"Do you want some ketchup?" she asked, again.

Alex stared open-mouthed at her. The blueberry gashapong that violently yanked his earlobe could be ignored. But he was having a hard time with the whole…situation. This was not the breakfast he imagined. No, eating overcooked eggs in the dining room of the Safety Spires with Britanii and Snu together hadn't been in his cards.

Swallowing the bland mouthful, he managed to give her a small smile. "Uh, yeah. I do," He took the glass bottle from her changed hand. "Thanks."

"You always liked ketchup." Britanii said quietly while picking at her own flavourless eggs.

Snu kicked him under the table. Scoffing at her, she kicked him again while cradling the jar of [Growth Goop] he'd brought her and nodded towards his ex.

Why…did she do this to herself?

"You're looking…better?" He painted on an all-teeth no-eyes smile.

She did look better. Not back to her stunning redhead self, but healthier. Unwithered, not on the doorstep of death, with even specks of colour under her pale skin. Britanii's hair was still shaved in a tight red buzzcut, and she was skinnier after the cursed bracelet debacle. When going on a murderous control rampage had been her particular flavour of the month. It was the modifications thereafter that had shocked him.

Britanii met his look with her tattooed eyeballs. Even they were filled in black around her green irises. His mouth went dry when their eyes met, but rather than the malevolence that he had grown accustomed to from her, she seemed different. And not just because her whole body had been blacked out via a no doubt brutal tattoo schedule. Calmer.

Definitely less murderous.

"Thanks," she smiled for the first time, and Alex tried not to stare too much at her teeth she'd apparently shaved down to spikes. "I like the new look," she battered her eyelashes at him. "Do you like it?"

Alex snuck a glance at Snu. Surprisingly the Dungeon Boss didn't seem upset. Pretending to examine the jar of [Growth Goop] was bad cover, though. Obviously, she listened intently.

He couldn't help himself. "Yeah, suits you much better, I'd say. Now you fucked up the outside to match the inside."

"Oh, that's rich," Britanii rolled her eyes and jabbed a fork in his direction. "You're the one that cut me off from the System. Thanks for that, by the way."

"Are you fricken kidding me?" He said louder than he wanted to. "She's kidding me right? You were trying to kill and control everyone with that fucking bracelet."

"Only because YOU changed me into a DUNGEON BOSS because your little boy ego couldn't handle not being invited to—"

"Shut up!" Snu snapped out with her Giantess voice. Wind billowed out, pushing both their chairs back. The blueberry gashapong held on for dear life to his ear as several others playing on the floor were blown into the shag carpet. They cheered too. At least someone was having a fun breakfast.

"Now say sorry," Snu looked at them both. "Both of you!"

"For what! It's her fault!"

"It's his fault!"

"Enough!" Snu yelled again, this time without the voice Alex tried not to enjoy too much. She gave both of them a glare.

"Now I'm going to take this," she held up the jar of sloshing sludge. "And I'm going to go over there and use it on that apple tree stick. When I get back," Snu looked at Britanii. "You're going to tell him what you have to tell him. And you," She turned her freckled face to Alex. "You're going to listen and be polite. Understand?"

Dang, she is cute when she's serious.

Both of them grumbled their yeses, picking at their eggs again. Alex slopped some ketchup on his eggs and Britanii continued to take tiny bites with her filed teeth. Snu got up and walked over to the little pot that which held the tree from the philosophical apple tree. Guess she'd migrated it to the Safety Spires. The blueberry moved on to braiding his short hair.

Alex swallowed his pride and another mouthful of overcooked eggs. "Sorry for cutting you off from the System. Even though it wasn't me. It was Zippy."

Britanii clenched her jaw. "Sorry for trying to control your girlfriend. And for…everything." She looked up to meet his eyes. "Seriously. I did a lot of fucked up stuff to you. It was wrong. I…I can't take it back, but I'm trying to be better now."

Well colour me surprised.

Alex mulled over her words. As an apology, it didn't make up for the torment, vitriol, and emotional abuse she'd put him through. Not to mention the literal crimes she'd committed. Was it a start? Sure. Did he ever expect Britanii, the Britanii, ripper of hearts and vixen of the dark triad to apologize? No way. But if Snu wanted them to talk and work it out…

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He looked over to his girlfriend, who was twisting open the Relic he'd brought her near the apple branch. Looked like she was about to dump the whole thing into the waiting pot.

When he looked back at Britanii, he caught the look she tried to hide. It was just a moment. But he'd caught it. She was scared shitless that he'd not forgive her, and wouldn't let it show on her face.

"Just do better," Alex chewed his cheek at the words, but finally related. "And it's cool. Why don't we put the whole thing past us?"

"Safety Spires, see!" Snu barked from the other side of the room. "I told you it would work, Alex! You can fix broken."

Britanii laughed, and even though the corn row the blueberry knitted into his hair was painful, Alex managed a smile. Maybe Snu was right. Maybe there needed to be a place in the world where people could heal brutally deep hurts.

He couldn't help himself again, needing to tease her. "So, you're worried about me? Snu said you wanted to tell me something."

His ex chewed on a piece of stale toast. "Yeah, she's been telling me about everything that's going on. With Brody, with Mr. Mystical, all that stuff. How she even made you that charm to protect you some."

"Oh that's great, yeah," He nodded, trying to keep it cool. "Just you two talking about me. About my problems. No, yeah, I love that for both of you."

"It's girl talk, Alex. Deal with it." Snu called from the front. Alex didn't see her dump the contents of the Relic into the pot with the branch.

Britanii smiled evilly at him. "Yeah, we talk about everything."

"Everything. Everything everything?" He paled. There were…things he didn't want people to know about him. Things that he and Snu did, for example. Did Britanii really need to know he'd been tied into a pretzel on more than one occasion?

"Relax," Britanii laughed. "Girl code. I will not divulge. Don't worry, good boy, your secret is safe with me."

"Hey!"

Both of the girls laughed together. He didn't particularly like that they were becoming fast friends. Therapist and friend. Host and healed? Councillor and...attendee? Whatever titles they used around the Safety Spires, he didn't enjoy the teasing one bit.

"Ok, Ok, I'll stop. Sorry." Britanii wiped a tear of laughter from her eye. Even though he was slightly embarrassed, it was nice to see her normal.

I can take a joke. Beats her being a literal husk of a human.

"What I wanted to talk to you about is serious though," Britanii continued. "I'm worried that you're in a lot bigger trouble than you think."

"Trouble?" Alex waved her off. "I'm fiiine. The boys, those bots, they're on figuring out how to get to Mr. Mystical. And I swear I'm working on the Brody stuff. Pull him out every night. He's in good spirits, and the Cursed Bracelet he can stave off…I think. Look we're on it."

"You don't understand," Britanii shook her head and breathing quicker. "That bracelet is evil."

Alex had seen panic attacks before. He'd had them himself. Britanii began breathing heavily and pulled her hands close to her chest.

"Hey, Britanii," He said, reaching out. "You're OK. It's not controlling you—"

"BAHHHHHHHTNEEE!"

From every direction, gashapong of every shape and size piled onto Britanii. The toast brigade reached her first, cuddling her face and nuzzling into her neck. Plastic dragons flew in to land and pet her buzz cut. A particularly large blob threw itself into her chest to squeeze tightly. Multiple blueberries rolled up her shoulders to jump up and down.

Her breathing slowed and her hands stopped shaking. In less than a minute, she was sitting upright again, surrounded by a supportive plastic entourage.

Alex caught Snu's eye from across the room. She stood behind the pot with hands on her hips, chest puffed out in pride to wink at him.

Did she…train gashapong as therapy monsters?

"Safety Spires. What did I tell you?"

"Right, sorry," Britanii said meekly. "It's just hard to talk about. The bracelet…the bracelet isn't from here."

"Here?" He tilted his head.

"Here here," She gestured into the air. "When I got infected with that bracelet…I could tell that it's not from this world. It comes from somewhere…darker. Nothing that evil could be from here."

Alex gulped. She was talking about other realities. Which he only knew about because of his [Funamental Physician] Title. That wasn't good news. Britanii began to look anxious again, but the gashapong swooped in for another round of tight, miniature hugs.

"Do not let it touch you. You understand? Whatever you do, you don't let it touch you. You don't put it on. You don't even look at it too long. Ok? It felt…there are no words. Forsaken. That fucking thing is forsaken. Leaves you forsaken anyways. Deserted of anything human. I had to do…this to myself," she looked down at her blacked out arms. "To even feel like I can claim myself again."

Her description drained the colour from his face and pulled the last semblance of moisture from his mouth. Just his luck too. The very thing that Nino and Nina needed to expand was trying to screw with him and Brody.

"Thanks for the warning." he said through his mealy mouth. No amount of ketchup could help the way he was feeling. The whole thing sat churning in his gut.

"Uh oh." Snu said seriously from the front of the room. Alex tore his eyes away from Britanni and saw her standing there over the pot with an empty jar of [Growth Goop].

The little stick of apple tree, given from the sad tree in the orchard, glowed with veins of green light. Vibrant emerald smoke poured from the pot and filled the house turned therapy center with the scent of life. The gashapong oohed in awe as the branch twitched in its Dungeon Soil. Then with a whump, the effects of the Relic took hold.

The branch split with wet pops as it shot upwards, twisting and hardening into aged wood. Leaves burst out from its tips while the pot cracked without shattering as the roots dug deep. White buds swelled and bloomed in a flash, scattering their petals onto the floor before tiny crab apples, juicy and red, pushed out and hardened into ripe morsels. In less than a minute, the stick had become a bonsai apple tree. It's leaves ruffled and it's juicy fruit sat waiting to be picked.

It's got to be my height. Woah.

"That thing must be like six feet tall. Good Relic." He said in wonder.

"Please," Britanii said dryly, folding her arms. "Can't be taller than five foot nine."

The gashapong leapt off Britanii and charged toward the tree, dancing around it. Britanii raised her eyebrows at Alex, surprised at the quality of gift given. Alex choked down Britanii's comment and decided it was time to go to work.

After he kissed Snu a fierce goodbye of course. He wasn't above shoving it in Britanii's face that he was a happy camper in his new relationship.

Nah, pretty sure that tree is six feet tall.

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