Randall felt expelled.
From the monster world, from the human world, from all place in reality. A part of his mind flashbacked to when he last saw Tani—disappearing behind the door to her child during their freshman exams, just before the connection between worlds was severed and he lost her. It had been almost a decade since then: There was no way she could even still be alive, not if she'd been in the human world for all this time. But he could see her sitting in front of him, like an apparition from a fever dream.
The black turtleneck that had been her signature look in college was gone, replaced with a stained, oversized tank. Her scales weren't as vibrant as they used to be. Her grass-like hair was just a little longer than it used to be, unkempt from the static of the ruffled pile of sheets. She was a little bigger than she used to be, the essence of childhood youth gone and replaced with the lithe elegance of womanhood.
Time couldn't destroy the vision of her from his memory, but it did seem to distort it. This… was the last thing he needed that day. This wasn't happening: He had been hit one too many times over the head and now he was seeing things! This wasn't Tani staring back at him, matching his own hurt, stupefied expression—this was pulled from his own mind from his injuries and lack of sleep! That had to be it!
A pair of hands suddenly thrust forward, catching him by the jaw. Randall was frozen, his eyes widened in panic as the apparition moved closer and pulled his face toward them. But for an apparition—and one of a reptile at that—that was something about its touch that was so familiar that it almost seemed warm. Its grip was firm, but careful not to run its elongated claws too roughly against his flesh as they inspected every detail of his face. Twin pools of aquamarine seemed to drown him as they bore into his own, emerald irises. They were so close that he could feel its breath tickle against him as it gave a shaky exhale.
"It's you…" Their words came out as a choked whisper and soon the doe-like shock in their gaze began to cloud over with unshed tears. "Randy, it's you…"
He then felt them bury their face against his chest, their arms sliding down his form until they clung to his shoulders. He felt hot tears course down his scales as they began to shiver and keen against him, an almost childlike wail pouring from their mouth as they held onto him with a desperate grasp.
"I never thought I'd see you again! I-I never thought I'd see anyone again…"
A hardened lump has formed in his throat. He couldn't speak. For a while, he couldn't even move, but eventually—by some force deep inside him—he managed it. Somehow, with his hands trembling more than he had ever known, he enveloped the apparition in his arms. As soon as he felt the elegant curve of her spine with his own touch, as soon as he held her in that long forgotten embrace, a feeling of possession took hold of his heart and demanded that he never let go. Even if none of this was real, he wanted to stay in that dream-like trance for as long as he possibly could.
And so they did, until exhaustion and the weight of his injuries finally dragged him into the abyss of unconsciousness.
So fast and so suddenly, everything had been ruined! Her child waking up before she could even begin her scare, the way home flickering in and out of existence, the panic of Randall and her classmates, the panic that took over her when everything fell apart… There was no way she could manage it! She was too afraid and too flustered to manage to create any kind of illusion—whether just to save herself or frighten her child!
And, oh, the kid did scream at the sight of her alright! Just not in the way Tani had wanted, bawling at the sight of her! Holding her hands before her in an attempt to pacify it, she backed herself into a corner. She tripped, toppling over a dollhouse and into a pile of stuffed animals, letting out her own panicked cry at the contamination. She shot a glance back in the direction of the door, fervently begging in silence for the connection to return, but no such luck. So, pouncing on all fours, she made a mad dash for the window.
Not only was it locked tight, but they were on the third floor of the building: Even if she shattered it, there was no guarantee of a safe landing. From the well paved streets below, they also seemed to be in a city, so any kind of injury that set her back could very well slow her down if—or when—any humans gave chase.
Tani hissed with surprise as a pillow struck her in the side, bracing her arm to cover her face even as she glanced at her attacker, the child. The failed scare and continued delay as she fought for a way to escape had made it brave enough to go on the offense. Standing in its bed, it readied for another throw.
The lights in the hallway had turned on. Footsteps were coming toward the bedroom. The reptile snapped her gaze back to the closet door one final time, but much to her fear the way home remained shut. She could feel her heart rampaging in her chest, but with no way out there was only one thing she could do. She tried to remember as much information as she could on her child: A five year-old girl afraid of the dark and the Boogeyman, with an older brother that apparently terrorized her enough himself. Dodging the next throw, Tani braced her still racing heart as she had stared down the bedroom door, inwardly preparing herself so she wouldn't mess up on exuding the correct pheromones.
In one way or another, all scarers had to know how to improvise, be it because of a child waking up too soon or because they walked into a sleepover. Given it was her first, actual scare, she felt she pulled off the improvisation fairly well—that is, if it hadn't been for the fact that the older boy had caught her by the tail after she had charged past him when finishing the scare. The action had terrified her so much that she barely remembered tossing him away from her and sliding down the stairwell, bounding for the way out and somehow managing with trembling hands to unlock the front door with a barrage of screaming voices following her.
That night, she washed herself in a drainage ditch and tried her best to decontaminate herself with the interior of her turtleneck. Even still, she had little hopes for her condition. Not only had she fallen amid a cluster of toxic toys and been struck, her child's sibling had actually touched her—and he was still very much a child himself. How long did it take for the toxicity to set in? What would it do to her?
But, of course, the answer had been 'nothing.' Except for remaining half-starved and exhausted, she felt fine and there were no visible signs of the toxicity either.
It took her days—she was hungry, tired, bruised, and had lost her turtleneck—but Tani had eventually managed to make it back to the monster world. Once and only once. With her mom as a Fear Scout, she had known a few things about the human world outside of what her classes had prepared her for: With her door damaged, she'd need to find another one that led back home. The problem was she had no idea which children had scarers and which scarers were members of which companies. Nevertheless, she was desperate enough that any door would do. Not only for her own sake of returning, but also to share the news of the absent 'toxicity.' Maybe monsterkind had evolved beyond it. Maybe they had come across a type of human child that didn't exude toxins the same as others. Or maybe she was just lucky, but either way, it was important to get the word out as soon as she could: That sort of information could forward the Scaring Industry more than any other advancement in the field had in a century!
That was what Tani had thought anyway. The monsters she came across—still far from Monstropolis, from Monsters University, and from home—thought otherwise. Like a few other MIA cases had been in the past that had drawn to her conclusion the very same way, Tani wasn't the sort to keep her mouth shut about it though.
She learned soon enough that Scarers were meant to work in the dark in more than one way, just before she had been forced back into the human world.