nah, it's cold indoors too [derLampman]

@"hyperhurricane"

Eph stared down Crystal with a bemused expression on her face, all parts of her anatomy stiffened up and suspended. Nothing was moving, as if she froze entirely.

"Then she stared at her guest with an expression of disbelief as she said to her, 'Damn. I was trying to sound smart."

Eph sighed and threw her head back, staring at the ceiling. "It's not really time-stopping per se, it's more physical than temporal actually. See, I don't displace something in time as would be necessary for time-stopping, because if I froze it in time, then time would have to flow around it and mess up completely, or else it would also stop. To prevent that from happening, the frozen subject would have to be outside time."

After that lengthy explanation which didn't particularly explain anything, Eph shrugged and said, "But what do I know, you're the smart one. Also, that stuff I said was mostly guesswork and improv."

Her tail curled up and poked the squirrel out of the window, where it fell to the ground as if it were a leaf. "You're not out of sync. Most of the slowed memories tend to either get erased or get pieced back together as your brain readjusts to being normal. Think of it as your brain editing together footage, cause what happens is you're still basically experiencing everything, just over an extended period of time. If it goes well it should feel like you just fell unconscious for a while. Also, I think it's more like seeing things frame by frame. But again, I know nothing."

She monologued some more in response to Crystal's winter remark. "Winter wonderland would be ni - hey!"

The snowball snapped her out of her reverie, and called to mind a particular bit of pop culture. Crystal, now that she looked properly, was a perfect real-life version of a particular character from a particular ice-based film. She mused a bit over not being capable of making snow as decently as Crystal, and asked all singsong, "Do you wanna build a snowman?"

@"hyperhurricane"

A bemused, questioning look issued from Eph, wondering what kind of life she led to not understand that reference. Then again... she thought, remembering that poor kid on the shore with the mangled set of wings. She shook her head vigorously, trying to cast the thought away.

"There's - Hang on, there's something important we both forgot in the middle of my pseudoscience and unrecognized references. Something very important." She dropped her light smile and adopted a serious expression, deep in thought. How could she have forgotten? It was always one of the more importantt things that she had to know whenever talking with anyone new.

"Do... do you have a name? I - I'm guessing you do but one, there was that three-winged kid and, uh, that doesn't make sense, I'll get back to that - and two, I didn't see anything I could identify you with except - no, not beinging that up - and three... yeah, there is no number three apparently."

@"hyperhurricane"

"Found him on the coast, buried him somewhere out back... didn't really think that anyone would come looking. Seems I was right. About all of them." Eph's expression darkened and she had to look away, tail tensing up. It wasn't a pleasant memory, burying all those kids somewhere. Her lip curled in mild displeasure, not wanting to show more and make Crystal uncomfortable.

She tried to hide her distress as best she could by smiling jovially and switching topics abruptly. "Crystal's a pretty name though. I'd have guessed something else entirely, but it fits nicely."

Eph moved herself to the bed, eyes furrowing as her hands inspected Crystal's clothing. She'd lent her a loose, plain white nightgown while she was asleep, and it didn't actually fit too well, but she wasn't going to just make clothes for someone who might never have woken up because that was just plain creepy. "Can't say the same for this thing though," she said, lightly grabbing at the clothes she lent. "Pretty girl like you deserves pretty clothes. Maybe I can take your measurements, fix you up something better, something nicer..."

Her voice trailed off, and her gaze became more intent the longer she contemplated. It took her some time to snap back to reality and lean back. "Oh, sorry about that."

@"hyperhurricane"

"Uh... okay? To be honest I was expecting you to freak out. I'm liking you better and better by the moment, Crystal."

Eph nodded serenely, appreciating her guest's reaction and how she didn't react too much to the brief moment of darkness in the conversation. She was either used to such topics, or very good at knowing when and when not to pursue a certain train of thought. Either way, it was good in her reptilian point system.

She stood up, moving over to the closet near the foot of the bed. There wasn't much in it, but she opened it anyway to illustrate a nonexistent point. "Look at this closet. There's nothing in it, I just want you to look at it. Anyway, I make all sorts of clothes - custom and handmade everything. Technically, clawmade - which is also the brand I use to advertise online. Again, anyway. Moving on."

Her steps took her to the middle of the room where she stood straight, tail relaxed and lips curled in a smile. "This entire outfit was one of my earlier works, as well as well as what you're wearing right now, so they're not really representative of what I can do, but the point is, if you want something you can wear and it's made of some sort of fabric or textile, I can make it happen. With some time given of course. And a reasonable design. And several other things."

@"hyperhurricane"

"You said something nice, which is all I heard. I'm not listening to your disclaimer," Eph declared, plugging her ears and sticking her forked tongue out. She grinned deviously and stuck her tongue out again, drowning over Crystal's mention of lack of expertise with a tone-deaf hum.

Once she stopped humming, Eph lightly tapped on Crystal's chin with the tip of her tail. It was a strange gesture perhaps, but in her mind it was a friendly gesture. "If you look around though you'll notice all the clothes here in my house are skirts. It's a necessary thing... as much as I'd like to try pants or shorts at some point, this little guy on your chin makes it very difficult for that to happen. Anatomy is an enemy, like I always say."

With a light flick of the tip of her tail, Eph withdrew herself and turned around, motioning to face the door. Crystal seemed to be in good shape, in as many ways as she could think of, which was good and which meant she could afford to take a tour. As her claw reached for the door, she turned her head and invited her guest. "I think you're in good enough condition to walk around, maybe look around the house, maybe check if the sheep are still swarming around back. Any thoughts?"