[One line's better than none, but how about more?]
"Tonight, let's just enjoy ourselves."
Karyn raised an eyebrow. "Like last night?"
"Sure."
They were more careful with the stone, and more leisurely. Half the time they spent swimming together, exploring the dark sea and the sandy coast where Jon had first found this world, or on the boat staring up at the strange stars. They invented new constellations, then found that their big guidebook to the world had changed to include the names they'd made. Jon pulled out the stone and with Karyn's permission, wished to switch roles with her again for the rest of the night. Though Jon hadn't yet changed from humanoid to otter form, as soon as the change rippled through her she felt the pull of the moons. "Have you felt like this all night, Karyn?" she asked.
Karyn said, "Yeah," and looked away, scratching his head. "Actually it's embarassing. Every time there's a double moon, and we're in this world..."
"I don't mind," Jon said. Somewhat later that night she added, "And we might want to stay a while."
They floated together at the water's surface. Karyn yawned hugely and said, "Why's that?"
Jon told him.
Karyn gibbered. "What? How could you do this?"
"You started it, remember?"
Karyn looked about to bite, but laughed instead. "Yeah. Wow. What do we do, wish it away?"
"I don't know. It'd sure be awkward for me, but..."
Karyn watched as Jon floated, playing with an ordinary rock. After a while Jon said, "I'm willing to put up with it for a while, if you will. I mean, it isn't something I thought I'd ever get to do. And we can just wish if it gets to be a problem."
"Yeah. That's right." Karyn looked back to the ship, the steadiest thing on the watery swells that rocked them. "We should get ready to teach tomorrow, then. It'll be practice for our own kids."
Realistic practice too, thought Jon. The stone had said the kids would be intelligent otters like the ones in this sea. Why were these bright enough to have language, anyway? Had they been banished from Earth to leave only dumb cousins behind?
Jon settled into her bunk and fell fast asleep, dreaming of the deep, dark, cold sea and of a nameless cave. At dawn he awoke as his humanoid self again, almost, but the adaptations to his new condition had continued while he slept. With an unfamiliar balance he moved unsteadily even given the swaying of the boat, making his way to the head for a little privacy. He gasped.
Apparently he was on the way to becoming a hermaphrodite as well. Did that change the equation?
