It's a pleasant afternoon quietly picking figs together. Lily helps move the ladder whenever they finish a tree.

It's peaceful and kinda fun. Soon enough, all the ripe figs are picked.

"All right, let's get these put away and I can grab you some oranges to take to Palla." Figs go into longer-term storage in the barn, and oranges go into another sack.

She smiles and accepts the sack, after helping to put the figs away, then tucks the sack under her arm for a moment to hold her hands up in a heart shape briefly, before winking at Lily and waving.

Lily grins and waves back. "See you soon!"

She strolls happily (and swiftly) through the lovely weather off toward the lake. She wants to make good time so Sable can ask Hazel some questions.

It's a lovely afternoon!

Something looks weird about the ripples in the water, up ahead.

Ooh? What's that? She peers closely while she keeps strolling swiftly toward Hazel's place.

Iiiiit's...

...launching itself out of the water directly at her!!

A roughly human-sized blob of something only slightly too cohesive to be water sails through the air with the speed of a leaping predator.

Oh shit! She throws herself into a roll perpendicular to the lunge, and further along the path toward Hazel's!

The blob splashes violently against the ground. A few globs of slightly-thick-water splatter against the backs of her legs, but they seem inert once separated from the main mass, which spends only a few seconds puddling effortfully towards her before retreating into the lake.

She blinks at this. Did she just get attacked by a slime? Wow.

Go her for that dodge, though! She checks herself, makes sure she has the satchel and the sack of oranges, and then starts jogging to Hazel's place.

The rest of the walk is quiet, and she makes great time, though once again Palla's fairly hard-to-miss cottage turns out to be somehow missable in her rush to get to Hazel's.

Anyway, there's the cute little house with its colourful trim! Hazel is out front, stirring a pot over the campfire.

Sable switches in as they approach, and she waves cheerfully. "Hi there, Hazel!"

Hazel looks up from her pot and smiles. She's wearing one of the roomier shirts from her closet, and has installed cleavage to match. "Sable! Lovely to see you again." A flicker of forked tongue. "I see you met a nymph on the way."

"Ah, is that what that was? Managed to dodge well enough, at least. Got two questions for you, if you have the time, and I'd love to hear if you've learned anything from that sample so far."

"Your sample has been fascinating but I have not yet concluded my analysis. Please, ask away."

"First, do you have or know where to find thin cords that one could braid a bracelet with, in a variety of colors?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you anything more specific than 'try the city'—though I'm at least fairly confident that trying the city will work; I've seen that sort of thing for sale there before."

She nods. "That makes sense. Do you have spare scraps of cloth from outfits that are getting worn out, perhaps? As a stopgap? There are five colors I'd be looking for, if you do."

"Hmm... which colours would you like?"

"Purple, orange, pink, green, and red? Aiming for long enough that one could be tied around a wrist."

She tilts her head consideringly. "I'd have to search thoroughly, but if you come back in a few days I might be able to offer something suitable."

"That would be lovely," she replies with a grin. "The reason is odd and somewhat personal, but I'd be willing to share if you find odd psychological quirks interesting."