You opened your eyes and saw the ceiling of the 6th floor above your head, but you weren't on the ground; weird. Your vision swam, but you knew that sky better than you thought you did.

Above your head was a reddish and black blob, as well as a yellowish blob. Wait…. Make that two yellowish blobs. Interesting; were they a part of the sky, too?

Your ears were ringing, you couldn't hear much over it.

The world shifted; it was far redder now. You were being… Carried, probably. Who was wearing red earlier?

You didn't remember.

With massive effort, you moved your head, squinted your eyes. The world spun… a bit less. Enough for you to figure out who was currently carrying you.

Classic Demiurge. Such a gentleman.

You rested your head on his shoulder and allowed your eyes to slide shut once more.

You'd be alright.

You'd be…

..

.

You slammed your fists into the magical barrier, a scream tearing itself from your throat as the fight ensued.

A battle for the end, a battle between Momonga and an entire army. You felt dried tears in your fur, saw yourself on that battlefield next to Momonga.

And you saw the things.

Large, black objects trampling an army of thousands.

You couldn't stand for it. Wouldn't stand for it.

And yet, you could see yourself standing there.

Standing for it.

Tolerating it.

And then—

You cracked an eye open, still sleepy. You felt that there was… Something important, something that you needed to remember, but... It was gone. The harder you tried to recall it, the more it escaped your grasp. You rubbed your paws on your face, letting out a soft yawn, and—

Paws.

Son of a bitch.

You jumped up, darting over to look in your room's full-body mirror, staring at your reflection.

Son of a bitch.

Your YGDRASIL avatar stared back, your Kitsune build staring back at you with apparent alarm. Your nine fox tails swishing behind you, matching your agitated state of mind.

It… It was real.

You didn't have to go back home, to your book writing and your day job and your stalkers and—

…

What were you going to do now?

"What the hell…" You stared at yourself more closely, watching as it matched where you moved.

Your face and chest were human in appearance. You had fox ears atop your head, with a hair color to match the ear color. You usually kept your hair in a braid, although right now it was down and long and reached the base of your tails. Your eyes were a piercing blue, a deep blue. Your hands and feet ended in paws, which you could see because you weren't in your usual outfit. Someone that wasn't you had swapped your best gear out for a white and lacy slip you'd gotten as a gag gift from Blue Planet on a particularly wild April Fools server party. He'd intended for it to go to Momonga, but someone had found out and had swapped the gifts. Still funny, though.

You paced through your room, exploring your quarters in a distracted state. You had the bedroom, an attached bathroom, a large closet, an entrance to your main living quarters, and your Panic Room.

Arioch, by design, knew how to get into your panic room and would also know I someone was in there. He was designed to be able to get in in an emergency. The way it worked was simple; you and Arioch could open the door from the outside by touching a spot on the wall. Once inside, you could lock and seal the door. There was a button near the wall spot; if it was pressed, the room alerted you that someone on the outside wanted to get in. You could then choose to let them in, or to press a button that let out a soft ding on the other side of the door, a "go the fuck away" conveyed with a little ding. Usually, it was shut, like now.

With a start, you noticed something important. Something that wasn't supposed to be in your rooms but was.

There, in the arm chair next to your bed, was Demiurge. He was quietly snoring, glasses on the bed's side table on top of a stack of paperwork. He'd swapped his usual suit for more casual clothes, a white t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. It was damned cute, but…

How long had you been asleep?

The last time you'd passed out like that, you'd been out cold for two whole days. If it had been about the same, then…

Then he'd been there for at least a day.

Guilt clawed at your throat, leaving a sour taste on your tongue.

There was so much work to do, and he'd been there the whole time. It was more than likely that he'd fallen behind; doing so would've killed him. Yet he'd done it anyways.

Demiurge looked uncomfortable in the chair. His neck was at an odd angle and his tail, you were now noticing, was half underneath him.

This wouldn't stand. He deserved to be in a bed, end of. He'd stayed to make sure you were okay; it was the least you could do.

Gently, carefully, you began to ease him out of the chair and into your arms. He was lighter than you expected; perhaps that was the Imp piece of him, though you weren't certain.

His quiet snoring stopped for a moment, and you froze; you relaxed when it started back up again.

From there, you gently placed him onto the bed. You made sure his tail wasn't at an awkward angle, that his head was on a pillow, before grabbing a throw blanket and covering him with it.

He looked… peaceful. Like the weight of his duties weren't weighing him down, as if he had none and could just relax and breathe. Absently, you ran a paw through his hair, gently smiling at your peaceful protector.

You'd get him this content when he was awake, come hell or high water.

From your inventory, you pulled a piece of paper and a pen and wrote a quick note. You placed his glasses on top of it so that he would see it and padded quietly out of the room.

You swapped your pajamas for a pair of loose pants and a comfortable shirt, supplying a pair of comfy panties and a bra, getting a hair tie to pull your hair back and out of your face. You'd braid it later. With that, you stepped out into the hall, your paws nearly silent on the cold hall floor, as you made your way towards where you guessed Momonga would be.

Message Start

Zara: Momonga?

Momonga: Zara! You're awake?

Zara: Yep. What happened.

Momonga: According to Demiurge, you fainted.

Zara: Shit.

Momonga: You've been unconscious for about a day and a half. Insomnia again?

Zara: Yeah… Sorry about that, I didn't think it'd happen here until it did.

Momonga: That's fine. Just… be more careful, alright?

Zara: Will do.

Momonga: Demiurge has been with you the whole time. Was he there when you woke up?

Zara: Yeah. He was sleeping in a chair, so I moved him to the bed.

Momonga: D'aww, so precious.

Zara: Sshshshshsh, don't judge me.

Momonga: Consider yourself judged.

Zara: Screw you, man. By the way, where are you right now?

Momonga: The office.

Zara: Cool, I'm on my way.

Momonga: See you in like 0.5 seconds.

Message End.

You teleported to the other side of the door, knocking on it to alert those inside to your presence. Albedo opened the door, smiling warmly at you before turning and announcing your presence to Momonga.

You stepped in with a quiet sigh, padded over and claimed a perch on Momonga's desk, and looked at the paperwork he was doing.

It was going to be a long day.

Demiurge's eyes opened, sure now that you were gone.

He couldn't believe it. Yet, there he was.

In your bed.

Because you'd put him there.

He couldn't figure it out; as a Supreme Being, he didn't deserve to use your bed or your space. He'd failed you, had almost let you get hurt when you collapsed, and yet…

And yet you had put him in your bed.

He'd pretended to be asleep when you woke up, not wanting to disturb you in case you were still frightened from your collapse. But then you'd turned and seen him, and—

And you'd put him in your bed, ruffled his hair, and left.

Was it pity? A reward? A game? He didn't know. For all of his intelligence, all of his skills, he couldn't read you. He didn't know.

But he was going to milk this for all it was worth.

He stretched, relaxing into the warmth of your comforter. He was, admittedly, very tired. He didn't need to sleep, but… a small nap wouldn't hurt, right?