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No...Don't... "Don't what?" Go... "Don't go?" Don't...go in... "In where?" Stay out...water... "Water--the ocean?" It...swallow... "Then I'll stay." Wait. "I'll wait." Stop. "I'll stop." No... "Emmrnh--"

Blinding light. Dampness on his cheek. Slowly rising and falling, drifting as if on water. Every few seconds it would wash over him, but it didn't get onto his face nor in his up-turned eye. He blinked, breathing shallowly. His eye began to dart about, his mind working to discern if this was dream or reality. It took him a full minute to finally realize he was in the tent. He let out a heavy breath that was accompanied by a bubble of drool from his lips ajar. He could feel the dampness along the right half of his face, soaked into the fabric on which he lay. His mind still pulsed. He could hear it--he could feel it. Like his heart had moved into his head. The fog of that medicine was thick. He remembered how it felt as it began to spread through his body, numbing him. He felt how everyone kept asking him that day--dizzy. Even now he felt dizzy. It didn't help that the ground was moving just a bit. Not a terrible earthquake but just a steady rise and fall. It sent a flash of vertigo every time it changed, but going on a minute now he was beginning to get used to it. It wasn't until he got his bearings that he felt there should have been something else with him in the tent. It took him just a second to drudge it up. "Em...?" He asked lazy, his lips not able to move too far and his head too heavy to pick itself up. "Yes?" "Em...wheeeeeere...?" He tried to say what he wanted, but it was difficult. He got on one word and forgot the rest of them. "I'm right here, don't worry." From his temple came a gentle pressure that trickled down the side of his face until it rested on his cheek. But he still couldn't see her. How did he know she wasn't invisible? He would have to look around. With surprising ability, he lifted himself up like he was doing a push-up. His right hand was on stable ground but his left hand was on the risey-fally ground. And the risey-fally ground felt different, too. It was soft and squishy, not hard like under his right hand. It was also raised a little. And then he saw the unicorn with the rainbow that had hearts sliding down it. But the picture was darker in some places. He moved his left hand there, now balanced on his knees, and felt it to be damp. "Hey, what are you doing, silly?" His eyes panned up a short distance to see a face smiling at him. And then the needle touched the bubble. The puzzle piece was turned just the right way. The wrench was found and removed. "You musta had a really bad nightmare," she told him. She was lying on her back with her arms at her sides. Her torso was propped up on two pillows, so that it was at a bit of an angle. Her hair was whisked to one side. She had a smile on her face and a sense of alertness in her eyes, as if she was scanning him like a UPC code. He must have been laying on her. His head at least. That was why he felt so dizzy. How long? Why? How did he get there? "Your hand is pushing kinda hard." He lifted it immediately, and with it came a strand of lukewarm saliva that broke after reaching a few inches in length. As it severed, the final connection was made in his head. He drooled all over her "Whoa, what's the matter?" Before she could even react, he had his sandals on and slipped through the doorway like a bat out of heck without zipping it back up. He huffed as he started to run, but in his hazey state he slowed to a powerwalk; even then he almost tripped a couple times. He didn't know why he wanted to get away at all. He just primitively did, running to a place he hoped she wouldn't go. Inside the men's room he fast-walked past the changing area, past the urinals, and, skidding across a wet trail of some fluid mixed with sand, found himself in the middle-set of four stalls. By some miracle it was clean. The light overhead had blown out, so it was also dark, the spectral glow of the adjacent lights breaching only faintly into his sanctum. He used the opportunity to think, amongst other things. Sitting, he observed the stall door. It had scribbles and scratches on it: 'Door 3' was written almost at top-center, 'The Cake is a Lie' was repeated several times along the left side, 'This place smells like a dirty--something' was written very badly in no particular form near the bottom, as well as just about every cuss-word you could think of. On the right wall were messages like: 'Meet at Mac's', 'WILL U B MY LOPSTER?', 'Press Here' (below the picture of a button), 'J:L&S' and Keith Ribb. T.O.D. 5:40pm'. There was also a circle drawn right next to him, with an arrow pointing at it. The messages gave him a distraction. A way to wake himself up. They were like riddles, except he didn't have to solve their exact meaning. He just had to think about them. Like a pompous person looks at a piece of art with his hand against his chin, that elbow resting upon the other arm placed across his ribs, repeating "Hmm..." with various tones and inflections to suggest he is in the absolute state of critical speculation. He spent quite a while in there, but when he was done he was finally awake. Sure, he still felt a little numb in some ways, like he had sand in his blood, but he was able to think more clearly and quickly. He assured this by slapping his face with cold water. Ready to leave the full sanctity of only-man's land, he stepped out into the sunlight, and was immediately confronted by Emeral. Well, not confronted; she was sitting on the bench between the entranceways, staring ahead. But she was there and she was waiting for him; when she noticed him she patted the seat beside her. "Sit." He couldn't tell if it was a command or a suggestion, but he padded over and sat down beside her. He noticed she was wearing a different shirt. He stared straight ahead for a bit as well, hoping to prolong the silence. He had no idea what to say, where to begin. Should he apologize for using her as a spit-towel? Maybe that would work. He glanced in her direction. "Just observing," she stated. She had been looking at him since he sat down. "Huh?" He asked dumbly, wondering if he had asked her a question already. He was sure he was awake... "You're probably annoyed at everyone asking if you're okay every other minute," she said, wiggling her left foot. "I thought I'd try to figure it out for myself." "Did you?" She smiled, and lifted her hands up to shrug. "You look more awake, at least." "I'm fi--" he started to say, but interrupted himself. "...My headache...isn't as bad. It's not gone, but it's not bad. I still don't feel dizzy...I feel...'heavy'?" Emeral nodded. "It's the Benadryl. It kinda stays in your system for a while, sometimes for the rest of the next day." She reached behind and grabbed her tail, moving it to her lap so she could groom it with her fingers. "If you ever need to, you can lean against me. Nap on my shoulder. You can drool, too." She giggled. She glanced at him very quickly as she spoke, and saw him blink. She let their conversation stall there as she stroked her tail, getting the bits of sand out from her fur. People passed in and out of the area without giving them so much as a glance. She fought with herself on whether or not to tell him. Tell him about how she was awakened three times last night. The first time she thought he was trying to get her attention. Well, he was; he kept mumbling her name, but she thought he was whispering it to her because he wanted to talk. She responded several times before she realized he was just asleep. The second time he kept tossing and turning, rolling on his back like a turtle trying to flip over. When she was finally jarred awake from his hand catching her in the nose, she was so afraid he was going to agitate his goose-egg she had to almost restrain him and spoke to him quietly to calm him down. The third was similar to the second time, except he wasn't tossing and turning. She had woken up because he was whimpering, growling and wincing, obviously having a nightmare. It may have also been the sunlight, agitating him in his sleep. He was close to her, and as she sat up, he huddled closer, like a frightened child hides behind its parents. Feeling warm and needed, she coaxed him in his sleep to lay upon her chest. Almost immediately when he was settled upon her heart, all the tension in his face was relieved. Unable to go back to sleep, she stroked him gently, petting him like an ordinary cat. He began to purr, and then he began to drool. She did not like snot, and even then she would probably be able to kiss Ket even if his nose was leaking like the Niagra Falls... Okay, maybe not that badly. The point was, as the puddle started expanding across her tummy, she did nothing to shoo him away or disturb him. She thought, at the time, how Rini would react if it had been Goren drooling on the preppy rat instead. The stingy rodent would probably throw him off and burn the shirt altogether. "Thanks." "You're welcome." She responded, and then realized; "Wait...thanks for what?" "For teaching me how to fall." He replied. "The skates kinda screwed me up, but if you hadn't taught me how to fall I think I would have gotten a...concussion?" She chuckled. "Well...you're a good learner. Teaching's the easy part." "Don't say that around Ms. Hupp." They both shared a laugh, and the ice that surrounded their tension began to melt. "There you two are!" "We were looking all over for you!" Their moms jogged over to them, apparently very upset. Emeral hopped off the bench. "We had to go to the bathroom," she said. "What'd we do wrong?" "Just...let us know when you leave camp, okay?" Momma B. pleaded behind a bit of frustration and relief. They began walking back to camp. "It's just scary thinking you guys are in the tent sleeping and then finding out you're not." Momma R. explained. "Nearly gave poor Garne a heart-attack." "Oh ha. You were just as agitated as I was." "But if I hadn't thought to look by the bathrooms while you were being all frantic we would still be headless chickens." "Guys!" Emmy halted and stamped her foot. "If you keep arguing you're gonna give Ket a headache." The mom's sighed. "We're not really arguing, Emmy." "Yeah. We were actually being kinda silly, panicking like that," Momma R. admitted. "And don't worry about this kid," she went over to him and gently tousled his hair. "You aren't that fragile are ya?" Emeral crossed her face and arms. "Well excuse me for caring about my friend." She muttered. "Hey, be nice Emmy." Her mom lightly scolded. "We know." A wave of nervousness washed over the tigress. For that moment she was worried about what her mom meant; was she just saying that to mean they knew that's what she was showing, or that they knew-- "He still feels a little warm." Momma R. said, feeling his cheeks. "I don't feel warm," he commented. Momma B. bellowed a small breath. "I wish I brought my thermometer." Emeral lifted her eyebrow. "You forgot it? What kinda nurse forgets a thermometer?" "I didn't forget it," her mom replied a little defensively. "I just...didn't bring it." "Cuz you forgot it." "Wipe off that smirk." Momma B. grumbled bitterly. "We could always make a quick trip to the store and get one." Ket shook his head. "That'd waste time and gas. I feel fine, really." "It wouldn't if we went shopping," Emeral suggested. The moms looked at the girl a little oddly. "Shopping?" "Yeah," the tigress dug her toe into the sand a little. "Um...Felicity said the water is usually really cold after a storm, and it was freezing the other day so we may not want to swim. Plus, Ket should probably still take it easy, but I don't want him to be bored to death not doing anything." "And you think shopping won't bore the poor boy?" Her mom replied. "Well I don't know!" Emeral whined. "I was just thinking out loud. Sue me." "I think it's a good idea." Ket agreed. "He must be sick," Momma R. commented. "Mine too. I had no idea she had the 'shopping gene'." "Well," the tiger said, "We had lots of fun at the roller-rink, maybe we can find some other places in town, too." "Maybe..." Momma R. thought. "Maybe our kids did get abducted--by aliens. And these are clones..." "I hope so," Momma B. stated. "But...I think they might be on to something. Maybe we could give it a try, at least for the afternoon." "I guess it's agreed then. But Ket, you should probably change. I'm sure the town doesn't want to see you in your jammies."