Dinner at Stu's

Fate

In the morning, throughout the course of breakfast, Janin is quiet. Thoughtful. Then, as breakfast ended, he squared himself and told Aaren that he wanted to go through with Aaren's magical sex change. But first, he needed time to rearrange his obligations and say goodbye to his family. After some arranging of plans, he set off homeward, with a promise to return to Truong's in a few days.

With an hour and a half Go-Go journey, Aaren, Daina, Slavina, Kelly, Vievka, and Nikukas are dropped at a stop surrounded by colorful and towering sky scrapers, each laced with clotheslines, empty and clothed. There's quite a long, brightly-colored mural facing the street, spanning several buildings. It depicts a tale of ages past: a rift in the sky, with each of the gods of Bakersfield facing it, combating the monsters pouring out or doing what they could to patch up the hole. (The building with the image of Angel casting her golden light to blind a horrendous abomination of a beast is Stu's.)

Within, it's just as towering—the ceiling is open for a dozen floors before being enclosed by a ceiling completely coated in bright, flowing patterns and colors which seem to have no reason or rhyme to them. Entire rooms feature stairwells leading up (Kelly still has trouble with these; he has to sing his calm song to be able to climb them). Big, bold numbers (surrounded, of course, by folk art by various artist from across various ages) declaim the storeys: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 (which had been painted to resemble an 8), 7, 8, 9...

Eventually, the group makes their way out of the stairwell and into a long, winding hallway flanked by doors of similar style but not at all the same coloring. After turning a few corners, they encounter a door labeled "The Kaspersens", very fancy, elaborate lettering clearly burned into the door by a small stylus. There's also a mat at the foot of the door, which has been woven to read, "DOORBELL BROKEN YELL DING-DONG REALLY LOUD".

Slavina

Slavina doesn't even pause at the door before she yells "DING DONG!" at the top of her voice. And Slavina has a lot of voice.

Daina

Daina lends her voice to Kelly's calm song queitly as she doesn't have anything else to do with it at the moment. A small enocouraging smile given between her eyes remaining on her siblings. She's a bit overwhelmed that she's finally met them. And overjoyed. She laughs at door mat perhaps a little too hard and then shrugs it off as she flashes a smile to anyone who might have looked at her in askance.

Aaren

Aaren is short today, only five eleven. Her skin is dark brown, with only a glimmer of irridencences when the light moves across it at just the right angle. Even her eyes have returned to normal, only two of them, well centered in her head, and tabby-cat brown. She's singing the song of the building, singing the song of Bakersfield, and singing Kelly's calm and learning songs, a nice pair that makes a lovely duet.

She has sung her nose to be more acute though, to catch the scent of a hundred different kinds of food wafting down from balconies and through doors. The drums rumble the floors beneath their feet, and provide a constant back beat to the song of the rain.

Fate

Stu opens the door, expression a little puzzled. Then recognition floods his features, relaxing them into a smile. "Hi!" He disappears briefly to one side, and reappears promptly with a basin of soapy-smelling water and a few fresh washcloths (one for each guest). He just hangs onto it for now, though. "Please take your shoes off and make yourselves comfortable." He motions to a neat little cubby nearby, filled with several pairs of shoes. Then he calls through the main room, "Guests!"

A wide variety of rather savory smells fills the small-ish, tidy apartment. There's spice on the rain-soaked air, too—earthy, a little sweet, and also a little spicy, causing more sensitive throats and eyes to burn mildly. From outside comes the faint sounds of sizzling and bubbling, undercut by the steady hiss of the weather.

Kelly removes his boots and silently puzzles out how to fit them in a cubby (eventually pushing them in sideways, with the soles facing out). In the corner facing the cubby is an altar to Lady Baker, currently filled with a small handful of skittles. Vievka and Nikukas, on the other hand, don't seem to have a problem—and wordlessly Vievka holds a hand out to Nikukas, who, without looking up from his shoes, drops a skittle into her palm. She takes one of her own and leaves it and her brother's in the altar.

The double-doors to the balcony are wide open, revealing the kitchen: decked with a firepit that's clearly been modified and expanded and fitted with a larger grill. A fire roars in it, licking at the various meat and sliced vegetables and mini-wraps laid out upon it. Right beside the grill is a cauldron which could small child could fit into, filled with some kind of lovely-smelling, bubbling soup. Cushions form a semi-circle around the open balcony doorway.
Tending to it all is a woman—who looks maybe in her early-to-mid 30s—almost completely bedecked in tattoos. "Come on in!" Her voice is resonant but rasped, perhaps by a throat with a decade or so of smoking behind it. It certainly doesn't sound as young as she looks. "Stu, house rule..."

"Got it, my little mermaid!" He holds up the basin. "Ah, if you could please wash your hands and faces..." He holds them out to everyone in turn, once they're finished removing their shoes.

Aaren

Aaren grins at the smells, excited to have dinner the Bakersfield way, sitting around the open door and watching the cook and the rain. She steps in and takes a cloth, stepping out of the way to wash her face.
"Hello!" She sings, loud enough that both Stu and his wife will be able to hear, but not so loud as to hurt any ears. "Thank you so much for inviting us!"

Fate

"Shit, thanks for coming!" says Stu's wife. There's also a slight accent to her. Distinct. Familiar, even.

It's a Buttonwillow accent.

Slavina

Slavina unties the thongs of her sandles and slips them into the cubby and hangs her cloak up in the little tiled area by the door, underneath a stylized fresco of Stormchaser. The movement jostles her shin and forearm ornaments, making the fern-fronds quiver and wafting the scent of orchids. "What a lovely apartment!" She spins around slowly to take it all in - not leaving the entryway before she's washed, of course. "Ah! I can't believe it, are you from Buttonwillow? You don't know Tryvonne, do you?"

Once Aaren is doen with the basin, Slavina takes a turn.

Daina

Shoes are offed quickly enough and put into a cubby. She's thankful for the small clean up of the rag over her hands and face. A small sigh leaving her as she drags the fabric over her face and then uses the water on her hands to smooth back her hair a little.
Daina doesn't have any skittles and grumbles a little bit as she searches her person for a decent offering. She doesn't really have anything at the moment.. she takes one of the tattered red ribbons from her pouch and ties it in a small bow before putting it in the dish. Murmuring appologies to Lady Baker for the improper offering explaining she'd used her last to plead with Angel for a Pegasus.

Aaren

Aaren walks into the room to take one of the cushions right by the open door. The walls are covered with a riot of colors and imagaines, and paintings on top of that. Aaren has diverted a few of her voices to keep working on Stu's health (especailly his heart, since that's the only major long term issue she hasn't fixed yet) and to begin getting to know his wife's song. She's eased up on Kelly's calm song.

Fate

"Treyvonne? You talking about Treyvonne Dmitry Schwarzenberg Masters Gonzalez?" The impressively long series of names fall from her easily, at a cadence so measured and familiar that it's almost like a poem.

Kelly seats himself, eyes searching the entire premises, tracking things that everyone else can see, and plenty of things that they can't.

Nikukas stands at the threshold of the doorway to the balcony and waits for a space to speak before asking, "Would you like some help flipping those, miss?"

"Nah. Just go on and have yourself a seat." Stu's wife waves a cooking utensil in dismissal. "And please, call me Marie." Then she sets about flipping the cooking items in question. It's an insanely fast process—and the first mini-wrap, vegetable, and slice of meat in the lineup gets a bit of flair as she flips it over her shoulder from behind, only to have it land in its usual spot.

Stu, meanwhile, starts gathering up dishes and napkins.

Slavina

Once washed, Slavina folds herself onto a cushion beside Kelly, artfully arranging the folds of her culottes in a motion so practiced it's second nature. "The one and only!" She grins. "I think he mentioned you, assuming you're the same Marie who pulled his puppy out of the river."

Daina

Daina looks around them and fidgits a little bit to much going on at the moment but nothing for her to actually -do- she sighs faintly and tries not to crush her siblings with over attention. She quietly focuses on Gal and provides some warmth gathered from the world around them.

Fate

Marie eyes Slavina with more than a little incredulousness. "Holy shit on a stick." She stirs at the soup, tastes it briefly, and makes minor adjustments to the spices without taking her eyes off Slavina. "When'd you see him? How's he doing? Where the fuck is he, even?"

Vievka, meanwhile, moves to the line of cushions. "Is this seat taken?" she asks of Slavina, gently and semi-rhetorically.

Nikukas doesn't move from the doorway, eyeing the cooking food intently.

Marie notices his intentness and says, "If you stare at it just a little harder it'll cook faster."

He looks to her. "What'd you do with the... is that goat?"

She nods. "Close. Mountain goat. And I marinated it, then spiced it up some."

"Thyme and powdered red chili and... parsley? And that marinade smells like... citrus. Orange and vinegar and sugar, with soy sauce."

Marie's brows lift in pleased surprise. "Yeah."

Nikukas steps from the doorway to take a seat. "Smells really good."

Marie sends a look Stu's way. "Alright, he can stay!"

"Sorry, I'm a two-for-one deal," Nikukas retorts.

Marie makes a show of scrutinizing Vievka, as if weighing the pros and cons.

"I'll wash your dishes?" Vievka offers.

A bit of a smile presses the edge of Marie's mouth out. "Alright."

Aaren

Aaren, without looing away from the cooking, pulls Daina's beatifuly embrodiered and beaded spinning pouch and a bag of unspun Chauncy fluff from her bag. She hands it over with a smiling hum.
She's already been singing Stu's various pains better, and now she starts in on Marie's. But as she starts in on Slavina's hunger song, she realizes she hasn't asked either Stu or Marie about healing. She stops her work on them.

Aaren almost asks immidently, but then she remebers this is Bakersfield, not Hometown, and she waits instead.

Daina

Daina hears her sibling run down the food ingredients and smiles a little. Her gaze flitting to Veivka at the offer of dishes. "You don't do much cooking?" she questions curiously but.. from a .. distance. Trying to respect their personal space physically and emotionally.

Slavina

"He's doing... uh, I'm not sure how he was last time you saw him, but he's doing pretty good now!" She watches the arc of a goat-bit in the air and gives an impressed-whistle. "Still makes those amazing baskets. He's a priest now, I met him over at La Dama's springs."

At Vievka's gentle (semi-rhetorical) question, Slavina tips herself over onto the second cushion. She looks up at Vievka with a mischeivious grin and a quirked-up eyebrow. "Definitely taken," she teases.

Fate

"A priest! Of La Dama!" Marie furrows her brow and gives the soup another stir. "Well damn. That actually makes a lot of sense."

A slight smile flickers over Vievka. "Oh," she says. "We appear to be suffering from a seating shortage." She lifts a brow up. "I may have to ask someone to volunteer their lap." At that, she turns her attention a little towards Daina. "I do, sometimes. Some baking, too. Nikukas spends a lot more time in the kitchen than I do, though."

"It's too noisy and crowded, sometimes," Nikukas offers by way of explanation.

Vievka nods.

"Marie..." Stu returns with his armful of plates and bowls and napkins (each with their own unique designs). She looks to him—and he catches her gaze, drawing it with him as he hands each guest a plate. "This is..." Plate. Bowl. Napkin. "Aaren." Plate. Bowl. Napkin. "Daina." Plate. Bowl. Napkin. "Nikukas." Plate. Bowl. Napkin. "Kelly." Plate. Bowl. Napkin. "Slavina." Plate. Bowl. Napkin. "Vievka."

As he does this, Marie follows him attentively. Then she holds her hand out for Aaren's various dishes. "Aaren?" It's a half-question of confirmation, a mnemonic of sorts.

Aaren

Aaren nods, singing the yes song on top of her own hungry song.

Daina

Daina catches the bag and sings her thank you song to Aaren, Taking out the drop spindle and some of the fluff to start spinning it into a rather nice thread, she'd been doing this for years now after all. She feels a bit better having something to do with her hands. Her gaze flicks over to her siblings "So.. how long are you two here for? I mean... away from home..?"

Slavina

With a flourish, Slavina pulls another pillow out of... somewhere? It somehow perfectly matches the ones already in the circle, but it's definitely extra. She sets it down next to her and gives it a little pat.

"Please take my lap, sweet miss!" Says... the pillow? "I've never been sat on by a lovelier sitter!" The.... pillow? says. In something that sounds very much like a pillowy-er version of Slavina's voice. Slavina draws back and makes a shocked face, one hand delicately covering her mouth.

Aaren

Aaren giggles.

Fate

Nikukas looks Daina's way, then shrugs a shoulder in response to her question. "Until we find Auntie Jo. Which could take... well, a long time or a short time."

Slavina's pillow shenanigans gets a grin out of Kelly, a snorfle of a laugh from Nikukas, and from Stu a suspiciously convenient hand-rub over his mouth as he settles onto his own cushion. Marie just shakes her head, smiling, as she piles up food on Aaren's plate with a flip here, a twist there, and a swirl of soup in a whirlpool from ladle to bowl without spilling a drop. She hands it back with a warning that it'll soon become hot.

Vievka's smile grows into a bright grin. She curtseys low and says, "And never have I met a cushion so cordial and courtly. You have my eternal gratitude, friend." Then she makes a graceful show of seating herself on the pillow.

"Y'all are too much," Marie comments, before beginning to repeat the serving/name-remembering process with Daina.

Once seated, Vievka drops her previous manner entirely, giving way to completely earnest and eager curiosity. She asks Slavina, "How did you do that? With your voice?"

Daina

Daina smirks a little bit at the pillow jest though her brow furrows and she looks to Veivka and Nikukas. "We've got a new aunt?" she questions uncertainly. "Seems I'm missing all sorts of excitement.. tell me about her.. why she's missing... ?" her tone curious and faintly pleading, news from home.. real news from someone not drunk or in hiding .. or Lita.

Aaren

Aaren smiles her thanks at Marie for the food, and keeps the plate and bowl a comfortable tempature with her voice until she gets it to the tightly woven scrap rug that is serving them as a spill catcher. She waits patiently for everyone to have their food.

There's a break in the conversation around their hosts! Aaren pounces. "Do either of you two," Aaren sings it to the attention songs of Stu and Marie for a moment, so that they notice that she is talking to them, "mind if I heal you some?"

Slavina

Slavina gives Vievka a long, semi-incredulous look. "You mean to tell me someone who can literally spin yarn from fate and make a roomful of people look like mirror images of themselves is asking me how to do streetcorner sorcery?" She raises her eyebrows in appreciation of Vievka's many talents. "Not that I mind, but I feel like our roles ought to be reversed here...."

Daina

Daina snickers a little at Slavina's words and shakes her head some, she knew how the 'tricks' and skills of the mortal folks could be very interesting.

Fate

Marie tilts her head a little at Aaren, puzzled.

Stu brightens at this and lifts off his seat a little as if that would get his point across better. "Aaren can sing health problems away in moments," he explains. "Yeah, go for it. My back's never felt better!"

"Well, fuck me!" Marie brightens and looks directly at Aaren, still managing to serve and remember everyone's name in turn. "Can you take care of my damn hip? And my knees?"

Vievka furrows her brow, looking over at Daina. "Auntie Jo's not new."

Nikukas thinks a moment, then brightens and says, "She's Lady Baker." He motions to the altar in the corner, as if to illustrate his point.

Immediately Stu's attention is ripped away. "Wait." He looks between Nikukas and Vievka. "Lady Baker's missing?"

Vievka nods. "She's been gone since... since we were three?"

Stu's jaw tightens. "How old are you two?"

"Thirteen," Nikukas replies carefully around a mouthful. He blows some steam out and carefully works the too-hot food through his mouth.

Smoothly, Vievka returns her attention to Slavina. "Well... I can try to teach you... all that." Her gaze turns to the floor as she searches there. "I still have a lot to learn, though. Papa and Yesushka haven't taught me how to make dreams of whole places yet. And Babushka only just started taking me to the Sudice to learn how to start spinning, like... last year?"

Stu goes flat. "Wow. Shit." He stares at his food. "Well. That explains a lot."

Marie goes tight. "Sweet cheeks?"

Stu puts up a hand to quell her. "I'm... it's alright." Then he rubs said hand over his head. "Just gotta... process this."

Daina

"Oh huh.. how come I didn't get to meet her then" She wonders as she purses her lips I guess I coulda forgotten her but... I mean I remember a bunch of people." She frowns a bit and does some math and her jaw tightens, her busy hands stilling in the spinning. She looses a quiet string of curses as her face flushes with a mixture of embarassment and just ... upset. She looks to Aaren and then specificly to Slavina, her expression one of dismay.

Aaren

Aaren reacts to the news of Lady Baker's dissapearance only in her own songs. She drops immidently into healing Stu's impacted tooth and back, and Marie's hip and knees.
To Daina, Aaren sings a song of comfort, although not reassurance.

To Marie, after a moment's pause to give the news the space it deserves, she sings, "I can heal your arthritus, that's the hip, no problem. The knees would take a couple of days to fix for good, they are just swollen from wear and tear over the years. Do you take an anti-inflamitory for them?"
Of course, the swelling is already going down for the moment, as Aaren simply sings it down and then holds the knees in place to prevent further damage while she is present.

Slavina

Slavina talks to Vievka quietly, "I'd love to talk shop with you later. We could meet for breakfast tomorrow?"

At Daina's comment, Slavina turns. She arches one eyebrow. "You met her Daina. Don't you remember? I sure do." She keeps her tone in check this time - it's a little sharp, but not cut-your-fingers-off sharp.

Aaren

Aaren hums a private little riff on Slavina's song to draw her attention to the fact that that was a bit to far, given Daina's clear distress.

Daina

Daina nods "oh I remember that meeting and that's what's bothering me... it was .. did I run her off?" she questions to the two god children sent to find 'Aunt Jo'. Her expression one of uncertainty but one can tell she's willing to take responcibility for it if it was her fault. "The time lines up and .. I didn't know .."

Slavina

Slavina closes her eyes for a moment, and decides to hold off on an apology until it won't derail the whole conversation.

Fate

Marie pops a morsel in her mouth and begins scrubbing off the grill with a stiff, coarse brush, eyeing Stu a little distractedly. "I do, but even with them the pain's seriously starting to get in the way of my fire-dancing." She pauses, bending her knees a little to test them. "Fuck me."

Vievka brightens further, clearly excited at the prospect. But then her expression darkens. She exchanges a look with Nikukas. "We should... get back to finding Auntie Jo as soon as possible." Her tone's controlled, but it's still clear in her manner that she's at least a little devastated.

Then Nikukas looks to Daina, a little incredulous. "How could you have 'run her off'? Aren't you stuck here?"

Aaren

Aaren does what she can to remideate some of the worst of Marie's knee damage, but serious healing really would take a few days. She also starts preparing a mental list of things that might help and checking it against Marie's body, for when she talks to her later about post-treatment care.

Meanwhile, she stuffs her face and listens hard.

Slavina

"Of course." Slavina nods. "I was also going to ask if you'd dance with me. I really want to see what patterns that would make." She glances at Vievka's spindle. "We could try to find out more about your aunt that way before you leave town..."

She pauses the thought there in order to stick food in her face.

Daina

Daina frowns a little and sets the spindle aside to pay attention to the coversation and the food. She takes a breath. "I went 'in between and.. I was .. like a spot light you know? I think I brought Lady B some problems... " she nibbles her lower lip and her brow furrows. "I thought it was ok when I left but... if she's gone now .. I.. can't help but think with the timing it was my fault.. I drew something really bad to her or .. or something" she looks down into her plate with a level of brooding seldom seen in Daina.

Fate

The transformation that occurs on Vievka's face speaks of the dramatic third act of some grand opera. It goes from dark to stunned to hopeful. "Yes, okay, that—that sounds great!"

Nikukas tilts his head. "Um... Vievka —"

Vievka looks directly at him. "She's a wayfinder, Nikukas." The way she says it carries a great deal of weight and awe.

"A what?" Then he looks to Daina, quickly switching gears. "Well... I don't know anything about that. All I heard is that she suddenly got a body, went to Ahloom and Natlatzin Alvaro, chatted with them, told them she was leaving for a bit, and then left."

Aaren

Aaren almost, almost asks 'Left for where?'. She resits just in time. Obviously they didn't know.
"Is ten years a long time to be on vacation?" She asks, instead. "For a god, I mean." She says it through a goat wrap, which she has been eating in tiny, tiny bites to savor the carmalized, savory flavor.

Daina

Daina frowns faintly as she tilts her head to one side. "So ... maybe after my visit she was just.. like 'ey I need a break' and isn't .. hiding for a rotten reason.. just .. took too long of a walk about?" she questions uncertain she's followed the plot quite right here.

Fate

"Well, it wasn't a vacation. At least it doesn't sound like it was supposed to be," Nikukas explains. "But maybe not? Except Ahloom and Natlatzin Alvaro were worried about it, and Abuelita paid skittles for us to go find her, so... I guess it was long enough in this case."

"Auntie Jo hasn't had a body for more than 300 years," Vievka offers to Daina, picking up the threat of the conversation. "Maybe that has something to do with... whatever you did?" She sounds less convinced and more just throwing ideas at a wall to see what sticks.
Another thought occurs to Nikukas: "Babushka said that she could only raise Papa for ten years before she had to go back so that people wouldn't notice she was gone, so... maybe ten years is some kind of limit?"

Slavina

Slavina finishes her food, and gets a little more from the dish over the warming-lamp. "Wayfinding is the art of interpreting patterns in the physical landscape to learn about the spiritual one." She makes an offhand gesture with the serving tongs. "It's like a mashup between a priest, a guide, and a festival dancer."

Fate

Nikukas tilts an ear Slavina's way. "Oh," he says. "Well, okay. I'm game. We were just going to follow Vievka's thread to see if we could find her that way."

"Very risky," Vievka adds, by way of clarification.

Slavina

She freezes mid-plating as a thought blooms over her face. "The statue!" She flicks her head towards Daina. "The statue you infused, the one of Lady Baker... it dissapeared by the next time my family was in Bakersfield." She flicks over to Stu. "What time of year did was it when the goddess came to you?"

Fate

Stu looks to Slavina right quick once he's addressed. For a moment his gaze shifts a little far as he searches his memory for it.

"Springtime," says Marie, solemn. "I think it was 3 Bakemes."

He looks to her and offers a thin smile that's trying to be warm. "Thanks, my little mermaid."

Slavina

Slavina practically claps her hands with delight, but seeing as how she's holding a loaded plate and at least three utensils it ends up being more of a delighted juggling act. "Daina, you didn't drive her away! I think maybe you.... you set her free, or something!"

Daina

Daina blinks a few times as she considers everything "I.. did give a pretty big offering" She notes quietly" She nibbles at her lower lip. "I'm wondering though.. if Babushka with the smoking mouth can't find her.. I mean.. that seems unusual doesn't it?" She questions as she finally manages to start in on the lovely meal prepaired for them. Making quiet hums of a thankful tune towards the host and hostess.

Fate

"Well, yeah." Nikukas waves a wrap to punctuate his point. "I imagine that's part of the reason why Abuelita decided to spend skittles on this."

Slavina

"A pretty big offering? Her statue was literally blooming and it moved!" Slavina exclaims. She then turns her attention back to actually eating her dinner.

Fate

"That was you?" Stu asks Daina, completely flabbergasted.

Daina

Daina nods a little and her brow furrows a bit "right... right... i'm wondering.. have you guys tried asking around the spirit realm?" Daina gives a little smile to Slavina "I had to make up with her somehow.. was the best I could think to do.." she admits as she looks to Stu and nods her head a little.

Slavina

Slavina nods vigorously in lieu of verbally affirming Stu's question.

Fate

Vievka considers this a moment. "Well... Babushka asked the earth. Is that what you mean? But anyway it won't be helpful until we learn more." She looks Slavina's way. "That's what you're gonna do, right? Is ask around the... 'spirit realm'?"

Aaren

Aaren sings, "Where were we yesterday? That wasn't Between, was it?"

Fate

Nikukas shakes his head firmly. "No way. Kensp—err, Between—is nothing like that."

Aaren

"It sounded like She Who Hungers." Aaren frowns. "Only... not."

Slavina

"Hm. I wouldn't call it asking around, more like.... particularly useful cloudwatching?" She taps her chin and purses her lips as she reconsiders the metaphore. "Maybe looking for tracks is a better analogy. Whatever. The important part is I don't require an active response for wayfinding, since I'm interpreting aspects of the world that already exist."

Fate

"Yeah, it's not Elsewhere either," Nikukas confirms.

Vievka easily picks up the beat Nikukas dropped. "We suspect that it might have something to do with Auntie Jo's disappearance. I mean, my thread led us there, so..." She looks Stu's way. "Do you know when the rifts started opening?"

He smiles grimly. "After Lady Baker made me her champion."

Vievka nods and shrugs a shoulder. It clearly confirms her hypothesis. And then her attention snaps back to Slavina. "Oh, great! It sounds even better."

Daina

Daina hmms softly and posits. "do you think that her.. tracks will have a trace of .. me in them? If I did infact enliven the body for her?"