Sleeping, and The Beauty.

Dorothy couldn't believe it. A week had passed since that awful night, where Miss Shesh and Mister Baldur had their run in with those loansharks. Where one of them had chased Dorothy through the woods. Where Cuu had lost himself, and had been beaten nearly to **** by that stranger in bronze armor. Seemingly all of Cuu's injuries had healed over; although, seeing a hand grow from a stump was something the poor Doctor hoped to never see again. Yet still, The Wolf would not wake.

Dorothy closed the door to the guest room, having fed her patient as well as she could in his catatonic state. The Hood draped itself over her as she left, basket in hand, to trek down the yellow brick road. She had two places to visit today; one she was happy about, and another that annoyed her greatly... but she did have to contextualize of the massive craters currently in the midst of the wheat field. Even if she'd be lying...

She headed out of town, humming to herself all the while.

...

Baldur was glad to spot that Doctor coming their way this morning. He and Shesh had set back up in the old abandoned tower just outside of town, although, they didn't plan on raiding the town for goodies this time. For now, they had to wait; The Hatter would have heard from those three idiots by now. If they were lucky, then their debt would be considered "too dangerous" to claim. If they weren't... well, he didn't like to think about what that meant.

"Doc!" Much to his dread, Shesh flipped her way off the second floor, through the massive hole in the wall, gracefully landing on the grass. "Is Doggy up yet?"

"I told you to stop doing that!" Baldur called, still unsure if she should even be walking after what happened last week; then again, those medicines the old crone gave them were awfully "magical" looking.

"Not yet!" The Doctor called back, who brought her voice down as she reached the tower. "Did you get the last of your 'finds' back to their rightful owners?"

Shesh instantly deflated, like a waterskin handed to a thirsty man back in Underland's wastes. "Ugh... Yes. That one painting was still busted, obviously."

"Oh that's fine..." Baldur could swear that the Doc had a grin on her face when she said that; does she have bad blood with that McDonald? "Anyway, how are things going here?"

"Better. Still not great." The Charming called down from the second floor, quickly heading down the stairs, and popping out the front doorway. "I'm pretty sure this damned place is gonna fall on top of us in the middle of the night if we keep sleeping here for much longer."

Shesh swung around him, putting her arms around his shoulders as she spoke. "Oh come on, Handsome. It's nowhere near as bad as the streets back home."

Feeling a frog take a stop in his throat, Baldur's cheeks and ears turned a shade more red. "You make a fair point, Shesh."

Then, The Smiling Cat asked a question that whisked away the blush, like so many other things she had stolen.

"So, Doc. When are we seeing that McDonald?"

...

Cuu felt awful.

Scratch that; awful didn't encompass his disgust and discomfort as he crawled out of bed. His vision was foggy, and his breathing was heavy. Each step felt dreamlike as he slowly worked his way off the bed, through the living room, and down the stairs; towards the bathing chamber. His body was caked in old sweat, and his muscles ached from cramps after having been inert for so long.

"How long... was I out..." He whispered to himself, flexing his hand as he slumped over.

The hot water of the shower was painful at first, but it soon felt like nothing less than bliss compared to how he had been moments ago. The memory of his nightmares clung to him, even now, in the waking world. He could still see those letters, floating in the abyss of Ink. All he could think of, however, was the fact that he still wasn't being shipped off to Roundtable. Even with what seemed to be days of time where he was incapacitated; with her own father being one of those Knights...

Cuu's heart felt as if it was trying to twist around in his chest; his guts stirring around as if he were about to be sick.

"Doctor..."

...

Pearl wasn't exactly happy about this part of the agreement.

Sure, returning the shiny things she had been purloining was one thing; with the trio of trouble makers dealt with, the idea of paying back The Hatter was less of an issue. Talking to one her marks, however...

Well, it was better than pissing off Doc.

"Bellodor, I know you're in there!" Doc hammered on the door with her knuckles even more, her Hood waving in the wind as she did so.

The door opened, seemingly on it's own; given the doorknob hadn't moved. Confused, the pair of women looked to each other. There was a sudden loud crashing noise from inside the house. Doc ran in right away. The Smiling Cat's sixth sense didn't feel any sort of danger down this path, and so she followed; remembering fondly how she had swindled the home's owner with nothing more than the lifting of her skirt with her tail.

Not that she would have shagged the man; she was a damned good thief, not some cheap whore.

"Oh, not again." Doc whined, standing at the turn-point just past the entrance.

Looking over he shoulder, Pearl snickered at seeing a heavily intoxicated fool splayed out on the ground. The bottle, moving on it's own, was pouring wine straight into his mouth. The furniture in the living room was moving about as well, seemingly trying to help The Beauty back up to his feet.

"Guys, guys the floors really comfy. *hic* It's fine..." The drunk flopped about like a dying fish.

Doc was just shaking her head.

"Still such a lightweight. I mean, come on. That's not even a good vintage!"