<But let's save that for when the others are here.>

<Save what, putting her back in my brain? Sure, okay.>

<You're... okay with this plan?>

<Yeah. I mean - it'd be different if I didn't feel sorry for her. But I do. She's scared as hell and she's had a really bad week.>

<...Okay. Is the water still "not comfy, not actually hurting you"?>

<Yeah.>

<How about you wiggle distinctively or something and I'll take you out and you can demorph, and then I can put her away before Renée gets back? I can probably wrangle you an invitation to Olive Garden, then we call the other two and talk about how to deal with her.>

One of the Yeerks twists itself upside-down and undulates. <Wiggle wiggle.>

Bella scoops up Trouble and sets him down. As an afterthought, she -

- demorphs to acquire the real Yeerk, when it turns out to be necessary.

"You okay?"

"...Yeah," he says. "Mostly. Kind of."

Bella puts her hand on his shoulder, lightly. "Anything I can do?"

Bella hugs him.

"I'm glad."

He smiles and hugs her tighter for a moment.

After a few minutes, Trouble gets dressed and follows her. His clothes are a bit the worse for their encounter with that lemon tart, but most of it just brushes off and what's left isn't egregiously noticeable.

"Do you want to come to Olive Garden or would it be easier to make good your escape if you went home briefly?"

"...I think maybe... no," he says. "It won't help anything if I go home and come back, but I don't really wanna go to Olive Garden either. I will if it's the best way to end up here again afterward, though."

"You could wander off somewhere else and show up here again at like eight," Bella says. "If that works out better."

"Yeah. I'll do that."