Petey lay down in the water, tongue lying out of the side of his mouth as he panted happily.
The time was nearing dusk, orange streaks crossing the sky and tinting the mountainous clouds above the same color. Petey himself had two of the anuran leaning against his side, tired out and exhausted from a full day of playing. As Petey had discovered, his healing licks could restore energy just as well as it could fix people, and he had been bouncing around all day with the frog kids.
Leula tapped his head, quietly asking, Are you ready to go to bed?
Nodding tiredly, Petey stood up and shook himself off. Going into Floof Speed, he walked around and made sure everyone in the village was all right, and then made his way back to the hut where his hoomans and the not-hooman were waiting. They were deep in conversation with Tarron, but stopped talking the moment Petey entered. To Petey's confusion, the not-hooman was sitting way on the other side of the hut, knees tucked up to his chest and looking... unhappy.
Well, that wouldn't do. Petey made his way over to the not-hooman and gave him a good lick on the cheek, just to make him feel better, and then gave everyone else a lick too to be safe. Daily licks given, Petey yawned and settled down, resting his nose on his tail. Eyes slowly closing, he whispered to Leula, "Good night, Leula! I love you a whole lot. Sleep tightly!"
He fell asleep before the startled spider could respond.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Petey opened his eyes to see everything in the whole hut overlaid in silver. Where he'd once seen colors (a new experience, to be fair) was only darkness, glowing outlines showing everyone nearby. Looking down, Petey saw himself sleeping, Leula flopped on his head and presumably snoozing as well.
Shaking his head-fur, Petey walked outside of the hut and stretched. He didn't feel so tired anymore, almost as if he'd already slept plenty. Walking over to his own sleeping body, he sniffed at it curiously. Whatever was going on wasn't especially important. It was happening and that was enough for Petey.
There was a strange overlay around Petey's asleep-body, almost as if a different dog was sitting inside him. It wasn't clear enough to see for certain, but Petey was confident he wasn't fooling himself.
With everyone asleep, he pawed over to Alana and tried to give her a lick. Unfortunately, his tongue went through her cheek, and he froze in shock. He couldn't touch people?
Heading for Leula, he lowered his nose and sniffed. Taking a deep breath, he shouted, Leula! I'm sleeping and I don't know what's going on!
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He paused, startled by the change in his voice. It wasn't an out-loud voice but was more like Leula's whispery mind-voice. Whatever the case, she woke up and looked around blearily, trying to find the source of the voice. When she saw Petey floating midair, silvery streaks running through his midnight fur, she nearly fell off of Petey's sleeping head.
Petey! she mind-shouted, waving her legs in a panic. What are you doing!?
Petey looked around, trying to find some reason for his unusual state, then shrugged. She blinked all eight of her eyes, and then moved forward. Raising a leg, she tried to touch him, but her fuzzy limb only passed through his paw. She shivered. Astral projection shouldn't be something you can get at your level. She suddenly remembered who she was talking to and shook her head. Never mind. Petey, you're asleep right now. You can do anything you can normally, using your skills and everything, but you can't touch things physically. Are you okay with that?
Thinking for a moment, Petey decided that yes it was okay, and nodded a few times. She smiled, relaxing as she laid back down on his sleeping-body's head. Okay. Stay safe, Petey. Good night. She paused, and then added in a weird tone, I love you too.
Petey tried to give her a lick, but forgot that he couldn't touch things and just bobbed through her. She gave him a mind-laugh and then closed her eyes, tucking her legs in as she fell asleep.
Looking around, Petey wondered what exactly he should be doing, and then remembered something really important. Activating Floof Speed again, he raised his nose and tried to find Dave's smell.
Instead of smells, his nose was flooded with thoughts. A whole bunch of them! He could make out Leula's snoring, which was adorable, and a lot of sad and scared noises from Alana. He gave her a lick as best as he could, and the tension dissolved from her trembling body. After that, he gave everyone in the village a lick, even the not-nice anuran who he couldn't remember the name of, and then decided to hunt for Dave.
Due to Floof Speed and the fact he didn't really need to go over or around (or under) things, he found the hooman in a few moments. Dave was camping in a cave on the other side of the mountains, fast asleep with his hat covering his eyes. Padding over to him, Petey took a few good sniffs at him and then smiled. Turning off Floof Speed, he mentally shouted, HELLO HOOMAN!
Dave's eyes snapped open, and he sat up with hands outstretched, pale circles with a bunch of symbols popping into existence in front of his palms. Looking around wildly, he squinted at Petey and said in confusion, "Petey?"
Petey bounded around him happily and then gave him a good lick. Hello, hooman Dave! I am looking for your chew toy - I mean your sword! I will Fetch it for you and then you can give me hugs and then we can throw it- Petey cut himself off and corrected, We will not throw it again! Unless you want to. But then I will Fetch it again and you can give me more hugs! And I will give you kisses too.
Dave laughed, reaching a hand out. It glowed gold and then sprang into full color, and Dave gave Petey a good rub around the ears. Petey leaned into it happily. He didn't know how Dave was doing that, but he was getting ear-rubs, so it didn't matter.
Sitting next to Dave, Petey rested his head above Dave's lap and closed his eyes. He wasn't sure if he could fall asleep twice, but it was worth giving a shot.
Dave kept rubbing his ears even as the silver faded and Petey's paws disappeared underneath him. It didn't feel scary, though. It felt more like he was getting pulled back to the anuran village.
Petey slept well that night.