No Such Thing

Ageless soon tires of looking.

He returns to his seat and relaxes.

Why did you stop looking? asks Terence.

Plenty of time, says Ageless. 

Shall I keep looking? asks Terence.

Take a break, says Ageless. Sit with me and tell me more about this mission.

Okay, says Terence. I'm the egg box guy. Want to see my egg box?

I've seen it, says Ageless. What's it for?

For cuttlefish eggs, says Terence. 

Are we planning to steal them? asks Ageless. 

No. Save them from the mikimoto, says Terence.

There's no such thing as a mikimoto, says Ageless.

Yes there is, says Terence.

Take it from me, says Ageless. There isn't.

I'm going to ask Gaius, says Terence.

He jumps down from his seat and goes up to Gaius who is busy amending his notes.

What is it, Terence? asks Gaius.

Ageless says there's no such thing as a mikimoto, says Terence. 

Mikimotoi, says Gaius. Karenia mikimotoi. He'll have heard of that surely.

Toy, says Terence. Miki-mo-toy.

Shall I write it on a piece of paper? asks Gaius.

Okay, says Terence.

Any luck finding the hat? asks Denis, looking up from his email.

Not yet, says Terence. We're taking a break. 

I'm writing to Henriette, says Denis. 

Woop, says Terence. Is she your girfriend?

Not at this stage, says Denis. 

Did you decide how to respond to her question 'On what?' asks Gaius.

How about this? asks Denis, reading the draft of his email: 

On your interest in the following. I am on a Stateliner bus, on my way to Point Lowly, with Gaius, Terence and a lobster. The lobster is replacing the muffin, whom we had planned to be taking. The muffin itself was in the process of learning to fly. I had designed paper wings for it, and attached them to the muffin with toothpicks. Unfortunately, the muffin fell from a table and had to be discarded. So we are lucky to have the lobster. Venturing underwater, he will locate and gather the cuttlefish eggs which we will keep in an egg box. Shall I continue?

No, says Gaius. I've got the gist.

The question is for her, says Denis.

I see, says Gaius. She'll no doubt be intrigued.

Good! says Denis, pressing send immediately.

Take this to Ageless, says Gaius, giving Terence a piece of paper with Karenia mikimotoi written on it.

Okay, says Terence.

He runs back to Ageless with this good piece of spelling.