“Tayachan? Tayachan?”

A large furry object descends on her forehead and pokes her in the shoulder but she swats it away and rolls over. When the object descends again, she reluctantly opens an eye to see what it is. Koneko’s silhouette emerges against a backdrop of painfully invasive daylight but she closes her eyes firmly and decides to go back to sleep.

“Sagesan, waking up!”

The familiarity of the situation swallows her like a bad dream. Muscle memory clogs her throat and dries her mouth until her tongue feels thick and rubbery in her mouth. Small persistent hammers begin a rappatap rhythm on the inside of her head. She’ll look around and see Sage’s warped wood floors, boxes of clothing and books, and a low burning oil lamp.

“I’m glad to hear it, but my hands are full right now. Keep an eye on her until I’m done.”

That was distinctly different. She hazards a squint along checkered brown carpet until she sights mountains of quilted whiteness that she belatedly identifies as blankets stripped from the bed. Depleted rolls of white bandages and a bottle with a dizzyingly strong smell nest in the fabric near her head. And-

“Goddamn it!” The bedsprings groan in time with a sudden barrage of curses. She can hear the struggle, see the blanket mountain grow larger as more fabric is kicked and pulled off the bed. None of this frightens her nearly as much as the unfamiliar sound of Sage shouting back.

“Do you want to keep this leg or not? Well? If you want to give up and die just say so right now and stop wasting my time!”

“Fuckin’ hurts!”

“I can make it hurt more if you don’t sit still and let me focus!”

Taya props herself on her elbows and looks up. Her head aches but her throat relaxes when it senses fresh air. She cranes her neck enough to see the thief’s leg, slick with red, and Sage leaning over her with a quiet glow in his hands. Koneko spins her around and grabs her attention before she can see any more of the healing process.

“Hey. Daijoubu?”

Taya mouths the words until the meaning clicks, a slow and persnickety light bulb. “Oh. Yeah, I’m all right. But, um, why am I here? Wasn’t I out at lunch?”

“Thought so too?” Koneko smiles sheepishly and scratches behind an ear. “Came home and oh, Tayachan and injured girl are here!”

“I was. I was at lunch, and then we got interrupted by a crash.” Koneko’s ear flicks at mention of ‘we’ but she stays silent. “She fell through a table and someone with a gun was chasing her, and then there was. . .and I. . .”

She swims through the memories without direction or speed. Thoughts linger in her head as the afterimages of dreams, present but more elusive the more she tries to track them. Concrete vines, melting metal, magic flashes, goodnight kiss. . .?

“Injured?”

“I don’t think so. My head hurts right behind my eyes, but that could happen. Er. Right?” She lifts her bangs up with a hand and offers Koneko a look. “Is there anything wrong?”

One ear flicks, then the other ear flicks, followed by a broad unsettling grin. “Seem O.K.”

A strangled profanity pulls Taya’s gaze upward, but a paw pushes her head down before she can see anything. At least Sage isn’t shouting anymore, so that must be progress?

“Let’s go, outside. Can go grab dinner. Must be hungry now, maybe?”

“Will Sage be all right?” She can hear a bandage ripping, or what she hopes is a bandage ripping. Koneko grabs her by the wrist.

“Will be fine. Saa, let’s go?”