Jade swore her bedroom had not been nearly this messy last she had seen it. After all, it could not have been more than a few hours since she had left the residence of her tower. That pile of plush toys in the corner had been far, far neater, or so her memory informed her.

Minding her step, the young woman tiptoes over the assortment of brightly colored toys and leafy, equally florid potted plants scattered about the area. Under normal circumstances, she would have simply leapt over the nuisances, but with the knapsack still resting upon her hip, jarring movements were to be avoided when they could be. Finally making it over to her bed—a wide structure with pillows plump to bursting and a cobalt quilt interwoven with glittering silver stitches of the stars—Jade gingerly assists her companion from the knapsack before stepping away. As Terezi sits, nearly engulfed by the fluff of the thick blanket, the Witch announces,

“I shall be changing you back on the count of three. One…two…!!!”

And with an almighty crackle in the air, the troll returns to her normal size, no more worse for ware than she had been before the two had left the hospital—or so Jade hoped. Tentatively, the human inches towards the troll.

“Are you all right? I hope the trek up all of those stairs was not too rough on you in there. Did I move too much?”

Worrying her lip between her teeth, Jade peers from the troll to the surrounding room before, at last, placing her hands on her hips and standing straight. Huffing her bangs from behind the circular lenses of her glasses, she says,

“Anyhow, as I stated earlier, you are welcome to stay here as long as you wish! My tower is your tower and I would be happy to give you a proper tour whenever you want to do so. For now, you can sleep in here. Ah, let me see, rules…” Jade trails off for a moment, rubbing her chin thoughtfully before nodding to herself more than anyone. “None too many, I suppose. I simply request that you do not go about messing with my cauldron and ingredients without my supervision. Otherwise, the tower is yours to explore! If you have any questions or anything you require, feel free to speak up!”

Terezi was really scared in the bag. so scared she nearly petrified into a statue. Normally, the troll would have spent the entire trip taming the point of view of a bug with excitement but under the influence of the drugs, everything seemed to be out to kill her. As she was thrown from one end to another in the bag as Jade walked, the Scale eventually smashed her face against a tissue she immediately adopted as a security blanket.

She screamed as a gigantic five-headed worm descended from above to grab her. She was then swallowed by monstrous beast with soft insides. Terezi screeched for help but at her size, her pleads died before it reached anyone's ears. Suddenly, a crackling sound echoed through the room and she was out of that monster's velvet mouth and into a messy teenage room. Terezi gasped for air a few times before looking up to Jade with a confused look. The Scale has missed out most of the Witch's instruction as she was recovering from her panic attack.

- Can I just sit here...?

Yes. Staying in bed seemed to be the brightest of ideas. At least until the sedative had worn off enough for her to ''see'' properly.

Whatever medications they had deemed necessary to pump through Terezi’s system still had not warn off yet, if her utterly disoriented state was of any indication. Lips pursed and slightly quirked to the side, the Witch allows an expression crossed somewhere between discontent and concern to manifest upon her features. Hopefully, in due time, the Scale would bounce back to her regular state of mind. Well, the two of them were not headed anywhere and there certainly was no rush. Hands placed firmly on her hips, Jade gives her companion an affable grin and an affirmative nod.

“Of course! As long as you need!”

Jade would have to make mental note to give Terezi those instructions again later. No need for anything to spontaneously combust if it was not necessary, after all! Seemingly random explosions from within the cauldron room were not uncommon practice, especially if Jade was feeling drowsy. But, not all of those explosions were bad—some even meant progress! Maybe that was why Jade had so many charred robes shoved in the back of her closet...

With an airy sigh and a light bounce, the young woman easily hops onto the mattress next to Terezi. It was getting late, not that Jade was surprised by this. The day had been long, horrendously so, what with all of this madness. Not that such disorder was so bad, perhaps. Sometimes, while it could seem a rather negative happenstance at first, it could lead to a fantastic metamorphosis! After all, had she not gone to that bakery and met Terezi (and promptly scared her and so on and so forth), they would not have had this opportunity! Not that the Scale getting hurt like this was a good thing, necessarily, but who knew what could happen from here?

“Terezi, I know this is somewhat out of the blue…but do you believe that things happen for the best?”

Idly, Jade sets to playing with her own fingers, observing the other female out of the corner of her eye. Drooping, sightless eyes framed by both thick, foreign lashes and the fragile, sagging skin of exhaustion—it was strange, how trolls always appeared perpetually in need of more sleep. Her ashen skin was not as pallid as it had been before, though still too pale in comparison to what Jade was accustomed to seeing. Could someone who bore the physical evidence of some sort of suffering (whatever it was, Jade was in no position to press) be able to look toward a dismal future with hope? Jade dearly hoped so. There was something in Terezi, whatever it may be, that gave the Witch a sense of reassurance. It seemed as if she were constantly in the know, could SEE what lay ahead of them before it had ever occurred. Jade knew another like that, one who truly saw, though she had not seen her in many, many years. Perhaps it was simply wishful thinking though…

Terezi rubbed her feet together as Jade sat beside her. They shared the same thought; the day had been pretty tiring. She didn't start the day on the right foot either and all the commotion surrounding their meet left her more then wary. The Scale coughed a little, ready to doze off but the Witch didn't seem ready to catch a few snores.

- Huh? Well...

Terezi pondered at Jade's questions for a long time. So long that she nearly forgot she had to reply. Though she had stayed awake, it seemed as if she had fallen asleep in the fashion of an old woman at the end of life. Red glimmered under the long black lashes of her tired eyes.

- Hnmm... to be honest...

Her mind hazed off again, she wouldn't be able to keep the small talk going for very long. Her pale skin looked dried under the fire's shimmer. Sadly, it was the only thing that differed from usual. Jade was right on that knowledge, trolls endlessly looked tired and sick. Terezi didn't really know what to think of Jade's question actually.

- I guess so...? What do you mean by that? That's it's the best that nobody came to rescue me so we could talk?

The future was just as elusive to Terezi as it was Jade, it seemed. While Jade could look to the clouds and see at will, more often than not, the predictions and premonitions only spanned so far. And results were liable to change when unexpected circumstances arose. More often than not, they did. And how easy was it to misconstrue what was already so vague? That was why, the Witch supposed, there existed The Seer in the first place.

As she twirls a long lock of hair about her finger, Jade chuckles a bit and shakes her head. Speaking of vague, she’d been it a bit herself!

“My apologies for being so unspecific, Terezi! Hmm, I had not meant that, though I must admit, I am rather intrigued about your answer!” Jade grins eagerly, her knuckles kneading into her bedspread as she leans forward to peer inquisitively at her houseguest.

After a few moments of watching an exceedingly drowsy Terezi attempt to fight the lure of sleep, the Witch rises to her feet before placing a gentle hand on the troll’s shoulder. Her visage is crinkled with friendly concern as she urges, “You should rest, now. My apologies for keeping you up so long when you’re so obviously in need of sleep. Hopefully, if you are all right with that, we can discuss more in the morning? That, and I will give you a proper tour of my tower! Witch’s honor!”

Cheesy, buck-toothed grin in place, the young woman offers the troll a giddy wave before making her way from the room. Fortunately, her couch in the potion chamber was a large and comfortable one, so she could sleep there. Jade wondered what she would dream about tonight.

Even though Gamzee was quite slow, his pace had made him extremely subtle and delicate over time, his steps almost gliding him towards the witch's tower as he followed Jade and Terezi there. The troll's eyes were wide opened and shining, very much aware of his surroundings. Gamzee always had a fear of being caught, but this time he knew he would have no choice, Terezi had to come back home.

Once he saw Jade enter the tower, the highblood waited for her to close the door to make his move. He then walked up to the entrance and eavesdropped for any sign of noise that might have wrecked his entrance. With a careful twist of the knob and a gentle push, he opened the unlocked door and made his way in, listening to the voices of Jade and Terezi, still walking up the stairs as subtly as possible. Gamzee felt quite strange in a way, he had never been as aware of his surroundings as this, it was as if he was in full control of himself... but sadly not for long.

His own shoes had distracted him, yes, the very pace of his own walk had made him trip as he fell forward and into the room were both the troll and the human were idly sitting, eyes twice as wide as he looked at them with an air of utter "Oh shit" and a classic "HONK".

"Motherfuckin' saw you at the HoUsEpItAl, though I'd come ovah dere if a motherfucker doesn't mind!"

The highblood really looked like he had taken a beating though, with bruises on his arms, a black eye, cut lip and clothes still ripped. Still, he tried to make it up by flashing his best inebriated smile.

Now, let it be said, Jade was normally a very pleasant person. She rarely felt the need to curse, rarely felt ill will for others, and almost never deliberately made to hurt another’s feelings. But, at this very moment, she was scratching out the first of her little list. Letting out a colorful stream of curses, the Witch whipped around in her seat to stare with wide eyes at the gangly troll who had tripped his way into her tower. Her head was practically spinning, both from confusion as the speed of her rotation, as she stared with mouth agape at the battered young man.

“You’re bleeding!”

A remarkably astute observation. And the trolls thought so highly of her as it was.

”You’re-you’re Gamzee, right?” Jade asked, rising on shaky knees to amble over to her visitor. She shot Terezi a quick, bewildered glance before realizing that she probably couldn’t see it anyhow. So, the Witch turned back to the clown sprawled across her floor and offered him a hand. “Um…thank you for coming to check on Terezi. I’m really glad you’re here.”

It was nice to know that someone had finally made their way over to help Terezi. His familiar presence would undoubtedly make the other troll feel more at ease. Though, he looked like he needed quite a bit of help himself, as it were.

“Do…you need anything? I’m sure I could find you a health poultice of some sort, if you’d like.”

Gingerly, she ushered the now-standing troll over to sit on her bed. She was sure she had some sort of potion, somewhere, that could be used to remove bloodstains anyhow.

It didn't take long for Terezi to realize what as going on. Even with her heavily induced senses, the smell of Gamzee's blood overran the other scents in the room - It just took her some time, usually she would have detected the distressed troll before he had even reached the door.

- Gamzee?! What are you doing here? What happened??

But the burst of lucidity and sharpness was short lived for Terezi fell down to her knees as soon as she took the first time. She seemed shocked at first, her body trembling as she didn't register well how really she was. The Scale stretched an arm toward her friend.

- Gamzee...

She had never felt this hopeless before. She wanted to help her friend but she needed help as much as he did. She wished they could go home, eat some pie, go to sleep and pretend this day was just a dream.