Project DYES

by Shadow Beast

Chapter 15: Birds of a Feather

Gorman and Gunter touched down on Griffin soil. They both breathed a sigh of relief.

“So, what now?” Gunter asked.

Gorman smiled. “We pick up the pieces.” He nodded solemnly. “It’ll be hard... Without her body.” He shrugged. “But probably not as hard as getting her body!”

They chuckled to themselves and began to walk back toward civilization.

Gorman shook his head. “Honestly, though, I’m not sure if we can actually bring the syndicate back together after so long...”

Gunter smiled. “Hey, we’ll do the best we can!” The smile faded. “But what are you going to do with that sword?”

“It's just for those who might try something they shouldn't.”

Gunter sneered.

“I hope I don't have to use it,” Gorman added.

“I certainly hope so...”

Gorman put a claw around him. “Without any bits, we may very well have to rely on something...”

“Did someone say Bits?!” a high-pitched, twangy accent asked.

The pair turned to find a greenish, female griffin smiling at them.

Gorman gave her a patient smile. “We were saying we have no bits!” He chuckled awkwardly. “There's no... Nothing for you.”

The griffin looked them over. “So, y'all need some bits, huh?”

“Certainly a possible event,” Gorman replied. Gunter crooked his head at it all.

“Well, I might have some bits for yers... If yer willing to do a little work.”

“Depends what kind, I suppose...”

She looked them over again. “What’re yer names?”

“I am...” Gorman’s voiced trailed off. He turned to his friend. “This is Gunter! And I am...” His volume lowered dramatically. “Gorman.”

The griffin turned her head a little. “I'm sorry? I didn't catch yer name there...”

“Gunter’s?”

“No. Yours.”

“gorman...” His head went to the ground.

She smirked. “Say again?”

“Gorman.”

She leaned forward with a smile. “I didn't quite catch that...”

“Gorman!”

“Ohh,” she remarked, rolling her head. “Ain't that the name of that one guy who runs that group thingy?”

“You must be thinking of someone else.”

Gunter tilted his head. “‘Group thingy?’”

Gorman turned to him. “Don't patronize the patrons...” He turned back to... “Wait, I don't think we’ve heard your name yet...”

“Ah yes,” the griffin said with a smile. “They call me Gertrude.” She crooked her head. “So... What do y'all think of doing a little farm work?”

“How many bits?” Gorman asked.

“‘Nuff,” Gertrude replied. “Surely you don't take little old me for the kind of bird that doesn't repay others in kind, do yas?”

“I need a fair amount of bits, lady,” Gorman growled. “And if you waste my skill set...”

She rolled her eyes. “I can promise your skill set won't be wasted.” She smiled. “Or my name ain't Gertrude!”

“Bet on something else,” Gorman replied. “I've been burned by names before!”

“Well, now y'all are wasting my valuable time.” She beckoned them along. “We best get going if we’s gonna reach the barn by sundown!”

Gertrude turned and began to fly off toward what could only be a barn in the distance. Gorman and Gunter followed.

---

Midnight opened his eyes. He was in bed, inside the main bedroom of the crystal manor. The walls were clean of any dust, and had been for well over an entire day. Still, he found himself scanning each surface. He looked to his side and found Elegiac still asleep under the covers. He could feel her tentacle under the blanket, clinging to his side. He smiled and tried to relax, his eyes still searching in vain for some message. He went over the events of that night again in his head:

The lights went out. The ghosts said we knew too much. They attacked us...

He tried to shake the fuzziness out of his head.

They attacked us. We... I... She...

He tried again. The memories were gone.

But there’s no dust... No Duplicity. They’re gone.

A sharp pain forced his hoof to retreat from under the blanket. Midnight’s thoughts subsided to make room for the smiling face of Elegiac.

“Just making sure neither of us are dreaming,” she said with a giggle.

“You think those ‘guardians’ are still around?”

She pulled her head out from under the blanket and shrugged. “Well, I don’t see them anywhere...”

“What happened that night?”

She smiled at him. “Don’t you remember?” She giggled again. “I named them and then they went berserk!” She shrugged. “Not a whole lot they could do, though... Being named drained them of power. By the time we had galloped out of the basement, they were already gone!”

“And then what?”

“Well, the house became a whole lot nicer to sleep in, that's for sure!” She snuggled her back into her pillow, resting her head on Midnight’s purple shoulder. She ran a claw down his foreleg. “Why do you wear this skin, anyways?”

Midnight looked into the gem embedded in her forehead, between the two bat ears. “Probably for the same reason you still have my ears...”

“You like petting yourself?”

Midnight blinked a couple times. “No... I was gonna say that we both enjoy a more personally chosen form.”

“Shame about your brother though...”

Midnight’s eyes widened. “How do you know about...”

She smiled back at him and shrugged. “Well... I might have stumbled upon that last night... Walking through your dreams.”

He crooked his head. “I thought you didn’t know how to dream walk?”

She shrugged again. “I guess we just need to get to know each other better...”

Midnight sighed and gestured to his purple chest. “You know this isn’t my brother’s skin, right? We were both purple, sure, but he had way more birthmarks.” His eyes glanced up for a moment. “And a darker mane.”

Elegiac nodded solemnly. “Want to talk about it?”

He shook his head and turned from her. He got up out of bed. “How long have we been here, Elly?” he asked without looking back.

“About... two days?”

Midnight exhaled and nodded. “Then the others will be here soon.” His magic pulled his glasses off the nightstand and placed them back on his snout.

“Good thing we dusted!” She giggled.

He stepped toward the door. “And after the Games I’ll take you back,” he casually added. But as the words left his snout a sense of realization hit him. He turned back toward the bed.

The kelpie crooked her head at him. “Go back where?”

He turned back toward the door. “Never mind.” He shook his head and trotted out of the bedroom.

Midnight trotted out to the den and sat on the couch. Everything was clean of dust. Judging from the light coming from the window, Thunder, Desert, and Gravity would be arriving at the station in an hour’s time. He was frowning. Almost nostalgically, sitting in this room was depressing him. But he couldn't figure out why.

Elegiac finally trotted out of the bedroom with a smile. She trotted into the den and, without any response from Midnight, hopped over the side of the couch and landed next to him. She snuggled up next to him, but his frown persisted.

“I know what's bothering you,” she said.

Finally Midnight turned toward her. His eyes avoided hers and his frown kept his mouth closed.

She kept smiling as she put a claw up to his cheek. “You know... I don't need to go anywhere.” She shook her head, then began to nod. “Yeah, I think I'm going to stay right by your side!”

Midnight’s empty gaze turned toward the door, the frown persisting. “They’ll arrive at the station soon,” he said in a monotone voice. “I should go get them.”

Elegiac shrugged. “Sure.” She patted his back with her claw. “You go get them, I'll keep watch of the house.” She giggled. “And keep the bed warm...”

Midnight got up, out of her reach. “Later.”

He trotted out of the house. As the door slammed closed from the wind, Elly looked at her claws and shook her head.

At Midnight’s pace, he made it to the station just as the train pulled in. Watching the ponies disembark from the train was enough to move his snout. By the time his friends had appeared, he was already smiling.

Thunder, Desert, and Gravity trotted up to them, with two other ponies following a bit too closely.

“Holy crap, you're alive!” Thunder said with a chuckle. “Is she here?”

“Still back at the house.” He beckoned them all. “We can catch up on the way.”

“Wait,” Gravity said, stopping him mid-turn. “We've actually made some new friends on the ride here!” She pushed the two ponies forward to meet Midnight.

The two parties stared at each other in awkward silence.

Gravity cleared her throat. “Midnight, you remember Brucie and Squee from Chrysalis's hive, right?”

The two parties sniffed each other’s changeling scents. Midnight crooked his head at them briefly before turning to Gravity. “Nope.” He shook his head. “Can't say I remember these two...”

“Are you really Foresight?” the pegasus chirped.

“Midnight is my real name,” he corrected. “Midnight Masquerade.”

“Well I'm watching you...” he chirped back, squinting at him.

“Don't mind him,” the blue pony said, stepping in between. “A friend of Gravity’s is a friend of ours!”

Midnight nodded. “Well met.” He turned and beckoned again. “Let’s get you all settled.”

They trotted at a decent pace until the mansion came into view.

“So who'd you steal the place from?” Squee chirped.

Masquerade rolled his eyes. “Prince Armor allowed me to stay here. Place gives most ponies the creeps for some reason.”

“Was this the place they found you?” Thunder asked. “I don't remember any mentions of a mansion...”

Midnight nodded. “Yeah, that's the thing... Nobody ever recalls this as a mansion. It feels so much smaller when you actually trot inside.” He shrugged. “Probably just some low ceilings or something...”

Mirage was already at the door. “The place unlocked?” he asked as his hoof pushed the door open. The unicorn trotted into the empty living room. “Hello?” he called out. “Anypony home?”

Midnight galloped in. “She should be here...” He looked around but found nothing in either the kitchen nor the dining room. “Elly?!”

“Everything alright in here?” Gravity asked as she brought the other two changelings inside.

Midnight gulped and turned to her. “I'm sure everything’s fine... Just gonna check the back for Elly real quick.”

Gravity passed a concerned glance at Thunder as he trotted past her to the couch. Midnight, their host, had just left for the back hallway and disappeared behind a door. She nodded that direction. Thunder sighed and went to check it out.

“Didn't you hear us calling you?” Midnight said from the other side of the door. Thunder pressed his ear up to it, trying to hear the other side of the conversation. “You should lie down. If your hearing isn't well...” Silence. “Just relax! I can stay here if you want...”

Thunder pulled the door open and looked inside. Midnight turned from the bed to him. “Everything alright in here?”

Midnight nodded. “Elly’s just resting for now.”

Thunder trotted into the room proper. “Oh.” He turned to the bed. It was empty. “Umm... There's no one under those sheets...”

Midnight chuckled and turned toward the bed. “He's got a point. You should probably get a blanket over yourself if you're sick.”

Thunder nodded, keeping a straight face. “Just doing my part.” He smiled and trotted back out to where Gravity was.

“Everything alright?” Gravity asked, crooking her head.

“This could be some changeling thing or something but she's apparently gone invisible and a little sick.”

Concern took Gravity’s beak and pointed it to the room again. “I'll check it out.”

“I know you don't want me to let go, but we do have guests,” Midnight said from around the corner.

Gravity turned the corner to find Midnight’s hoof being held by a sickly zebra mare.

“I thought we were tending to Elegiac?” Gravity asked him.

Midnight looked from her to Elly and back. “What do you mean? She's right here...”

“Interesting form for her to take, I guess...”

Midnight looked over the bat-eared, siren-faced changeling. “I mean... It is her base form.”

Gravity looked at the zebra and then back to Midnight. She stepped forward, checking the zebra against her memories. It had to be Superior. “First of all, that's certainly a disguise and second... How'd she even get here?”

“What are you talking about, Gravity?”

“Midnight, that's zebra Superior in the bed right there!”

Midnight turned to find Duplicity rubbing his hoof. “Don't let go...” she pleaded.

He slowly turned back to Gravity, who shook her head with a frown. “I thought... We got word that Advantage...” Her voice trailed off as a cold breeze brushed the back of her neck. She looked down at her claws. “...died.”

She looked up to see Midnight rubbing his eyes next to the empty bed. He let out a heavy sigh. He slowly nodded, putting his hoof back at his side and glanced briefly toward the empty bed. “Gravity...” he spoke softly. “Can you... I need some... Time.”

Gravity solemnly nodded. “Sure.” She quickly made her way out of the room and shut the door.

“So what's up?” Brucie asked her before she could even turn around.

Gravity took a breath in spite of his urgency. “We don't know where the kelpie went.”

“Excuse me?” Thunder asked, overhearing it.

“The kelpie’s not here.” She sighed again.

“Then we need to go track it down!” Thunder demanded. He turned toward Desert. “Get up! We gotta track this thing down!”

“No.”

The two turned to Gravity, who was glaring back at them. “She's not our problem anymore. Just let her go.”

Desert looked around. “Wait, where’s Midnight?”

“He needs some alone time.” She frowned and sat down on the couch. “I... I told him what happened to Advantage.”

“Is he taking it well?” Thunder asked.

Gravity looked to the floor and shook her head.

The door in the hallway opened. A changeling trotted out. He sniffed a little before coming into the room.

“Were... Were you crying?” Squee asked him, noticing the strange wetness around Midnight’s eyes.

“Screw off.” His voice was a hoarse chirp. He turned toward Gravity. “We need to find her.”

“We came here to relax and watch the--”

“I need to find her,” he said, correcting himself.

Gravity shook her head. “No.”

“She's gone.” He shook his head back. “We can't leave her out there...”

Gravity stepped forward. “How do we know where she is?! Heck, how do we know she's even alive?! I didn't see her when I came into that room; we both saw Advantage! How do we know she even existed at all?!”

“Whoa...” Desert took a step back. “Babe... Don't blow my mind here...”

“Advantage is dead,” Midnight affirmed with pain in his throat and heart. “Elly left as soon as she figured that out.”

Gravity took a breath. “And when would that have been?”

Midnight shrugged. “Probably two nights ago if I had to guess.”

“Do you know where she could have went?”

“With her crazy teleportation skills?” Midnight shook his head. “Anywhere, by now.”

---

Gertrude brought out some water for her two workers. They were almost done digging out a couple of good holes for the new trees.

“Thirsty?” she asked them.

Gorman continued digging while Gunter looked up from his work to see the two cups of water. The way the light reflected off of the glasses and the clear liquid inside failed to make him thirsty. Somehow, it reminded him of... He shook off the painful memories and went back to work, shaking his head as politely as possible.

“So neither of y’all are thirsty?”

“Only thing I'm thirsty for is some bits,” Gorman said. “And our job is almost done here.”

“And like Ah said, you'll be paid in kind as soon as y’alls are done with them holes.”

Gorman and Gunter both struck their shovels down and looked over their work. The holes were rectangular, about four feet deep and “long enough to lie down in” as per Gertrude’s request. Now it was finally time for their payment.

They trotted around to the front of the building where Gertrude worked. It was an old, abandoned meeting place that was once used for festivities when the Griffins were united.

But now it was dusty, and lined with wooden, empty chairs. Gertrude counted out the bits at the far side of the room. She put the bits back into the bag as the pair of workers approached. Gertrude nodded and handed the bag over to Gunter.

“Go on, now...”

Gorman grabbed Gunter’s arm but a kept his eyes glaring at the griffin. “What about mine?”

“Let the boy go,” Gertrude sternly suggested before turning back to the table behind her. “You’ll have your pay soon enough.”

Gorman let go of Gunter. “Wait for me outside... Something’s not right here.” He shook off the feeling without forgetting it. He walked toward Gertrude.

He stepped in something wet.

Gorman quickly picked his claw up from the wet spot on the ground. Looking down, it was just water spilled from one of the glasses. He looked back to Gertrude. “How much longer?”

Gertrude shrugged without turning around. “That all depends.”

“Depends on what?” he asked, putting his claw back down. He dragged it across the dirty floor to dry it off. He winced at the feeling and just stopped moving his claw altogether.

The doors slammed closed. The dust moved under his claws.

Gertrude turned to him, her eyes glowing green and her claws turning black. “How much you can take before I break you like the rest...” Elegiac’s snout erupted from her false beak, burning away the facade. The dust swarmed like ants and flies around her rear before turning bright green and unifying as her tails. “So in short...” Her melodic yet haunting voice giggled. Gorman took a few steps back and reached for his sword. “I’m sure this won’t take long at all...” She smiled and wiped a strand of green drool off of her snout.

Gorman pulled his sword from its sheathe. It shined in the darkness of the abandoned room. Elegiac crooked her head to either side, cracking it. She took a step back. Gorman took a step forward. “You know who I killed with this blade, banshee?!”

Elegiac smiled a toothy grin. Her eyes glowed a bright green. “You killed a shallow husk! The most modest of forms that perfection can take!”

Gorman shook his head. “I killed Advantage! And with them gone, nobody will be able to bring you back!”

“Most mortals would try to bargain for their lives...” Elegiac hissed. “They would plead with me. They would ask how it came to this.” She shook her head. “But you... You already know these answers, don’t you?”

Gorman took a step back. “So you admit it then? Your horrid existence is nothing more than a blight upon this world!”

Elegiac cackled. “Mine? Sure! I’m a murdering, cannibalistic psychopath!” She kept smiling. “And you’re the guy who’s gone and pissed me off...” She took a step toward him.

“Just like Advantage... Nothing more than a monster with a heart of vengeance and bloodlust.”

She crooked her head to either side, twitching it. “Oh, you say that now... But did you not seek brutal, bloody vengeance upon another of your kind?”

“That changeling ruined my life!” Gorman asserted. “What I do, I do for restoration! For balance!”

“For your own glory!” Elegiac added. “You wanted to kill her to prove you weren’t powerless!”

“Quiet!” Gorman roared.

He charged toward her, sword first. Elegiac leaped out of the way. He felt her magic pick him up. Gorman swung his sword and its magic deflected her gaze. He landed in the puddle from earlier, much bigger now. His claws and paws were all trapped. His sword uselessly swayed from side to side as he struggled.

“Oh, how I wish to say you weren’t about to die,” Elegiac hissed almost mournfully. “You see, this all reminds me of those last moments of Chrysalis... Of Midnight Masquerade... Of Desert Mirage and the rest of your ‘enemies...’”

“All of those fools are still alive, are they not?!”

“They would be dead though... Had a great sage not consoled me. Stopped me from resorting to murder. The same sage who helped a tormented Midnight not try to kill himself in the end...”

“Who could possibly be so stupid to try to save the likes of them?”

Elegiac’s smile returned. “Advantage saved them all.” She shook her head and the dust flew and disappeared into the air. The glow in her eyes was gone. She simply smiled at him. “Shame they’re not around to save you.”

With his beak, Gorman pulled the sword from his stuck claw. Before Elegiac’s jaws could lunge forward, he plunged the blade into the goop and destroyed the whole puddle. He jumped back out of her reach and readied the sword in his claw again.

“That’s the difference between me and them!” Gorman smiled. “I don’t need saving.”

Elegiac crawled toward him, her tails oozing from under her. “That’s because you’ve never fought someone who actually wants to hurt you...” She shook her head. “Always the coward move... Attack them at the most vulnerable and throw countless expendable doubles in front of the actual threats!”

“I am only giving them the treatment they showed me!” Gorman yelled.

He charged her again, and she sank into her pool. Gorman plunged the sword into the water. Elegiac’s alligator-like jaws erupted without warning from the waters and crunched down on his arm. His other claw swatted and prodded at Elegiac’s eyes.

“Let go, you wretch!”

She clenched down on his arm, breaking it under her force. Gorman screamed and swiped at her eyes with his claws. Elegiac let go of his crippled arm to dodge his swipes. She charged her head into him, ramming him and knocking him back. The sword was still in her pool.

Elegiac pulled the blade out and stuck it into her mouth. Gorman got to his feet and made a mad dash toward her as she chewed. He grabbed at the hilt with his non-dominant hand. The blade was warm with power.

“You heartless monster...” Gorman smiled. “They never wanted to be eaten by you.”

The blade’s magic ripped itself from the kelpie’s snout and Gorman plunged it through her head.

Elegiac screamed and leapt back. Gorman charged without realizing her water didn't follow her. But with a plunge of his sword, the waters quickly receded.

“Just hold still and die, you abomination!”

Elegiac leapt back and onto the wall, out of his reach. Gorman spread his wings to join her.

“Every opponent has a fatal flaw.” Elegiac smiled. “You know what yours is?”

“What?”

“You assume you know everything...” Her smile grew bigger and toothier with each word. “I wonder how you would deal with a new perspective!”

He felt her magic envelop him. He felt his body start flying towards hers and he deflected with his sword. Elegiac leapt out of the way as he hit the wall. He leapt off of the wall and hit it again. Dazed, he got up on his feet and looked around. Gorman and Elegiac stood on the wall.

“The look on your face,” Elegiac noted. “And I thought you hated Gravity enough already!”

Gorman charged her, and she leapt to the wall--ceiling. She leapt to the ceiling. Or was the opposite wall the ceiling now? Gorman tried to shake off his disorientation.

The magic pulled him down to the ceiling to join her.

Gorman’s head was spinning. “Is this how you expect to win? Kill me with vertigo?!”

Elegiac simply smiled as Gorman regained his footing. Chairs hit the ceiling all around him, bound by the same spell. One of the wooden stools broke on Gorman’s thick head. He swung his sword in a daze, hacking away at the clutter around him. Elegiac smiled wider and took a step back.

Gorman regained his composure and looked around. There was no sign of the kelpie. A cold breeze fluttered down his spine as gravity returned. Suddenly he was falling up to the floor, with a lot of splintered wood following after.

The griffin held onto his sword as he fell. But the cold, hard floor soon turned into a wretched shade of blue as the kelpie’s watery maw beckoned him in. Gorman smiled and held the sword closer.

Elegiac reached out a tentacle to break his fall, and let him break the fall of sharp clutter above him. Gorman had other plans. He slashed away the tentacle. She tried to catch him with the lower part of it. He stabbed through it with his blade. Using the sword’s magic, he forced her gelatinous tentacle to harden just enough. He jumped away from the rest of her grip, pulling her growth to the side. The clutter splashed into her maw harmlessly as he grasped the sword’s hilt. Elegiac sent another tentacle to stop him. He dodged around it with his hind legs and wings. With a combination of beak and claw, he guided his blade into the tentacle. The magic sapped it of power until it was nothing but dust. Then he turned to Elegiac and forced the sword into her main pool. The magic drained the waters of all matter.

Elegiac screamed in agony as her solid form was forced through the sharp, splintered wood. She tried to claw toward him, but she couldn't move her limbs. The only waters on the floor now were her own blood.

Gorman just smiled. He pulled the sword out of the dry flooring and walked up to her broken, bleeding form. She shrieked at him in disharmony. He cringed at the sound, then shook his head.

“Good to see you finally holding still for once.” He pulled the sword up over his head. The monster shrieked. He smirked. “Now, now... Singing is against the law.”

With a swift chop, the fight was over.

“Come on, Gunter...” Gorman said as he finally left the old building. “We're leaving!”

Gunter took his time responding. Gorman’s sword was bathed in green, held in his non-dominant hand. The other arm was broken and bleeding and his head had a nasty bump on it. Gunter walked into the old building and found nothing left of Gertrude except a pile of broken wood soaking in green slop. He went over to the shelf where she had kept the pitcher for the water. It was dry. He took it and scooped up as much of her as he could get.

“Gunter!” Gorman screamed from behind him. “What do you think you're doing?!”

Gunter quickly turned around, hiding the pitcher behind his back. “Umm... Nothing, sir...”

“Gunter...” Gorman growled. He gestured toward Gunter’s unseen claw. “What's behind your back?”

“Nothing...”

“Don't lie to me.” Gorman pulled his green sword toward Gunter’s throat. “You were going to try to help that miserable--”

The pitcher shattered on the ground. In his fear, Gunter had dropped it. They both turned and looked at all the broken wood and glass behind him.

It was all dry.

---

Midnight tried to sleep. Elly was gone, Advantage was dead, and there was nothing they could do about it. The others all left to go to the Equestria Games. Midnight sighed and pushed his head deeper into the pillow. He felt sick to his stomach. It churned under the sheets. He rose from the bed, shaking his head as he stumbled into the hallway.

“I know I felt sick,” he said to himself. “But this is really getting to be--” A mass quickly leaped up his throat, forcing him to cover his snout as he gagged. He shuddered and shook his head.

“Feeling alright, Midnight?” Elly asked him.

He nodded as he walked past her and toward the kitchen. He froze in realization. He quickly glanced behind him at the empty room. The mansion was silent outside of his churning stomach. His head hurt for a brief moment.

A pitcher clinked onto the counter behind him. He turned to find no one there either. The changeling inspected the pitcher carefully. The outside was clean. The inside--

The mass leaped out of his snout.

The inside was clean. Midnight took a step back to evaluate. His chest was fine but the pitcher was now filled with something glowing bright green... A dead wretcher. He trotted back up to the pitcher slowly.

The pitcher giggled.

Midnight smiled and wiped the rest of her off of his snout. “You're home late.”

The pitcher trembled as the giggles continued.

Midnight wandered his snout through the drawers in search of a particular kind of food. “I suppose I can take care of you... Keep your light burning at least.”

The pitcher sat on the counter.

“So when did you plant yourself in me?” He asked the pitcher as he opened a cupboard. “Can't teleport to me without some source.” He stuck his head in. He sneezed several times. “Yup,” his muffled voice echoed. “Found it.”

Midnight returned to the counter with a few strips of hay. He blew his nose into a thin napkin. “Bakes by noze beed evvy tim...” he said, wiping while trying to talk. He put the napkin into the pitcher. It quickly was absorbed as the pitcher shined an even brighter green. “You were hungry, weren't you?” He looked out toward the window. “Still an hour or so before the guys get back...” He shrugged. “And we get to figure out how to get you home.”

The pitcher giggled.