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A ways after Bloodfest, a certain meddling lowblood decided to follow up with her 'best' – that is, most frequent – patient...



Psykgi finished cleaning her hive, wiping sweat from her brow as she looked over her work. ”Well!” she said, as her lusus skittered 'helpfully' around, ”That should be good enough for company, don't you think?” her hive was a well-appointed but modest affair, with a loft that held her respiteblock and a few other small things and several framed inkblot pictures. ”Good thing I didn't run out of green dye!” she said, opening her baking unit and squinting at the small cake she had made, ”It would have been sooo-ooo-ooo unhospitable to not have a green cake.” Ma'am buzzed in her ear, ”Yes, Ma'am, I did all my chores. And, I called him several times to make sure he knew how to get here. You've already reminded me, and since he's supposed to be arriving soon...” Psykgi paused as Ma'am's many mandibles buzzed again, ”Yes, the cake will be ready. It's not like its a big cake or anything.” Buzz buzz, ”Yes, Ma, I know.” she said, giving one of the cockroaches a playful swat, ”He's not prestigious, just a greenblood, yes I know, but he was an interesting greenblood and goodness, Ma, We've been over this! I can make friends without using them to rise up the social ladder... Goodness, sometimes the most interesting people aren't the most useful, and who says I want to use everybody?” Ma'am buzzed, somewhat annoyed but willing to admit that her charge had a point. ”I know.” she gave one of the roaches a kiss on it's chitinous back, ”I love you, Ma.”

And with that, she took the cake – a tiny, dense affair, mostly nutty more than anything, and frosted with a green-dyed slightly tart covering – and began to cut a few pieces, patiently awaiting her guest.

“Oop!” Psykgi said, grinning at a cockroach, “There he is! Right on time!” she moved quickly to the door and opened it, a few cockroaches scuttling out of the way as she did so.

“Hello, hello!” she greeted the curly-horned troll, her tusk-like fangs bared in one of her usual cheery smiles. She waved him in, as well as his big wooly lusus. Her hive was not the best place for a large beast to stay, but it would at least fit her comfortably for the evening.“Not-a-problem, do come in!” she said, “I've made cake and ensured that the couches are extra-extra comfortable! Goodness, I am so very excited for this follow up, you have no idea!” she prattled, leading him inside.

It was impossible to get lost in her hive, considering the whole layout was visible at a glance to a normal troll. However, Psykgi realized, Poeias was no normal troll. Goodness! she thought, How bothersome. Well, not really bothersome. “Chairs and a lovely endtable are over this way.” she said, using her voice as a guide, “Take a seat and... Oh, yes! Do you want something to drink?” she said. The cake was already on a central table, sure, but refreshments were always nice. And if they were going to talk about tricky things – which she hoped they did, oh goodness yes – then cool liquids helped to get people talking. Or was it warm liquids? Ah well, she would find out, wouldn't she?

“There's a cake too – you're not allergic to nuts are you?” she said suddenly, slightly anxious in her excitement. That would certainly cut a session short, wouldn't it?

Psykgi squinted into her cooling unit. ”Oh dear.” she said, surprised, ”Goodness, I hadn't realized... I'm afraid that the last of my milk was used up with the cake! I'll have to get more.” Psykgi wasn't much of a milk drinker, and so she rarely kept track of it, save when cooking. Ma'am chittered – she could go out to get milk, but it was tricky for a swarm of bugs to pay in beetles. Very, very, tricky and possibly immoral, if she did it wrong.

”I do hope that's not a deal breaker! I have instant cocoa, if you wanted.” she said, drawing out a package of said wonderful powder, embazoned with a happy redblood and a whole lot of very brown liquid swirling around them. On the back was their longearbeast lusus with a straw – apparently crazy for the stuff. Psykgi took a moment to admire the package and it's celebration of sugar addiction and crazed self-destructive obsession before she set the kettle to boil. She did want cocoa, after all.

”I do want you to be comfortable, after all” she said, pleased to hear that her couches were suitable, ”I want to crack you, not break you... gosh that sounded horrid, didn't it!” she laughed happily, ”I hope not too horrid!” she said, as the kettle hissed and whistled with steam...

”Oh good!” She didn't want to be a horrible host, after all. Hot water ready, Psykgi mixed up two cups of instant cocoa and brought the insulated mugs over, setting them on napkins on either side of the table.

”Basically!” she said cheerily, ”You start talking about whatever you want to talk about, and then I take it from there!” she sat – or, rather, plonked down into the chair opposite him, smiling. ”So, if thats where you want to start...” she leaned forward, ”Then... tell me about the howlbeast.”

Psykgi listened intently. She wasn't empathetic – how could she be – but she was sympathetic, listening to his story with the gravity it deserved. It was certainly intense! A massive howlbeast, a desperate struggle, a physical piece of him, lost forever...

”I'm very sorry that happened to you.” she said, honestly. He was lucky to be alive, up against such a beast, but she had a feeling that he didn't feel that way. Not if the wolf haunted him so. And she could tell that it did, and that wasn't healthy! Not for him.

But that was why she was there: Psykgi didn't think she could handle a real howlbeast on her own, or even with Poeias – goodness, a beast like that would probably would eat her! But the mind was more her territory. She could handle a nightmare.

That's a reasonable fear./i] she thought, nodding. ”Do you dream about it at all?” she asked. She was willing to bet that he did, and they weren't good, but she needed him to admit it. ”About catching it, or...?”

”What do you mean, when you're awake?” she asked, intrigued. She wasn't sure what he meant, and it didn't make sense to her, but she wanted it to. She nodded, listening. Yep – definitely not good dreams.

She laughed at his joke. ”And there’s only one of you, haha! I don't think you're boring... gosh, look at me!” she joked, gesturing around at her modest, if cozy, hive. Not that she was boring either, but, well... She leaned forward, watching him carefully. The dreams. She needed to address them.

”Well,” she smiled, ”I wouldn't say its bad to have dreams like that.” she said carefully, ”It's certainly not your fault, and it's not unusual... but, hmm...” She fiddled with her fingers.

”When you have these dreams, and you wake up from them, do you believe the howlbeast to actually be there? Stalking you? I mean a feeling, a sense that it's there, just out of sight...?” she didn't want to upset him too much, but this was important... "... Do you think its actually out there?"