The thing is, despite their awkward, slippery introduction via Puck's manwomb and the trauma of being a step-squother, Lilly actually likes Raspberry now. The kid inks in sparkly purple. Lilly's always appreciated squeople with style.

However, she can also appreciate the fact that being on the run with a squid in a bucket doesn't exactly make it easy to blend. Also, the bucket is not roomy. Raspberry has to stay safe, but if she stays with Lilly and the twins, they're all a little less safe.

Naturally, Lilly has a solution to this.

"Sqummer camp," she says, leaning over the spacious hot tub in the luxury alien resort on a planet she couldn't pronounce. It was her first stop after leaving Puck and Havelock. No one here had even blinked at the squid, or the request to make the hot tub lukewarm.

Camp? Raspberry echoes, curling a tentacle inquisitively.

"Yes," Lilly says firmly. "With lots of other sentient squidlets, and games, and cabins, and probably not campfires unless this universe has wacky physics."

Lilly has never gotten in trouble for breaking a law of physics, so she never bothers investigating them in new universes.

Raspberry mulls this over, bobbing gently in the water. Mommy has good ideas, so if this is a Mommy idea it will be fun!

Are you coming? she communicates, clicking hopefully. Lilly bites her lip.

"I can't," she says. "You know Mommy and the kids can't breathe underwater like Daddy, we have to go get the gillyweed from Ingress' daddy. Besides, this is a special squid experience just for you! A whole big ocean, lots of nice tentacle friends, and all the shrimp you can eat. No people allowed."

She pauses. "In fact, if you see any people who aren't Mommy, Daddy, or Uncle Havelock you should ink at them and swim away very fast."

Okay, Raspberry responds. She's a little confused, but that happens with Mommy sometimes. Besides, a whole ocean! And she can play slap-eights with other squids! Aria and Adrian try sometimes, but they're not very coordinated and they don't have enough limbs.

The next day, after squishy goodbye hugs and detaching Adrian from one of her suckers, Raspberry makes her way tentatively into Coral Cabin. There are several other squid already there.

Hi, one of the squid girls clicks. Raspberry waves a tentacle shyly in greeting.

Come on in, but be quiet the squid girl continues. We're planning a raid on the boys in Barnacle Cabin, so we have to be sneaky!

Raspberry brightens, swimming into the circle. I can help she waves, trying to keep her tentacle movements muted. My uncle is *very* good at sneaky. The other squids beam at her.

Sqummer camp is going to be squawesome.

The party had been a wild success in the way most Milliways parties were: lots of food, lots of friends, lots of booze, and oh yeah. Lots of doom.

Lilly'd stuck a little closer to the kids after Puck filled her in on Blodwen's most recent attempt to win friends and influence people. She'd missed Satan, but it would have been impossible (at least for her) to miss Havelock and Puck's change in mood afterwards.

The kids are all fast asleep, Aria and Adrian zonked out in their beds post-sugar crash, and Raspberry burbling happily in the carefully temperature-adjusted hot tub as a special birthday treat.

"So," Lilly says, emerging from the kids' bedrooms, "what else happened at the party?"

Lilly's kicking back in her suite, sipping a margarita and watching telenovelas. Just another relaxing night at home.

Or so she thinks.

Lilly came in from her latest travels, stopped, looked around, and started laughing.

"Oh, Bar. Don't ever change. I mean, don't ever stop changing. Whatever."

Still grinning, she grabs a seat and starts trying to make a martini glass out of tinkertoys.

Spring in Scotland is not exactly the world's warmest weather. Lilly still has to wear a coat to run across the grass to the Caribbean inlet.

Once there, however, she can bask in sun and warm water to her heart's content.

Lilly's in the nightclub, which is technically open but it's far too early for any patrons to wander in. She's got the place to herself and is taking full advantage of it.

There's a tall drink slowly shifting from blue to purple sitting on top of abandoned paperwork on a low table. Lilly herself is sprawled on the couch beside it, carefully painting her toenails a bright coral.

It's hard out here for a pimp/nightclub owner.

It's been an... interesting few days for Lilly. She's hanging out at bar a little warily right now, and definitely not saying anything bad about her spouse(s).

There's some other things she's not thinking about, too.

It's just barely getting warm enough for Lilly to be outside without running straight for the Caribbean inlet. Scotland in the spring is still chilly, but sometimes it's nice to be somewhere without any walls.

She's sitting on a rock by the lake, just looking out at the water.

Dear Jayne,
I figured you might want to know that the nightmare epidemic is over now, so you can come back to the bar and get drunk and pass out in everybody's way again or whatever.

Lilly

P.S. I am, if possible, even prettier then when you saw me last.

P.P.S. Seriously. A money skirt? You are so weird.

As per backroom post, comment with your character's name (past, present, or uh, future?) and I will tell you:

1) how Lilly's opinion of the named character has changed over time, or
2) why Lilly does or does not get along/like/other with the named pup.

There is a high possibility of bonus rambling.

ETA: Also, feel free to reply with what your pup thinks of Lilly!