"I probably wouldn't make a habit of throwing myself into a bison herd," Elliott murmured in response. "But no, I'm fine."
"I've never seen anybody leap like that," Aoife whispered. "Is that a, uh, you know, is that athing?"
Elliott lifted his shoulders one at a time in rapid suggestion, creating the most wriggly shrug Aoife had ever seen. "It would have been a lot easier to do in, you know,other circumstances.But it's notnota thing, like, there's, uh, there's likeskillsyou can tap into. We just don't, usually."
Their circumspect attempts to discuss shifting while possibly in earshot of other people made Aoife want to giggle. "No, I can see why you wouldn't. That was pretty extraordinary. You must be really strong, too?"
He flexed, which had the remarkable effect of making Aoife forget what they were talking about entirely. His biceps were tremendous, and his chest was so broad she wanted to measure it with her own handspans. Or maybe she just wanted to put her hands on him. That seemed like a grand idea altogether.
"Pretty strong," he murmured, reminding her she'd asked a question. "I guess we can kind of tap into, you know, something a little extra, if we need to. At least, us bigger ones can. I don't know if it works the same way for the birds or the otters or whatever."
He looked thoughtful, bug Molly bounced up, demanding, "Otters? Are we gonna see otters?"
"There are no otters at the park right now," Aoife replied. "There are capybaras, though."
"Are those like otters?" the girl asked hopefully.
"No." Aoife cast a glance at Elliott, confident he'd understand her next reference: "They're more like rodents of unusual size."
Elliott absolutely beamed at her. Molly, however, squealed, "Ewww,rodents, MOOOOOM, she's gonna make us look atrodents!"
"My daughter must not be exposed to vermin." Collins didn't otherwise look up from her tablet.
Molly folded her arms smugly, and every other adult, even Hippie Girl, exchanged glances but said nothing. Aoife, with what she felt was great restraint, said, "And here's the butterfly house," in her perkiest voice. She ushered them through its humid, sweet-smelling rooms and back outside, where Molly ran ahead and then shrieked with glee.
"Mom! Mom! There aregiant guinea pigsover here! They're swimming! They're so cuuuuuuute! MOM!"
"And here," Aoife said, pitching her voice to carry even to the squealing tweenager, "are the capybaras, which arethe world's largest rodents,and are indeed related to guinea pigs,which are also rodents."
It had the desired effect of making Molly skid to a halt. It also had the less desired effect of making her turn back to the adults, her face the very picture of distress. "They're not! They're not! Mom, tell them guinea pigs are cute little guys, not yucky rodents!"
"My daughter says guinea pigs aren't rodents," Collins said in a forbidding voice. "Please don't distress her with such nonsense."
Aoife had a sense of the entire world coming apart in pieces and spinning around her. She thought she might actually have swayed, because Elliott put a steadying hand in the small of her back. His hands were very large and very warm, and she felt both comforted and strengthened by the gesture.
She also felt like this entire tour had taken on a truly surreal edge. Somewhat faintly, she said, "But they are rodents. Both of them. Guinea pigs and capybaras alike."
"Don't be ridiculous," Collins said to her tablet. Apparently she'd glanced up at some point, because she added, "Look at them. They're huge and fluffy and cute, not like rats at all. Their tails are short. Their faces are flat. Really, you must stop telling people such absurdities."
Doug and Graham were both staring at the ground very intently. Hippie Girl had wandered closer to the capybaras and crouched, putting a hand out toward one to see if it would come say hello. Elliott, right at Aoife's side, made a small, supportive noise that she thought might mean 'I could eat her.'
Of course, it might also have meant 'I could eat those giant rodents.' Aoife bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing at herself, although the pulse of humor was short-lived. On one hand, she knew she shouldn't engage any further. Every word she said could endanger the grant that the park was hoping to get.
On the other, she really desperately had to know: "Ms. Collins, rats aren't the only type of rodent in the world. You do understand you can't just rewrite entire scientific classifications based on your personal preferences, right? You know that's not how it works?"
Cindy Collins lowered her tablet briefly and gave Aoife a rather cold glare. "I understand that I've made everything I've ever set my mind to happen. I'm sure I could have the classifications revised if necessary."
Aoife blinked at her for a while. "What a remarkable person you are."
The CEO of ColCor smiled for the first time. "Yes. I'm glad you understand that now." She went back to her tablet.
Aoife blinked some more, as Elliott duck his head against her shoulder, muffling laughter. The other two businessmen had their lips pressed together hard, obviously making efforts not to speak or laugh themselves. Aoife relaxed a little. Apparently no oneelsehad missed that her comment hadn't been meant as a compliment, although she'd phrased it carefully so it wouldn't seem actively insulting. Elliott breathed, "I can't imagine being that rich," into Aoife's shoulder, and she nodded rapidly.
Thathadto be it, she thought. Ms. Collins had to just besorich that she'd never encountered anything she couldn't adjust to her satisfaction. Therefore, capybaras weren't rodents. Neither, apparently, were guinea pigs. And Molly was growing up to believe the same things.
Aoife had no idea how to deal with that. And after another minute of standing there, stunned, she decided not to. "Right," she said, back in her perky voice, "right, of course, nothing that cute could possibly be a rodent, whatever was I thinking. So if we'd like to move along, there's a picnic area at the back, and I'd love to buy Molly an ice cream."
Elliott whispered, "You're amazing," beneath Molly's new delighted shriek, and Aoife marched off to buy ice cream feeling surprisingly good about herself.
