Claudette was still watching her when she woke up. She’d picked up a book and was reading through it with half an eye. She sent Ratface away when she woke up with instructions to rest. Ratface didn’t understand why until a few minutes later a splitting headache greeted her.

She went to lie in her room but found it too stuffy so eventually she made her way outside and lay underneath one of the trees. Its roots started to trace around her which was weird but so long as it didn’t hurt her, she didn’t have the energy to move. In some ways it was nice, like being tucked into bed without the oppressiveness of a blanket.

She didn’t know how to parse that she had a person sitting in her head, two, if the glamour was to be believed. It didn’t feel like her brain was full of people. A thought she’d never thought she’d have to have.

She’d tried to read the glamour book, but her brain screamed in process. She didn’t know if it was her or the glamour. She was a little nervous how much influence the things had.

She could hear someone crushing through the grass and she opened her eyes to have a peek.

Albert and Tiffany limped through the trees towards them. The two looked exhausted as they crumpled onto the floor next to her.

The vines started to creep closer to the two of them and they both groaned.

“This place is weird,” Albert complained.

He was an odd duck. Sure, it was weird for Tiffany and Ratface too but they at least both had things they got out of it. Tiffany got to see a whole new forest, which had to be good as a druid, and Ratface got to live. Albert had sort of just done the right thing and then got consistently punished for it.

Ratface didn’t really have an answer to that.

“It is weird, but interesting. The plants talk way different,” said Tiffany. It was quite the change of tune since the other day. Curiosity winning the war again caution.

“I’ve never seen so many goblins,” said Albert.

Ratface glanced at him, and he shrugged. There was something off about the sentence. He hadn’t mentioned the prosthetics.

“There’s a goblin party in a few nights if you want to meet them?” she asked.

The two glanced at each other and then at her.

“That seems really like a private event, we wouldn’t want to interrupt,” said Albert. It was weird, he had helped her and yet he acted like this.

“You don’t like goblins,” sad Ratface.

“I like you,” he offered.

Ratface groaned and stood up. She could feel her headache getting worse in this conversation. She wandered away from them into towards the town.

It was a lot quieter than it had been there during the day but that didn’t mean it was quiet. Her head still throbbed, and she looked around for something.

There was a line at one of the stalls and she saw they were selling fruit drinks. She got closer to the stall and ordered one from the vendor. She was a short woman wearing a jacket even though it was so warm. Ratface was confused until she noticed the ice clinking in the glass.

“How do you have ice?” she asked.

The stall woman laughed and waved her hand. A cold breeze twirled around it.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“I can’t do a full freeze but if I have a glass of liquid like this, I can at least add a little ice to it.”

Ratface gave the glass a closer inspection, sure enough the ice cubes were made of the drink itself. It was also more ice than liquid. Ratface shrugged and paid the woman and pressed the glass against her forehead. She wandered around until she found somewhere to sit and plunked herself on some poor shop owner’s entranceway. It looked like it was closed.

A hand grabbed the cup out of Ratface’s clutches. She turned around and saw Dirthand taking a sip of her drink. She passed it back to Ratface who took it with a grumble.

“Don’t grumble at me, it’s a fair trade,” said Dirthand.

She gave Ratface a weed to chew on and Ratface obliged. The thing tasted like grass but as it seeped into her mouth, she could feel the dull ache in her head start to recede. Now that she wasn’t so focused on the headache, she realised she was on Dirthand’s entrance as well. Some part of her brain must’ve connected the herb lady with something that’d help.

“So, what brings such a grumpy young rat to my door?” asked Dirthand.

“People are complicated,” she said.

Dirthand laughed and held her hand out for the drink. Ratface passed it to her and she took a long sip.

“Ah, that’s good. So, what’s got you saying that huh?”

“I invited my friends to the goblin party; they didn’t want to come.”

“Humans don’t like to be outnumbered by us.”

“But they both saved me,” said Ratface.

Dirthand took another sip of her drink. Any illusion she wasn’t going to drink it all now lost.

“Do you trust them?” she asked.

“I did.”

“So, you trust every human, do you?” said Dirthand.

Ratface gave her a look like she was stupid and Dirthand smiled.

“But you do trust every goblin, right?”

“That’s different, goblins feel safe.”

Except that wasn’t true. Suncat hadn’t seemed safe and yet she’d ignored that feeling because she was a goblin. Dirthand looked at her with that patient smiled and Ratface looked away.

“I’m not from Lurian, I’m from Albatross. It’s a cost city,” Dirthand began, “over there, most goblins end up being fishers, or cleaners. Poor but ‘respectable’. The people look at us with disgust and pity, but they wouldn’t call a mob on us.”

Ratface listened. She’d never seen the cost. Lurian was landlocked and she hadn’t seen anything in the land they were in.

“It’s not a good life there, it’s why I left, but the context is different. Do you know what the most common profession for a goblin is?”

“Raider,” said Ratface.

“So when your friends think of a big group of goblins, what do you think they’re imagining?”

“It’s not like we want to raid. No one wants us so we have to fight to live,” said Ratface. The few people walking past glanced at her and Ratface realised she was standing and yelling. Ratface lowered herself back to the ground and only then did Dirthand keep respond.

“That’s your context but it isn’t theirs. When your friends see a group of goblins, they see creatures that kill and steal.”

“But they helped me,” said Ratface.

Dirthand patted her shoulder.

“Yes, they did. Surely that at least gives them a chance to explain why they feel that way?”

She stood up and held out a hand for Ratface.

“Let’s go get you another drink since I drank yours. I’m still feeling a little parched.”

They made their way back to the drink stall and Ratface mulled over the new information. As usual she was lacking context. She only knew Lurian which meant she was missing something.

“Suncat, she said she isn’t a goblin,” she said, “all the red goblins feel that way?”

“You’d have to ask them,” said Dirthand. She looked around until she found one.

“Rabbittail, do you think you’re a goblin?”

The goblin they found looked at them in suspicion. Ratface watched his tail and sure enough it was twitchy. She smothered back a smile.

“Is that a trick question? Are you insulting me?” he asked.

“This one talked to Suncat,” said Dirthand.

Ratface watched as the twitchy tail became agitated.

“Hmm. You mean Eliana.” He joined them on their travel and waited until they got to the stall. He and Ratface both looked at Dirthand expectantly and she rolled her eyes before buying them something. Only after he’d secured the drink did he talk.

“Eliana is complex, she’s why we’re here.” He smiled, then frowned, “but she’s scary. I don’t want to be around her.”

“Why?” Ratface asked.

Rabbittail shook his head. His tail was twitching a lot, and it was clear he didn’t want to talk about it.

“I wont push,” Ratface said. She held out her hand, “Ratface.”

Rabbittail smiled.

“Ah a rat, you want to help her?”

Ratface nodded and he smiled in that. For the first time his tail stopped moving.

“Well named then. We don’t have a rat scurrying in our midst.”

Ratface smiled at that. It was good to be around goblins, to have expectations put on her. She looked around the town. It was a reminder to her that goblins didn’t have to be one thing. That humans didn’t have to see raiders when they saw her.

Context is what she was missing, so she’d get it. She’d bother all her friends, both human and goblin.