Smiling gratefully as Crash took over in explaining the party’s events, Kathy kept the cotton pressed firmly into her hand as he had been doing. Vaguely listening to his explanation to the VP she wondered, [i]‘Just what was going on back then..?‘[/i] The glowing eyes, protruding canines, and the purple smoke all seemed to indicate that the shape-shifter was going to transform into something. But the amount of sweat and heavy breathing she saw could not have been normal. Taking the opportunity Crash when he was momentarily distracted by Zivon’s awakening, she stared at Crash’s face without letting him notice. [i]‘No. I can’t ask. Not right now.’[/i] He finally seemed like he was back to his normal self again. She couldn’t bring herself to ask and potentially ruin his mood like before.

Turning her attention to Zivon she answered him, “You’re in the infirmary.” The noticing that he was still in a daze she added, “Do you remember what happened?”

[i]‘Oh dear…’[/i] Seeing all the preparation, she realized that Crash was calling her bluff and really did intend to stitch her wound closed. [i]‘A needle is going to be poking in and out of my skin and- I can’t watch this.’[/i] Eyeing the lidocaine, Kathy hoped it would help prevent her from screaming out and losing all dignity in front of the mini-audience around them.

Taking in a deep breath, she placed her hand in Crash’s , looking visibly nervous. “T-Tell me when you’re done.” She knew she was being illogical. She had no trouble making the wound worse by digging her nails into it or seeing the blood come out of it, but she couldn’t look at a few stitches being placed into her skin. Closing her eyes and gripping the hem of her dress tightly with her other hand, she asked, “Crash, can you… Can you say something while you do that? Anything. Laugh at me right now, tell me a story, talk to Zivon, something. Just please don’t stay silent.”