Jin sighed and said, "Nebbles and I are going back in. We're from sea-level. These mountain nights are to chilly for us. Give a yell if you see the train!" Rose nodded as Sunshine snuggled into what looked an insanely uncomfortable pose and snored softly. Lime nodded off on her left side, and fell up against her. Rose smiled over at Snowflake , who was restraining her snickering, and said, "NOT being hard shelled IS a very good thing!" Snowflake whispered, "You look so...ORGANIC, mom! I think if the train doesn't show up in the next couple of minutes, I'll go in,too. I'm starting to get get a bit cool." Toxic made a noise and fell back against Snowy's legs and said, "What am I? A cold stone? A snowflake? Wait--YOU are Snowflake!" She giggled and ran up her ambient temperature until the whole bench grew toasty. Snowflake leaned forward and whispered, "You know I love you like a sister, you rainbow goof! My personal heater!" Toxic said to the Measure, who lounged around at the end of the bench, looking down the steel tracks,"Are you still mad? I didn't mean it!" Measure grumbled, "You said I was dressed up like a 'train-stop hooker'!" Snowy laughed, until Rose hushed her. Snowy said, "You know she didn't mean it. You just look a little ...eager to meet men, is all!" Measure said, "If you hadn't just got out of the hospital, I'd smack you a good one, and put you back in it! For a Cyclops, you don't have any good sense!" Rose chortled softly and whispered, "I think Jin's favorite saying has grown to universal approval status when our resident alien is using it so freely!" Measure said, "A good phrase is a good phrase and Should be used widely. Hello! Here comes the Caliph of the Rymmer Highlands." She gave a nod of the head to the Scav man walking up. "Your highness, Agrafah, father of the Queen of the Scavs... what's up?" He bowed and said quietly, "I have some bad news. There was a rock-slide that won't be cleared until tomorrow afternoon.So I apologize deeply for the inconvenience. You have three options. One, you can call for your own transportation, I can call for transportation, OR...you can accept our hospitality overnight in our VIP rooms, where we give you massages in the morning and feed you a breakfast feast." Toxic brightened up, "FEAST? Do your cooks like to cook?" He laughed softly, "They LOVE to cook! For breakfast tomorrow, they are cooking up some hams with pineapple and cloves, crayfish on skewers with hot and spicy Scaviel sauce, omelets and cinnamon curls with creamy icing." Toxic made indescribable noises, and Snowy kicked her a little and whispered, "Do NOT drool on my new boots, or I will kick you HARD!" Measure straightened up and said ,"Hell, I could go for that,too!" Rose said, "I never had a ham before. I'll look forward to that. I recently got transformed to a more humanoid form from a more standard Cyclops form. I'm REALLY enjoying human food. I never knew the Scav even HAD an ethnic cuisine." Agrafah said, "The Scav, an artificial species were NAMED after the tribe that ruled the Rymmer Highlands for thousands of years before the age of reason.The Scaviel were warriors, filled with honor and fortitude. They were conquered by the Pejite, and served the Pejite as shock troops, and changed the world with their writing, and cuisine." He continued, "As such, we inherited the name, but nothing else. As a new species we needed culture, tradition and customs. So we adopted the traditions of our namesakes." Measure said, "I'm raised by humans, so I guess I'm screwed. Maybe that's why Oheeeyuuu has trouble with me. My customs stink. Well, thanks for the overnight, your highness." He waved out the porters to take their bags back in. Rose stood up and hefted up her children. Agrafah said, "I'll get the doors for you. You'll get to meet some of the other guests." He looked at Toxic. Toxic blinked and wondered why he looked at her. --To be continued!--