"do you think it might be related to their… episode a few days ago?" G asked softly, looking at Birdie to make sure they were distracted. And it looked like that as much as Blue didn't want to, he was talking to them about what to do about their house.
Doc sighed, "Its definitely a possibility." he rubbed the back of his neck, "Honestly, this whole situation is vexing. Their a runaway, they have incredibly crude magic suppressants etched into them, the knife wounds, the voids odd fascination with them..."
"sometimes they speak in their sleep." G added, reading through the notes they've gathered since bringing the human into their home, "some of the things they say are concerning."
G frowned, "i think they might have been apart of Hounds project."
"What makes you say that?"
"i found this in their laundry." G held up an I.D. attached to a lanyard, with a familiar logo on it. It clearly stated that they didn't work for the company but didn't offer much more information than that. "i think they're related to whatever happened to the facility that Hound was working in."
"So we've concluded that you're allergic to the void." Doc said cheerily.
Birdie blinked, watching Blue wave goodbye at them as he slipped out the door. That was an… unexpected answer. From all the fanfiction and theories they had read before this mess, they could take a pretty good guess as to what the void was. But to actually be allergic to it? It wasn't something they had considered.
"huh." Birdie drew her hands into her lap, "that… what exactly does that mean?"
Doc wiggled, drumming his fingertips on his clipboard, "I'm So Glad You Asked, Dear! In Simplest Terms, The Void Is A Place Between Space And Time, Between Worlds, And My Brother And I, As Well As Several Others, Can Poke Into It Using It As A Shortcut To Get From One Place To Another, Or To Summon Beings From It. From What Has Been Studied, It Also Has A Physical (and possibly sentient) Presence, One That We Believe You Are Allergic To."
"you aren't allergic to our magic, or else you would have had a reaction to when we healed you or fed you," G said, shoving his hands into his pockets, "unfortunately though, we don't really have the equipment to do more testing."
"The Good News Is, Its Very Easy To Avoid The Void," Doc said, grinning, "Because You Don't Know How To Teleport!"
"also please don't disappear by yourself again."
Birdie looked at G in confusion, "what?"
"what?"
"what did you-"
"Wow! Would You Look At The Time!" Doc tapped his watchless wrist, "Its Time For Lunch!"
Birdie sunk down to their shoulders in warm water, and closed their eyes. Doc had finally given them the green light to take baths, instead gently wiping down with a rag so they wouldn't cause any further damage. They sighed deeply, sinking further down into the water, until the water came just below their nose.
Leaning their head back they let their mind go blank, just wanting to relax for once. Birdie was almost certain that this was the longest they've gone without Doc's and G's presence since they had arrived here. It let them think, about their future plans, about the cabin, about-
Birdies eyes flew open as a hand caressed their leg just above their knee. They gripped the sides of the tub and pulled themselves up as something brushed against their neck. Their body flushed with unexpected emotions.
The light above the sink flickered, and a weight settled in the tub, pressing against them. Their soul twisted, making them gasp. The shadows deepened, reaching out towards them.
Yanking the plug out, Birdie stood up abruptly and wrapped a towel around them, drying off as fast as they could, and got dressed.
Yanking the door open-
"woah!"
they flinched backwards as they nearly ran into G.
"are you okay darlin'?" G asked, taking in their flushed face, "you look like you saw something."
"bathrooms haunted," Birdie said, then looked surprised that had even come out of their mouth, "uh, bathrooms haunted, something got in the tub with me. it was weird. lights were flickering. i'm very uncomfortable right now."
"what?" G glanced into the bathroom, there wasn't any obvious signs that it was haunted, but the human was shaking like a leaf despite the mirror still fogged from the heat, "that's… huh. okay."
Birdie blinked, and edged away from the door so G could get in, "you believe me?"
"you haven't exactly given me a reason not to," G said, distracted as he poked around, "besides, i'd be a bad host if i didn't look anyways."
He took out his phone and took a picture of the mirror before taking a towel and wiping away the fog that clung to it. A shampoo bottle fell, and G disappeared for a moment, then reappeared. Birdie snickered quietly, covering their mouth when G turned and pouted at them.
The tub finished draining by the time he started poking around there, "you said something was in the tub with you?"
"mh-hm," birdie confirmed, "i could feel it against my back."
"Felt What?" Doc asked, scaring Birdie, "G, What On Earth Are You Doing?"
"something was in here with birdie." G said at the same time Birdie said "bathroom's haunted."
"That Sounds Unpleasant." Doc said, pulling Birdie away from the door and to the couch, "Are You Okay, Dear?"
"it was spooky." Birdie tucked their legs under them and pulled a blanket into their lap, "it felt weird."
G came out of the bathroom, deep in thought, "something was definitely in there, and I have no idea what we can do about it."
Doc sighed, "I'll get dinner started. Have you talked to Blue again about the cabin?"
"i'm meeting up with him wednesday on the property to get it checked out, but i'm pretty sure that he's gonna say the same thing that G did. i'm not really surprised though, that thing has been standing since, like, forever and hasn't been kept up with at all."
"so it's been in your family for a long time?" G asked, settling next to them.
"Not mine, my friends." Birdie explained, taking a mug of tea from Doc, "she gave it to me recently but its technically still hers."
There was a pause of silence after that.
"do you want one of us to go with you when you meet up with Blue?"
"nah, I think i'll be okay. i've been feeling a lot better the last few days."
"That's Good."