Of Ponies and Puppies

Fragments Part 4

(This is probably the heaviest chapter so far? It was definitely the most uncomfortable one to write.)

Resting after yesterday was a relief to the whole group, some more than others. V and Lizzy slept in one of the chairs together. Thad took the other chair. J wrapped her tail around something on the ceiling. Uzi and N slept in the same spot as last time, Drip joining them at some point during their sleep. N was delighted to see the dog cuddling with them when he woke up, Uzi chuckling at his giddiness.

"Aww! Look at who wanted cuddles!", N said as he petted the animal. Drip didn't look at him, instead content to wag his tail and chill.

J motioned with her hands, "Drip, over here". The dog got up and walked over to her. N sat up, disappointed by the loss of the canine to pet.

"So why'd you name him that?", Thad asked, "kind of a weird name for a dog".

"He drools", J said without emotion, a confused look from Thad leading her to carry on, "it made sense when we first met".

Lizzy was at the door, "so like, Thad totally forgot that he has a team to train back home. So let's maybe kick some worm ass faster so he doesn't miss that".

"Lizzy!", Thad exclaimed, "oh jeez I totally forgot!".

Lizzy lifted a brow, "yeah... That's what I said".

N immediately got to shoving Thad out the door, "you definitely shouldn't miss that, dude!".

"So those are cows, right?", Uzi asked.

N's eyes settled on the large animals, "yep. Those are cows".

She frowned, "I've always wanted to see one. Alive - I mean".

He smiled, "well, maybe if we take a vacation off-world we could? I know how much you like them".

Her eyes held a dangerous glint, "you didn't look in-".

"I totally did", he smirked, "I didn't know you liked baby cows that much. That's so cute!".

"Me liking them is not cute!".

"Is that why you were so attached to the name Colt? I mean, that's just a baby horse right? A horse isn't much different than a cow".

She fumed and clammed up. He almost forgot how easy it was to get her like this when other people got involved. The group was now walking back to the building to keep searching for the fragment. If they'd been alone, that conversation would've gone differently.

The area was an odd intersection of farmland and suburbs, the building placed almost between them. It was a weird place to be searching for an eldritch horror. The door was opened, and the group made their way inside.

J looked at Drip and the dog got right to sniffing. Drip began leading them down a corridor they hadn't been down before.

"Drip, this isn't even north", J muttered.

"Oh, he's probably just found it somewhere else", N said, "how can we be sure it's even in the north?".

J silently sulked. Yeah, he was technically correct on that. The fragment's host could be anywhere.

Uzi was set back on edge as they ventured into the dark again. The events of yesterday almost felt like a bad dream. What if she got into another situation where she needed to hack again? The lingering pain and weird thirst was bad enough once.

Oh, did she say thirst was something she only felt yesterday? Nope. The inky darkness was bringing to mind a particular black liquid she really wanted more of.