I also want to give a specific shout out to the little things, like Goji-chan's clothes growing back being a nicely subtle indication that somehow, she is in fact a Friend at this point (if we needed more of one), the clever designs for Norway and Blackie (dialog definitely included), and just how natural and sweet Serval and Kaban's interactions are when they're just being themselves. The most impressive one for me though, and I didn't spot it until the second read-through, was this little nugget:

>"Wow," Serval said. "I've never seen a Friend like her before. She's huge! >And look at those things on her back! She reminds me of Hammerhead."

>"She does, a bit," Kaban agreed. Crouching down by the mysterious figure's >head, she bent to feel for a pulse. "Although you're right, she's a lot >bigger than Hammy."

Which just... under normal circumstances, an 8-foot tall Kaiju girl is -not- bigger than a fully-grown stegosaurus. Which coupled with the way I'm reading that leads me to conclude that Hammy is -also- a friend now, which if I'm right is absolutely brilliant.

Now the follow-up would be what Gin Sheppard's reaction to meeting Hammerhead as a Friend would be.

-Droken