Home 25: Still making mortgage payments

[bc56]

Jade retches, chokes, and tries to vomit, but in the end, she falls to her hands and knees from the effort. The thing slithers down her throat, leaving her feeling very sick indeed. Sick enough that she crawls into the bathroom and will spend quite some time kneeling in front of the toilet, hoping to throw up. That thing was huge. She can probably feel it moving around in her stomach, if it is moving around.

[Earl of Purple]

Abi's House

It's quite a modest home, an independent house on a road of such buildings, with a drive long enough for two cars. One is a small blue bubble-car with three wheels and two seats, one behind the other. The other car is very different; a large, shiny black four-by-four with no mud or other stains.

Abi walks up and enters her rather chaotic house, hiding the tongue the whole while. The teapot she gets out, to show her Mum and step-dad, who are quite impressed with it. Despite the damage, it's put on a display shelf.

Abi hides the tongue under her mattress as she gets changed for supper, into less fancy and more comfortable clothes, and then it's bed time. But Abi can't sleep; every time she tries, she wakes up, thinking of the tongue, so she holds it to her chest and tries again.

[Hattish Thing]

[Jade's Lair]

The horrible strip of wet cloth writhes about within Jade's stomach for several moments.

Then, it becomes still. The horrific sensation is finally over! Just then, Jade will start to feel somewhat strangely; like she should simply go back to bed and forget all about this. Everything was going to be completely fine, so why worry?

There was sleep to be had.

---

[Quiet Apartment]

Nahira recognizes only several of the aforementioned foods.

Bread was fine, but she wasn't fond of crust. It didn't seem particularly palatable anyway.

This peanut butter thing seemed exciting, though. She had always been a fan of various sauces and broths! The final object on Edgar's list piques her interest about all the rest, however. With a raised brow, she claps excitedly. "Oh ho! Whatever shall I choose?" She furrows her brow before simply shaking her head. This was a difficult choice! Finally, she gives up. "Hm. Prepare me one of each."

When he mentions royalty, she purses her lips. "There will be time yet to talk of these things."

"For now, get on with the feast!"

---

[Abi's House]

It is late. The adults have gone to bed, and the lights are out.

Yet, it calls to her. That delicious, indescribably lovely scent. The way it's rough texture felt in her hands.

There was something so strangely appealing about it, yet she knew she would have to keep it secret. No one else could no about this, her little gift. When she retrieves it, an idea worms it's way into her head. It's difficult to say no to, and it only becomes more persistent over time. This is strange, isn't it? The idea starts rather simply. "Take me to the mirror, girl."

"Fetch a knife, you will need it."

"Quietly, quietly."

[Deathkeeper]

[Quiet Apartment]

Edgar nods and returns to the kitchen. He returns a few minutes later with a peanut-butter sandwich and a piping hot cup of mac 'n cheese with a cheap metal fork.
"I'm sorry I've only got cheap food for you. But food is food. And when we have money we can get nice things, right?" he says, trying to smile.

[bc56]

Yes, this is just a nightmare. Go back to sleep, Jade. Don't worry about it.
Except everything feels too real. Jade's nightdress is soaked with stinking slime, a trail of which leads from her bed to the closet. She resists the urge to go to sleep, and follows it, back to the hat box, where her nice new sunhat lies ruined. Well. She knows the source of it now. But not what's going on. This is very worrying. Even if she's not really feeling the creature moving around in her gut, she feels it as a phantom sensation, the mere thought of it triggering more retching. She needs to keep resisting the urge to sleep and figure out what's going on.

[Hattish Thing]

[Jade's Lair]

The more active Jade becomes, the more the ribbon writhes.

It starts as an uncomfortable squirming sensation, but soon it becomes overwhelming.

The 'creature', if it can truly be called that, is attempting to very deliberately discourage much in the way of activity from it's host. It will wriggle and expand, twisting and turning within the roiling fluids of her stomach. The fact that this thing appears at least somewhat intelligent is likely even worse of a feeling than its wriggling.

---

[Quiet Apartment]

Nahira is quite pleased with the tray of food before her.

Although it might not be of particularly good quality, its a new experience!

As such, she's quite appreciative. The sandwich is fine, but she's positively infatuated with the macaroni cup. She does not bother using the fork, though. Instead, she raises the cup to her lips and simply squeezes. It's messy, but she doesn't seem concerned with it. Finally, she sighs contentedly before tossing the cup somewhere on the floor.

After a moment, she'll float back into lotus position. "Now! There is work to be done!"

[Deathkeeper]

Quiet Apartment]

Edgar scowls and cleans up after her.
"If your magic is funky and can't clean the place, please don't make this harder for me. Cheese is awful to get out of carpets." he sighs.
"You know, I was a quarter of my current size twenty minutes ago, and now I have to deal with fur. Do we have to go into work right away?" He thought there would be more time to enjoy the perks of the job.

[bc56]

Ugh. This thing is nasty. Jade stumbles downstairs to her lab, and into the back room. She has a prototype scanning apparatus set up here. All she needs to do is step into the device, a cylindrical structure with a number of rotating arms, and switch it on. Ugh. She clutches her stomach and can feel the writhing through her skin. She retches and drops to one knee, then pushes onwards. She reaches the scanner, and has to lean against it for support. That thing just won't let up. "Just one more minute," she mumbles, partly to herself, and partly to it.

[Hattish Thing]

[Quiet Apartment]

Hm, what did her new servant mean by that word?

"Funky." Hm, what a strange phrase. It didn't seem like it was a good thing, at least.

With a frown, she reclines back upon the air. "Hm. Are you in need of rest, my pet?" She blinks once or twice.

---

[Jade's Lair]

Recognizing the futility of its attempts to latch onto its host, the ribbon writhes more.

It becomes almost unbearably, its agonizing thrashings only worsening as it expands in size. This would not end well.

Just as Jade reaches her machine, the ribbon will have grown to an unacceptable size. There's a horrific swelling sensation, followed by a gruesome pop. Her stomach has ruptured, causing the contents of her stomach to seep into her abdominal cavity. The ribbon was only growing larger.

She'll need a doctor, and soon.

[bc56]

Jade drops to her knees and screams in pain. She knows what that sensation means, but she's not sure she has the strength to reach her phone and call an ambulance.
Wait, no. Some of her old suits had medical nanite injectors. She just needs to crawl her way to the storeroom where she keeps them. Or she might have a spare lying around the lab. She crawls her way over to the suit storage. Of course the old suit won't fit anymore, she's a bit too female for that, but she just needs the injectors. She grabs the old chestplate off its rack, presses it against her gut, and triggers the device she needs. The pain of the needle is nothing compared to the creature within her. As the medical nanites begin their work of repairing the damage, Jade slumps over. She can't fight it anymore. She collapses into a fitful slumber on the storage floor.

[Deathkeeper]

Quiet Apartment

Edgar seems embarrassed to be talking about it. But it needs to be said.
”Well, maybe. It’s just that I just got a whole different body and immortality and a roommate and now this tiny skirt is the only article of clothing I own that fits and I just think I’ve been through a lot in an hour and I thought one of the perks of being immortal was not having to do everything right now?”
That said, he’s probably too large for his bed now, so he doesn’t really know what he’d be resting on exactly.

[Hattish Thing]

[Jade's Lair]

Realizing that this was not ideal, the ribbon will push its way back out through Jade's throat.

She will spend the next few days vomiting up slime and feeling genuinely awful. The ribbon slinks away while she's asleep.

--

Now it was time to wait.

---

[Quiet Apartment]

Nahira spends several seconds frowning.

Was her servant truly so feeble? This would simply not do, not for long.

For now, however, there was no need to torture the man. Let him have his rest, if he likes. Eventually, the djinni responds. "Hm. I am disappointed, but I understand."

"Rest if you must. We have much to do tomorrow!"

[Deathkeeper]

[Quiet Apartment]

Edgar brightens.
”Well, thank you for understanding. That said...I don’t actually feel tired. So I’m probably going to go run out and just go food shopping. Do you want me to get anything for you while I’m out?” He offers.

[Hattish Thing]

[Quiet Apartment]

Nahira ponders over an answer before responding enthusiastically.

It's not a particularly surprising answer, really. "Bring me one of everything, of course! Here. Take this."

At that, she wills into being a large sack of... pennies?

[Earl of Purple]

Abi's House

Abi gets out of bed and slips her feet into her, well, slippers. Then, sneaking downstairs, she enters the kitchen and takes a butter knife from the cutlery drawer, before putting it back. Somehow, she suspects the knife she needs is sharper than that. So she opens the knife drawer and takes one of her mother's kitchen knives, at which point she sneaks to the bathroom, pushing the door shut behind her and putting the bolt across. She stands in front of the mirror, holding a carving-knife in one hand and a desiccated tongue in the other as she waits for more instruction.

This is bonkers. I have no idea what I'm doing here. I want to go to sleep, but... I can't. This will help.

[Deathkeeper]

Quiet Apartment

Edgar certainly seems confused but takes the sack regardless. ”I’ll do what I can.”

He’s gone for a while. Over an hour. But when he does return, he returns with his arms absolutely full of bags. More bags than anyone without special strength could handle.
He also comes back wearing a short-sleeved shirt and...cargo shorts?
”Hey. I’m back.” he announces, his mood clearly improved.

[Hattish Thing]

Abi's House

Although the severed tongue is silent, Abi knows that it is pleased.

Somehow its affirmations were so incredibly important to her, they made her feel so important!

Then, the next order becomes apparent. "Cut it out."

"Be quiet, don't let anyone hear you."

---

Quiet Apartment

By the time Edgar returns, the apartment is nearly unrecognizable.

The furniture has been rearranged, some new items have appeared while others are nowhere to be seen.

--

Nahira is gone, but her vase is there.

[Morty]

[Corvus' Dojo]

"It's still far easier than it has any right to be," Sophie says. "I suppose that's just how it is for Solars. Thank you for teaching me all this. If you ever need help, just let me know."

[Deathkeeper]

Quiet Apartment

”Hello.” Edgar says to the vase in case Nahira is in it. He goes over to put all the stuff he got in the fridge. If she doesn’t come out by then he’ll knock on the vase politely.

[Recaiden]

Sekhmet grudgingly obeys. She can't hope to defeat this thing. But she has gained an advantage for the next engagement. Her successful assault, while incredibly risky, yielded knowledge of the Thinker's location and defenses. Hopefully that's worth the cost. She directs what remains of her forces to the old temple, including the ones that were scouting out the shipwreck. Its location is valuable information, but it is likely an unwise idea to be poking around the Thinker's domain much longer. A second expedition can examine it in more detail later. She signals the Hive. I am ready to return. One new creature recovered, and something else. Hopefully the Hive has been listening in. It's rare that she actually wants that, but this situation warrants it.

Sekhmet, Spike, 1 tinker, 1 worker, 4 hounds, and 1 new gargoyle-imp-critter assemble at the old temple.
The recovered creature thinks this is much better than that dangerous place Sekhmet wanted to go.

And it seems they have been paying attention to her.
Excellent work, Sekhmet. A path back out of them temple, through the old sewers, and back up to Eurus is conveyed to her thought, along with a strong but vague positive emotion. Bring it back most carefully.
With the information you've found, a countess can take over exploration from here.

[bc56]

Thank you. I'll be there right away. Sekhmet's group returns, until she's once again in the main chamber of the Hive. She's glad to be done wandering around underground. That sucked. She prefers the open air, where she can properly stretch her wings. But she's not done here. There's something else she wants to do.

[Earl of Purple]

Abi's House

Cut it out? My tongue? Abi cautiously sticks her tongue out at her reflection, and closes the red torture curtain.

When it rises again, her tongue is in the sink, there's blood soaking the front of her pyjamas and she's crying in pain. She didn't scream, though, and managed not to disturb anyone with her whimpers.

[Hattish Thing]

Quiet Apartment

The counters have been replaced with fine marble.

Bead curtains hang within every doorway, and the rugs have changed entirely.

Everything was colorful now, with intricate patterns and beautiful colors. Still, not everything had changed - leaving the older furniture looking particularly drab. After several knocks, Nahira will slowly drift on out of the vase, clearly pleased at her servant's reappearance!

With a grin, she'll float about peacefully before speaking, "Oh, lovely! Did you bring me one of everything?"

---

[Abi's House]

Although pain courses through her, the voice will rise up again.

It bubbles in her mind, its soothing tones bringing her to a place far beyond her little home.

She had done well, and so she will feel as such. It might not be enough to entirely counteract the pain, but the voice is quite comforting. It's demands continue, though. It was not patient, not now. It had been hundreds of years since someone had come across it.

"Hold me up. Be a good girl. You know what has to be done, don't you?"

"You don't want to disappoint me."

[Deathkeeper]

[Quiet Apartment]

”Well, I brought you one of as many things as I could carry. I should note that a lot of these things are ingredients and not actually foods so I don’t recommend you just eat them like that. Oh and I brought you something else.”
He takes from a cloth bag a small, oval canister of polished brass.
”I figured since you had me lug that thing around you needed something like that to be in so I got something that is smaller in case we need to leave in a hurry.” He explains. He hopes she likes it. It’s actually part of a fancy desk lamp that hadn’t had the holes for the other parts cut yet. But a decorative brass fixture is a decorative brass fixture, isn’t it? He still had to pay an artist for it.

[Recaiden]

Thank you. I'll be there right away. Sekhmet's group returns, until she's once again in the main chamber of the Hive. She's glad to be done wandering around underground. That sucked. She prefers the open air, where she can properly stretch her wings. But she's not done here. There's something else she wants to do.

A remarkably normal and human voice emerges from the mess of hive thoughts. Sekhmet, the creature you found, what should we name that type? Do you have any ideas?
The workers peel off to return any gear and get back to their jobs, the hounds scamper off to rest, the tinker heads towards the garden*, and Spike hangs back by Sekhmet.

[bc56]

Uh, Imp? Homunculus?" Gargoyle doesn't seem right. It's not big and strong enough. But Sekhmet's not quite done. Uh, I have a favor to ask. Can I, uh, borrow a Weaver for a little while? And some white fabric?" She wants to make a wedding dress for herself. And she knows from experience that Weavers are supernaturally good at working with cloth.

[Hattish Thing]

[Quiet Apartment]

Nahira yawns as she stretches once again.

That vase wasn't as roomy as it seemed from the outside.

Still, it was home - and a great deal more comfortable than this dingy place. Even with all of her additions, there was something musty about this apartment. A new shrine would be necessary soon! Somewhere where she could stretch her legs without feeling worried she'd fall through the floor.

She accepts the polished canister with a grin. "Oh ho! A gift! You are learning your place, I see."

"I accept your tribute! Graciously!"

[Deathkeeper]

[Quiet Apartment]

Edgar smiles. Well, that was good. He was afraid she would reveal she was lying about not needing the uniform and be upset that he bought pants. It’s also odd that despite walking that entire trip he still doesn’t feel tired in the slightest. Physically at least. It’s still been an emotionally taxing day.
”Well, you’re very welcome. And I’m no cook but I can whip some things together for you later. So uh, yeah. What do you want to do now?” He asks her.

[Recaiden]

Uh, Imp? Homunculus?" Gargoyle doesn't seem right. It's not big and strong enough. But Sekhmet's not quite done. Uh, I have a favor to ask. Can I, uh, borrow a Weaver for a little while? And some white fabric?" She wants to make a wedding dress for herself. And she knows from experience that Weavers are supernaturally good at working with cloth.

Hmm, maybe. It's imp-looking, but it doesn't act very impish, does it?

As for the weaver, she gets approval. But also a bit of bemusement. Really Sekhmet? This is another silly dress, isn't it?

[bc56]

It's not silly! It's my wedding dress! Sekhmet protests. It's the most important dress I'll wear in my life!" She's only requested one dress before. The Hive can't be exasperated about it already. She calls the nearest unoccupied Weaver to her, and commands a Worker to go get or make the cloth. She heads into a side room where she'll have a little privacy. Then she messages Spike while she waits for everything to arrive. "Uh, Spike? Can I, uh, ask you something?"