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, half-dragging and half-carrying her as they kept muttering towards her, unamused and urgent, immediately shifting their focus over to her injured leg once she was back on top of the bed. Much to their worries, the limb did indeed get quite a bit worse from the limited usage she pulled it through, the until-then clean bandage getting a good few shades redder, and the reignited aching continuing to burn the injured area, Sue wincing as the bandage was taken off.
All the while they kept their usually quiet voice up, muttering either at her or to themselves, though with Ember occasionally wincing off to the side, having climbed back onto the bed in the meantime, nuzzling her hand all the while. Sue was glad she couldn't understand the specifics in which she was probably being badmouthed, but couldn't help but feel bad regardless- they had patched her up after she got herself into trouble, and her little rendezvous probably undid a decent chunk of that, and from their perspective she'd likely had no good reason to do any of that in the first place.
Sorry Doc, really wish I could explain any of this to you.
In absence of anything to do while she was 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, seemingly having not been sewn shut in any way she could recognize, its size making 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, scooting back before setting it underneath the injured limb, just in time for it to catch some of the blood, slightly paler in color than she was used to, that had leaked from the aggravated wound. She wondered what would they do to actually treat the self-inflicted ouchies, and it definitely did not turn out to be anything she expected.
Instead of securing some natural remedy from what had to be their little clinic, they instead simply focused as they laid their hands down on each side of her busted leg, their touch soft and... weirdly tingly in a way Sue didn't exactly have the words for. It felt pleasant though, and it only got more intense in no time, the concentrated expression on Doc's face only intensifying. Their touch went from nice to soothing, a cool sensation spreading from where he'd made contact, beginning to envelop the whole limb, any existing aching just evaporating 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 when she was literally being healed, and because the whole process made her feel so much more tired despite only taking a few minutes in total, her eyes struggling to stay open once 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, but the combination of the fauna already not being of this world, raw exhaustion and the fact that she herself seemed to have gained some abilities that were unexplainable in nature resulted in her keeping her mouth shut throughout the whole ordeal, even if in any normal circumstances she would have definitely freaked out.
Ember tirelessly providing warm 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, and the results of their work were most definitely appreciated, even if they were hardly anywhere near as flashy as the magic through which they had taken place. Her wound seemed to have shrunk a decent bit, the bleeding had ceased and the swelling reduced, with a quick twitch rest revealing the limb to have regained quite a bit of sensation and control as well.
"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 on accident, two pairs of eyes immediately focusing on her afterwards cluing her in to her little gaffe. She couldn't exactly explain what she'd just muttered, so she did the second best thing, look embarrassed and just simply shake her head, the other two creatures in her room seeming to have soon gotten the point and going back to whatever they were doing.
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 draining her of basically any and all strength she had left. An attempt to hold her yawn in was similarly unsuccessful, some of the sound getting out and catching Doc's attention as they were walking back to her with a small bowl of some greenish paste she could not physically give less of a hoot about. To her surprise, it made them put the bowl down beside her foot on the bed and walk up to her directly, mumbling something towards her, voice having calmed down by now.
She had not managed to gain a sudden understanding of the language of whatever Doc was in the meantime, leaving her dumbfounded as Ember scooted off the bed to Sue's mild disappointment. Having not managed to communicate their intent to her, Doc took it in their own hands to convey their message more directly, gently pushing downwards on her side, Sue's eyes going wide and hands raising to do something in response before her brain caught up, catching onto their intent.
Fine, fine, I'm laying down.
With shaking motions, Sue carefully laid down on her left side, leaving the busted leg on top and still accessible for any further profane rituals. To her mild disappointment though, she did not get to see what else would be done to her limb, the tiredness knocking her out before the Doc had even made their way back to her legs.
The absence of any more oddly religious visions was reassuring in hindsight, but in the moment, Sue was too knackered to notice, her slowly returning consciousness taking its time in slowly piecing together all the stimuli around her, almost all of them already familiar by now, but quite a bit 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, the clumsy motions enough to stir them out of the stupor they might have been in, the little heater fox scrambling onto their legs in response and scooting 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, scrunching her features before prying her eyes open, her 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 absence of understanding, they simply woofed quietly in return and switched from warm licks to even warmer nuzzling, Sue unable to help but smile in response as she slowly sat back up, left hand quickly reaching to start returning the affection as the rest of her took a glance around the room, spotting several eyecatching additions in their vicinity, together with a marked absence of Doc.
The bedside table was now occupied by another trayful of food, appearing to be much more savory all in all, though it was arguably the less exciting of the new arrivals. That award most definitely went to a crutch, leaning on the table right next to the tray, looking just about big enough for her to make use of, hopefully freeing her from the need to ever mess up her leg 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 seeming to have spared no bandage in securing the injury, even seeming to have added something on top in the lower part of her shin, appearing to look like a cast on a glance.
Running away in a cast did not sound particularly easy, but then again, compared to being ratted out by the local king martian and then burned at the stake, it was still infinitely preferable.
Trying to distract herself away from that foretold future, Sue redirected her attention towards the yummy foods that have been left behind for her, scooting on the bed until she could reach and comfortably grab the tray, placing it on her lap as she had done this morning, almost drooling over the display of roasted fruit and veggies, fried dumplings, and even a savoury smelling pie presented to her.
Her breakfast was decently bigger than the usual kind she ate back before she ended up in this incoherent magicland, but she still felt famished, her stomach feeling confident in being able to vacuum the entire tray up and then some. Guess her radar used a decent bit of energy or something to that extent. 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 having gotten noticeably orangier in the meantime, guess she must've been really exhausted to sleep that long after Doc patched her up.
Their absence was a bit worrying, though if they were truly a doctor the likes of which she had christened them as, 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 the 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 impostor. Realizing 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, flavor somewhere between potatoes and a carrot, smelling intensely and feeling just as feeling. Lil' foxie could scarcely resist looking at the trayful of food, sniffing more and more as they took it all in, Sue finding enough restraint in her hunger to humor them being peckish, wrapping up her current portion before offering one of the smaller roasted pieces to Ember, her hip warmer looking up at her with an uncertain expression.
Thankfully, a firm nod managed to convey her message of 'yes silly, go right ahead, knock yourself out', the little one 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 the room temperature, but the spices they were prepared with helped warm her insides right 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 being offered to Ember beside her until they started to deny them, Sue smiling as they both got filled up, the tray with half the pie and a couple dumplings remaining being soon deposited back onto the bedside table, the handkerchief folded in the corner until now 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 pair of crutches a spin or... go back to sleep probably, she picked up on Doc making their way back, eyes focusing on the door, Ember soon following as they were constantly pet, Sue's right hand working on autopilot. What could she way, Ember was a godsent both as a portable heater and as a lil' companion, though she hoped nobody larger was getting worried because of them spending all their time there. Though, if the similarity on the drawing wasn't just accidental, together with Ember's excited taps on the drawing earlier, their parent was out of town and so they were free to do all sorts of tomfoolery all day.
The question of the second parent was subconsciously overlooked- though not like distracting herself with that would've helped either, Sue focusing on the door as Doc opened it, expression lighting up at seeing her up and having already eaten. They wasted no time in chatting Ember up, the two continuing to converse as the leafy mantis creature from earlier followed the medic in, still weird as all get out in their appearance, but now also seeming to be watching something even smaller right beside them, making clicking noises as 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 inbetween the change in bodies, the littlest creature was only around a foot high, though otherwise looked so similar in appearance to her new form that it had to be related somehow. Same stiff looking 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 pointing out of them, except on their head instead of in the middle of their chest. Amusingly enough, the spikes did not appear to be any smaller than they were on her, 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, but even a quick bout of her imagination trying to come up with a possible transitory forms resulted in her being disgusted and unnerved enough to banish that thought 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, squeaking louder in excitement before beginning to shakily walk over closer to the edge of her bed, weirdly large legs definitely helping with keeping their balance as 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 behaviour looked similar enough even, the excited hand 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, Sue wasn't human, 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 sate of this mutated world as a whole. Oddly enough, it almost felt like the little one had somehow caught onto her panicked thinking, babbling some more before looking up at her with a tilted head, confusion filling its 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, Ember purring 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 squeaking even louder and more excitedly in return. Their vocalizations were interspersed by them trying to reach as high up the side of the bed as they could, succeeding at nothing except being cute and making Sue wonder whether their presumed caretaker, the leafy mantis standing off to the side, would approve of something like that. Seems that question got answered quickly enough, Sue spotting them nodding eagerly in her peripheral vision as she leaned closer, the insect nanny even making a picking up gesture to further signal 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 bed, little-her wasting not a single moment 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 it?
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- cause if so, there would've been a brief possibility of salvation through having befriended the royal baby, or at least that's what Sue 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 though how she'd convey the idea of this alien baby being related to the alien king of the alien town, before settling down on the simplest, and most likely to be misinterpreted, pointing. First pointing down at the little one that had attached themselves to her front, then towards the exit door, being at a loss of how she could've better conveyed that concept.
Miraculously enough, it seemed that Doc got her general intent, squeaking something before making their way to one of the drawers, opening it to pull out the drawn-on scroll from earlier and a piece of charcoal to accompany it, immediately getting down to more scribbling on the nearest counter, Sue waiting excitedly as she absentmindedly reached down a hand to provide the other little one some affection.
Before the medic was even finished, the weird pulling sensation in her caught her attention, her gaze consciously shifting downwards as she watched her hand 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 paying too much attention to her dumbfounded question, the simple diagram from earlier occupying her attention, especially with a couple important additions. 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 her suspicions were confirmed even further, another arrow reaching from the other being with a swirl next to them over to a rough outline of Ember, confirming that hypothesis of hers.
Guess royal kids love her, hopefully she'll be anywhere near this lucky with royal adults.
With a firm nod, Doc took the edited scroll away, turning back towards the bug creature to chat, leaving Sue 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 little not-her made, she kinda doubted whether anyone could understand them.
As she gently pet the side of little one's head, making them try their hardest to pull her hand into a hug, Ember approached them from the other side, a sly expression sliding onto their snout as they dove in to strike, starting to lick the infant's exposed side, immediately sending 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 snuggling 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, turning their gaze as much towards her as they could while laying on their side, feebly trying to reach up to her.
Do they want uppies?
Smiling at that possibility, Sue carefully reached in to pick them up, finding them to weigh, indeed, about as much as a baby, her new arms fortunately still quite comfortable with that weight, slowly pulling the little one into her arms, off to the side of her chest spike. They did make it a bit harder with their wriggling, but ultimately behaved, looking right up at her from their new vantage position before breaking into a big smile and an even bigger squeak, 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 as they walked over to take the largely-finished tray of food away, much to the tyke's objection for... some reason. Guess they were 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 somewhat abruptly turned their head to look up at her, confused expression matching Sue's shocked one at what she just saw. Guess magic here went 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 added to how incredible it all was.
While following up with something even more unnerving- if literal babies could do this much, what about adults- especially of whatever kin she currently was, including that royal currently on their trip. 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?
Her sixth sense eventually clued her in to being the center of somewhat unwelcome attention, Sue thinking of how to divert it before pretending her head just hurt a bit, bring her free arm up to rub her forehead as she shook her head, other arm slowly lowering the chewing tyke back to her lap. Fortunately, that seemed to be successful at making everyone resume whatever they were already doing, which in Ember's case was warming her lap, paws reaching for her hand continue petting with.
Sue most definitely wouldn't say no to that arrangement.
Soon after, Doc made their way out, carrying another tray out of the little hut, the bug person staying behind this time, though not without walking over closer to the bed everyone else was sitting on, chittering something towards the two creatures that could presumably understand her. 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.
While she had 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.
In that moment of tranquility, 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 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, baptising 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 considering them being an infant, leaving her uncertain just what kind of name they ought to get. 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 resigning 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 Sue somewhat- certainly irrationally to an extent, especially with her stay here threatening to be very temporary in nature, but she still couldn't help but latch onto the only display of kindness she'd been given in this world she had found herself trapped in. In attempting to divert her whole thought process away from this topic, she circled around to the recent display of baby magic by Bowlcut, and instead of worrying about how much would their parent eventually fuck her up, she wondered on how much of it actually affected her as well.
She sure didn't feel in any way magical, extra sensory perception aside, and she'd figure that with a fancy powers like that they'd be rather obviously noticeable... alternatively, they needed to be taught, which would explain her not being able to use them, but at the same time, Bowlcut didn't seem that different in behaviour from a year old baby, and good luck teaching those anything.
Maybe, alternatively, she could perform that all along and just wasn't aware of it? Well in that case, trying to test whether she indeed had that magic in her all along was in order, Sue glancing around the room for an appropriate target before spotting the still untouched crutch, and... realizing 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, eyes narrowing as she proceeded to concentrate 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, well, disabled rather than an outright alien. Considering what kinds of wild magical powers the adults of this species must have access to if even infants can just telekinetically bring things over though, they'd probably have ways of seeing 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 making it clear just how dim it was getting inside, raising questions of when would all the guests be taking their leave- there wasn't much of a light source here she could see, and considering this whole place, 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 would 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 her bedside table and the other on the opposite end of the building, before walking towards the bed with the actual candles in hand, Sue'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, bushy tail wagging 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 could help but jump slightly in surprise at the burst of flames spewing out of her lapwarmer's mouth, everyone else looking mostly just very surprised at her being surprised in the first place, Doc staring at her for a moment before the melting wax began burning 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 on how would that even work, but Ember's puppy eyes helped her melt through that hesitancy rather quickly, 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, nuzzling happily against her stomach, the hair fluff feeling ticklish as it brushed against her bare skin, but she mostly managed to keep her giggling in. Before long though, Ember's affection was cut short in response to Doc speaking up something 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, 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, catching 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 were danging off the side of the bed next to Doc, the medic nodding 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, but 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 as they spoke towards Leafy, the medic backing off and giving 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 as she tried to waddle around, evidently waiting to intervene should anything bad happen, but for the first time in a while, nothing did. She kept her balance and made steady progress, rather slow with lack of practice and crutches taking way more effort to use than what she remembered, but progress nonetheless. After a couple hobbled circles around the room she turned towards Doc, looking down at them 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 having walked over to the window and looked outside in the meantime, muttering something to themselves before speaking up louder, Ember woofing in return with disapproval clear in their noises, the little cub scrambling back over to her side.
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 couple more times, Leafy and Doc chiming in enough to convince the cub to part with their friend for the time being- though not without turning to nuzzle her stomach a couple more times before jumping off the bed. Bowlcut was next, Leafy carrying them over in their arms, presumably 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 instructing the baby in their arms how to wave her away, with Bowlcut catching onto it fast enough to keep enthusiastically waving with both their arms even as they were carried out, Ember following the pair, the door eventually closing behind them.
Doc speaking up brought her attention back over to them, with the medic making it rather clear what they were asking her to do, the gesture for sleeping something she could've feasibly even used herself, tilting their head, closing their eyes and placing both their hands underneath the tilted head as a pillow of sorts. She couldn't say she was particularly tired just yet, but that was mostly the nap's doing in all likelihood, 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 much comfy this mattress was despite of how rugged it, just like everything else here, was in construction.
With their patient having been laid to bed, Doc nodded 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 other one on her nightstand before seeming to remind themselves of something, something rather important judging by their surprised expression and the subsequent dash out the door, faster than she'd ever seen them move before, their soft body looking downright comical while running.
After calming down her resulting giggling, Sue tried to 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 annoying. Even 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 somewhat less reusable.
Right as she started to properly doze off, the door croaking open once more interrupted her rest, Doc's panting accompanying it as they made their way back in- and while a 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, its bluish coloration eyecatching, but still, ultimately just a feather that was rested on the bedside table, Doc looking rather content with themselves despite the apparent pointlessness of their actions, mumbling to themselves in satisfaction. Realizing she had stirred to look at them, Doc simply nodded a few times towards her in affirmation before leaning in to blow out the other candle before Sue could act to the contrary, doing 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, leaving her in darkness only illuminated by a combination of moon- and bonfire light pouring in through the window, and... the bespoke feather, appearing to glow with a weak pale shine, not strongly enough to illuminate its surroundings, but sufficiently to be visible in the dark, almost calming to look at.
Maybe this was their version of a night light, hah.
With little stimuli to keep her awake- at least beside her usually overactive worrying, fortunately keeping itself in check for the time being, Sue soon dozed off, the glowing feather filling her mind after she stared at it all the while. Regardless of its intended use and significance, it sure looked nice at least, the pleasant shade of blue calming 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, full moon affixed right above her, a crown jewel of this gorgeous vision, even its light feeling much warmer, more... comforting than its usual coldness in the waking world.
The moon God voice was there, too.
To nobody's surprise, there was exactly zero progress as far as understanding it went, Sue only consciously noticing it once it stopped speaking for once, the incomprehensible sounds having become mere background noise for her imaginary ears, just there until it suddenly wasn't. The silence that followed felt... expectant for a 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?"
Sue's 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 even take it particularly seriously inside her own dreams, more than unsure how much of everything going on was a figment of her imagination to begin with, leaning towards all of it.
Despite having just been told off, the voice only spoke some more, sounding more urgent and insisting, which combined with absence of comprehension only 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 side note.
"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 with a gust of wind splatting a sheet of paper right against her face, the forehead curl helping in shield it somewhat as she briefly flailed in surprise, intruder soon getting grabbed with a green hand and examined, revealing 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 filled, 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 reminded her the most 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 not filled in with more blackness, with a single eye peeking out from its base.
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- the eerie drawing, green finger pointing at it before looking up at the moon, most of the exasperation having left her voice as she asked-
"Who's that?"
The second page hitting her face that imagined night did not startle her any less, an annoyed grunt leaving 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 she could've only speculated to be an apology, Sue grumbling as she grabbed the piece of paper and took a solid look at... a mostly black page. Filled densely enough to probably go through a whole pencil or two if it wasn't a figment of her tenuous sanity, with the only part not filled solid being a circle in the center- still rather shaded though, the various surface 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 acknowledging the gesture with a polite nod before grabbing the small bundle of pages, the topmost one seeming to contain the answer to her first question, the sketch filling 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, with the biggest difference really being the shape of its head, almost looking like it bore a couple tusks and one curved horn, and its wings not seeming to be solid, somehow. Just flimsy looking, translucent arcs- oh and it had a third on its back, looking bigger than the other two, and guessing by its location, the only biological purpose it might have had was a speed boost while flying or swimming around.
Duck goes nyooom.
After finally managing to ease out her laughter at the most unexpected form of this bizarre dream she was attempting an honest to god conversation with, the voice ringing from the moon all the while sounding decidedly unamused, Sue could finally take a look at the second page, seeming to be drawn as 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 in here, not putting in much more detail than she herself remembered.
First panel, human with a backpack on a forest trail, must be her, 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 making Sue shudder at the memory of how cold and uncomfortable 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 caused all this?"
The verbal response was delivered with a rather raised voice, though that helped precious nothing with making it any more understandable, Sue's head simply tilting as she tried to figure out whether that meant yes or no. Weirder still, she seemed to not be the only one confused about it all, the voice eventually quietening 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?"
The reaction was more muttering, followed by a more raised voice, sounding... almost apologetic for a moment, at least that's the precious little she could gleam from it, but why would it-
Sue did not appreciate the following migraine 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 reaching 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 feeling like it was frying itself, a roll of nausea beginning to fill her body- before it all stopped as abruptly as it had began, leaving Sue dazed, achey, and really pissed at this nonsense inside her own head, making her look angrily up at the imagined celestial body, setting 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 kicking up out of nowhere, its din almost wholly eclipsing Duck's speech, which seemed to be downright pleading at this point- Sue didn't care though, she was fed up with not having any idea what was going on and now getting her head 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 seeing 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 ghost satan now.