DEBRIEFING

Raz awoke with a groan, and the first thing he noticed was that where his helmet and goggles were supposed to be, there were bandages instead.

The next was a head full of soft hair right next to him, a pair of arms wrapped around his shoulders, and a sweet scent reminiscent of both floral perfume and potting soil.

"Hey Lili," he said with a voice barely above a whisper.

"RAZ!" she shouted and hugged him even more tightly.

As the image of his girlfriend became clearer, so too was his surroundings: a tent behind the Aquatodome, which had been turned into an impromptu medical center with the help of Lili's healing plants. Standing around the edges were the other Junior Psychonauts, Raz's siblings, and Milla Vodello.

Raz cleared his throat, then asked: "What happened?"

"You fell down the secret tunnel, and landed on your big fat head, that's what." Frazie quipped.

"Yeah, why didn't you close the trapdoor behind you?" said Dion.

"Sorry, I didn't think I'd be kicked out of his head that—" Raz said, then paused as he remembered what happened. "Gladmir! He—"

"Sasha's taking care of him now, don't worry about it," said Milla in her sweetest voice.

Raz exhaled, then asked: "You're not mad about me…messing with his thoughts or anything?"

"Agent Aquato, nothing you did bent his thoughts against his will. That was the first thing we checked, and it seems no harm was done. In fact, he's quite grateful!"

Before Raz could express any surprise, Gisu said: "Even better, he flipped on the Deluginists! He's corroborating our intel and then some! Turns out his hero-worship of Gristol was the only thing keeping him working with those guys. He actually hates their guts!"

"And as for how he kicked you out of his head," said Norma, "he's showing Sasha that technique right now. If we find a counter, that's one less weapon in the Deluginists' arsenal."

Adam smiled and nodded. "All in all, a net positive outcome…except for the bump on your head, of course."

At this, Lili squeezed him even tighter, and turned to the onlookers: "Alright, clear out, Raz needs his healing space!"

From everyone's reactions, Raz could tell Lili was giving them a venomous, possessive glare of the kind that frightened even him (especially how quickly it could switch to adorable sweetness whenever he or Truman were around).

When they were gone, Lili finally released him and stood up from his cushions. "Anything you need?

After a few seconds of thinking, Raz said: "Well, since you're offering…I need some water, some writing materials for my report, and Lili…"

He beckoned her to come closer. Lili leaned in, fighting the urge to pucker her lips…

…and he whispered: "Don't tell Sam, but I need a change of pants."

Try as she might, Lili couldn't resist the urge to guffaw at the top of her lungs.

THE END

PHEW! This project's been on-and-off since Psychonauts 2 was first released, but real life kept getting in the way…hope you enjoyed! If you did, don't forget to leave a Fav or Review!