Tim shakes his head.

He looks at his paws.

He takes a moment to gather his thoughts.

He goes quiet for a moment.

There’s quiet for a moment before Tim reaches out and pats you on the shoulder.

You manage a genuine smile, and Tim returns it with his eyes.

Tim’s positivity is infectious…and you can’t help but feel a little better.

As the two of you move to other topics of conversation, you start to relax…

Tim’s right.

You’re going to be okay.

---

That night, you dream again.

What do you see?

At first, you hear nothing.

You open your eyes slowly, met with only a slightly shimmering black wall.

You reach your hand out-

Only for a familiar paw to latch onto your wing-arm, desperately clutching on.

Tim shakes his head, his pupils pinpricks.

You realize you do hear something, now-

A whimsical hum, just slightly off key.

 There’s a laugh from the wall in front of you, and chills go down your back.

Tar splatters against Tim’s leg, and he reels back- but he’s not fast enough. Something swoops around him, further splattering him, causing a pool to form around his feet and whispering horrible, sweet nothings.

The monster’s whispers are too distorted to make out, but you can hear the raw, utter panic in Tim’s voice as he strains against the tar-

The tar swallows him up, and nothing you scream makes him resurface.

Devo’s on your other side, frozen in fear-

His hand soaked in tar, eyes wide as the voices swirl over to him now, speaking in a low, unintelligible hum.

You think you hear him crying before it takes him as well, dragging him into the unseen depths.

You take a step back, your legs shaking-

A scream nearly escapes you as you feel something at your back-

Only for it to be Cross, her arms wrapping you in a bear hug.

Drips of tar hit your head, and then Cross’.

Your eyes travel upward.

Your gaze meets the beast’s, looming over you as black sludge drips from an unseen mouth.

You hear the sound of a key being wound.

Cross hears a steady, beeping death knell.

It has you both now.

You wake up clenching the edge of your blanket, caught in a death grip.

Your phone says you’ve got a few hours before work.

Time to wake up and face the day.

You rub your face against your wing, the panic setting in-

You can’t do this. You just-

…

The dream’s over.

You still have some time before work.

You take a moment to breathe, getting out of bed slowly and heading for the shower.

The water’s just warm enough, not hot enough to burn- perfect for thinking this through. No panic.

The dream could have been prophetic. That monster could be real, but it also might not actually exist, and you’d be worrying for nothing. Still…planning ahead for it would probably be a good idea. Even if that thing isn’t real, there’s probably shit just as bad.

…tar’s flammable, you think. Could probably get a lighter or something, see what Wanderer thinks about it…and talking with the rest of the group could be good, as well.

You linger a little bit and let the water wash over you, mulling over how you could kill a weird goop beast. The more you do, the more mixed your emotions get- on the one hand, you don’t want to have to fight that thing at all, but on the other…

You’re pretty sure you could, if you were smart about it. You hate remembering anything about the Store, but you know you had a history there, and Cindi’s been saying you’ve improved a lot…

Combat practice would probably be a good idea. There’s gotta be a place where you can get some in…

You walk out to your phone buzzing- looks like you’ve got a text.

You can’t help but smile at that- Cross always knows how to cheer you up.[/font][/font]

You take a deep breath and rattle off yesterday’s adventures, everything from Wanderer’s advice and bargain to Tim and the party.