In the twilight hour the light can play tricks on the eye. Yet, for Scott there was no amount of light that might explain what it was that he saw on his way back into town.

Streets roared with life as cars whizzed by like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. There were no smoldering car wrecks of burnt out buildings. No sign of anything like an invasion.

His face a mass of bruises, and bloodied and torn, he could not avoid the stares of the casual crowd of sidewalk travelers. It was surreal. Truly, surreal.

Night would soon be upon them, but the people acted as though there were no cause for alarm. His thoughts immediately turned to the world reset message that he had received.

“Just like the dream… They’re acting like none of it ever happened, even though everything changed.” As he walked along, his mood darkened. It was bad enough that the so-called gods played with their lives, but even their memories were nothing more than data to be manipulated.

“So much power to change things, and they turn it into a game for their own amusement,” he said through clenched. His eyes narrowed briefly then flashed a soft red glow, but he managed to reign in his rising temper. It would do nothing to help the situation if he lost what was left of his composure.

He pulled out his phone and immediately tried to contact Ashton. There was no answer.

“I don’t know where she lives…” Scott could only hope that her injuries had healed. In an effort to discover the truth, he went to Archers.

He shifted into shadow form and decided to drift along with the darkness in order to spy on the store. Everything seemed to be in order. People were shopping, though the number of customers and employees was low due to public concerns that existed prior to the recent nighttime invasion.

“I guess everything is like it was three days ago,” he said thoughtfully.

There was no sign of Ashton, but he went to her office in search of information. It took a while, but he was eventually able to ferret out her home address.

By now many of his lesser injuries had begun to heal. His lip was no longer split, and the worst of his bruises had faded to a hideous yellow and purple color. Internally, he was still a wreck. His cracked ribs would take at least a few days to heal given the status of the rest of his body.

He also wondered at the whereabouts of Sonja, and even Shara. The latter, if she was who he suspected her to be, was no doubt fine. He tried to use his transfer protocol to bring her to his location, but it did not work. She was still on Earth somewhere. Sonja could be anywhere, though if the update was based on three days prior, she would probably be back at home. Once he got the chance to check up on Ashton, he would take a nap and try to bring Sonja to his side in the dream.

“I really need to get her a phone,” he said quietly.

Scott meandered through the streets while soaking up the local color of his hometown. Despite all of the hateful things that people said about him during his court case, he had never left this land. His sister and father were here. His mother was around as well but given her loyalties he did not wish to speak with her.

“They’re the same as always. Someone hurting and in pain is walking right past them, but they act like they don’t see him until they are sure he can’t see them,” he said softly.

He could hear their casual thoughts. Many thought him to be a homeless drug addict. More than a few thoughts that it would be a good idea to call the police. No one thought to ask him if he needed help. They merely judged him in the privacy of their thoughts, and many did so with mocking scorn.

Ashton’s home turned out to be a fancy looking two-story house. There was a two-car garage on the side, and her truck was parked inside. That was a good sign at least!

Uncertain what to do now that he was here, Scott stood outside for a moment while looking for all the world like a sketchy stalker in search of foxy prey. The moment passed when he decided that it would be best to sneak in without any of the neighbors noticing.

He walked away, turned down one alley then shifted into shadow form. Soon, he entered Ashton’s home in search of her.

Scott found her on the second floor. She was lying atop her bed, still unconscious.

“Sorry to intrude,” he said quietly.

She was not physically human anymore, so she was not given special treatment during the reset. Her wounds remained, though her color looked a little better than before.

Since he was here, Scott decided to make himself useful. First, he raided her closet for a clean set of clothing. She still had a few bits and piecing of clothing from that former fiancé of hers then took a shower.

The clothes, as it turned out, did not fit him. The worst fit was around the crotch area. Far too tight. He soon realized that the tight fit was uniform all over. “Skinny jeans… That’s what these are right?”

Ashton had been engaged to a man who wore skinny jeans. That was a cry for help, if anything. Even so, they were better than the rags that he wore. At some point he would need to go shopping anyway. It was harder and harder for him to fit into his old clothes. He lost weight in one way but gained muscle in the other. Nothing truly fit right anymore.

Once he was done, he returned to Ashton’s bedside. There was no way to know whether she would or would not wake up any time soon, but he waited until it started to get dark.

Concerned about the approaching darkness and possible monster spawns, he rose up and went to check the house. He locked the doors and windows then returned to her room.

He lightly stroked her hair for a moment then sighed. “I don’t have much, but I’ll see about making you some medicine in the dream.”

Her eyelids fluttered open a moment later and then her eyes oriented on his face. For a moment, she looked at him while he looked at her.

“Evening sleepy head,” he said with a grin.

She blinked slowly, as though her mind were trying to process the situation, then a sweet smile stole across her lips. “What took you so long?”

“I was hanging out with other girls,” he replied candidly.

Ashton rolled her eyes then tried to sit up, though her smile never left her fact. He pushed her back down, however, and shook his head. “You need to rest.”

“I’ve been resting forever,” she remarked in annoyance.

Scott nodded to her then shrugged. “We’ll get you some more potions to help fix you up. Those things are basically fruit flavored water to someone like me, but they seem to help you a bit.”

“I’d appreciate it…” she said softly. There was a short awkward pause while they sort of looked at each other in speculation. Eventually, she asked, “So… You look like hell and different again…”

“I picked a couple of fights while you were asleep,” he replied with a soft smile.

“Who won?” she asked him curiously.

“I’m not sure yet, ask me when I don’t look like walking hamburger,” he said with a chuckle.

They discussed the situation for a while, including both her rescue and the recent reset that happened while she slept. As he did so, a strangeness came over his beautiful boss.

He blinked quickly when a sudden series of thoughts struck him. It was not his own thought, but Ashton’s. He tried to hide it, but he had little experience with such things. Sonja was forthright in her desires, but she had never said anything to him like what Ashton had just thought.

The stray thoughts that had crossed her mind were, ‘Damn… he’s built like a mountain. Maybe, I should take up rock climbing… Might upgrade my vitality. Hehe.’

Scott reached out and lightly stroked the side of her face. In a way, it was still odd that they were able to become so close. They had worked together for a while, but they were clearly from two different worlds. Places further apart than even Earth and the dream.

She made a soft murring noise, almost like a cat’s purr. Golden ears fell back, and she stretched out a little, all the while a series of pleasant images echoed inside of his head. He tried to remove himself from her thoughts, but the images shifted into more intriguing territory.

Following her inner dialog, her lightly ran his thumb across her lips while he looked into her eyes. Those eyes of hers searched his for a moment, the shimmering light reflecting softly due to her mixed emotions. The strongest emotions were an undercurrent of fear and longing.

Loneliness. She was tired of being alone.

It was an easy thing to say, that he would not take advantage of someone who was vulnerable. Yet, this vulnerable woman’s thoughts clearly held certain hopes and aspirations. There was no pesky red-haired childhood friend to make things awkward, and no gorgeous valkyrie to compare herself too. There was only this moment.

He knew what she wanted and knew that Sonja would probably be thrilled to find out that she had a sister in more than just name. Her thoughts were a vivid kaleidoscope of concerns. She did not like to share. She was the queen or thought that she had to be in order to succeed in life. Yet, at this moment she was only a frightened and lonely woman who sought comfort.

Other than his encounters with Sonja, he had no other real experience with this sort of interaction. His only other attempts ended horribly for everyone involved. Yet, it was not so bad this time. Her thoughts were like an instruction manual.

‘Is he going to kiss me…?’ whispered her thoughts.

Scott gently caressed her lips with his thumb for a moment then offered her a gentle smile. He was about to do a whole lot more than that…