Aubie sank into the couch cushions and tried really hard not to panic.

The microscope was still sitting on her little writing desk. A bit cheeky of it to have the audacity to exist here, as though it hadn't just proven itself utterly pointless. She'd found it in a box in the closet - right when it just so happened she was looking for a microscope. It looked eerily like the one she'd once owned as a curious kindergartner, so many years ago. Would it have been there otherwise? She had no idea. The Forest of Illway was weird like that.

Really weird, in fact.

Weirder than she could have possibly imagined.

She'd tested a dozen things, everything she could think of - plant cuttings, lakewater, strands of hair, even a drop of her own blood.

Nothing.

She sucked in a deep breath, closed her eyes, and counted to ten. Again. Her heart was still racing. She felt light-headed.

It's too much, the thought fluttered across her mind, like a trapped moth against a window pane. I can't. I can't deal with this. I need to get out of here.

She'd been warned not to contact him unless she'd decided for sure she wanted to leave.

Well, she'd decided.

Not that attempting to call forth a literal god was helping with her anxiety much. Was this even going to work? Her heart hammered even harder.

"Okay. You can do this," she whispered.

Aubie's cottage was still and quiet, the only light coming from the fireplace as evening fell. It felt comfortable. Cozy. Just a bit too perfect. It calmed her even though it shouldn't have.

Because it couldn't be real. None of this could.

"Um... okay," she said aloud to the empty sitting room, feeling rather silly. "S-Sidmara? Come to me. Uh... please?"

He didn't appear out of thin air. Nothing so simple as that. It was more like he'd been there all along, and she only just remembered.

Sidmara stood just a couple yards away, half of his grey fur limned by the firelight, the other half lost in shadow. He was upright, his silhouette almost that of a man, lean and fit - almost, but not quite. His ears were long and pointed, and what she could see of his face tapered into a muzzle that didn't look human at all. A slender tail weaved a slow dance behind him. As he stalked forward, his eyes caught the light and glimmered like a cat. And he -

"Oh!" Despite herself, she gasped and blushed, averting her eyes. "Sorry, you're, um... you're really naked."

Great, Aubie. Let's start by pissing off the mad, remorseless deity of the Forest.

He startled her by laughing. His voice was rich and mellow. "So I've been told. Better?"

Aubie chanced a look.

And burst into a wild giggle. She quickly clamped her hands over her mouth, mortified.

Where just a moment ago, he'd been quite starkly nude, he now wore a pair of purple boxer shorts with gaudy, clashing green polka-dots. He was grinning wide at her reaction, and she couldn't help but notice the sharp fangs.

Mad god indeed.

Crap, she was still shaking from earlier. This was way too reckless. She'd summoned a god. What should she even say to him? She'd been warned he was dangerous. He didn't seem dangerous - but did that mean anything in a place like this? Should she just ask to leave? Was she supposed to be bowing or something? Frozen, Aubie's thoughts tumbled over each other wildly.

He stood quite still, enough that it stood out when his nose gave a small, subtle twitch. His smile faded as he tilted his head down at her. "Are you okay?"

"I... I don't..." Hands still hovering near her mouth, she tried to cover a soft little sob, shaking her head as though she could banish the fears before they spiraled back out of control.

The couch creaked and shifted, and then his warm weight was there sitting beside her, his arms around her.

For a long moment, she was too caught up in her own miserable thoughts, trembling and gasping for a breath she couldn't catch hold of. Sidmara gathered her close and held her, stroking her hair without speaking. The gentlest rumble emanated from his chest. A deep, thrumming purr.

God, he's actually purring, she thought. He really is a big, strange cat.

The deep, rhythmic sound gave her something to focus on. She began to calm, to relax into his warm embrace. His grey fur was silky soft. She buried her face against his shoulder, almost unconsciously. He smelled nice, like wildflowers and oak and petrichor. Like a forest.

Aubie knew she should pull away from him, but every instinct begged her to stay. He's holding me, and I feel safe.

"I'm sorry," she muttered into his fur.

"What for?"

She managed a little shrug, drawing back just enough that she could face him. One of his arms remained casually curled around her shoulders, and it felt so natural she didn't want him to let go. She'd called him there for a reason - Supposedly, he could send her home. All she needed to do was ask. But she hesitated.

"I guess because I'm just the queen of bad first impressions," she said with a halfhearted smile. "Um... I'm Aubie."

He chuckled. "I know."

Of course he knows, he's a god-damned god. And he's holding me. I should be freaking out right now.

"You already know who I am too," he continued. In the reflected firelight, his pupils had narrowed down to slits. It made his yellow eyes look strange - so very inhuman, yet not at all unpleasant. At the same time, he bore longer, glossy black hair on his head that heightened the impression of a human face, falling to half-cover one eye. And, of course, he still wore those silly pants. It took all her willpower not to stare at this strange being. "You can call me Sid, though."

"Okay... Sid."

That made him smile. "Now," he said, tilting his head at her, "can you tell me what's bothering you?"

A flutter of that familiar fear stirred in her stomach, even as Aubie felt a flush of pink color her cheeks. "I just saw something that really freaked me out. You're gonna think I'm so dumb, though..."

Sid's eyes flashed, ears flattening just a bit. He looked affronted. "I will not."

She looked down at her hands, wringing them together. "Okay. It's just... you know how nobody here gets sick, right?"

"Of course." His pointed ears had swiveled back to face her. She tried not to get distracted by the curious way they moved.

"Right... I mean, of course you do." She glanced back over at the microscope on the desk. It stood there still, defiantly solid and real despite everything she now knew. "I thought if I could find a microscope, I could maybe see if the bacteria and viruses here are benign, or if they just don't exist here."

Sid's ears twitched again, his feline maw curling into a bemused half-grin. "I have no idea what those are."

"Bacteria and viruses?"

"And microscopes."

"Ah..." Aubie blushed again. It made sense; the technology in the Forest of Illway wasn't exactly what she was used to. He was gazing at her like a particularly attentive pupil, the very tip of his tail waving alertly. "Okay, that thing" - she pointed at the offending instrument - "is a microscope. It was just in one of the boxes in my closet, like it was waiting for me to find it there. It's like... a really powerful magnifying glass, for seeing things that are too small for our eyes to see normally."

He nodded. "So the other things are too small to see? What are they? Like bugs?"

"Not... exactly, but kind of? They're way smaller than bugs, and... simpler. Some bacteria are actually helpful. But some bacteria and viruses can make you sick if they get inside your body. Sometimes really sick."

He rubbed a furred hand through his hair. "Little bugs that can make you sick? I can see how that would be... upsetting."

"That's the thing, though," Aubie pressed on, wringing her hands harder. "They're not there. But it's not just bacteria and viruses. There aren't any cells, Sid. I look through the microscope and if you go looking to far, it just looks... I don't know, like a bunch of paint got swirled together. There's just... nothing there. Nothing."

"So..." he started, his expression puzzled. "You're upset there aren't scary tiny bugs here?"

She tried to laugh, but the sound came out high-pitched. Her heart was already hammering, teetering on the edge of another freak-out. "Told you you'd think I was dumb."

"No - no. I didn't mean it like that." He caught her hands, gently untangling them from the way she'd woven them tight in her distraction. "You're scared, and there's nothing dumb about that." His ears had flattened again, and for the first time, she thought he looked uncertain. He was silent for a moment, brow furrowed thoughtfully. "Can you explain why it scares you?"

Aubie almost shook her head automatically. It was clear he didn't even comprehend half the words she was using - how was she supposed to explain? People couldn't survive without microbiota. Life never would've even evolved without those little single-celled creatures that started it all. By all the standards of logic and science she knew, the Forest was impossible. She inhaled deep, concentrating on the feel of air rushing in through her nose and mouth. Even this shouldn't work, she thought with a shudder. My lungs need cells to process the air, my blood needs cells to carry oxygen. Do I just think I'm breathing?

"Maybe. I'll try. I... okay, we're here, sitting next to each other, right? You're holding my hands, and you feel real. I can see you breathing, just like me. We're sitting on a couch, and the couch is on the ground, so there's gotta be gravity. There's day and night. It rained the other day. I guess I just thought... you know, the Forest is weird, but at some basic level, it has to be the same as where I came from, right?" She was rambling, pouring out her thoughts without much structure. She raised her eyes to meet his, searching for understanding there. He still looked puzzled, but concerned. He gripped her hands as though determined to comfort her regardless. She sighed. "It's not the same, though, is it? It's not at all."

He considered that for a while, the very tip of his tail flicking. "I think there's gravity because you want there to be."

"So if I just forgot gravity was a thing, we'd float off into space?"

Sid laughed. "Not you you. People."

It was her turn to be confused. "As in... sort of a group consciousness? Everyone here thinks there should be gravity, so there is? And people aren't thinking about bacteria, so they just don't exist?"

"Something like that?" he said with a lighthearted shrug.

"But why is it like this? What is the Forest? I still don't even understand how I got here. All I remember from before is..." She trailed off, looking away, the root of her fear suddenly crystal clear. This place wasn't like the world she knew, because she wasn't there anymore. "Sid... all I remember is my car coming off the road. Did... am I..?"

He sat straighter, leaning toward her. "No."

"Are you sure?" Her voice sounded small. Terrified.

"Aubie. Look at me?" he said, one hand releasing hers and trailing up close to her face, hovering for a moment to see if she'd draw away. She didn't. The soft pads of his fingers touched her jaw, trailed along her chin to draw her gaze up to meet his. "You're not dead," Sid repeated firmly.

"How do you know?"

He tilted his head, slitted yellow eyes making tiny darts as he searched her face, as though he wanted to memorize every feature. "You were going to die," he admitted at last. The words had the air of a confession, something he was nervous for her to know. "But I caught you."

"You... caught me?" she stammered, all her thoughts and fears abruptly swallowed like a distant echo. She just couldn't wrap her mind around the enormity of his words. He'd dropped his hand back down to hold hers again, watching her quietly. Letting her process what he said.

She was supposed to be dead.

And somehow, because of him, she wasn't.

"Why?" she whispered. She should've had a thousand questions, but it was the only one that found its way to her lips. "People die all the time. Why me?"

He leaned in closer, eyes flashing with barely-contained excitement. "There are people who... hm. It's not that they belong here. 'Belong' isn't the right word. It's too much like fate, and fate is stupid. I don't like fate. But there are people who fit here, you see? I can feel them. And one day, they die - or they're meant to die, anyway. If I'm quick and clever - " He flashed a coy little grin. "And I'm always quick and clever - then I can catch them just before it happens and bring them here."

"Can you really send me back?" Aubie asked, the words tumbling from her almost before she could stop them.

He froze, and she could see the glimmer of pain behind his eyes before he was quite able to hide it. "I really can. I can put you somewhere safe, and poof! You cheated death." Whatever she'd seen for just that one moment was gone. Sidmara wasn't angry. He wasn't judging her. His words were gentle, his gaze bright with concern. "Is that what you want?"

Aubie's heart melted. How could it not? He was offering her a second chance at her old life, and somehow she knew beyond a doubt it was sincere. No strings attached. All she needed to do was say yes, and he'd honor his word. She could go home, and this weird, impossible dream would end.

And yet.

It didn't seem so weird and impossible, not with him here. He said she wasn't dead, and she - to her deep relief - found that she believed him.

So the Forest was real, somehow created and controlled by the collective thoughts of those who called it home? That opened up a whole host of new and intriguing questions. It meant a completely new form of reality, a place that defied all the laws of physics and biology as she knew them - but that didn't mean it was impossible to understand. Maybe she'd even be the first to try. After all, it had taken humanity thousands of years to even start to comprehend their place in the universe.

Nothing drove back fear like the bright spark of curiosity and discovery.

"N-no," Aubie said, and she was certain she wasn't imagining the relief in his smile. "Maybe not yet, I mean. I only just got here a few weeks ago. It's weird, yeah... but kind of neat too? I'd be kicking myself forever if I didn't give it a chance." She looked down at their hands, twined together. "I guess... I should really apologize for calling you, Sid. She said I shouldn't bother you unless I was sure I wanted to leave."

"Who did?"

"The woman I met when I first got here. Lyssa, I think?"

"She told you that?" His gaze was still on her, but it had gone distant, all the mirth drained from his features.

"I... don't remember exactly what she said, just that I shouldn't annoy you with trivial stuff. She made you sound kind of..." She fidgeted, giving him an apologetic look. "Kind of scary, I guess..."

"I'm not scary, am I? I don't want to be scary."

"No, not at all!" It was her turn to squeeze his hands. There was no reconciling the monster Lyssa described with this gentle soul before her. Something else was going on, something she wasn't in a position to understand. All she knew was that she really didn't want to see him upset. Cautiously, she went on, "I'm sure I must have misunderstood. I only spoke to her the one time. I've kind of just been on my own since then. Going a little stir-crazy maybe."

Sid blinked, refocusing on her with a shake of his head. He lifted his chin into a bright, determined smile, chest puffing out. "Well, that ends now. There are lots of people here who'd love to meet you too, but you can call me whenever you want to. Okay?"

Startled, she blushed. "I guess?"

"I'm serious, Aubie. Nothing is too 'trivial.' No one here should be lonely or upset. I refuse to allow it."

Aubie allowed herself a little giggle. "Are you going to turn up naked every time?"

"Definitely," he smirked. "I don't know why clothes are so important to some of you people. These shorts itch. Don't suppose I can get rid of them now?"

She shook her head in alarm. "Not while you're on my couch!"

"Aww... all right, all right," Sid laughed and slipped his arm back around her shoulders, encouraging her closer with a gentle nudge. She leaned in and nestled against his fur. It didn't feel awkward or uncomfortable - just right, somehow. Like the way he'd already held her to calm her down made this level of intimacy natural.

And technically, I guess he did save my life, she thought. Maybe there was something she could do in return. She wondered what kinds of things he might like. What do you offer a god?

She thought it over, smiling into the cozy fluff of his chest. That wasn't the right question. What do you offer a friend?

"Hey... I don't suppose you like teacakes? I mean... do you even eat?"

Aubie felt the excited rumble in his chest and didn't even need to look up to know he was grinning. "I love food - especially anything with 'cake' in the name!"

"I found all the ingredients in the kitchen yesterday, so I thought I'd try baking a recipe I remembered."

"You cook?"

"I try to," she clarified quickly. "Only I made too much dough and now I've got way more teacakes than I can eat by myself. And I'm not sure if they're really that great - I mean, I like them, and I think they turned out okay, but I'm kind of new at this and I've never gotten anyone else's opin - "

Sid touched one finger to her lips, and she quieted at once. He gave her a winning - and rather hopeful - smile.

"I'd love to try them."