I yawned and started to stand up, stretching out and only stopping when I felt my wing bump against something. I blinked opened my eyes and lifted my head to look at my wing, then slumped back down when I realized what I was looking at.

Steffie was lying on the rock beside me. I could make out the foam pad beneath the blanket – sometimes she would bring that into the living room to lay on when she colored with me, since it was more comfortable for her than the rock – but I knew she still had to be uncomfortable. She always seemed stiff and grumpy if she slept on anything other than her bed, and I felt bad that she would go through all that because I had been sick.

Had been...?

My sleepy mind finally woke up enough to realize how I was feeling. My tummy felt much better than the fuzzy memory I still had of last night. And I didn't feel nearly as hot, even though I still felt a little warm. The only 'bad' feeling I had was a vague tired feeling I didn't really understand – I didn't want to go back to sleep, but I didn't really want to do much else, either. It was a strange feeling of worn out and restless.

Even the headache I usually had didn't feel all that bad right now. The faint pressure in the back of my head was just a one, if even that.

Steffie stirred while I was still trying to figure out how I felt. She grumbled as she rolled over and faced me. For a second I thought she was going to fall back asleep, and I started trying to figure out a way to sneak out of bed without waking her up – I was also starting to realize I needed to visit the toilet – but she yawned and slowly opened her eyes to look at me.

She did not look rested at all.

"Good morning, Joy. How are you feeling?" She slowly sat up, pulling the blanket around her, and reached out to feel my head.

I could hear her grumbling as she moved, and my wings dropped at my side. I hated that she must be feeling miserable now... but... I really appreciated that she had stayed with me. Last night had been scary. I couldn't remember all the details now, but I knew that much.

"Better." I moved my head just enough to look back at the door, taking care not to scratch Steffie's hand with my horns. "A little warm, but my tummy feels beffer. My ear feels funny, but dat's it." I caught sight of the thermometer in Steffie's other hand, and realized with another guilty feeling that she must have gotten up at points during the night to check my temperature while I had slept. "You can go sleep in your bed now? I tink I'm done sleeping?" I glanced towards the curtain of beads leading to the living room, then looked back at Steffie, hoping she wasn't already stiff from sleeping on the flat rock.

Steffie yawned again but didn't answer right away. She moved her hand to the back of my head, right behind my horns, then moved her hand further down my back. She felt at a few places before she finally nodded slowly. "You still don't feel much warmer than normal." She watched me for a little longer, then finally nodded slowly. "Okay. If you're feeling better..."

A sudden yawn interrupted her, and she took her hand away to cover her mouth. "Sorry. Yes, if you're feeling better, then I hear my bed calling." She reached down to bunch the blanket around her, then shuffled off the rock shelf.

I stepped carefully over the soft padding and dropped to the floor after her. "Thank ewe for staying with me. I'm sure it helped me feel better."

"You're welcome, sweetie." Steffie yawned again as she shuffled towards the living room. "I'm just glad you're feeling better now."

She ducked through the curtain in the doorway, but I paused to look back over my room. Steffie had left behind the foam pad she had been sleeping on, but I also saw her phone lying near the shower. "Steffie? Do you need your phone?"

A sleepy headshake and another tired yawn came from my friend. "I'll get it later; it'll be fine."

My wings sagged a little as I eyed the phone. I could vaguely remember somebody – Doctor Jean, maybe? – having told Steffie to call her... but if Steffie was sure, then I guess it would be okay.

I turned and followed Steffie into the living room. She stumbled a little as she crossed to her room, and I began to feel even worse. I could tell she was tired and that she hadn't been very comfortable on the rock shelf. She held her hand up to the scanner until it made a 'beep' and turned the light green. She started to open the door and stumble through it, too... but paused at the last second to look back at me. "Are you hungry?"

The question made me pause and blink as I tried to think of the answer. My tummy didn't hurt anymore, but I wasn't sure if I was hungry or not. I had eaten dinner last night, so I probably shouldn't be hungry until later tonight... but then, that mess I had made in the shower must have ruined that dinner, so I probably should be hungry...

I shook my head as I saw the sleepy look on Steffie's face. It didn't really matter if I was hungry or not – she was tired and really needed to get to bed. I could worry about food later. "I don't tink so."

Steffie just watched me for a long, tired moment, then nodded. "Okay. If you feel hungry later, there's a slice of cake ready for you in the fridge. Just make sure to close the door behind you if you get one."

"I will!" I nodded again. That door was tricky to figure out with my claws, but I had managed it before. I would just make sure to be careful that it was closed when I was done. Steffie got upset if that door stayed open, since then the stuff that was supposed to stay cold got warm. And that was bad.

Steffie nodded again, then reached down to pat me on the head. "Thanks. Goodnight, sweetie."

I fanned my wings out happily, then she turned and slipped into her room. I saw her fall onto the large bed in the middle of the room before the door slid shut again. The usual 'click' sound came from the door, then the green light by the scanner turned red again.

My tummy finally informed me that I was not hungry, or at least not hungry enough to try and fight the refrigerator door, so I pulled my wings back against my sides and skipped back into the living room. I grabbed the remote from where Steffie had left it on the couch and turned the television on, then started to pick some crayons out from the box. I wasn't sure how long Steffie would be asleep, but it would be fun to watch cartoons and color in my books until she woke up. It was probably the wrong day for Bertha the Blimp, but I was sure there would be something interesting on.

Something made me pause as I pulled out a purple crayon.

I stared at it in confusion. It reminded me of... something. A strange hand holding something purple, something familiar. Not a crayon, and not my hand, but... somebody's hand? Holding... holding a cup...?

A harsh noise from the television interrupted my thoughts. I dropped the crayon and started to reach for the remote, worried the noise would disturb Steffie, but the noise stopped as soon as it started. I looked up at the screen and frowned.

Instead of a cartoon or the usual funny cloud symbol that showed when the television turned on, there was just a black screen with a red box in the center. Written in the box was the phrase, 'Failed to connect to CloudComm network. Please contact technical support for assistance.'

A bunch of numbers and dashes were written under the phrase, but they didn't mean anything to me. I thought about turning the television off and back on again – I had seen a funny show once that had said doing that would fix every problem... but Steffie had told me it wasn't always that simple, and that the show had just been joking. And I really didn't want to risk making another loud noise if it didn't fix it, since that would make it harder for Steffie to get to sleep. She might even get back up to see if I needed help with something.

I didn't want to bother Steffie, so I looked back down at the coloring book. It wouldn't be as fun to color without a show in the background, but it would still be fun. Though...

The purple crayon caught my attention again, and I stared at it in confusion. It was just a simple crayon, one I had used plenty of times before. My coloring books were full of purple images now. There had never been any problem with it before. But now...

Now it reminded me of... of... of something. And that upset me, because... because it...

My frills fell against my neck, and I let out a soft whine as the ache in the back of my head began moving up to a solid two. I looked away from the coloring book and spotted the blue light shining behind the television. The light on the charging station for my headset – the one Steffie said I could use to go outside with, even if she was busy.

I still felt much too tired to think about flying... but a stroll through the trees might be fun! My tail swished behind me as I reached behind the television to lift the headset off of its stand. The blue charging light went out as I carefully molded the headset around my horn, then pushed the end of it against the scales of my cheek. It felt like it was secure, and arranged the way Steffie had put it on me before... but... it wouldn't hurt to make sure.

The headset seemed to wobble dangerously when I shook my head from side to side.

That wasn't a good sign. I didn't really plan on going flying, so the headset probably wasn't in any danger, but it was the thought that counted. This was a special gift from Steffie. The last thing I wanted to think of was it falling off and getting damaged.

I slumped back towards my room and ducked back through the bead curtain. I could check how I looked in the mirror over the sink, and that would make it easier to arrange the headset the way it should be...

The lights came on with the soft slap of my hand against the panel on the wall, but I skidded to a stop as something gleamed from the floor in the sudden light of the room. Oops.

I hesitated and stared at the phone Steffie had left on my bedroom floor. She had said she would get it later, but she had also seemed really tired and focused on getting to bed. I technically wasn't supposed to mess with Steffie's phone... but Steffie had always said it was important that she had her phone with her. It was how Doctor Jean could reach her, or how Steffie could reach someone if she needed help – well, that and the button by the door to her room that I was not supposed to touch – so she always kept it close to her.

My wings fell a little more as I fidgeted in place and glanced back at the thin pad still on my rocky bed. Steffie must have been really tired to have left her phone behind. I was really grateful she had stayed with me while I was feeling yucky, but now I was just feeling guilty.

I scooped the phone up and glanced back towards her room. I didn't want to wake her up, but this was important. Should I knock on her door and make sure she had the phone with her after all? She had only been in her room for a few minutes, so she might still be awake... but if she had fallen asleep, I would be waking her up right after she had fallen asleep, which was the absolute worst time to wake up. And she had said it would be fine, even though I was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to hear it from my room if somebody did try to call her...

The phone lit up when I picked it up, and I stared at it in case it had any answers. The background was blurry, but at the top of the screen were the words, "Three new messages." And at the bottom was the same thing I had seen on Dillian's phone: "Enter Password", followed by a section showing all the letters and numbers.

My tail swished nervously behind me as I tried to think through what to do. If the new messages were important, Steffie would want to know about them right away – they could be messages from Doctor Jean, or something about her school work, which were always things she wanted to know about right away. But if they weren't important, Steffie would be annoyed at being woken up. The last thing I wanted to do was cause her to miss out on even more rest. And it wouldn't hurt to just take a quick look to see if the messages were important, would it?

What was it Dillian had said about passwords? I shifted the phone in my hand and held one claw over the letters and numbers as I tried to think. Something important to the person, or easy to remember.

I tapped out 'Joy', but that just gave me the same "Incorrect Password" message that I had seen on Dillian's phone. So did 'dragon' and 'school'. 'Detechtive shows' didn't work either, though I had a feeling I hadn't spelled it right.

It was getting a little annoying to type in the letters – I had to bend my hand in a weird way to keep from scratching the phone with my claws, and my scales seemed to slip and tap letters I hadn't meant to hit – so I paused to rest and think a little more. Something important and easy to remember... what would that be for Steffie?

I typed in another word, and I felt a happy warmth in my frills as the phone unlocked. Steffie's password was... 'Steffie'.

The phone screen looked familiar enough – I had seen Steffie's tablet often enough when she was using it for homework, and I was pretty sure I knew how to use it. There were different buttons, like the green one for making calls, or the blue one for looking stuff up 'online', and then the envelope one for reading messages. That envelope had a red dot by it, which looked important, so I carefully tapped on that icon.

A bunch of boxes came up on the screen. Most of them had faded letters, but one of the boxes had 'Jean' in bold letters. That meant there would be a thread that had new messages in it from Doctor Jean, so I tapped that to see if they were important.

I frowned for a second as I tried to understand how I had known that. I... had seen Steffie check messages on her laptop – e-mails, they were called – but they weren't arranged in a thread. They were just separate letters, each one a single reply. Not a thread, which was... was... a conversation...?

The pain in the back of my head grew from a two to a four as I tried to understand how I had known the bolded box meant a thread with new messages in it, and I shook my head before giving up and looking back at the phone. It was showing a thread of messages, just like I had thought it would show. And the messages were in two different colors, with some having a blue background, and others having a black background. The blue ones were pretty, but it was the black ones that Steffie had sent. Which... I also wasn't sure how I knew, but which I was sure was right. Maybe... maybe it had just been designed to be super easy to use, to the point it was just the only thing you would think of? Yes... yes, that had to be it.

I glanced towards the bottom of the thread, where a dotted line separated some of the messages. That meant these blue messages were the new ones that Steffie hadn't read yet, the ones that might be important. Which... which I just knew, for some reason.

I shook my head and read over the message on the screen.

'Finished report re. Brutus. J should be fine with few hours sleep.'

There was that name again. 'Brutus'. Steffie and Doctor Jean had both mentioned that name, but Steffie had said it wasn't important. Was 'J' supposed to be me? If it was, then the message was saying I would be fine – and I did feel way better than I had last night – so that wasn't an important message to wake Steffie up for. I shifted my hand and made a motion over the phone to scroll to the next message.

...how did I know how to do this?

"Found video log on Brutus recovery and don't see symptoms of fever or uncomfortable warmth; picked a spot near the heater to sleep. May be unrelated symptom, esp with nightmares."

I stared at that message for a long moment. I knew what the words said, but the message didn't really make sense. Was... was Brutus having nightmares too? Or was Doctor Jean talking about my nightmares? Was this something to wake Steffie up over, or not?

Before I realized what I was doing, I made the motion over the phone again, and the last message showed on the screen.

"Checked bloodwork again but nothing off. Warmth could be stress on Neffal gland, esp if just in her head. Don't see anything concerning – she's fine, Stephanie, don't get paranoid – but want to check a few more things on next visit. Do NOT worry. Just let her rest while she's tired; we'll check it next week."

I stared at the message even longer this time.

That... that wasn't an important message, was it? It even said not to worry. So... so it wasn't something to wake Steffie up over... right?

There was a word in the message that was confusing, though. 'Neffal gland'. That was a... a...

I had no idea what that was.

But I could just look it up. I tapped the button at the bottom of the phone to get back to the home screen, then tapped on the browser icon. That screen popped up, and I tapped on the search bar so I could enter the strange word and look it up...

...I stared at my hand in complete confusion, and I felt my chest start to tighten as my breathing began to speed up. How had I known how to do that? I had seen Steffie use the phone a few times, but she had never shown me the screen, and I had never used a phone before. But... but I had used a phone before, I... I used it all the time, for... for... for work, or for... when I was at school, and didn't... didn't know what the professor was saying, and the textbook didn't really explain it, and... and...

More pain began to fill my head as my headache grew from a four to a six.

The screen changed to show a message under the search bar. "Unable to find CloudComm network – contact support." That was like the message that had been on the television, and I stared at that, hoping the familiarity would help. I knew where I had seen that message before, not like those other things I shouldn't have understood. I just... I needed to focus on that, and... and then things would make sense... but... but they weren't making sense. I didn't have CloudComm on my television, so I shouldn't see their network messages on it. I had... had... who did I have?

Why couldn't I remember who my television provider was? I paid the bills for it every month... or... no? No, bills were something Steffie worried about, not that... but...

My legs wobbled as I started to shake in growing panic. What was happening? Nothing made sense! My wings spread to the side to help with my balance, but... wings...? My... wings...?

The pounding beneath my horns grew into a sudden explosion of pain, and everything went white.

And...

...and then the pain faded.

The headache calmed back down to a throbbing ache of a four. Uncomfortable, but I had dealt with worse. My vision was slowly clearing from the blur of white, and I could see that I was back in my bedroom. Lying on the cool stone floor. I had come here for some reason, to... oh! To make sure my headset was on right, before I went outside.

Going outside would be nice. I felt strangely nervous for some reason, like I had been frightened by something. My room always made me feel safe, but right now it just felt... empty. It would be nice to see all the pretty flowers and trees outside.

I rose back to my feet and plodded over to the sink, then stood on my hind legs to look in the mirror. The headset seemed too clumped up near the base of my horn, so I spent a moment stretching it out and arranging it the way Steffie had shown me. When it was done I did an experimental shake of my head, but this time it stayed put, unlike when it had nearly fallen off back in the living room. Perfect! Now I could go outside, and not worry about the headset falling off. The last thing I wanted was to damage or, even worse, lose the gift Steffie had just given me... but now I wouldn't have to worry about that happening.

Something caught my eye as I turned to walk out of my bedroom, and I paused to look at the floor. Steffie's phone was lying on the floor, just out in the middle of the room. She must have left it there last night after the texts from Doctor Jean, or... maybe she had dropped it when she had left to go sleep in her bed. That seemed familiar, somehow, but I couldn't quite remember which it was. Not that it mattered.

I shook my head and scooped the phone up on my way back to the living room – Steffie said it was very important, and that she needed to keep it with her in case somebody tried to reach her. The phone lit up to show the screen asking for the password, but I didn't see any alerts, like there would have been if somebody had tried to reach Steffie. So there didn't seem to be any reason to wake Steffie up to give her the phone. Not with how tired she... had... been?

I frowned as my thoughts seemed strangely familiar... then I shook my head and skipped over to put the phone on the television stand, right beside her charging tablet. With only one wall to get through, I was pretty sure Steffie would be able to hear any of the noises it made if somebody did try to reach her, so that should take care of that.

I took one more look around just to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything. The coloring book and a purple crayon were lying out on the living room rug, but I could clean those up later. I flexed my wings in anticipation, then skipped up to the door and leaned up to hold my headset to the card reader.

There was a 'beep', then a 'click' as the door opened.

I stretched my wings and pulled them back in, then carefully nudged past the door and slipped outside.