Your Future Hasn't Been Written Yet
by K. Stonham
first released 8th July 2022
Hisirdoux sat on the floor, his still-unconscious familiar on his lap. His hands were buried in Archie's fur. The steady rise and fall of his familiar's chest as Archie breathed was one of the few things keeping Douxie tethered at the moment.
Behind him, Zoe lay stretched out across the Tarrons' sofa. To his left, Varvatos, still in his old man form, was sprawled, snoring, across an easy chair. The Tarrons themselves were... somewhere. Possibly in the bowels of the ship, or Krel's room. The Blanks would be giving Krel more extensive medical attention. Aja would be hovering, or fretting, perhaps. Douxie could hear the scrape of a pan and the clattering of a whisk in the kitchen, and low voices besides, so that was Jim, Claire, and Toby.
After they'd rendezvoused with Stuart, Claire had shadow portaled the taco truck back to Arcadia Oaks. Stuart was flying his spaceship back. He was... still wearing his armor, he realized dimly. He should do something about that.
But they'd all gotten out of Area 49-B free and alive, which was surely some kind of miracle.
"Your companions will make a full recovery." A glowing blue inverted teardrop hovered in the air by Douxie.
He looked up. It took a moment for him to fully surface from the smoggy malaise of his thoughts. "Thank you, Mother." Then... "How can you be sure? I'm quite certain there aren't dragons or wizards programmed into your databanks."
"There are not," she agreed. "I have, however, made numerous scans on the occasions that your companions and yourself have been here before. Both of their baseline vitals are steadily returning toward normal parameters."
Douxie breathed a half-laugh of relief and looked down toward Archie. His thumb stroked along his familiar's spine. Soft fur, smelling very faintly of dragon's fire. The most familiar thing in the world. The only thing that had ever been stable. "Good to know."
"It is fascinating how similar humans are to Akiridions," she offered. "Wizards even more so."
"Similar?" Douxie asked before he could help himself. "Other than us all being bipedal, I can't see how. Akiridions are made of solid living energy, while humans are... well. Wet meatsacks."
"Your species are nearly identical in form and functioning," the ship's AI replied. "Wizards appear to have similar stamina and durability to Akiridions. But perhaps more importantly, your socialization requirements and mindsets are nearly identical. Humans and Akiridions function at their optimum within a web of connections. Also, both of your species easily befriend others, even if they are not of your kind." As if to illustrate her point, Luug came snuffling along, investigated Archie, then flopped down by Douxie's knee.
Douxie turned Mother's words over in his mind. "So you're saying that, psychologically, this planet was one of the best possible places for Aja and Krel that you could have crashed?"
The AI hummed noncommittally. "There are few inhabited planets which would have been safer places of concealment," she admitted. "However, the primitive defenses of your world leave the royals vulnerable to predation by bounty hunters."
Douxie sighed, his mouth twisting wry. "I know."
The front door suddenly opened, banging against the wall. "Hello, all! Uncle Stewie's here!" Stuart announced.
Varvatos woke, his snore cutting off halfway with a loud SNORK!
"Parked my spacecraft back in the carport, hope you don't mind," the Durian continued, oblivious and cheerful. "I did do a lap over 49-B on the way back here, and I must say." He gave a low whistle. "You lot are quite the wrecking crew, aren't you?"
"Thanks," Jim accepted the compliment. "Also, great timing, Stuart. Can I get you to take over for me here?"
"Ooo, what're we making?" Stuart bustled into the kitchen. "Fried egg sandwiches? I love it! Have you tried them with a bit of hot sauce?"
Toby's eyes widened where he sat at the breakfast bar, munching. He slid his plate back across the counter toward Stuart. "Hit me up, man!"
Jim exchanged a smile with Claire, sitting beside Toby and eating her own sandwich much more daintily but no less ravenously. While Stuart started work on frying more eggs, Jim picked up the next two ready plates and carried them into the living room. Passing Varvatos, who was going to the kitchen nook to investigate, Jim sat down in front of the sofa, next to Douxie. "Here." He handed the wizard a plate.
Douxie blinked, like he was having trouble reconciling his brain and his hands. But after a few seconds, one hand left Archie's fur and accepted the plate. He studied its contents like he wasn't sure what they were, or what they were for.
"It's food," Jim told him. "You eat it."
That won him a faint smile. "Cheeky," Douxie told him, even as Mother's icon drifted away.
"Seriously, though." Jim leaned back against the sofa. "You should probably eat."
"Probably," Douxie agreed. But he didn't.
Jim sighed, setting his own sandwich back on the plate. "How are you doing?" he asked quietly. Douxie was /still/ in armor, unlike the rest of them, so he guessed the answer was going to be something along the lines of not good.
"My friend is dead. My other friend, and my familiar, are knocked out. Krel is... well. You saw." Jim nodded. "And I cursed a woman today, which is one of those lovely stepping stones toward the side of magic that gets you locked up like Morgana."
"She kind of deserved it, though," Jim pointed out.
"Kubritz or Morgana?"
Jim shrugged. "Both?"
Douxie breathed a snort. "Fair enough."
"Seriously." Jim laid a hand on Douxie's shoulder. "You asked me for permission. The buck stops here." He indicated himself.
"Jim..."
"If I'd said no," Jim said, relentless, "what would you have done?"
Douxie's mouth narrowed to a line. He looked down at Archie. Resumed petting, with the hand that didn't hold a plate. "Stopped. Probably stormed off and hit some walls."
"There you go. I'm a check on you, and this," Jim tapped the circlet around his head, "is a check on me. We're all good."
"Easy for you to say," Douxie retorted. But his tone was lighter. Easier.
"Now eat." Jim picked up his own sandwich and indicated Douxie's. "If you have to wizard, you have to eat."
"My profession is not a verb," Douxie complained.
Krel limped carefully down the hallway, his hand on the wall, his sister hovering. Literally; she was in her transduction and he was not, so he was taller than her. So to remain at eye level, Aja had brought out her hoverboard and hopped up onto it. "You really should be staying in bed, you realize," she mother-henned.
"Remaining horizontal renders me no knowledge and does not actually speed the healing process," he told her.
"True," she said thoughtfully. Then she laughed. "Usually I am the one who is hurt, and you are the one nursemaiding."
"That is because you are reckless and a... what is the humans' term for it? Ah, yes. An 'adrenaline junkie'," Krel told his sister.
"No pain, no gain!" Ricky chirped up from behind the pair of them.
"Thank you, that is not actually helpful right now," Aja told the Blank.
Ricky put on an expression of disappointment.
"You can't win 'em all, honey," Lucy comforted him.
"I MISSED WHAT?!" came bellowed from up ahead. Krel exchanged a look with Aja and tried to speed up his slow (very slow) shamble.
In the kitchen, he discovered, Varvatos was sitting down on one of the barstools, looking crestfallen. "Varvatos is ashamed," he said. "He should have been the one to avenge the prince's injuries."
"Yes, well, shit happens, especially in Area 49-B," Stuart advised him cheerfully, sliding some sort of human concoction onto a plate and setting it down before Varvatos. "Kubritz is a maniac, and from all accounts, it sounds like this Birdie bounty hunter was her equal."
"Still." Varvatos glowered down at his sandwich. "Varvatos has twice now been knocked out by the bounty hunter. It is a shameful legacy."
"Cheer up," Toby advised him. "I'm pretty sure she's dead, so it's not going to be a problem anymore."
"Oh, those smell good." Aja hopped off her hoverboard, stowing and minimizing the device. "Is there a sandwich for me? Ha! Sand-witch," she said, looking at Claire, suddenly realizing the pun. Krel resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
"One sandwich, coming right up, your royal highness," Stuart promised.
"Hey, Krel," said Claire, turned to look at him. "How're you doing?"
"Better," he replied. "Somewhat." Akiridion first aid did not look terribly like human medicine, but the blue glowing healing bands wrapped around each of his injuries were also not totally dissimilar.
Luug hurried up, barking and sniffing at Krel's wounded legs.
"Luug, no!" Aja scolded, scooping up their pet. "Leave Krel alone until he is better!"
A moan sounded from the sofa. Followed by a flash of a pale arm moving, and a string of fairly impressive human profanity. Krel exchanged a glance with his sister, and limped in that direction.
Zoe, he discovered, was regaining consciousness, and had flung her arm over her eyes.
"Sit, little brother," Aja urged, guiding him into Varvatos' favorite armchair. Krel wanted to glare at her, but... his legs were starting to feel a bit too close to the human dessert called "Jello."
Douxie had set his own plate of food on the ground and twisted around to look at his fellow wizard. Archie, Krel noted, was still asleep on Douxie's lap. "Zo?" Douxie asked.
"Dija getta numbra truk?" she asked, which made no sense to Krel.
But it seemed to make sense to Douxie, because he chuckled and found Zoe's hand with his own. "Kubritz," he reported to the pink-haired witch. Zoe stiffened. "I cursed her," he added. Krel was not the best at interpreting human vocal nuances, but he would lay serious crestons on the idea of Douxie being conflicted about that fact.
Still, Zoe gave him a shaky thumbs-up. "Guffer yu."
Douxie patted her hand. "Drink, food, or painkillers?"
"Gimme alla em," Zoe mumbled.
Another chuckle. "Well, here's a start," he said, picking up and handing her the plate with his own untouched sandwich on it.
Jim's eyes narrowed to a glare.
"I'll get another," Douxie promised his brother-slash-king. "Meantime... Mother," he addressed the air, "do you happen to have any human-safe painkillers on hand?"
The mothership's icon reappeared. "In the first aid kit," she reported.
"Marvelous. Lead on, my lady Ship," Douxie said, pushing to his feet and shifting Archie so his head draped across one shoulder.
"And here you go!" Stuart bustled up to Krel and Aja with plates in either hand. "Fried egg sandwiches à la Stuart."
"Thank you." Aja took both plates, handed one to Krel, then folded cross-legged to the ground next to his chair.
Krel sighed. And looked at the sandwich. He could definitely smell it, but his Akiridion form meant that the combination of molecules wafting into the air left him with no idea of whether it smelled appetizing or not. "Can someone hand me my serrator?"
"Mmf?" asked Aja, mouth already full of bread and egg and Seklos knew what else.
"Here you go, champ!" Ricky pressed the requested device into Krel's hand.
"Thank you," he told the robot, and used the device to activate his transduction.
Now the sandwich smelled appetizing. His stomach, in fact, growled. Also, his injuries hurt more, the pain sharper, stabbing. His head pounded. The healing bands, interestingly, showed as white bandage wraps. "Maybe human form was a bad idea," Krel grumbled, fingers pressed to his forehead.
"Gotcha covered, honey!" Lucy chirped, handing him a glass of water, which Krel accepted in a bandaged hand as Douxie returned, bearing a white bottle that he managed to uncap while still supporting Archie, shaking pills into his free hand.
"Painkillers for you," the wizard said, dropping a few into Krel's hand, "and painkillers for you," he continued, turning his attention to Zoe. "Anyone else need painkillers? Speak up."
"Nah, I think we're all good," Toby reported from the breakfast bar. "Thanks, though, Doux."
"Hey, we should all turn our phones back on, now that we're back home," Claire said, pulling hers out of her pocket.
"Oh, good idea!" Aja set her plate on the floor and went to where their backpacks had been dropped by the front door. She rummaged through both bags before returning triumphant with her phone and Krel's. She put his on the arm of the chair then dropped back down to the floor, scrolling through hers. "Kleb! I missed my date with the Palchuk."
Krel leaned over, looking at her screen. "That is a lot of missed calls."
"I had better call him back," she decided, standing again and walking away, heading presumably toward her room for some privacy for the call.
Claire was wincing at her own phone. "Twelve missed calls from my parents," she reported. "Guess I'm grounded from now until the battle of the bridge."
Zoe, being helped up into sitting position by Douxie, snorted. "You're a witch with shadow portals," she said. "They couldn't ground you if they tried."
"Varvatos advises stealth," Varvatos agreed. "Also, more of these sandwiches. Stuart!"
"I'm on it!" the Durian said, snapping a salute.
"Only three calls and one voicemail from Nana," Toby reported of his own phone. "Guess it's a little later than I thought."
While those two were focused on replying to their families' concern, Krel shifted his attention to Jim and Douxie. "Nothing from Barbara?"
"No," Jim reported, before re-pocketing his cellular device. "Mom's still at work. She won't even have noticed we're late."
"The blessings and curse of a working mother," Douxie opined, standing solicitously by his fellow wizard.
"Stop hovering!" Zoe snapped at him.
Douxie put up his free hand in a "fine" gesture and backed off, sitting back down next to Jim as Zoe turned her attention to her food, picking up the greasy sandwich and inelegantly taking a huge bite. "With Barbara working such an erratic schedule, it's a wonder you've turned out as steady as you have," Douxie told Jim, fiddling with his magic bracelet. "Lots of kids would have taken the relative freedom as an opportunity to run wild."
"Lots of people don't have Nana Domzalski living right across the street," Jim retorted. "For someone with such bad eyesight, she's very keen-eyed when it comes to kids."
Douxie hummed, noncommittal, his armor glowing blue and vanishing into the rune-lined vambrace even as Krel finally picked up his own sandwich and took a bite. He had to hold back a moan; the cheesy eggy goodness hit just the right spot. Between that and the painkillers, he could feel the pained knot at the base of his skull starting to unspool.
Jim eyed him, then Douxie. "Stuart!" Jim called. "We need another sandwich over here. Douxie keeps not eating."
Wordlessly, her mouth full, Zoe reached out her hand and slapped her fellow wizard upside the head.
"Ow!" Douxie complained. Krel stifled a snicker.
"Coming right up!" Stuart said, and bustled over, carrying a plate that he handed to Douxie, who accepted it.
Archie stirred in Douxie's lap. The wizard hurriedly set his new plate on the floor as his familiar first rocked his head back and forth, before stretching out all his legs at once, effectively doubling his length. "Arch?"
"That smells good," the disguised dragon reported, not opening his eyes.
Douxie gave a half-laugh and looked up at Stuart. "Another sandwich, please," he requested.
"You lot do pack them away, don't you?" Grinning, Stuart headed back to the kitchen. "Have to say, though, we're starting to run shy of eggs. Might need to run to the store for more, if this keeps up."
Krel watched as, like a particularly viscous liquid, Archie slowly oozed out of Douxie's lap in the direction of food. His eyes blinked open once, then shut. "Too bright," the dragon muttered.
Smiling, Douxie touched a finger to Archie's glasses. "Decrescet Claritas," he said. The lenses immediately went smoky gray.
"Oh, that's much better." Archie had reached the sandwich.
"Gotta say," Zoe said, watching, "you're usually the one with the hangover, Doux."
"That was once," he retorted.
"Twice," she batted back, not missing a beat.
Douxie opened his mouth to argue, but paused. "Wait, are we talking alcohol hangovers, or magic hangovers?"
"Either. Both."
"Fine, milady. In which case, I concede the point and admit, even, that the number's higher than two."
"Which doesn't surprise me a bit."
"I do not have a hangover," Archie objected loudly between bites of sandwich.
Zoe reached down and stroked his head, distracting him. "You keep telling yourself that, kittycat."
Aja returned to the living room (though she did not know why it was called that; all the rooms were for living in, weren't they?) as Stuart gave Douxie another plate with sandwich. Which was odd, because Aja had thought Douxie already had one, but... Ah. She spotted both Zoe and Archie eating, so it wasn't a hard leap to make to guess that the wizard kept giving his food away to his friends.
"How is the blond oaf?" Krel asked as Aja plopped back onto the floor, retaking ownership of her own meal.
"He was most distressed," she reported happily. "I have soothed his concerns and promised him a 'make-up date'. Perhaps we will go to the kissing tree."
"Ugh." Krel made a face. "Better you than me."
"Yes! He eats!" Jim cheered as Douxie took a bite of his sandwich. The wizard, his mouth full, flipped him off. Human body language communications were fascinating, if confusing.
"Yes, far better me than you," Aja agreed to her brother. "I do not think either you or the Palchuk would enjoy kissing one another."
"Yech, NO," Krel agreed.
"Oh, hey, speaking of which," Toby piped up.
Douxie chewed furiously, clearly trying to swallow.
"Anyone told you guys yet about Steve's little encounter with a cursed love ring before you got here?"
Douxie swallowed. "Toby, they really don't need to-"
"I have footage," Toby continued, voice rising over Douxie's. "He fell head over heels for Mister Wizard here until Doux managed to break the spell."
Varvatos roared with laughter.
Douxie's groan and facepalm coincided with Zoe asking "Wait, you've got a love ring, Casperan? What the hell?!"
"They picked it up in a heist!" Douxie complained to his fellow wizard, whose hand was hovering mid-air like she was on the verge of slapping him again. "What am I supposed to do, give it to Goodwill? It's in a safe spot marked 'no touchie' except for idiots whose reading skills apparently don't include warning signs!"
Zoe's hand slowly lowered. "Passable," she said. "But I've got my eye on you."
"You've known me like nine hundred years," Douxie whined. "When do I get to be trusted on my own merits?"
"When I manage to forget you've been a moron for eight hundred and ninety-nine of them," Zoe retorted.
"I, for one, do not need to see your footage," Krel told Toby. "Seeing the oaf make eyes at Aja is nauseating enough."
"Aw, c'mon, man, it's classic blackmail material!"
"And why do you need to blackmail my future consort?" Aja inquired.
"Well, uh... because it's hilarious?" Toby fumbled.
"WHAT," Archie said, raising his voice to be heard over the other conversations, "happened. At 49-B."
The rest of them exchanged glances.
Douxie's hand smoothed over his familiar's fur. "Kubritz knocked out Zoe with a neurometer blast. You went to defend her, then got hit by electrified nets."
"Yes, yes, I remember that," Archie said testily. "What happened after that?"
Jim snorted. "Dummy here," he said, nudging Douxie's shoulder with his own, "thought he could take on Kubritz and all her minions by himself."
"Fuzz off," Douxie told him. "What, was I supposed to leave my familiar and my friend to Kubritz's nonexistent mercy?"
"No, you're supposed to call for backup," Jim told him, brandishing his crystal necklace and wagging it at Douxie.
There was silence throughout the room for a minute.
Toby broke it by coughing into his fist. "Yeah, being a little hypocritical there, aren't you, Jimbo?"
Jim's face went red.
"You know," said Krel, "for not actually being related, you two are far more alike than Aja and I are."
Zoe, unexpectedly, cackled. "May you have a dozen children all just like you," she told Douxie.
He growled. "Sod off," he told her.
Archie, however, looked thoughtful. "The classic parents' curse. Merlin used to lament what he must have done in his misspent youth, that he ended up with Douxie as his apprentice."
Hisirdoux went still. He'd completely forgotten that, until Archie had brought it up. Being thought of as a punishment... wasn't news, he reasoned to himself. Merlin had certainly never shied away from letting his opinions of his apprentice be known. The old man still didn't, in fact.
But it hurt nonetheless, remembering how little regard his father figure held for him.
I'm not just a screw-up and klutz, Douxie told himself. Someday I'll get him to see that again.
I just don't know how to, yet.
Douxie drew a breath, made himself forge on.
"Anyway," he continued. "Jim dropped in, in his half-troll form, and took out Kubritz's weapons and troops. Toby," he continued, with a nod toward where the other Trollhunter sat at the Tarrons' breakfast bar, "broke the street. I used hexfire to immolate Johnny, breaking the spells on Area 49-B, and we hightailed it home. End of story."
Zoe nodded. "What'd you curse Kubritz with?"
Archie sat up straight. "A curse?" he asked, sounding worried.
Douxie didn't dare look at his familiar. Dark magic, he thought. "As ye sow, so shall ye reap."
"I suppose that would suffice," Archie said dubiously. "It makes her responsible for the consequences of her own actions... yes," he said, nodding in Hisirdoux's peripheral vision. "Nicely done."
Relief was like a rock plummeting in his stomach. "Thanks, Arch," Douxie said, and picked up his abandoned sandwich, so he didn't have to talk any more.
For all of Stuart's cooking skills, though, it now tasted like greasy cardboard in Douxie's mouth. He chewed mechanically anyway.
"So what happened to the bounty hunter?" Zoe asked.
"Oh, that was awesome!" Toby painted the air with his hands. "Picture this: Jimbo's cut Aja free, but Krel's still tied up to a chair, when this old lady who looks like she sucked a dozen lemons comes in the door, sucker-punches Varvatos and knocks him out with a blaster, then tells the rest of us not to move. Everyone's frozen for a second, then Aja rips Excalibur off Jim's back, the lady shoots, Claire redirects it with her awesome shadow portals, and Aja just-" His gestures illustrated a slicey-dicey motion. "Boom! We're down one evil bounty hunter."
"Yeah, although that leaves me with a question," Jim said. "I thought I was Excalibur's bearer. How come Aja had no trouble wielding it?"
"Is it because of the Ninth Configuration thing...?" Claire's face was scrunched up in thought.
Douxie swallowed his mouthful of cardboard. Set his sandwich aside again. "You're thinking Excalibur's like Daylight, or Eclipse," he told Jim. "That it will stay only in your hand. It's not. Though," he added as the thought occurred to him, "I would be fascinated to find out if you and Toby have joint custody of the Trollhunter's blade..."
"Stay on target," Archie murmured.
"Right." Douxie refocused. "Excalibur will always return to your hand when you call it," he informed Jim. "But unlike the Trollhunter's blade, it can be held by others. Merlin's held it. Even I've held it," he pointed out, thinking of spells cast and magic writ in blood. And, much longer ago, gratefully receiving the repaired blade from Nimue's own... tentacle, he supposed.
"So two sets of bounty hunters down," Toby said to Aja and Krel. "How many more to go?"
The Tarrons exchanged matching looks of distaste. "Ugh. Too many," said Aja.
"So, so many," Krel agreed. "We will need to come up with a list."
"Great." Douxie pushed to his feet. "Before we do that, though, there is one bit of serious business we need to attend to." He turned his attention to Lucy. "Now, I know a swell gal like yourself has got nothing less than a well-stocked pantry. I don't suppose you might show me your stash of hooch?"
The robot actually giggled. "It's just a little secret between you and me, bucko!" she said. "Don't tell the big Daddy-O, all right?" She cast a sidelong look at Ricky.
"Ugh, I so do not miss the 1950s." Zoe gagged.
"Your secret's safe with me," Douxie assured the robot, following where she led. Ricky watched fondly as his "wife" opened the pantry door and ruthlessly hauled several items to the side, revealing...
Douxie whistled. "That is quite a lot of liquor." His fingers ran over the bottles. "Sherry?" he asked.
Ricky grinned broad. "A tipple a day keeps the doctor away!"
"That's... not how that saying goes," said Claire, frowning.
"Ah, excellent. Vodka." Douxie hauled the bottle out. "I don't suppose you happen to have..." he looked around the room, counting heads, "a dozen or so shot glasses? Make that thirteen," he said, remembering to add in for Mother. Luug was nonsentient, and thus, he felt, didn't quite count for a memorial.
"Anything you need, sweetie!" Lucy pinched his cheek and went to the cupboard.
"Lovely, thanks." Douxie laid out the tiny cups and splashed a bit of liquor into each of them.
"Uh, are those for us?" Toby asked warily, watching.
"You know we're not old enough to drink, right?" Claire asked. "And Krel's injured, he shouldn't be drinking anyway."
"It's fine." Douxie made eye contact with her. "Everyone's had something to eat, to cushion the alcohol. If you're old enough to fight to save the world, you're old enough to honor the dead." Finishing, he set the still mostly full bottle down on the counter and closed his eyes. He let grief, and the love entwined in memory, bubble to the surface.
Johnny Cooper, blond and smiling. Wearing that stupid trenchcoat that was now draped around Zoe's frame. A golden retriever, sunny and cheerful, happy in a way that was rare among humans, let alone wizards.
One more light snuffed out too soon.
"Flamma Memoriae," Douxie murmured, waving a hand over the shot glasses.
When his eyes opened again, they were wet with unshed tears. And the cups were illuminated, burning with magic flame.
Levitation sent them sailing to the hands of everyone spread out around the room - or, in the case of Mother, resting before her icon as it hovered in mid-air.
Douxie raised his own glass. "For John Cooper," he said. "A good man, misused by those he trusted."
Zoe snorted, holding her own shot glass. She dragged a finger through the flame; it shifted from blue to pink. "For Johnny," she said, never breaking eye contact with Douxie, "who wanted to be a hero, without ever understanding what it costs."
Douxie nodded, accepting the rebuke. "To Johnny," he concurred, and tossed back the liquor.
One by one, everyone else around the room did the same, swallowing the vodka and the flame. Mother shot out a laser beam from her icon, vaporizing the alcohol. "To Johnny," they all said, commemorating the life-and death-of a wizard almost none of them had met.
A few hours later, in Arcadia Oaks General Hospital, the beam effect that had been working its inexorable way through Fredrick Levit's body finally stilled his heart. The monitor screamed a flatline, summoning nurses and doctors to his bed.
Despite their best efforts, he died, never having regained consciousness.
Author's Note: Toby's "Picture this" is an homage to Golden Girls. When he refers to Douxie as "Mister Wizard," he's referencing a formative science television program from many years ago. Aja asking "Mmf?" with her mouth full comes from the children's book The Bumblebear by Nadia Shireen. And Archie telling Douxie to stay on target is a direct quote from Star Wars Episode IV.