"One of the other--former captives."

"What about her?"

"Well, it turns out she's half-demon."

"...Some luck you guys have, huh."

"Yeah." Hug. So much hug.

Awwwww. Snuggle.

"I'm definitely going to miss you if I leave with everybody else."

"We can figure something out," he promises her.

"Does that mean I should stay?"

Snuggle. "I would be very happy if you stayed."

"Okay."

As if this were some kind of signal, other demons start crowding around the two of them. Is she really okay? Is there anything she needs? Would she like multiple sources of hug instead of just the one?

Awwwwww. She happily hugs anyone who offers, and is clearly delighted by her demonic cuddlepile. As for the rest - "when we all wake up I'd kind of like to wear clothes and eat real food?" she suggests wryly.

Oh. Yeah. This is still the dreamworld. Ugh.

Anyway, yes, totally, those things, that can happen.

Snuggles! So many snuggles!!

(And the dreamworld fades cozily into a dreamless sleep.)

Talyr finds himself waking up in a roomful of sleeping demons.

The dream-girl (without her dream-dress) is standing in the doorway, sparks dancing in the depths of her eyes. (She looks like she's been crying.)

"Hello," she says; her accent is a little odd, but she speaks the demons' language now. "There are some girls who'd like to stop being pregnant."

"...all right. Are they, um - awake—?"

"No. It didn't seem necessary."

"...I'd like to observe that this does require me to trust you about their wishes," he says. "But yes, I'll help."

She looks at him thoughtfully for a moment, and then leads him on a tour of several of the rooms where soon-to-be-ex-captives are curled up sleeping on their comfortable new beds. (Nerine isn't one of them.)

It only takes a touch and a half-minute each. He is a very good healer.

When he's done, she pauses and studies him again.

Then she says, "You're less unhelpful than most of them."

He smiles wryly. "I try. Did you need anything else?"

"—The two in that room," she says, pointing at Mezeidai's new room. "Do you know them?"