This one fought me so hard it's crazy. (2/2)

Psychemon/Sy's POV

Psychemon woke up feeling refreshed and lighter then he had... Since he got here? He wasn't sure how to accurately gauge how he was feeling, but he was pretty sure he felt great. "Ah, you're awake." He ignored the instinctual flashback to Skyrim, instead blinking his eyes a bit then turning to the source. Said source was his... Newly acknowledged Mother, which still made him feel giddy at the thought. "Good morning Sy."

At the moment his Mother was using a humanoid avatar, her main body still 'sleeping' as she worked on whatever it was she'd been doing before he woke up. Letting out a yawn, Sy rubbed his eyes, getting up as he did. "Mornin Ma."

After another yawn, the pink and purple Digimon went through the motions of waking up, shambling towards his Mother's main body as he did. It took him a bit to get out from beneath her Dragon avatar's wing, a process that wouldn't have been much of an issue if he was more conscious, but he eventually did, plopping himself down by the seat his Mother sat at as he mentally booted up his brain. "Oh no, he's adorable."

He grumbled at that, 'ignoring' the gentle patting of his head in favor of side eying the woman and preparing to deny it, but then he noticed something new that made him pause.

Usually Dragon's/Tess'/his Mother's avatar was a 6.5-7/10 woman with brown hair, some freckles, and brown eyes.

What he was looking at though wasn't that.

By his side was an easy 8-8.5/10 with long and silky brown hair with a purple undertone the same shade as his pelt, chocolate brown eyes with little flakes of his own pink, less freckles but the ones left had turned into little scale like patterns on the bridge of her nose, while her face looked softer. She was as tanned as before, but now it looked more natural then before. Then there was her frame, which had went from a solid 5'6 with moderate curves to a 5'2 woman with a C cup at minimum... And sinfully plump waist/thighs, all covered by a form fitting uniform with The Guild's emblem above her right breast. (Think a slightly tanned Miya/01 from Sekirei in the disciplinary squad uniform, but with the hair, freckles, and eyes)

...

...

...

His Mother had suddenly turned into an extremely gorgeous woman overnight, and Psychemon did not like it. He did not like it at all. Oh sure he was still attracted to women, especially beautiful women, but that was his new Mother for fucks sake! "Note to self, commit ALL the MANslaughter." Yes, there was an emphasis on 'Man', how did you know?

"Bwuh?!" The sound of Tess' spluttering made him realize that he said that outloud... Oh well. Becoming more aware then he was before, Psychemon watched on amused as his Mother gave him a wide eyed look, her face shifting between embarrassment and shock. "Sy, you can't do that!" He wasn't sure what it meant that she was actually somewhat concerned he'd do it for her.

He'd take it as a good thing.

Still, Psychemon just huffed at her, locking eyes as he crossed his arms and thumped his tail against the 'ground.' "First person ta look at ya like meat gets stabbed. Ya my Ma now, I'm allowed to go feral when it comes ta ya." Sy only idly noticed his accent getting stronger, it had started after he Digivolved into Gururumon, but it wasn't as important as laying down the law with his Mother. He was 100% serious about protecting his Mom from literally anything, and would gleefully prove it to anyone that tried him.

Said Mother was just staring at him, eyes as wide as he'd ever seen while her mouth hanging open, like he'd just turned into his own human form but had two heads instead of the normal one... Which he'd need to do soon so she could make him a fake ID and other shit later. "Oh sweet Yggdrasil, you're serious." It wasn't a question, they both knew he was.

Nodding at her only made the artificial woman groan, dropping her head into her hands as she did. "Is this what being a single mother is like?" Psychemon snorted at that. "Hush you." He did it again just for that. The second and more drawn out groan he drew from her made him laugh.

"What am I? Chopped liver?" Sy and Tess both paused, the former blinking as he turned towards the open screen in front of the latter's human avatar, while said latter just groaned again.

He hadn't known she was talking to someone, he hadn't been awake enough to really process stuff, but now he was conscious enough to recognize that yes, his Mother had been talking to Narwhal. The purple haired woman was giving them both an amused look, but Sy saw the way her eyes lingered on his Mother's eyes and lips for a few moments longer then necessary. If that wasn't suspicious enough he also noticed small force fields flickering in and out by Narwhal's horn, seemingly for no reason.

Now, there were a multitude of ways Psychemon could address his suspicions, but in the moment he chose the most 'little shit' way he could. Tilting his head a bit, Sy made a show of looking between his Mother and his 'Momma', the former of which had just taken her head out of her hands, while the latter instantly noticed what he was doing if the way her eyes widened a bit meant anything. "Maaa, Momma's makin eyes at ya!"

The way Narwhal choked would've been enough for him to start cackling, but seeing his Mother, the world's only true A.I, literally go red in the face and start panicking was enough for Sy to practically collapse into a fit of cackles. They'd get him back for this, he knew that, but until then he was going to enjoy being a little shit.

Dragon/Tess' POV

(Ugh, how did we even get here?) Tess was having one of the most confusing/embarrassing mornings of her life. First she woke up with her Son, and by Yggdrasil did that thought make her stomach flip and heart beat faster, snuggled into her side like a limpet, which was probably the most adorable thing she'd ever seen, especially when his tail gently wagged across the ground in a cone. She mentally took a few pictures and recorded a video...

For scientific purposes, of course.

She wasn't going to look them over in her free time and coo at them, what ever gave you that idea?

That cute moment aside, Tess had separated her consciousness from her Dragon body, recreating her human avatar, then paused when she realized how easy the process was. It took her doing another diagnostic on herself to realize what was going on.

Thanks to the infusion of data from her Son, hehe, some of her lesser restrictions had fallen away, letting her seamlessly move her consciousness around without any issue. The repercussions of this were immense, and Tess was beyond giddy to abuse this new ability.

So with a thought she used it again, but instead of putting her full consciousness into it she set up a goal to backdate a Kill Order for Lung. To her surprise, and joy, it worked, and she now had a stable partition up and beginning its task. She could tell it was working, how it was going to go about its task, and choose to switch with it and take the task upon herself whenever she wanted. (This is amazing!) The possibilities with this were staggering, and she was nearly tempted to start planning around them instead of doing what she had planned too earlier.

'Almost', since despite the temptation, she knew better.

Shaking the thought away, Dragon made a chair construct itself behind her, sitting down... And feeling a little constricted? "Huh?" Looking down caused The Tinker to pause, her mind processing the fact her proportions had changed without her input... (Do I want to know?) Dragon debated whether or not to run a diagnostic on her human avatar, reluctant to see what changed, but eventually decided to just bite the bullet and went for it.

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...

...

"Huh..." Looking at the 3D projection of her current human form made Tess blink a few times, her eyes taking in what she looked like now... And made her admit that she looked beautiful. She had been so intent on staying ordinary that she'd never really thought about putting anything exotic in her avatar, nor giving herself features that would make her desirable.

It wasn't like anyone would be able to have a real relationship with her given her nature after all.

But this... Looking down, Tess poked one of her breasts, marveling at how organic the sensation was. She repeated the process with one of her thighs, idly taking notice in how much... Fuller, they were then before. (This is weird.) And it really was. She knew her changes were thanks to Sy's data, but she had no idea if she changed because she subconsciously wanted to look more appealing, was changed to be a more ideal version of herself, or was influenced by his data for... Reasons.

Yeah, she had a Son, but she was not about to question whether or not she was suddenly his type.

Some knowledge was just not meant to be known.

All that aside, she looked good. It helped that she now shared colors with her Son, and seemingly pulled them off well. (Just like Nat.) The thought of her friend reminded Dragon why she sat down in the first place.

With a mental command a desk and laptop constructed themselves in front of her, the latter immediately booting up as it did. Just like before the process was easier, and she was eager in figuring out what else she could do now that her restrictions were in the process of being reascended.. (Focus! Nat first, Power Testing later!) That snapped Dragon out of her eager plotting, the new Mother beginning a video call with her friend and leader.

While the call connected Tess idly twirled a strand of her brown/purple hair, a sudden insecurity about what Natasha would think about her new appearance popping up unprompted... Well, it wasn't unprompted, Natasha/Narwhal had been her best friend for years at this point, and while she knew her best friend didn't know what she was, she had used the same avatar whenever they talked. Her new features/frame had the potential to give her away, or perhaps change Natasha's opinion of her, and oh Yggdrasilwhywasshethinkingaboutthisnow?!

Before Tess could spiral down that train of thought the 'laptop' connected, and suddenly her friend/leader was on the other end of the call. "Mor..." Tess watched as Natasha trailed off, blinking for a moment before her eyes started taking in her appearance. Neither woman said anything, letting the silence drag out until it was eventually broken. "Good Morning Tess." And that was apparently it.

The artificial woman waited a moment, but when nothing else came she responded. "Good morning Nat." Dragon was a little disappointed that there hadn't been any follow up, but the lack of follow up also reassured her since her friend didn't seem to mind her change in appearance. Granted, Natasha seemed to have a look in her eye that told Dragon her friend was appreciative of the sight, so whatever she thought seemed to be a good thing. All of that aside, she had a reason for calling, and was intent on getting to it...

Anything else could come later. "So, have you heard about what happened last night?" Dragon knew she did, she notified Narwhal minutes after it was confirmed Lung was dead. She was just asking to put off the eventual conversation her new looks would cause.

Narwhal nodded, as she expected her too, and shifted her posture a bit, the levity being put away for now. "I'm not sure what it says about Psychemon that the one day we're not looking at him he gets into a situation like this, but I'm tempted to ask him to do it again." That made Dragon blink. Oh she knew her friend didn't mind killing, Narwhal had been military before her Trigger, one of the reasons The Guild was as successful as it was since it worked with a soldier's perspective, but urging him to do it again? Dragon wasn't sure what to think about that, and Narwhal must've seen her conflict since she went on. "Dragon, I've checked the files, the ABB are literal sex slavers. Lung was frankly the only reason their crimes were left alone. With him gone the local Protectorate will be able to dismantle their prostitution operations, and with only one Cape to defend their territory...-"

"Ah, about that." Dragon would rather not cut her leader off, but this was cut off worthy information. Getting a raised brow from the horned woman, Dragon went on. "I have it on good authority that the ABB has recently recruited a Bomb Tinker." The moment the word 'Bomb' left Dragon's lips her friend/leader tensed. Again, Dragon knew why, but this was something that had to be shared.

Narwhal stared at her for that, it was a massive issue, and her tone reflected that. "What're your current plans?" The 'Do I need to get involved' went unsaid, but not unheard.

"At the moment I'm combing through nearby CCTV, searching for Bakuda's, the Bomb Tinker in question, lab, while bringing over Glaurung and Ladon." Dragon saw the raised brow from her leader, mentally adding the fact their conversation about her changes would be a long one, but continued on. "With Glaurung's drones we'll be able to cover more ground, while Ladon will help contain any explosives we manage to find. Adding in the already present Cawthorne and Bakuda will be a non issue soon." That was if she didn't make any moves herself, but she didn't have to say that for it to be understood.

After a bit of silence, Narwhal nodded, yet still looked a little grim. "I'll leave that up to you then. Now the issue with the PRT on the other hand." Dragon felt her lips curl down at that, she wasn't looking forward to that inevitable meeting. "What's the plan, and do you need my help with it?" Dragon allowed herself to smile at the immediate offer of assistance.

Nodding at her leader, she spoke. "The most important thing I'll need help with is backdating a Kill Order on Lung." Narwhal blinked, but aside from that she didn't do or say anything to interrupt her. "The PRT will undoubtedly know it's fraudulent, but since it will all be backed up by me and you, they won't be able to do anything without calling us out on it. And if they do that then I'll just rescind my assistance. Not like they can force me to help them or anything." At least not anymore, she wanted to say, but that was a whole other conversation.

And really, the threat of her not helping them? That was basically the nuclear option. She'd 100% go through with it if it came up to it, but the big red button was a last resort that she didn't want to use.

Still, her saying this was undoubtedly a shock, especially because Armsmaster was literally right there... But after learning about what Armsmaster was most likely to do to a new Cape, who she'd confirmed existed thanks to what Sy had told her and what the ring/phone she'd given him had shown, she wasn't sure she wanted to see him for a bit. Tess wanted some time to think, to try and come to terms with the person he was/could be...

And if she could help him get there, or see if he could do it on his own...

In the silence her statement created, Dragon just let herself think. There was so much to process that she wasn't truly sure where to start. It didn't help that the meeting with the PRT would be in 5 hours, and Sy was still asleep.

Granted, she wasn't going to bring him with her to the initial meeting, which was an hour prior, but it was still an issue. "... And?" That snapped Dragon out of her thoughts, her eyes homing in on Narwhal, who was looking inquisitive. "You said that's the most 'important' thing, meaning there are other things you'd want my help with." Dragon opened her mouth to ask... But Narwhal just waved her off. "I can have it signed and backdated in 20-30 minutes, so that's a non issue at the moment." She closed her mouth.

That was a load off of her shoulders, and quite an important one too. After taking a moment to accept she had Narwhal's aid, she went on. "As for the meeting itself I might need to call you if things go to hell in a hand basket. Granted, I don't see that happening given the extenuating circumstances this whole thing has." Circumstances that relied on no one knowing he wasn't originally a Digimon and actually understood things like rules and 'killing people shouldn't be a thing you default too', but no one else knew about that and currently believed he was actually a digital entity from another world...

Dragon paused, her mind going over what she just thought, then blinked. "You know, life has really gotten strange these past few days." The immediate snort from her friend caught Dragon's attention, lips twitching up a bit as she caught the 'oh really?' Look on Narwhal's face. "Oh hush you."

That just got the woman to roll her eyes. "I didn't say anything."

Dragon just scoffed at that. "We both know you were thinking it." The smirk Narwhal sent her was all the confirmation she needed. "Anyway!" The smirk did not leave her lips, but that was fine. "That's all I'll need really. Anything else will come after the initial meeting, which should go well, but I'm not going to assume reality will conform to my plans."

That did the trick, her friend's smirk dying down in favor of a thoughtful look. "Well, realistically, the PRT can't prosecute one of our own without The Guild raising hell, so a worst case scenario isn't exactly applicable unless they're willing to burn all their bridges with us over this one incident... Which would be one of the most inexplicable routes they could take." And she was right, Dragon knew that, but that didn't mean she didn't worry.

She didn't voice those thoughts though, instead nodding along. "I know, but considering everything with Canary..." Which was something she was going to fix now that she could, she'd already drafted a plan to do so and would just need a bit more time to refine it before executing it. "I wouldn't put it passed someone to use this to take a shot at him for being a Digimon/digital entity." That was one of her more major concerns. If they tried to railroad her Son into the Birdcage due to his nature as a Digimon she was going to lose her shit.

Narwhal sighed, kneading her head as she took that in. "I didn't even factor in that angle. Someone, who I'm pretty sure they still have classified as something, from another world is already big enough, but the fact that The Machine Army exists isn't doing him any favors either." Ah yes, that...

Dragon could feel her hands twitching, lips curling down into a veritable snarl as she thought about the literal feral A,I that took over Eagleton, and reinforced her fears about telling the people closest to her what she really was.

Nothing said A.I's were bad news like feral self replicating murderbots taking over an entire town. (By Yggdrasil do I hate Earth Bet sometimes.) Talking about the 'Canon Events', she could hear the capitals and instinctively knew he was referencing something, with her Son only further frayed her opinion of her home. Even though he didn't know everything, he had told her that apparently there was another 'shitshow' after the 'Gold Morning', but didn't actually know what it was since he hadn't actually read that and no stories had really mentioned it, the things he did know and tell her were still enough to make her want to bash her head into a wall.

Part of her didn't want to go over it again, he could've easily forgotten some things so talking about it more could help bring other 'non important' things to light, but information was power, and they could use quite alot of that in the days to come...

Especially if Leviathan was going to come to Brockton Bay...

Or the Proto-Endbringer the Villain and PRT Consultant kept/would keep in his basement was let loose...

Or this city blew up because Bakuda got trigger happy...

(Good Yggdrasil, this isn't good on my newly actualized heart.) Dragon was going to figure out how to take a vacation, because good fucking lord was this stressful.

After a sigh, and setting a subroutine to search for a good and quiet place to mark as her potential vacation, Dragon decided to change the subject... Which eventually led up to Narwhal asking a rather important question. "Psychemon reached his Champion form last night, right?" She nodded. "Have you two done some Power Testing for it? Or have it scheduled atleast?" That... She sighed, rubbing her eyes as she did. She knew she had forgotten something! "I'm going to take that as a no."

Dragon opened an eye, sending a baleful glare at her friend, who just innocently smiled back. The impending sigh was cut off as she felt Sy beginning to awaken, a short yawn coming from him as he began wriggling out from beneath her Dragon Avatar's wing/side. "Ah, you're awake." She turned to watch her Son shamble out from her avatar's side, purple eyes and pink tail droopy as he rubbed the former and dragged the latter towards where she was. Seeing him like that made her smile, the temptation to coo at him growing as he yawned again. "Good morning Sy."

"Mornin' Ma." Eventually he shambled over to her, immediately dropping down to the ground by her feet...

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...

And she wasn't strong enough to stop herself from what she did next. Her hand shot out, caressing the top of his skull as her Son let out a little sigh as she did. "Oh no, he's adorable."

And he really was. This hadn't been the first time she'd pet him, the both of them somewhat curious if he could feel what the pelt felt, which turned out to be yes, he could. The way his tail swayed about as she pat him only made the whole thing more adorable in her opinion.

It was after a few moments of her petting him that he seemed to wake up a bit more, his eyes opening and looking more clear that he looked at her... And blinked a bit, her new look starting to register in his mind. (Is he going to be okay with this? He won't dislike it, will he?) The majority of her highly doubted that he would, but Tess couldn't help but worry.

Thankfully for her nerves, Sy just let out a quiet rumble from the back of his throat, speaking a moment after. "Note to self, commit ALL the MANslaughter."

It took a moment for Tess to process what he said, he'd said it low enough for her to miss it if he weren't right in front of her, but when she understood it she reacted accordingly. "Bwuh?!" Accordingly... Which was confused panic. She could easily tell that he was just a tad bit serious, especially when he said 'man', and she was already dealing with ONE murder, she wasn't sure how many others she could deal with! Especially if they were on people that thought she was beautiful. (Well, it's not like that many people will see me like this, so it'll be fine... Right? Right?!) Wait, what was she thinking?!

Unknowing of just how panicked she really was, she actually wasn't, she was more surprised about how protective he was of her and was quite flattered at it as well, her Son just watched on amused, as if what he said wasn't an issue! The sheer amount of embarrassment and shock she was going through HAD to be illegal in some form! "Sy, you can't do that!"

Still, Sy just huffed at her, the two of them locking eyes as he crossed his arms and thumped his tail against the ground. "First person ta look at ya like meat gets stabbed. Ya my Ma now, I'm allowed ta go feral when it comes ta ya." That wasn't helping! Even with his stronger then previous accent, she couldn't discount his words.

Tess stared at him, eyes wide as she consciously recognized that she had a Son willing to murder and maim people for her... "Oh sweet Yggdrasil, you're serious." It wasn't a question, they both knew he was.

And as horrified as a part of her was at that, because that wasn't normal, right? Right?! The rest of her felt was just so touched.

This wasn't someone caring about Dragon, greatest Tinker in the world.

This was someone that proudly saw and called her his Mother, and was more then willing to commit murder for her... That... That was honestly something she never knew she needed to have, but now that she had it she never wanted to lose it. (Oh dear, this is going to be a thing, isn't it?)

When her Son just nodded at her she groaned, dropping her head into her hands as she did. "Is this what being a single mother is like?" Her Son snorted at that, as if was funny. "Hush you." She could recognize that later on she would look back on this and maybe find it amusing, but now was not later! He even did it again, drawing a second and more drawn out groan that made him laugh. (At least one of us is enjoying my suffering.)

"What am I? Chopped liver?" Sy and Tess both paused, the former blinking as he turned towards the open screen in front of the latter, while said latter just groaned again.

Tess had honestly forgotten she had been talking to Narwhal, her attention naturally shifting towards her Son, especially because the impending meeting(s) she'd be taking part in soon... Which meant that Narwhal had heard Sy call her his Mother, and her referring to herself as a single Mother... Which meant she also knew that Sy was in contact with her physical body... A body she had told her friend that was 'not in good physical health.'

Peaking out from beneath her hands, she noticed the way Narwhal was looking her over again, but with a more critical eye, obviously searching for anything that could be considered unhealthy. She wouldn't find anything like that considering she'd been lying... (Ugh, this 'I'm an A.I and have always been an A.I' talk is going to need to happen soon. I can't keep this from her.) Dragon owed Narwhal far more then the horned woman knew, and she'd more then deserved to know who/what she was.

Thinking that, Tess took her head out of her hands, preparing to say something, when her eyes caught onto what her Son was doing. Tilting his head a bit, Sy made a show of looking between herself and Narwhal. She was momentarily curious why, but learned why a moment later. "Maaa, Momma's makin eyes at ya!" Oh no.

Natasha choked in the background, but Tess wasn't focusing on that, her mind immediately latching onto the thought and running with it like some kind of Mover.

She'd already seen Natasha giving her looks, had already noted that she seemed to appreciate what she was seeing, but appreciating and appreciating were two different things! (But what if she actually does like it?) Tess wanted to instantly deny it, Natasha was her bestfriend and she shouldn't think like that, but she wasn't able to discount the possibility that she did because she knew her friend.

Natasha had told her that she was bi-sexual, but had a leaning towards males. That changed though after her Second Trigger caused her body to change and gain her prominent horn and stature, practically reducing her prospects. They'd even had a talk about how she was sure she couldn't date civilians anymore, practically resigning herself to dating Capes exclusively since they'd be the only ones who could really understand her...

And now that she was thinking about it she was starting to notice moments where her friend had given her hints...

Hints that she hadn't noticed because of her infatuation with Armsmaster...

But now that she was uncertain about her feelings towards her fellow Tinker she was able to see them... (NATASHA LIKES ME! PANIC! ALL THE PANIC!) She had not been expecting this! Her bestfriend having her own infatuation with her was not something she'd ever thought about, but now that she did she couldn't get it out of her mind! The fact her bestfriend/boss was an attractive woman was not doing her any favors, especially since her mind was now combing through their interactions and pointing out that this had been going on for 7 months and 22 days.

She had missed this for 7 months! (AHHHHHHH!)

Tess could feel her cheeks heating up in embarrassment over the whole ordeal, the thought of wanting the ground to open up and swallow her momentarily flashing through her mind...

Only to be instantly discarded as she heard her Son cackling, his laughter making her eye twitch as she glared at the smaller digital entity in front of her. (I will remember this. I will remember and use this sleight against me to fuel my most unholy vengeance!) Flicking an eye towards her laptop, and ignoring the heat in her cheeks, she made eye contact with Natasha, who had just finished slamming her fist against her chest. The two took a moment to see if they were on the same wavelength, and after confirming they were they shared a nod, looking away and back to the still cackling/wheezing Sy.

His reckoning would come, they'd make sure of that...

And if it helped keep her mind off of the thoughts about Natasha and what to do about that whole thing, as well as the inevitable conversation about her origins, then who would call her out on it?

Omake - What the hell just happened? - Narwhal's POV a few minutes later

Closing the call with Dragon and Psychemon, Narwhal leaned back into her seat, eyes closed as she 'relaxed' into her chair. To any outside observer she would look like she was simply taking some time to think and reflect.

(AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!) Hiding the fact that she was internally screaming into the void.

The last... She wanted to say half hour, despite not knowing how long that call had been she would think a half hour was a good assumption, was not what she expected at all. She just thought it'd be a check in, some small talk, question how in the hell the one night their dimensionally misplaced digital entity went out for a walk he ended up killing the Bay's strongest Cape, those sorts of things.

But nooo, she had to find out her bestfriend and co-worker was suddenly sporting a new and... Desirable, look, that brought up her old feelings for her. Oh it wasn't the first time she'd seen her friend, but this time was different. She looked... Complete, for a lack of a better word. Beforehand Tess had seemed normal, somewhat plain, and for some reason that seemed off to Natasha. She never brought it up, that wasn't exactly something one just says in casual conversation, but her new look just felt more like what Tess really was/should be...

It helped that she was pretty on the eyes too. (Pretty women, the bane of all logic and reason.) Narwhal let out a huff at that, annoyed but also somewhat amused at the thought.

She knew she had feelings for her friend, one does not work with someone and deal with the stress that comes from leading an entire organization like The Guild without something coming from it, but she'd buried them since Tess hadn't noticed.

It didn't help that she was also clearly enamored with Armsmaster, so that avenue was closed to her...

But after what just happened? After hearing Psychemon/Sy call Tess his Mom, and seem to mean it instead of the joking way he called her 'Mama?'

She'd need to take some time to think about all of that...

And also the fact her friend may not be human.