Chapter 3: Respite

Sue had no idea that it was possible for her to get scolded so thoroughly despite not understanding a single utterance said.

Or that Doc had enough muscle to them to just bring her over back to her bed. They half-dragged, half-carried her with a surprising amount of force while muttering towards her, unamused and urgent. Once she'd been deposited back onto her bed, their focus immediately shifted over to her injured leg, much to their worries. The until-then bandage had gotten a few shades redder and the reignited aching burned the injured area with every heartbeat. It was bad enough for the simple act of taking the bandage off to make Sue wince.

The medic kept their usually quiet voice up all the while, constantly mumbling either to her or to themselves. Ember's occasional winces provided a clue towards the latter option. The fox had since climbed back onto the bed and gotten busy comforting the once-human's hand in the meantime.

Sue was glad she couldn't understand the specifics of how exactly she was being bad-mouthed, but couldn't help but feel bad regardless. They had patched her up after she got herself into trouble, and her little expedition probably undid a decent chunk of that. Not like she had any good reason to undertake it in the first place from their perspective either.

Sorry Doc, I really wish I could explain any of this to you.

In the absence of anything to do while she was being tended to, Sue just sighed before gulping at the sight of her own- or at least this form's own- leg in its gruesome state. The wound was still clearly visible and big enough to stick a finger in, not having been sewn shut in any way she could recognize. Its current size had her already white skin go even paler at the mental image of how bad it must've been before it was tended to.

With the bandages discarded, Doc quickly ran over to one of the drawers and took out a square of thick cloth. They scooted back just in time to catch some of the blood leaking out of the aggravated wound with the freshly acquired dressing. It was slightly paler in color than she was used to, not helping her sanity any. Sue wondered what they would do to actually treat the self-inflicted ouchies, and it definitely did not turn out to be anything she'd expected.

Instead of securing some natural remedy from what had to be their little clinic, they instead simply laid their hands down on each side of her busted leg. Their touch was soft and… weirdly tingly in a way Sue didn't have the words for, the sensation only growing in intensity as they focused. Pleasant, cool tingles spread out from where they had laid their hands, soon enough enveloping the entire limb. The tingling melted through the existing aching, evaporating it like it was nothing.

The fact that Doc's hands began to glow through this process did give Sue a pause, but she wasn't in a position to oppose any of it. Both because it would be rather uncouth to do something like that while she was being healed, and because the whole process made her suddenly feel so, so tired. It only took a few minutes in total, but she was struggling to keep her eyes open by the time the animal-like mutant in front of her had finished doing… well, magic.

No other words to describe it, really.

She didn't expect to be as unsurprised by the existence of actual magic in this bizarre forest somewhere in Oz as she ended up being. The fauna already being not of this world, her own latent unexplainable abilities and a hefty, and heaping dose of raw exhaustion all helped to dull her reactions all the way down to silence. In any normal circumstances she would have definitely freaked out about this, freaked out ten times over- but these weren't normal circumstances.

Ember tirelessly providing warm, comforting affection also helped a great deal.

After Doc had finished casting their spell and withdrew their hands, Sue could take a peek at what they'd actually done. The results of their work were most definitely appreciated, even if hardly anywhere near as flashy as the magic through which they had taken place. Her wound had shrunk a decent bit, its bleeding had ceased, and the surrounding swelling was reduced. A quick twitch rest revealed the limb to have regained quite a bit of sensation and control as well, much to her relief.

"Thanhksh, Dhoc."

In her sudden onset of exhaustion, Sue failed to keep herself from uttering something she'd intended to keep under her skullcap out loud. The two pairs of eyes immediately focusing on her afterwards clued her in on her little gaffe, and it wasn't like she could explain what she'd just muttered. Instead, she did the second best thing- look embarrassed and shake her head. The other two creatures in her room thankfully got the point soon enough, going back to whatever they were doing before.

What she wanted to do was take a nap, that's for certain.

Her hand moved to start idly stroking Ember's head, motions more klutzy than she would've preferred. The act of having her leg patched together drained her of basically any and all strength she had left, much to her confusion. An attempt to hold her yawn in was similarly awkward, some of the sound leaking out and catching Doc's attention. To her surprise, the sound made them put the small bowl of what was likely medicine down beside her injury and focus back on her, walking over while mumbling something.

Sue had not managed to gain a sudden understanding of the language of whatever Doc was in the meantime, but even she could tell they had calmed down in the meantime. Relief mixed with confusion at their words, mild disappointment getting stirred into the emotional mix once Ember had scooted off the bed.

Having not managed to communicate their intent to her verbally, Doc took it into their own hands to convey their message more directly. The gentle downward pushes on her side took her off guard, Sue's eyes going wide and hands raising to maintain her balance before her brain caught up to their intent.

Fine, fine, I'm laying down.

With shaking motions, Sue carefully laid down on her left side, leaving the busted limb on top and still accessible for any further profane rituals. To her mild disappointment, she did not get to see what else would be done to it, the exhaustion knocking her out before the Doc had even made their way back to her legs.

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The absence of any more oddly religious visions was reassuring in hindsight, but at the moment, Sue was too knackered to notice. Her slowly returning consciousness took its time slowly piecing together all the stimuli around her. Most of them may have been familiar to her by now, but if anything it made them even more welcome this time around.

An exploratory journey of her hand, sliding out from underneath the blanket and beelining towards something she could feel around her midriff did indeed end up discovering a wild Ember snuggled right beside her. Her clumsy movements were enough to stir them out of their stupor, squirming in beside her as they came to. Once they had finished waking up, the little heater fox scooted right over to her face, closed eyes unable to see just what they would do-

But fortunately, she didn't need them to feel the excited licking all over her cheeks and face. It made her scrunch her features before she pried her eyes open, red eyes connecting with Ember's, Sue only now consciously realizing theirs were just as fiery.

"G-ghood a-aphternoon Embher."

They tilted their head in the cutest way when they were confused.

In the absence of understanding, they simply woofed quietly in return and switched from warm licks to even warmer nuzzling. Sue couldn't help but smile in response as she slowly sat back up, a left hand quickly reaching to start returning the affection while the rest of her took a glance around the room. Doc wasn't here anymore, but there were quite a few eye-catching additions in her immediate vicinity to help offset that fact.

The nightstand was now occupied by another trayful of food, looking overall much more savory than the previous one, though it was arguably the less exciting of the new arrivals. That award most definitely went to a crutch that leaned on the stand right next to the tray. It looked just about big enough for her to make use of, hopefully freeing her from the need to ever mess up her limbs again in order to simply take a look around.

Speaking of.

Sue's attention was drawn over to her leg, finding it patched up like the first time she woke up here- and then some. Doc seemed to have spared no bandage in securing the injury, even reinforcing it some in the lower part of her shin, the end result almost looking like a cast at a glance.

Running away in a cast did not sound particularly easy, to say the least. Then again, it was still infinitely preferable compared to being ratted out by the local king martian and then burned at the stake.

Trying to distract herself away from that foretold future, Sue redirected her attention towards the yummy foods that have been left behind for her. A few scoots brought the tray into reach, letting her place it down on her lap much like she'd done this morning. The assorted goods had her drooling, the display of roasted fruit and veggies, fried dumplings, and even a savory smelling pie immediately lighting a fire of neediness in her stomach.

Her breakfast may have been much bigger than the usual kind she ate back before she ended up in this incoherent magicland, but she still felt famished. Enough so to be able to vacuum the entire tray up and then some, at least according to her stomach. Guess her radar used a decent bit of energy or something. Who cares, it's dinner time-

As Sue began to stuff herself with the roasted goodies, now properly able to notice and then summarily dismiss the unusualness of all their flavors, she spared a glance over to the window of this small hut. The light filtering in had gotten noticeably orangier in the meantime, giving her a small pause. Must've been really exhausted after Doc had patched her up to sleep that long.

Their absence was a bit worrying, though if they were truly a doctor the likes of which she had christened them, then there would definitely be more people around this... settlement? Village? Suppose either work even both felt just as surreal. In any case- there were probably quite a few more heads around here than just her that needed medical attention, likely stat to boot.

With that realization, she really hoped she wasn't taking up the literal only bed in this entire village. Both because she hated being a burden like that, and because it'd be a big shame for an actual... mutant creature to not get the adequate treatment it deserved in favor of a mutant-shaped imposter. Acknowledging that's what she was did not exactly lift her mood either, but it was what it was.

A clusterfuck she hoped she would eventually make her way out of.

Ember having taken their rightful spot by her side again did bring some of her smile back as she chewed on a fibrous, sweet... probably vegetable. A quick taste test revealed it to be immensely filling, flavor and aroma resting somewhere between potatoes and carrots, tingling her tastebuds with every bite. Lil' foxie could scarcely resist looking at the trayful of food either, sniffing more and more as they took it all in. Fortunately for them, Sue found enough restraint in her hunger to humor them being peckish. Once her current portion was wrapped up, she offered one of the smaller roasted bits to Ember, her hip warmer looking up at her with an uncertain expression.

Yes silly, go right ahead, knock yourself out.

Thankfully, a firm nod managed to convey that message well enough. The little one wasted no time eagerly grabbing the large slice of god knows what in their teeth, freeing Sue's hands to continue eating in her own right. Most of the treats in front of her might have long since cooled down to room temperature, but the spices they were prepared with warmed her insides right back up, making her shudder lightly as she began feeling much more awake.

Living the best life indeed.

While she still could at least.

Soon enough, the pace of her dining calmed down, more and more treats getting offered to Ember. Eventually, even they started to deny them, Sue smiling as they both got filled up. The tray with half a pie and a couple remaining dumplings was deposited back onto the nightstand, the handkerchief folded in the corner helping in keeping her hands and Ember's snout mostly grease-free afterwards.

Before Sue could decide whether she wanted to go give the spanking new crutch a spin or... go back to sleep probably, she picked up on Doc making their way back. Her eyes focused on the door, Ember soon following in tow while being constantly pet, Sue's right hand running on autopilot. What could she say, lil' foxie was a godsend both as a portable heater and as a temporary companion, though she hoped nobody larger than them was getting worried because of them spending all their time there. Though, if the similarity between the earlier drawing and the kit's excited taps wasn't accidental, their parent was out of town and so they were free to do all sorts of tomfoolery all day long.

The question of the second parent was subconsciously overlooked- though not like distracting herself with that would've helped either. Sue focused on the door once more as Doc opened it, their expression lighting up right away at seeing her up and having already eaten. They wasted no time chatting Ember up, the two continuing to converse as the leafy mantis creature from earlier followed the medic in. Repeated exposure did not make their appearance any less weird, but before Sue's thoughts could once more veer towards it, she realized they were watching over something much smaller right next to them. The bug's gaze did not move from that spot beside her, their noises clicky and quiet while they made their way over, the object of their focus obscured by the bed Sue was laying on.

What are they-

*squeak!*

The high-pitched noise caught her off guard, Sue's eyes going wide as she leaned her body over the edge of the bed just to spot the extra newcomer that had waddled their way alongside the bushbug, their appearance immediately answering a question Sue hadn't even had a chance to consciously ask herself before now. Namely, how did the babies of whatever this species was looked like.

The answer was absurdly tiny and incredibly adorable.

Assuming she had kept her rough height over the change in bodies, the littlest creature was only around a foot tall, though otherwise looked so similar in appearance to her new form that they had to be related somehow. Same stiff green hair, though instead of fancy locks and curls it took on a form of a rather inconvenient looking bowlcut, largely obscuring the little one's eyes. Same porcelain white skin. Same pair of red spikes, except on their head instead of in the middle of their chest. Amusingly enough, their spikes did not appear to be any smaller than Sue's, making them look way oversized for the little... creature.

Of course, that also raised the incredibly unpleasant question of how the hell would spikes like these move from the middle of their head over to their chest as they grew up. Even a quick bout of her imagination trying to come up with possible transitory forms resulted in disgust, prompting her to banish that train of thought back to the darkest recesses of her mind.

Thank god she had gotten past that... martian puberty.

Snapping back to reality, the little not-her seemed to have somehow spotted her in return despite the constant obstacle of their own hairdo. They acknowledged her with a loud, excited squeak before beginning to shakily walk over closer to the edge of her bed, the weirdly large legs helping a lot with keeping their balance. Meanwhile, Sue couldn't help but ponder on just how similar that little one was to a human infant. The squeaks and other noises were a dead ringer, the behavior was similar enough, and even the excited arm gestures after they scrambled over to the edge of the bed only further reminded her of the toddler she got to babysit for a couple times when she was younger.

But at the same time, it clearly wasn't human, and neither was Sue. Not in form at least, and she had no idea whether that was something to be unnerved by, or what could that possibly imply about the state of this mutated world as a whole. Oddly enough, it almost felt like the little one had somehow caught onto her panicked thinking, their babbles growing quieter while they looked up at her with a tilted head, confusion filling their teeny face.

How could a mutant be so cute?

It didn't take Sue more than a fraction of a second to feel dumb at having asked that question, especially with Ember right beside her. The lil' kit purred out loud by her side before walking over to the edge of the bed and woofing something down at the recently arrived not-her, the little one squeaked response even louder and more excited in return. Their vocalizations were interspersed with them trying to reach as high up the side of the bed as they could, succeeding at nothing except being cute. Sue's unspoken question about whether their presumed caretaker would approve of her helping the little one up onto the bed was answered quickly enough. She could see them nodding eagerly in her peripheral vision as she leaned closer towards the not-her, the leafy mantis nanny even making a picking-up gesture to further clarify what she was to do.

Just don't try immediately scrambling off the bed lil' one, can't imagine falling smack down on your... spike would be anything but excruciating.

With shaky hands, Sue reached in to slowly pull the tiny one up onto the bed, finding them to weigh, indeed, about as much as a baby. Her new arms were thankfully still quite comfortable with that weight, little-her wasting not a single moment afterwards before running excitedly towards her and pulling as much of her midriff as they could into a hug.

Alright, this one is adorable, can I keep them?

As the second guest on her bed continued to squeak excitedly, their touch feeling not unlike Doc's from before when they were in the middle of performing their magic, Sue couldn't help but wonder if this little one was related to that other not-her from the drawing. If so, there could've been a slight possibility of salvation through having befriended the royal baby- or at least that's what Sue's internally panicking mind latched onto as a lifeboat.

Ideally, she'd be able to ask, but considering that even the scroll from earlier was missing... actually hold on, maybe she could try to mime what she meant there directly?

Having caught Doc's attention with a small wave, Sue briefly thought through how she'd convey the idea of this alien baby being related to the alien king of the alien town. Eventually, she settled down on the simplest, and most likely to be misinterpreted idea- miming. First, she pointed down at the little one that had attached themselves to her front, then started moving her right hand as if writing, and at last, pointed towards where she last remembered seeing the scrolls.

Miraculously enough, it seemed that Doc got her general intent, squeaking something before making their way to one of the drawers and pulling out the drawn-on scroll from earlier. They got to scribbling some more detail on it right away, the piece of charcoal swiftly whizzing around the page. Despite her best efforts, Sue couldn't quite figure out what they were writing down, head craning all around while she absentmindedly reached down a hand to provide the other little one with some affection.

Before the medic was even finished, the weird pulling sensation in her hand caught her attention. A quick look down let her watch her limb be brought over closer to the tiny creature despite her not consciously moving it at all. Was this... some kind of intra-species magnetism or something?

Doc making their way over prevented her from thinking too much about her dumbfounded question, the simple diagram from earlier with a couple important additions occupying her attention. One was a simple outline of the baby not-her, indeed turning out to be related to the not-her king of not-home, at least if an arrow was any indicator. Further along, another arrow reaching from the other being with a swirl next to them over to a rough outline of Ember confirmed that particular hunch as well.

Guess royal kids love her. Hopefully, she'll be anywhere near this lucky with royal adults.

A firm nod of acknowledgement later, Doc took the edited scroll away, stuffing it into the drawer before turning back towards the bug creature and resuming their chat from earlier. Sue was once more left on her own with two apparently quite important little ones and unable to communicate with either of them. Though, judging by the kinds of infant-like noises the little not-her made, she kinda doubted whether anyone could understand them.

As she gently petted the side of little martian's head, making them try their hardest to pull her hand into a hug, Ember approached them from the other side. A sly expression slid onto their snout as they dove in for a strike, attacking the infant's exposed side with a flurry of licks. It was enough to immediately send them into a fit of loud, squeaky laughter, some vocalizations trying and failing to escape in between giggles as they flailed. Sue was too amused to intervene in any way, starting to giggle louder and louder herself at the sight, having to shield her mouth with an overly wide forearm lest she'd get as loud as the little one. She had no idea why it was all so funny to her, but couldn't deny the joy that bloomed within her in response.

A couple comments from the presumed grownups in the room made Ember stop, with the little one immediately splatting on their side, panting as they caught their breath. The warm vixen snuggled up right beside them soon after, letting the martian tyke pull them into a big hug, the sight almost making Sue swoon there and then. She didn't want to interrupt, simply reaching in to keep stroking the mini-her's hair- but it seemed they had other plans. The touch made them turn their gaze as much towards her as they could while laying on their side, before feebly trying to reach up towards her.

Do they want uppies?

Smiling at that possibility, Sue carefully reached in to pick them up again, slowly lifting the little one into her arms, off to the side of her chest spike. They did make it a bit harder with their constant wriggling, but ultimately behaved, easing out once they arrived at their new vantage position. From there, it didn't take long for them to look up at her, breaking out into a big smile and an even bigger squeak, their wiggliness letting her peek underneath their bowlcut, finding their eyes predictably red.

Just don't start thinking I'm your actual mommy, she's probably just away.

Doc speaking up caught her attention, though their words were probably aimed at the little one in her arms. They were walking over to take the largely-finished tray of food away, much to the tyke's objection for... some reason. Guess the little one was just hungry, or there was still something yummy left and they wanted a bite, oh well-

That's where her train of thought would've ended at least, if not for one of the smaller berry pieces suddenly becoming surrounded in a faint blue aura before levitating upwards. Upwards, and towards the alien in her arms, her eyes managing to just barely catch a similar glow emanating from their eyes for a moment before it disappeared, the treat now secured in their hands.

Before the little one could properly bite into it, they abruptly turned their head to look up at her, confused expression matching Sue's shock at what she'd just seen. Guess magic here went far, far beyond just healing touch, and included actual levitation of objects. Though as incredible as that was in its own right, the fact that it was being performed by an infant only made it all so much more awe-inspiring.

And prompted a much more unnerving thought- if literal babies could do this much, what about adults, especially of whatever kin she currently was? Just how much further could the royal currently on their trip take it? Was the magic touch demonstrated by Doc earlier just a tiny part of what they could do? Did that explain the house she was in, and Doc having simply magic'd all the logs together? What about the bug-person-thing, so far they haven't done anything extraordinary aside from continuing to exist despite their appearance- was magic only restricted to certain species she just happened to be a part of?

Why was everyone staring at her?

Sue's sixth sense eventually clued her into being the center of unwelcome attention, making her divert it by pretending her head just hurt a bit. Her free arm reached up to rub her forehead as she shook her head, the other arm slowly lowering the chewing tyke back to her lap. Fortunately, that pretense was successful at making everyone resume whatever they were previously doing. In Ember's case, that meant warming her lap and wordlessly asking for her to continue petting, their paws reaching for her hand.

Sue most definitely wouldn't say no to that arrangement.

Soon after, Doc made their way out with another tray in their hands. The bug person stayed behind this time, though not without walking over closer to the bed everyone else was sitting on and chittering something towards the two creatures that could presumably understand them. Ember woofed something in return and the little-her simply squirmed all over, tried to squeak with a full mouth, and latched themselves onto Sue's free hand that happened to lay nearby.

Sue may have no idea what she'd done to earn herself the adoration of the little martian, but she definitely wouldn't refuse it. Both because of how cute and nice it was, and because it potentially could earn her some brownie points once their parent came knocking.

In that particular moment though, one of these reasons was much more important than the other.

With everyone else in the room either enjoying her presence or simply calmly watching over her and the little ones, the idea of returning to naming everyone else around crept back into Sue's head. The leafy person already visited her twice today, and they would probably do so more times in the future, and with just how much little not-her adored her there was no way they wouldn't want to tag along. Her brain wasted no time in providing the simplest and most uninspired nickname for the former, baptizing them as Leafy, but the tyke proved to be much more of a challenge.

The one most obvious physical characteristic she could latch onto was instantly banished to the recesses of her mind on account of them being an infant. Aside from that dead end, she was uncertain even on the kind of name they ought to get in the first place. Part of her almost wanted to go with an actual name with just how baby-like they were, any sort of cutesy pet-like nickname just feeling... wrong. But at the same time, it was still an alien whose parent would likely want her head on a stick, so best not to get too attached.

Well, "Bowlcut" would certainly work as far as limiting attachment went, though it just felt... rude. On the other hand, it's not like anyone but her would ever know, especially not the infant in question. Sue soon resigned to the substandard name, managing to be worse than all the other half-assed ones she had given out so far.

Failure at coming up with a decent nickname deflated her somewhat. It was irrational, sure, especially with her stay here threatening to be very temporary in nature. But still, she couldn't help but latch onto the only display of kindness she'd been given in this world she had found herself trapped in, and being unable to fully match it was upsetting. In attempting to divert her whole thought process away from this topic, she circled her thoughts back around to the recent display of baby magic by Bowlcut. Though, instead of worrying some more about how much would their parent eventually fuck her up with it, she wondered how much of it actually affected her as well.

She sure didn't feel in any way magical, extra-sensory perception aside. It made sense to her that fancy powers like that would be rather obviously noticeable... alternatively, it was something that needed to be taught. That would explain her not being able to use them, but at the same time, Bowlcut didn't seem that different in behavior from a year-old baby and good luck teaching them anything.

Alternatively, maybe she could do magic all along and just wasn't aware of it? In that case, trying to test whether she indeed had that magic in her all along was in order. Sue glanced around the room for an appropriate target before spotting the still untouched crutch, and... realized she had no idea what to do with it. A few thought commands were attempted, "Come", "Up", "Fly", "Get over here", but the wooden tool remained persistently inanimate in spite of her trying to think it alive. Maybe she had to concentrate, really really focus on it in order for the spell to work? Her eyes narrowed as she tried to concentrate on it as much as she could- she swore she saw it twitch just a bit in response, but that was about it for the results.

Guess she just didn't have the touch.

Hmm, now that she thought about it, maybe that was what the crossed-out spiral was referring to? She was magic deficient- if that was even a real term- which considering even literal babies of this species can make things float, would definitely be noteworthy and a cause for all the concern she saw earlier. Just concern though, so maybe there was a possibility that Bowlcut's parent would see her as just disabled rather than an outright alien. Though, if even infants of this species can just telekinetically move things around, the wild magical powers the adults must have had access to would let them see through this somewhat embarrassing disguise anyway.

Before Sue could ponder the implications of technically being doubly crippled, Doc made their way back into the room. Her glance up at them made it clear just how dim it was getting outside, raising questions about when all the guests would be taking their leave. There wasn't much of a light source here she could see, and considering both the hut and the village area outside gave her pre-industrial vibes, the best they could count on would be candles anyway. Candles which Doc proceeded to pull out of one of the drawers, together with a couple holders, though without any obvious tool they could use to light them with.

Seeming to be wholly unconcerned by that though, they made their way around the room, laying down the candle holders- one on Sue's bedside table and the other on the opposite end of the room. Once they were done, they turned back towards the bed with actual candles in hand, the once-human's eyebrow raising in response as they spoke.

Sorry Doc, this spike does not double as a firestarter.

Ember begrudgingly wriggling themselves from underneath her steady supply of affection did take Sue off guard, especially when followed by them walking right over to the edge of the bed and leaning over a bit. Their bushy tail wagged slightly as the medic brought the unlit candle wicks in front of the fox's mouth, as if expecting them to spit fire.

And then Ember spat fire.

While Bowlcut's minor act of telekinesis had her just stare in shock, she couldn't help but jump slightly and gasp in shock at the burst of flames spewing out of her lapwarmer's mouth. Everyone else was just surprised at her being surprised in the first place- Doc stared at her for a moment before the melting wax began to burn their fingers, urging them on to quickly insert the now-lit candles into their holders and blow off the brief burns.

Ember looked fiery, sure, but that was supposed to just be an appearance thing, not them being literally able to go full dragon and just breathe fire all of a sudden! Sue couldn't deny being briefly terrified at the concept, not to say baffled at how that would even work. Ember's puppy eyes helped her melt through that hesitancy rather quickly though, especially with them looking really sorry at having startled her like that to begin with.

It's alright Ember, I forgive you, suppose this is wholly normal for you after all... just, wowza. Will have to remember not to tickle you and stay way away if you ever start sneezing.

The forgiveness was communicated with a couple long pets and a smile, the fox pup scrambling over to her lap to cuddle in and nuzzle happily against her stomach. Their hair fluff felt ticklish as it brushed against her bare skin, but Sue mostly managed to keep her giggling in. Before long though, Ember's affection was cut short in response to Doc speaking up towards them, the pup nodding in return and dashing off to the side of the bed, not seeming to be particularly bothered.

As she looked at them with a confused expression, Leafy reached in to help move Bowlcut over to the other side of the bed as well, the infant immediately trying to waddle back over despite being held in place. Fortunately, the motion spotted in her peripheral vision helped explain what was going on right away, Doc waving at her as they stood next to the crutch, shaking it a bit.

Time to give this thing a bit of a test drive.

Sue didn't have to be gestured at twice, shifting over in her seat until her legs dangled off the side of the bed next to Doc. The medic nodded before handing her the crutch, its physical construction rather rough, but fundamentally not too dissimilar from what she knew and already had to use a couple times in the past. Doc was evidently unsure how to convey the next part of the process to her, speaking up towards Leafy with an uncertain tone of voice. Fortunately for them, she knew what she was doing- or at least what she did back in her human body, hoping the different proportions wouldn't make this a miserable experience.

Or at least, an even more miserable experience.

With the crutch and her good leg in position, she could push herself off, cutting Doc off mid-word. The medic backed off and gave her space as she tried to balance herself with the crutch, taking a couple of attempts before succeeding- barely, but still. Now for getting around- curiously enough, Doc had gone quiet while she tried to waddle around, evidently waiting to intervene should anything bad happen, but for the first time in a while, nothing did. Sue kept her balance and made steady progress, rather slow with a lack of practice and the crutch taking way more effort to use than what she remembered, but progress nonetheless. After a couple hobbled circles around the room, she turned to look towards Doc before firmly nodding and smiling, figuring that that would be the best way of conveying her success.

They sure seemed- and felt- happy in return, so all was well.

Their gesture in the direction of the bed was straightforward enough as well, Sue hobbling over before carefully sitting back down and putting the crutch away. The medic walked over to the window and looked outside in the meantime, muttering something to themselves before speaking up louder towards the fox. Ember woofed quietly in return with disapproval clear in their noises, scrambling back over to Sue's side afterwards.

You know Doc is right silly, it's getting really late and it's high time to head back home.

Sue gave Ember a patient smile before patting them a couple more times, which combined with Leafy and Doc chiming in was enough to convince the cub to part with her for now with a couple parting tummy nuzzles. Bowlcut was next, Leafy carrying them over towards her in their arms to say goodbye, the lil' tyke trying to scramble out of the hold as she waved them away, giggling quietly at their antics.

"Ghood nhight- I'll shee yhou all thomorrow."

The precise contents of her words might not have been understood, but she had a good feeling that the general intent was successfully transferred. Leafy instructed the baby in their arms how to wave her away, and Bowlcut caught onto it fast enough to keep enthusiastically waving with both their arms even as they were carried out. Ember followed the pair out after one last look towards her, the door eventually creaking shut behind them.

Doc speaking up brought her attention back over to them, the medic making it rather clear what they were asking her to do. Their gesture for sleeping was something she could've feasibly even used herself- they tilted her head, closed their eyes, and placed both their hands underneath the tilted head as a pillow of sorts. She couldn't say she was particularly tired just yet, but in all likelihood that was mostly the nap's doing, and a proper night's rest would do her good regardless. Rolling her eyes a bit, she obeyed their instructions and laid down, her side really getting to appreciate just how comfy this mattress was despite how rugged it, just like everything else here, was in construction.

With their patient having been laid to bed, Doc nodded with a smile and made their way over to the candle further away from her, blowing it out and plunging most of the room in shade, the sun having completely set in the meantime. They were about to do the same with the one on her nightstand before seemingly reminding themselves of something, something rather important judging by their surprised expression and the subsequent dash out the door. Their scramble had more urgency to them than anything she'd seen them do before, their soft body looking downright comical while running.

After calming down her resulting giggling, Sue tried to finally peace out and get cozy. Guess putting out the final candle would be left to her, but she was in no rush, especially after scrambling herself to rest on her other side, the faint background light more comfortable than anything. Back at home, she usually slept with her laptop's monitor still glowing brightly. Suppose that was one socially acceptable alternative for a night light, and this was another, even if much less reusable.

Right as she started to properly doze off, her rest was interrupted by the door creaking open once more, Doc's panting accompanying it as they made their way back in. And while part of her wanted to just sleep now, the rest was more than curious to see what would be so important as to make the usually composed medic break into a mad sprint just to grab it for her-

A feather.

A somewhat sizable feather to be fair, with an eye-catching blue coloration, but still, ultimately just a feather. A feather that was placed on the bedside table, Doc looking rather content with themselves despite the apparent pointlessness of their actions, satisfied mumbles leaving them afterwards. Realizing she had stirred to look at them, Doc simply nodded a few times towards her in affirmation. They then leaned in to blow out the other candle before Sue could act to the contrary, managing to do it cleanly enough to not disturb the feather they had just placed down.

Shucks.

Not thinking anything of it, the medic left with a few more soft-spoken utterances. Sue was left in darkness only illuminated by a combination of moon- and bonfire light pouring in through the window, and... the bespoke feather. It glowed with a weak pale shine, nowhere near strong enough to illuminate its surroundings. Still enough to be visible in the dark, the bluish shade calming to look at.

Maybe this was their version of a night light, hah.

With little stimuli to keep her awake, Sue soon began to doze off. Even her usually overactive worrying couldn't compare to the power of the gentle glow that filled her eyes, the feather fortunately keeping it in check for the time being. Regardless of its intended use and significance, it sure looked nice at least, the pleasant shade of blue soothing her mind enough to hold off any nightmares from creeping up on her overnight.

What it did not ward against though, were more religious visions.

__________________________________________

The warmth was comforting despite being wholly imaginary, Sue reaching her hands over to warm them by the fire as she slowly gained awareness of where she was once more. Or rather, what kind of scene her subconscious had brought her into, familiar guitar twanging mixing with the crackling of the flames as she relaxed by the campfire.

Guess these dreams wouldn't always suck.

A glance skyward brought the familiar sight of a sky chock full of stars, all shining brightly as if just for her. The full moon affixed right above her completed the scene, a crown jewel of this gorgeous vision. Even its pale light felt much warmer, more... comforting than its usual coldness in the waking world.

The moon God's voice was there, too.

To nobody's surprise, there was exactly zero progress as far as understanding it went. Sue only consciously noticed it once it stopped speaking for once, the incomprehensible sounds having become mere background noise for her imaginary ears, just there until they suddenly weren't. The silence that followed felt... expectant for lack of a better term, Sue unable to peace out despite all the warmth, feeling as if somebody was waiting for her to do something.

"I've no idea what you're even saying. Don't you have some other dreams to be in?"

Her words were more exasperated than anything else, the act of speaking towards a lunar dream deity she couldn't even see making so little sense that she couldn't take it particularly seriously even inside her own dreams. She was more than a bit unsure how much of everything going on in here has been a figment of her imagination to begin with, leaning towards 'all of it'.

Despite having just been told off, the heavenly voice only spoke some more, more urgent and insistent this time, which combined with the continued absence of comprehension made Sue start worrying ever so slightly. This was all a dream, yes, but if she could avoid her own imagination subjecting her to something spooky because of speaking in gibberish she would've absolutely preferred that. Speaking of spooks- the second, masculine voice appeared to be mysteriously absent, though considering everything going on, it was at best a footnote.

"Y'know, if you want me to know what you're talking about, how about you write it down or something. Aren't you a god or someth-"

Sue's annoyed quip was interrupted by a gust of wind splatting a sheet of paper right against her face. The forehead curl helped in shielding it somewhat as she briefly flailed in surprise, the intruder soon getting grabbed with a green hand and examined. A brief scan revealed it to be a page torn out of a lined notebook, with something indeed being written on it in what looked to be pencil-

...

Oh for fuck's sake.

She could recognize writing in there- the scribbling was too regular, too orderly to not be writing of some sort, too bad one completely alien to her. It looked much more geometric than anything she was even remotely familiar with, with many right and diagonal angles. Some of the resulting shapes were filled but not all, further complicating the task of even figuring out where one symbol ended and the other began. It was kinda like Korean, in that it was the least completely different from Korean than anything she'd ever seen, but that's about where the similarities ended.

The writing wasn't the only thing filling the page though, with around half of it being taken up by a drawing of... something. Sue didn't have too much of an idea of what it was even supposed to be, but it made her think of a ghost of some sort, its whole body wispy looking and mostly all black. At the core of it appeared to be an hourglass-shaped... torso? With a couple arms sticking off of it, and a head that in itself seemed to be just one big plume. Oddly enough it was the one part not filled in with more blackness, a single eye peeking out from its base.

A good contender for a sleep paralysis demon, though she doubted whether that was anywhere near the intent of the drawing.

Given the incomprehensible text was about as useful for figuring any of this out as the sketches of penises on the margin of her actual notebooks, her attention only had one way left to go. She pointed at the eerie drawing with a green finger before looking up at the moon, most of the exasperation having left her voice by then as she asked-

"Who's that?"

The second page hitting her face that imagined night did not startle her any less. An annoyed grunt left her before she successfully grabbed the sheet, glaring up towards the moonlit sky with the angriest expression she's had since ending up in this... realm, she supposed.

"You don't have to toss it in my fucking face you know?"

The mighty lunar deity responded with something Sue could've only speculated to be an apology. She grumbled, grabbed the piece of paper, and took a solid look at... a mostly black page. It was filled in densely enough to probably go through a whole pencil or two if it wasn't a figment of her tenuous sanity. The only part not solid black was a circle at the center- still rather shaded though, the various details revealing it to be the moon.

Was that spooky ghost looking thing... the sky dimmer satan... deity?

No, these two don't deserve nicknames, if they're so up and mighty they can figure something out.

"Alright, if that's supposed to be the spooky one, then what the hell are you and why did you even bring this all up to begin with?"

To Sue's relief, the response did not slap her in the face this time, instead taking the more civilized route of manifesting out of nothing on her lap while she wasn't looking. The college student turned martian acknowledged the gesture with a polite nod before grabbing the small bundle of pages. The topmost one seemed to contain the answer to her first question, the sketch filling up most of the page-

Actually, scratch that, this one gets a nickname after all.

Moon god is Duck now.

It was very hard to deny the at least surface-level similarity between the creature being drawn and the bread munchers of the local ponds. The biggest difference really was the shape of its head, almost looking like it bore a couple tusks and one curved horn. Its wings looked to not be solid either, somehow- just flimsy looking, translucent arcs. It even had a third on its back, bigger than the other two. Judging by its location, the only biological purpose it might have had was providing the divine creature with a speed boost while it was flying or swimming around.

Duck goes nyooom.

After finally managing to ease out her laughter at the most unexpected form of this bizarre entity she was attempting an honest to god conversation with, Sue could finally take a look at the rest of the scribbles. The voice ringing from the lunar body all the while was decidedly unamused, though it's not like the once human cared all that much. The second page was covered with a very rudimentary comic of sorts, together with simplified, almost stick-figure like characters. She knew the plot of this one all too well though, the sketches seeming to recount the mysterious way she ended up here, not putting in much more detail than she herself remembered.

The first panel, a human with a backpack on a forest trail, must be her. It was connected with an arrow towards the only other defined panel, her laying on her side in the mud, having already turned into a martian. Just a glance at the scene made Sue shudder at the memory of how cold and uncomfortable the start to her first day here was. Next to the arrow was none other than the bespoke ghost satan from earlier, together with some more geometrical writing, Sue's eyebrow rising quite high in response.

"Wait, did that other guy bring me here and cause all this?"

The verbal response was delivered with a raised voice, though that helped precious nothing with making it any more understandable. Sue's head tilted as she tried to figure out whether that meant yes or no, arriving nowhere. Weirder still, she seemed to not be the only one uncertain about it all, the voice eventually quieting out and starting to mutter to itself a bit before finally making a recognizable sound- namely, a deep sigh.

"Guess I'm not the only one confused for once, eh Duck?"

Duck reacted with more muttering, followed by something in a raised voice, sounding... almost apologetic for a moment, at least that's the precious little she could glean from it. But why would it-

Sue did not appreciate the migraine that followed immediately afterwards one bit, the dreamt-up pain no less uncomfortable than the real stuff that occasionally made it its goal to ruin her days. Her free hand reached up to clasp her head, trying to make it all go away as the aching felt like it was actively drilling deeper and deeper into her brain.

"H-hey, what the- s-stop, STOP THIS!"

The subsuming pain made it difficult to make out the response from behind the serene sensations of her brain frying itself. A roll of nausea began to surge through her body before it all stopped as abruptly as it had begun, leaving Sue dazed, achy, and really pissed at this nonsense inside her own head. She looked angrily up at the imagined celestial body, getting up from her seating position.

"You know what, fuck this and fuck you, get the hell out of my dreams you- whatever the fuck you are!"

Surprisingly but not at all unwantedly, her indignation began to make an effect on the dreamscape. A strong wind kicked up out of nowhere, the din almost wholly eclipsing Duck's speech, its words having turned downright pleading by then. Sue didn't care though, she was fed up with not having any idea what was going on and didn't care one bit for her head being drilled inside her own dreams. Dreams that were now falling apart in front of her own eyes, pieces of landscape falling apart into a colorless void.

As if just to spite her one more time, the sheet of paper she was holding broke out of her grasp and slammed into her face one more time. Sue seemed it fit to just tear the stupid thing apart, fully intending on that before spotting one new added detail that wasn't here before, the dream wholly dissipating moments later-

There was a question mark next to the drawing of the ghost satan now.