As you continue to feel something moving on you, you briefly consider resisting the voice's attempt to disrupt your rest. So what if they want you to get up? So what if the thing you feel on you chest seems to be moving up and towards your face? So what if the thing you're feeling moving towards your face feels something like a pair of fingers walking up your chest? Or tiny feet? Those would also create something like a walking sensation on your chest, wouldn't they?
Yes. A tiny pair of feet, walking on you. Slow, measured footsteps, bringing to mind the image of someone walking threateningly towards something that had somehow displeased them. The thing in this case being your head. Though there is no sound to punctuate each step, your senses still pick up something else. Something that gives you the feeling that going back to sleep might not be in your best interest,
A scent, sweet yet acrid, that causes your nostrils to tingle uncomfortably.
“Okay! Okay! I'm awake!” you declare in surrender, opening your eyes and lifting your head just enough to look down your chest. “Good morning, Su-san!”
Having jumped back in surprise at your sudden greeting, the small doll now stamps one of her little feet and places her hands on her hips
“Su-san says you sleep too much, Human.” the small doll's companion says, peering down at you from her seat on the table. “Everybody else already got up and are doing stuff, you know!”
“Oh?” you say, only now realizing how eerily quiet the bar now was. “Um, sorry about that, Medi. Su-san.”
Folding her little arms across her chest, the small doll simply stares at you for a moment before taking flight and returning to her usual place at Medicine's side. Sitting up, you look around the room and see that the entire bar is indeed empty, much to your surprise. Somehow, you thought a bar would be the one place that would never be completely unoccupied in a city inhabited entirely by hardcore alcoholics.
“Uh, Medi? Where is everybody, anyway?”
“Huh? Well...” Medi says, looking upward in that way people tend to do when they're remembering something, as if everything was written out for them on the ceiling. “First the birdy lady woke up, and she just kinda looked confused for little bit and went away. She went home, I guess. And then all the weird ones with horns went out when the big lady with the horn got up, and-”
“Oni, Medi.” you interrupt to correct her. “They're oni. If they have horns like that, they're oni.”
“Oh. Okay. Well, they all went away when the big oni lady got up and said they had work to do. I guess that lady who was hugging you woke up after that. She didn't really do anything, though. Not until the peach lady woke up. She was kinda cranky. Then they just kinda stared at each other, then the peach lady left, and the other lady left a little after that, and then it was just you and Su-san and me.”
“You stayed with me the whole time, Medi?” you ask her, still processing what she just told you. Yuugi and the other oni went out to do some sort of work, while Utsuho, Tenshi, and Parsee all went off
somewhere. “Wasn't that boring for you?”
“Well, kinda, I guess.” Medicine looks back down at you, tilting her head slightly. “You humans don't really do much when you do that thing you do.”
“Sleep?”
“Yeah, that thing! Su-san says it's a great weakness to exploit!” your little friend replies cheerfully. “You don't move, you don't know what's happening, and just about anyone can do anything they want to you. Oh! Don't worry, though! Me and Su-san won't let that happen to you. That's why we kept watch, like last time!”
“Oh? Uh, thanks, Medi.” you say, somewhat unused to the notion of someone else showing more concern for what happens to you while you sleep than even you do. Granted, you don't show that much concern for such matters to begin with, but you have long since learned the futility of worrying about such things. If you seriously thought about all the things that could happen to you in your sleep, you would probably never sleep again, so why think about it at all?
Still, it was nice to know someone was looking out for you.
[ ] Chat with Medicine some more.
You need to get up, but there's no need to rush it. - ( )
About...? [ ] Track someone down.
Now, where did they all get off to? - ( )
Who? [ ] Head back to Satori's.
It's not too late for breakfast, is it? -------------------------------------
Sorry for taking so long to produce so little.
The good news is, I've got my regular computer back, and my schedule looks fairly consistent for the next couple of weeks. Provided I don't distract myself too much, I should be able to get back into something of a routine.
>>139813 Well, after seeing how well one character has worked out, I'm much more open to the idea of doing more with them, either in this story or in something else. We'll just have to see how things play out.
