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She needed a break. School hadn't even begun; her clinicals had not yet been decided, and yet she needed a break. It was ******** hilarious, Temperance thought. If she couldn't deal with the stress her own mind pulled out of thin air, how was she suited to becoming a nurse? She'd been accepted into the full nursing program, of course, and her teachers said she was promising. It meant nothing if she couldn't do anything.

Temperance had quit her job. She wouldn't have time for it once school started - the clinical rotations took as much as a real job, often more - and she had wanted a little time to herself. A mistake. She had too much time on her hands, too much time to think and not enough time to bury herself in work. Her studio had felt like less of a home and more like a prison with her own thoughts. So, Temperance walked. A lot and at any time of day or night. She wasn't concerned with the dangers of being young and female and alone, too preoccupied to consider safety. Yet, in all her walks, she'd never come here.

It took a dream to take her away.

Sighing, she wrapped her arms around herself and began walking, feeling the wet seep up between her toes. Temperance was dressed in her sleep shirt and shorts and this other sort of Ashdown was far too chilly for such wear. And, of course, it was raining. After about five minutes, she was pretty sure that certain bits of her anatomy could be used to cut glass... or poke eyes out, if someone was too short. Although her wandering was relatively aimless, she avoided the theater, instead deciding to cut across the park. The grass tickled the soles of her feet and, although she was cold, it was helping to clear her head. Yawning, she sat down on a bench, tilting her head back to face the cold droplets of rain.

She groaned. Of course even this alternate Ashdown would have cicadas. Temperance remembered nights at the lake as a child, kept awake by the incessant buzz. It was so loud, so loud - getting louder?

Temperance oozed up off of the bench like jello reluctant to keep its shape. Her ears strained . The buzz, rather than sounded like standard bug music, was words. She thought. Maybe. With slow steps, she walked over to the trees. Her last run-in with lighted, wispy things had ended, well, weirdly. Ducking behind trees, she moved in closer to see what was going on. Maybe this was another party she'd crash and watch someone die at, Temperance thought, a small, hysterical bubble of laughter hardening in her throat.

Temperance felt her mouth round into a soft 'oh' of surprise. She should be more wary around small, animal-like creatures of this place, really (her track record for that was already shot to hell - if there was a college for small animal risk-taking she'd have an embarrassingly low GPA). But, Temperance was weak to cute in all forms, feeling her mouth twist into a bemused smile. Well, she really didn't have anything better to do than crash a tiny squirrel party, so... Plus, it really was utterly charming and cute. It belonged in a fairy tale, not to this Ashdown made of rain and less than savory things. She inched closer still, and reached out to poke a fairy light with one finger.

She cleared her throat. "H-hello?" Temperance squeaked out, wondering if this was how Gulliver felt among the Liliputians. "What's soon?"

She jerked her finger back with a small 'ow'. For some reason, she'd expected it to be cool to the touch. Shaking her hand (she didn't think it would blister, but she still wished she had some cool water to stick it in), she crouched.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." She wrapped her hands around her knees and hesitated. What the hell was she supposed to say? Gnawing on her bottom lip, she peered at the squirrel-thing. "I won't hurt you - what's your name?"

"Not all big things are bad. Not all small things are good. What if I was afraid of you?" This place, of any, was testament to that. Also, some of the most poisonous and venomous things in the world were small. Temperance knew this little dude could be 'bad', too, but s**t she had this ******** weakness. She'd pet the s**t outta his coat if she thought it would be welcomed. Temperance smiled, careful not to show any teeth.

"Hi, Per. My name is Temperance." She reached out her hand slowly - for what, she wasn't sure. For him to sniff, to whatever. "What big things have scared you before?" This was definitely proving to be a pleasant distraction from her dreams.

"What - like, um, Voldemort?" Did names actually summon things here? Temperance could certainly see that being the case, considering everything that happened here was usually about six shades of impossible.

"So... ready for what - what's it going to do?"

"A Voldemort's not real; don't worry." She hmmed for a second, thinking. Temperance had gotten into trouble helping out tiny, cute things before, but she couldn't just do nothing. That would be worse than making the wrong decision.

She cracked her neck (yes, Temperance knew it wasn't exactly good for her, but it felt good) and sighed. "Okay! How can I help you guys?"

"Uh." Temperance hadn't expected that. "Uhm, I don't typically need anything in return." She thought back to the Destroyer and considered that maybe some precautions were needed.

"How about you promise not to eat me or hurt me or destroy stuff - sound good?" She shrugged one shoulder up uncomfortably.