Hanging up the phone after giving some otherwise confusing directions, I looked out from the kitchen into the living room. Through the wall-sized windows, I looked at the thunder-bumper as it began to unleash its full force. As the rain started to patter on the windows, another glance showed the perimeter fence going out of view.

The thought of hot chocolate broke me from my moment of calm, the idea sticking around long enough to become an action. Milk and the cocoa powder now pulled out, I got my pot ready. Pouring the dairy and the nose-invading dust, my ears could pick out the gentle rumble coming from outside as the storm advanced.

While I was used to the rattling of the windows in the frame, the new visitors upstairs weren't used to the invisible monster. Whisk now gone swimming in the lukewarm drink, I dashed up the stairs to double check a gut feeling.

To which I was glad I checked. Up in my room, the tote was over-turned- the bitties out of sight. Bringing my hood over my head, I looked around the room. As more bright flashes filled the somewhat-lit room with light- shadows dancing along the I heard a small rattling of bones. Stilling myself, I traced the sound to its source.

Sitting crisscrossed on the shaggy carpet, I let out a small huff as the hole in my sock made my toe able to be grabbed by the grounded fabric. Grumbling a little as I freed the digit, I continued on to the main task at hand. Slowly ever slowly I lifted the tote, the pile of smaller clothing making it easy to reach under the lip.

When the tote was back upright, I didn't see any of the skellies. No Edgy, no Ink, no Carrot, nadda. But I could still hear the rattling of bones.

"Hey. It's alright. It's just a thunderstorm- it's not gonna hurt ya." I called out, getting a better idea that the bitties were hiding in the pile. Speaking of, I could see a scarf slide down the pile before a bundle of bones was hiding in the small space my legs had made. I wasn't able to see who it was, but I could feel the vibrations of the bones. Out of the corner of my eye I could spy more pieces of fabric shift and fall; one time seeing a small light from a crevice before disappearing and the skeleton either dashing out or teleporting.

Moving so I could check who all was there while kind of covering them, I let out a breath I wasn't aware I was holding when I counted all nine skulls. "what was that?" "JANA? WE ARE SAFE, RIGHT?" "it's alright bro." These and several more could be heard, some overlapping and messing up my hearing. Wanting to save my ears for the moment, "How about this? I'll turn on a movie and we can all relax in the living room. I can make some popcorn or some hot chocolate as well." As I said this, I moved to make my hoodie pocket more available.

Surprise surprise, most went into the pocket, seeming to find comfort within it. Others teleported to the hood at the back of the shirt, curling up within the folds. "Alrighty then. Let's head on down then."

Moving carefully, I headed down the stairs. From the bitties within the hood I could hear them whisper at small details they haven't noticed yet, like the slide and mini steps off to the side of the stair case. I also grabbed a fluffy blanket with lots of fuzzy stuff on the way down the steps as well.

Rather than taking a left for the kitchen and hallway, I took a right for the living room. The sofa and the TV were still there, along with many scattered sheets of paper from when I did all that now-useless research a few days before. I had a good feeling I'll be stuck with these guys for at the very least half a year, and once that number gets to two years then there's no going back. Anyways, a slow decent to the couch and the eventual unloading of all the bundles of bones made me able to go find some snacks.

Thankfully the fuzz kept most of them preoccupied rather than the rune stones I had on the table while I went to find a movie. Moving to the movie closet off to the side, I bent down for the more kid-friendly section housing Disney and Dreamworks. One stood out, promting me to grab the movie staring an alien dog wanting to sing Elvis while hiding from a walking sausage and noodle whilst a normal child and overworked sister is drug into this intergalactic conflict.

Back to the TV with the snatched remote, I got the system turned on. Watching 'Lilo & Stitch' go into the DVD player, I moved over to the kitchen. Well, not before catching a glimpse of the amazement on all the bitties' faces as they watched the Disney castle get invaded by a spaceship. Even more so when the galactic trial came onto screen.

They have never seen a movie before. . . Have they?

The slight frown was gone in an instant, replaced by determination to get them better than wherever they came from. Chuckling at the line 'I prefer to be called EVIL GENIUS!', I finished the journey into the kitchen.

Banging the whisk against the side of the glass, I nearly dropped the pitcher when the doorbell rang. After very lucky catch, I loosened the grip on the handle once it was on the counter. Checking myself that I looked presentable, I groaned internally at how much my hoodie was pulled taught. A quick pull and dislodging from what caught it all, the wrinkles and folds came back. Rushing to the front door, I let Lady Sil inside.

Thankful the rain hadn't reached it's highest peak seeing as how much fur the dog monster had, I welcomed her inside.

"So Ms.-"

"Jana."

"Ms. Jana, what was so urgent that you didn't feel comfortable talking about on the phone?"

"First off, you can blame my slight paranoia of communicating over very hackable phone lines. Second, I figured it would be easier to show you than try to explain. They're all in the living room watching" 'MIDA NADDA QUISTA!' The speakers suddenly screeched, threatening to deafen my ears. "Can I get you some hot chocolate?"

With a smile, "That would be lovely. How are they with new people?" She asked, casting a peak into the living room where the bitties had figured out that the couch cushions can be moved. Boss was overlooking the construction of his palace while Error and the rest was busy at the bottom. Attention was equally divided between the movie and the fort. To Sil's question, I simply shrugged.

"I believe I am the very first kind person they have seen, and when I first met them they were all extremely skittish. Least until I bribed them with some warm socks. Their bones were freezing when I first held them."

"So slow and lots of patience it sounds like. I'll be asking about your encounter later- I might have an idea of who all gave you the box based on some black-markets that have made their way to my ear. I'll have to check my information however, and add this as another lead for the police force."

"That's neat that you get to work with those" nosy little r- "guys. Never really hear about that much when you look at jobs within the Bitty area."

"Well, there are the unknown perks of it. Besides, it's illegal to cause intentional and unnecessary harm to any non-human inhabitant aid, such as cats, dogs, birds, snakes, other support animals, and bitties. They had to specify 'unnecessary' many many times to keep the vets' jobs."

"I believe it nowadays. Everyone looks either too far away or too closely at stuff to justify their actions." At the moment I was glad I wasn't looking at Sil head-on.

Yelling could be heard as Error got the wonderful idea to collapse the fort while Boss was at the very top. A moment later the black bitty had teleported to my shoulder, watching the chaos below. Ink, in mild fear, had teleported to my shoulder as well. The brown-scarfed one took notice of the dark-brown monster, making quick work of skirting around to the other shoulder.

"Jana. Who is that?" Ink asked, bringing up the topic of the newcomer to the others. Down on the floor the lazy trio were still stuck in the pillows, Boss and Pap busy trying to get them out. Carrot just shrugged and teleported in, reappearing with Blue and Edgy tucked up under his arms.

"Oh. This is Lady Sil. She's a Bitty store manager just right in town." I replied, Error having scooted his way down into the hood. By now I had mozied my way over to the couch, unaware that the drawstrings for my hoodie were within reach of the bitties. Boss, who was the main one to realize that Error was the cause of the destruction of his amazing fort, was able to catch a glimpse of him hiding away.

Ink still wasn't too sure, keeping a close eye on the friendly doggo mon. Sans had finally made his way out of the fort with the help of his younger brother. Boss had leaped up, grabbing fast to the drawstrings. Error was taken by surprise when he was trapped within the fabric. Carrot simply looked at the madness before shrugging and taking a seat by Dream and Blue as they went back to watching the movie.

"It's alright Ink. I trust her. and did you see the slide on the way down? She heavily recommended it to me."

"No I didn-" "You need as many trust points as you can get."

"Well you don't have to whisper, and I don't need any help. The more your character is based solely on stuff said about what you've done, then the more likely all the feelings towards you once that persona was found fake will shatter." The dog monster clearly stated before turning towards Ink on my shoulder. "Hello. I am Lady Sil. What would your name be?"

A boost of courage blossomed as I help Ink move closer whilst I untangled Error. Inviting both to the living room couch, I made sure that all bitties were accounted for before we could sit down. Carrot wasn't terribly pleased at having to be moved from his nice warm cocoon on the couch, but he'll survive. Dream had taken notice of the fresh perch on my shoulder, making haste to get one of the limited spots before anyone else took notice. Unfortunately that wasn't going to happen if he had to pull the corner of the blanket up with him.

Grinning as I aided him with my strength, the golden barded skellie made a quick nook on the joint. Just then I recalled that I had offered some hot chocolate to everyone.

"Hang on guys. I'm going to get everyone drinks."

The trio on my shoulder didn't argue, seeming more intrigued by what I was planning to get. I passes them off to Lady Sil, who treated them like I saw her treat every other bitty in her center: with care and kindness.

Whipping out the metal-rimmed cups, I checked that the cocoa was still warm. . . A chuck in the microwave would do the job. As Chef Ding worked on its latest 5 star menu-item, I worked on arranging all of the glasses. A plate to hold all to the bitty stuff would probably work the best, given that it'll be easy for Lady Sil to pass it around as well. But there was something I was forgetting.

Marshmallows.

Sliding into the pantry, I was able to find the mini white cylinders of pure sugar. Snatch. Open. Steal one, or maybe 5. Fail at dicing the sugar balls.

With the chef's telltale 'ding', the steaming liquid was ready to be served. Plopping a few marshmallow chunks into the 11 cups, I focused on getting the serving plate balanced as so the two normal ones didn't out-weigh the rest.

Thankfully the rims are metal.

Back out with everything, I slid the plate onto the small table near the couch. Lady Sil had gathered quite the crowd around her, the bitties asking her all sorts of questions. It seemed that the main conversation orbited around her Bitty center and the well-being of the little monsters within it. Not wanting to intrude, I claimed a spot on the far-side of the couch so I could listen in in comfort.

As of now Papyrus went first, his tinier brother looking slightly more concerned. "HOW OFTEN DO YOU PASS OUT FOOD?" With a smile, the brown-eyed monster replied, "It depends on how the day went. I do my best to have 4 meals; breakfast, lunch, dinner, and desert, but the last one often doesn't get made and served." "DESSERT? BREAKFAST?! WHAT ELSE HAVE WE BEEN MISSING?!" Blue demanded, intrigued by the shocking new words.

Error was next, his question much more worrying that Papyrus's. "about how big are the cages?" Very hastily Sil answered, "None. I don't believe in keeping sentient beings in something so terrible it can be called that. Rather, I have play pens all throughout my store, the main ones in the front lobby. I ensure those four are locked during visiting hours to help calm myself that a bitty isn't going to be stepped on." I nodded at the answer, having been in her store before.

"I can back that, although sometimes it doesn't always work. As far as I know they have free-range to the kitchen and the back of the store." I said, holding back a chuckle when Sil cast me 'the look'.

Ink was next in line for a question. "What do the bitties do all day?" "Well. It changes day to day. Some days I'll see them playing one of the board games I have, another day they're all helping me in the kitchen make cookies. But I do my best to ensure that everyone gets their chores done, which if they set their mind to then they have the rest of the day to relax and do what they want."

The skellie seemed pleased with this answer, for he moved to the side when Sans asked his.

"how common is it to-. i guess what is the whole adoption process? how often does it go wrong?" "Why Sans, I value the bond between the bitty and the adopter before I let them officially take the bitty. I allow the two to hang out within the store, and by the end if the two feel compatible then both the bitty and the adopter have to sign the adoption papers. After that I offer what I can, and send them on their way. There have been moments where something felt off about an adopter, so I run a background check on the person." Lady Sil stated, going on to explain about how she is able to request access to certain people's files. With a chuckle, she had someone wanted by the police make the dumb decision to try and adopt several bitties at once. When the men in uniform came, they were able to successfully stop a minor black market.

"NEATO!" "Indeed it is Papyrus. The more I can use my resources to help those outside of my care the better the world will be." Lady Sil answered.

By now I had noticed that my mug of cocoa was nearing empty, as well as my stomach. The rain kept up its attack on the window, the thunder steadily increasing in volume. The clouds had also started to sink into the valley as well, the mountainous valley not doing much to allow sunlight through to the ground.

"Oh dear. Jana, how bad do the storms get out here?" "Oh, the worst storms are in the winter and late spring around here. That doesn't mean that there are storms in summer and fall however. Those are usually much milder. I got a back-up generator case the power from all my other systems gets cut out. That being said, whilst we still have power, how does grilled tuna sound?"

"WHAT'S TUNA?" "isn't that a fish?" "food? sure." "WE JUST HAD BREAKFAST A WHILE AGO." "Ah. True that Blue, but you have only tasted one of my Top-Chef dishes."

"Oh really? Top-Chef. Would one of the dishes happen to be called 'ceiling pancakes'?"

'Hardy har har'ing as I got up out of my chair, I nearly tripped as I didn't realize that my blanket had gotten stuck between the cushions. Thankfully the floor was soft. As Edgy started to chuckle at my fall, I annoyed him with one of the tassels on the fabric. "TassEls!"

Dream had taken notice of the stringy end and the reaction it got, now starting to work on one of the smaller sized ones. Sporting a smirk, I undid the clasp that held it to the blanket. With a whisper, (fully aware that Sil could hear) 'go cause mayhem.' Something seemed to click, for now Dream was suddenly the most 'dangerous' in the room. Carrot making the mistake of being closest was the first target of the soft strings of twine.

The skeleton teleported to my shoulder, to which I gave him the second of four total tassels. With the slightest of nods, I passed him up the third. Mayhem was coming to the living room and was steadily starting to multiply.

Making the last tassel a 'free-for-all', I mearly dropped it on the ground. In a blur of light Boss had taken hold of the other, my side vision showing that Carrot had passed on his other tassel to Blue. And just like that it was a weird hybrid of the games hide-and-seek and tag.

Smiling at the scene, I headed back over to the kitchen. As the storm continued to settle in, through the door I could hear my dogs dash into the garage. A pit of dread started to plant itself within my gut.

With an unnerved huff, I stopped pulling out the stuff needed for tuna sandwiches. Leaning on the edge of the counter, I worked to slow my breathing and focus.

To my right, the dogs were walking around the garage. To the left, Lady Sil was still talking with some of the bitties. Behind me, the wind whistled as it tried to get past the front door. Above, the rain pounded at the roof. What came next was slight, if I wasn't as still as I was chances were good that I would have missed it. The water pipes behind the wall were vibrating, barely above hardly noticeable.

With a deeper breath, my range of sound increased. The first thing that came to notice was that none of the others were coming towards the kitchen- I could still hear their conversation in greater detail. Outside, I could hear the leaves and pine needles fluttering to the ground as the rain pattered against the smallest puddles. Focusing in, the youngest of the dogs was busy eating away, fearful that this may be a last meal. The cats had dashed up to the attic, both for dry and safety. Almost aiming the hearing up the stairs, I could hear one of them hiss at something outside.

To which the small puddles and the twigs outside were being disturbed. The rain sounded out more than they had on the mud and the leaves, mimicking the assault on the tree bark and the roof. As it moved, I followed the foot prints as they walked over to the left side of the house. I barely picked up Sans voice and the other's rattling bones- most of them muffled against what must have been Lady Sil's fur.

With a steely gaze, I snuck out of the kitchen towards a hidden door under the stairs. Down there, I engaged the lock system. Satisfying *clicks* echoed throughout the house and down the ladder. Before heading up again, I found the switch for the power with incredible ease.

I can't risk being seen. And if my guess is right, then neither of us can.

Slinking back out to the main floor, I double checked that the entrance was well hidden.

Lights: Check. Doors: Check. Thermal tracking at the gates: Checkity check. The only two things left,

Peeking out the glass in the living room, a flash of blinding light threatened to destroy my natural night-vision. But it did have it's perks, as I could see the barbed tail escape to the treeline.

He. You fool.

You dare trespass in MY woods?

Fellow outsider or not, all trespassers must pay.

Double-bladed axe in hand, the other pressed against the glass, I had yet to notice that half of my skin was replaced by the more comfortable rhombus scales. Grabbing the latch hidden behind a duck wall-art, the window creaked open. Once the gap was large enough, I slipped through- the window pane falling back into it's natural lock position.

The rain was quick to soak whatever it could, the mud trying and failing to secure my bare feet. I felt a grin make its way onto my features as I studied the two blades on my weapon. A small chuckle left my throat, but no one would be able to hear. Not above the thunder and the rain.

Even if you weren't the one to abandon me here, . . . oh W E L L.

Horror-movie style, I slung the axe over my shoulder before sprinting into the woods.

——————-

"My philosophy is that worrying means you suffer twice."

Old word count: 1473

New word count: 3677