"You're welcome. You should also thank Lydia and...uh, sorry, I don't think I asked your name, foreign witch, ma'am?"

"You turned into a kamina, and then back. And now that nobody is about to hurt anybody, as far as I can tell, I can properly freak out about the - wherever I am. Sheesh, what a day. I'm Grendyne Nylund, and my rank really doesn't matter, the organization I have it in doesn't seem to exist here."

"I'm glad you're okay, honey."

"Right. I'm going to go home and someone is going to explain to me how I got here tomorrow. And I'm not your 'honey'."

"...Lydia, do you need anything? Otherwise I should find somewhere for Grendyne to stay, and talk to the sheriff."

"I have a guest room, and this is too little notice for a hotel. If that's alright with you, Grendyne."

"Call me Gren. And I really don't care where I sleep as long as it's soon, I'm running on grit and coffee right now."

"Well, we're outside my house, so I'll just let you collapse inside. Good night, Scott."

"Okay. Good night, Gren."

Scott drives off, and Lydia leads Gren inside.

The house is fairly unremarkable: a fridge, an oven, a couch, some TVs, a laptop, and stairs, which they can take to the guest bedroom.

"The bathroom is just across the hall. Do you want to look at it to make sure nothing is too different?"

"Yes. And I'm sorry about that whole scene, if you think I ought to be. It seemed to be the only path that didn't lead to blood."

"I'm sure you handled it the best you could with what you knew."

She shows her the bathroom. It has the expected bathroom things.

Sink, towels, toilet, a bathtub and a shower.

Sarcasm, how nice.

They're strange ones, but plumbing is in fact a thing she's experienced. "Familiar enough. Thank you very much."

"Rest well. Don't worry if I scream, it's just nightmares."

"...D'you want a quick blast of healing? It's more for aches and pains and physical trauma, but it touches 'wellness' pretty well and can help account for bad sleep."

"If you think it'll help. I've been...stressed out lately."

"Don't mind the aura. It's a side effect I haven't been able to fully get rid of."

Gren takes a deep breath and-

For a moment she is prettier than she has any right to be despite the dirt and grime and circles under her eyes. Not obviously supernaturally so, it looks like something in the way she holds herself, but clearly there is magic at work.

And Lydia's aches and pains wither with a slight prickling sensation. She only keeps it up for a few seconds before letting out a shaky breath. "Yeah, sleep now."

"Thank you. Sleep well."

"You too."

She goes to the bathroom and has a drink and takes off her coat but doesn't bother with the rest of the uniform and sleeps like a log.

If Gren doesn't wake up by noon, there's a knock at her door. 

She's awake by then. Ate a snack from her coat pocket, showered and cleaned the uniform as much as a little magic would allow, too.

But still sort of sitting there, fretting about her team.

"Hello?"

"Good morning! I don't know what you have planned tonight, but I'm hosting my birthday party here, in a few hours. Mostly other high school students, so they'll all be around 16 or 17. You're welcome to attend, but if not we should find something for your to do. You can stay here again tonight, and I can help you make other arrangements tomorrow."

"I had been considering building a lean-to in the woods and hunting squirrels if nobody would take me. Not that far off from how I grew up. But hospitality and a real room is obviously better, thanks."

"Not sure what to do, but probably not the party, no offense. I'm used to a certain kind of teenager... If I had a way to reverse teleportation I'd do it but that is not among my list. Guess I can look for stuff a Witch could be handy for? Or try to read about all the neat technology you guys have. I was mostly in combat mode or half-asleep yesterday, but, what, wireless telephones and horseless carriages at minimum."

"Do you have computers? That might be the most useful thing we can provide. "Horseless carriages" we usually call cars, motor vehicles, or automobiles, though the specific term varies by region and how formal you're trying to be. They do help individuals or small groups travel, but they can have consequences on the environment that might be a problem if you can't mitigate them."

"I didn't tell anyone yet, I think, but we are in the middle of a global war against - aliens or demons or whatever the hell Neuroi actually are." She makes an illusion of a house-sized one with a flying Witch for scale. "That guy's about average. Blew up two fishing boats and a bridge before we killed it. Now I really hope someone comes looking for me and we can bring back tech. Wireless telephones will be excellent, no more getting lost in the fog or mixed-up scout reports from couriers. What are computers like?"