Mericlou then turned towards the front door, as she heard it unlock.
"Looks like someone else is home too," she said as Needles crawled back onto her shoulder. She went to the door, and opened it all the way.
Alaema was there, holding several grocery packages in her arms. She had been about to enter the house, but then she froze in her tracks. Her green eyes had widened to twice their normal size.
"Is something wrong?" Mericlou asked, confused at Alaema's expression. Her mouth was open in a silent "oh," as round as the entrance to a birdhouse.
And then, at last, she screamed.
Mericlou screamed at her sister's scream, and then both androids jumped back, scared halfway to short-circuiting. Needles squeaked in fright, leaping from Mericlou's back, skittering across the floor, and into Noroa's arms, where it curled up into a tight, quivering ball.
"Alaema, what's wrong?" Mericlou said, reaching for her sister, now panicked and breathing rapidly.
"Y …your … shoulder …" She stammered, once she could finally talk. "Something … big … hairy!"
"Oh, you mean Needles?" Mericlou said, at once relieved, and then realizing that the ferret was gone. Noroa quietly announced that the she was with her, and returned it to her sister.
"Come on in, sister," she said in mild amusement, taking Alaema -still severely shaken- by the hands and leading her inside. "She won't bite; Noroa gave her to me as a birthday present."
"Noroa …?" Alaema whispered, seeing her sister for the first time once she had entered the apartment.
"S …sister …" she stammered, and then ran fully into her arms. "By the maker! Sister, you've come home!"
They embraced, and then Alaema turned towards Garen, her familiar seductive smile returning to her face. "Ah … and I see you've brought your handsome husband here too."
"I see that some things haven't changed at all," Garen murmured cynically to his wife, earning a light elbow to the ribs.
"I'm just glad to be here in time for Meri's birthday," Noroa said, as Needles crawled back onto Mericlou's shoulder. Alaema gazed nervously at the animal, as if expecting her to jump into her hair, but then relaxed as she saw that she was resting quietly.
"I think we're even gladder to see you," Mericlou said, sitting down on the sofa. "But you should've come here sooner."
"I'm sorry for staying away for so long," Noroa said, "but constructing a new Senate building is not a simple few days' undertaking, and I have jobs of my own."