Stuck in this strange place with no viable memory of how he got there, no way home nor any links to his remaining family members, Theodore found himself at a loss for what to do. Inwardly, he thought that it was kind of nice to have this little piece of heritage with him, even if it was just a canine chimaera whom he had—quite literally—only just met. Still, Theodore wasn't going to argue about the sudden companionship snuggled up next to him; it was nice to have something besides his pain or his grief to focus on, anyway. In any case, Mr Pennycrumb didn't seem to mind the sudden attention nor the placid loving.

Pursing his lips in thought, Theodore asked. "Do you know where I am, Mr Pennycrumb?"

"Arf!" Mr Pennycrumb perked up, tongue happily lolling out of his mouth as he sat to attention. "You're in bed!"

"Yeah, but where in bed?" He pursued.

"In your room!" Mr Pennycrumb continued, helpfully.

Theodore tried again. "And where's that?"

"Right here!" He replied as if it were obvious.

"Yeah, you're no help" Theodore huffed a defeated sigh as the two kept going around in endless annoying circles. It was like pulling blood from a stone or trying to herd a bunch of cats; they were going to get nowhere, fast.

"Wha—! I am so helpful! Lila-Ent [Firstborn Lila of her name] says so!"

"Lila-Ent?" Theodore perked up at that. It was the first mention of a possible link that he'd heard since waking up. "Who's that?"

Mr Pennycrumb looked at him like he was stupid. "Your littermate, of course!"

"My littermate?" Theodore puzzled, "What's that? Like a rubbish friend or something?"

Mr Pennycrumb pouted. "No! It's…it's like…oh what is the word that terrans use for littermates?"

Theodore shrugged, just as lost. "I 'unno"

"It's the…the thing where—where two pups come from the same pack!" He tried to puzzle it out.

"Like…family?" Theodore clarified.

"No, no, the word is much longer than that…" Mr Pennycrumb mused, "It is the word you use when two pups share the same alpha, but their not nest mates?"

"Do you mean, 'Sélos [cousins]'?"

"Yes! Like that! That's the word! 'Sélos…' Such a funny word, 'Sélos'. I like 'littermates' much better"

"She's my cousin?" Theodore hummed to himself as he tried to fit the pieces together in his mind.

Was she his cousin? He couldn't recall if he had one…it certainly rang a bell, but wasn't she supposed to be younger? Theodore's mind was so jumbled and mushy that he totally believed that he could've forgotten about whether he had one or not. Hell, he'd already forgotten Milton's face and it had only been a couple of days (or years?) since he had last seen him, so he supposed it was possible. It was a little sad and it made him feel slightly guilty for doing so, but it was still possible nonetheless. It did make him wonder what she had been doing since they'd gotten here, though; had she been looking after him all of this time?

Propped up on his elbows, Theodore glanced about to find himself laying on a rather stiff bed in some sunlit bedroom instead of the waterlogged backyard he had landed in. It was a relatively open space, decorated in an odd assortment of turquoise & tan-coloured pieces of furniture. Across the room there say a pair of mismatching chair & desk with several layers of books & newspapers and at his feet there lay a rather curvaceous bay window that looked out unto the aforementioned yard. From what little he could see of his surroundings, the place appeared comely with several of its walls punctuated by windows and the world that peeked in through them. He supposed that fluorescent lighting probably wasn't really a thing just yet, so natural light was a wonder; not that he was complaining.

They weren't the only the light source, of course, there were also several lamps and porcelain lights hanging from the ceiling that dotted the room. It was almost amicably quiet in the bedroom—save for the chipper chuffing of the pug who had sprawled himself out across his chest & the nearby clock that chattered away in the corner—a fact that Theodore welcomed as he tried to get his head on as straight as possible. It wasn't working as well as he'd hoped, but he also wasn't sure what he would have of done if he'd woken to people hovering about him. So much had happened to him over such a short timespan and he had lost so much already.

Okay, okay, okay! Calm down! Let's look at the facts, what DO you know? Theodore hissed out a breath as he went over the facts as he knew to be true enough. I am in pain. I am now thirteen years old. There is a pug with the same name as my imaginary friend, on my chest. I'm in a vintage bedroom and I have a sélo that I may or may not have forgotten about. So, the time travel maybe-dream thing might've of ACTUALLY happened. He drew in a shaky breath and let it hiss out through wobbily lips. My vera…Vera is…is…I don't know where my dons or ven is. Nor do I know where I am. Where am I…? Vera—! Vera, help me! Please! Vera, help me—! What's going on? I don't understand! Vera—!

LICK!

"…Wha—? Ack!" Theodore flinched back from the sloppy wet tongue which slobbered itself against his cheek, doing a much better job of pulling out of his dour thoughts than the wet nose which had previously been prodding at him.

"Ruff!" Mr Pennycrumb appeared affronted by the fact that he was being ignored and even more so, irritated that he had had to duck the wildly flapping arms which had sprouted in retort to the surprise doggy kiss. "What was that for?"

"You're the one who licked me!" He retorted.

"You were being mushy!" Mr Pennycrumb argued.

"Ugh!" He groaned before collapsing back against the pillows with a heavy sigh. Theodore then turned his tearful gaze towards the water-stained ceiling as his expression mirrored that of his sorrowful thoughts. "…Y'know, I'll have to get up to pee eventually right, Mr Pennycrumb?"

Whilst he was not able to currently see the canine, Theodore could still practically picture the way his head had tilted in interest with his ears flopping to the side as he listened to the boy muse aloud. If Theodore closed his eyes, he could pretend that he was back in the Broadview Apartments complex and that the pug on his chest, was in fact, the chubby form of Mr Puddles begging to be fed. Again.

His nose scrunched up in discomfort as he felt the canine begin to move about as he wobbily scrambled to press himself closer to the prone boy. Without even looking, he could feel the canine standing over him thanks to the warm breath billowing down onto his face and his expression screwed up further in disgust when the smell, of what could only be described as "hot garbage", floated down. A smell that was then followed by another nice slobbery lick from chin to forehead.

LICK!

"Hey! Stop doing that!" Theodore squawked, smiling despite himself as he gently shoved the drooling puppy off of him; making him slide down to the side where he tucked himself into the Garde's armpit. Once free of the weight on his chest, Theodore freed his arm from the blanket prison to wipe the drool off of his face. "Burk [yuck]! That's so brut [gross]!" Theodore gagged. "You lick yourself with that thing! Burk!"

"Hehe!" Mr Pennycrumb looked entirely too pleased with himself as he tucked himself in close, laying his head on Theodore's collarbone. A look that was quickly wiped off of his face when the wash cloth that had stubbornly clung to Theodore's forehead (as evident by the wet strip plastered across his forehead), fell from its perch and flopped onto the chimaera's own head. "Wha—ack!"

"Haha!" Theodore giggled, in much the same manner as the canine before him.

"Aah! Get zis zing offa me!" Mr Pennycrumb panicked when he found himself suddenly blinded and furiously shook his head to get rid of the wet cloth. It was quite funny to see, actually; like when cats got their heads stuck in tissue boxes.

Later, when Theodore was finally able to grit his teeth and crawl out of bed, he spent his time marvelling over the new clothes he had been put in (he couldn't remember dressing himself, but his brain was foggy enough that maybe he had and he'd just forgotten) and searching for the bathroom to take a long-awaited piss. Mercifully, the bathroom was easy enough to find, after a few wrong turns and the jiggling of door handles as he hugged anything that could keep him upright.

With Mr Pennycrumb doggedly chasing at his heels, Theodore entered the little tiled room that was tucked away, off to the side. The little bathroom was obnoxiously tiled and decorated in a variety of pretty towels and soaps, that reminded him of the ones back in the bathroom of the cabin in Jackpine Road; the very same ones that Vera insisted were for decoration only. Admittedly, he felt odd going to the toilet with the little lady toilet roll cover watching him from the windowsil that sat above the cistern; but needs must and all that.

Even from where he stood as the hiss of urine filled the bowl, Theodore could still see the shadow of Mr Pennycrumb where he sat outside, guarding the door and waiting for the Garde to come back out. Despite the canine's questionable intelligence, Theodore was just thank that the chimaera had had enough sense to remain outside of the bathroom instead of coming in and watching him, just like Mrs Kowalski's cats often tried (and succeeded) to on occasion. What is it with animals and watching people pee? Is it a trust thing? Or are animals just that weird? Theodore wondered as he finished up and moved to wash his hands.

But then he found himself pausing as he gazed upon himself for the first time since he had returned to the past. His brown coils were just as impressively curly as they always were—especially after being doused in rain the night before (his hair always curled up into tighter ringlets when it became wet)—puffing up about his face like a little cloud that was reminiscent of some of his baby photos. But that was where the familiarities ended. The dribble of blood which had trickled out of his ears thanks to the gun going off next to it, had dried into a thin little line which was easy enough to pick off.

Although his balance was off-kilter, it didn't really compare to the rest of the pain he was in. His one lone eye kept flickering blue & brown as the Lien du Lorne pulsed throughout his system. And speaking of that particular syndrome, an entire half of his face was taken over by those pronounced veins, all pulsating in blue and beating like they had a heartbeat of their own. The blue webbing even climbing into the empty socket where his glass eye had once sat.

That's gonna need a clean…Theodore mused, gently tracing the crusty edges of that socket that stared back at him like the darkness of the void. He only hoped that there was a scrap of fabric or a spare strip of gauze lying around, that he could use to make a makeshift eyepatch because the haunted boy who stared back at him was rather scaring-looking. Enough so, that Theodore had a hard time connecting the fact that the haunted boy staring back at him from the mirror was, in fact, him.