in turn, though it faltered a bit when she met Nesea’s gaze. “Th-thanks, all of you.”<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>