I hurry over to the hot spring where I find Mickey floating on his back, which is… rather revealing with the whole naked thing going on. Tommy is standing on the side, dropping cut grapes and the occasional mini Snickers bar in his mouth as he floats on by.
“What the hell, Mickey?” I ask.
He cracks an eye open and looks over at me. “What seems to be the problem?”
“You’ve just been living here for days and never said anything?”
“I ran into Torin at one point. I traded his silence for a single mini Snickers bar. He’s quite an easy man to please.”
I hesitate as I realize that Torin had given me the only candy he’d procured from Mickey. Trying not to feel overly pleased by that, I put a foot on Mickey’s chest and begin sinking him.
He smacks me off and hangs on to the side. “Why? Why does my happiness cause you distress?”
“When’s the last time you went back?”
“Not since I arrived, but Joy travels back and forth to get stuff for me. Everything’s okay so far. No one’s woken from their comas, but no more Doors have opened. We could just stay and repopulate the world here, although it seems like you two have been trying and not getting anywhere with that.” He winks atme, so I attempt to drown him again as he floats out of my reach while cackling.
“I didn’t know you were here!” I snap.
“It’s fine, it’s fine. I’ll just live in misery all alone with my undead. Tommy, dry me off.”
“Yes, sir,” Tommy says as he uses a pole that was leaning against the wall to drag Mickey’s body in before pulling him out. He sets to work drying him off, and I watch, flabbergasted, when he plugs a hair dryer into a solar-powered battery and starts blow-drying Mickey’s hair while Mickey picks up a bag of chips and eats them. Like what the fuck? I was starving to death eating random vegetables and granola bars I brought from home, and he has a hair dryer? And what was on that plate before he consumed it? What kind of food setup does he have going on, and why was I never offered anything?
Better yet, why didn’t I think to bring a solar-powered battery?
Disgruntled, I leave him and find Torin in the hallway. “So… I’m well aware that riding Quill is the best thing in the world.”
“I do like riding him, but I like you riding me better?—”
My glower puts an end to that. “But in order to reach the hospital in a timely manner, we’re going to take the car. Soooo, should Quill stay here?”
“No, I can summon him when I need him.”
“Like… poof, he’ll be there?”
“That is correct.”
“Can he poof us places?”
“No. It’s more like… I take him with me,” he says as he pats his chest, and now I’m confused about whether Quill has just kind of… invaded his chest or what. But Torin is a god, so I decide that is that. Honestly, I’m afraid that if I don’t start moving soon, Mickey’s going to wander off to some remotecorner for a nap and we’ll spend all afternoon trying to find him in this huge palace.
Once all three of us are presentable, we head through the Door, much to Mickey’s dissatisfaction. He immediately deflates when he reaches our world.
“It’s just so tiring over here but so amazing over there,” he complains as he holds his hands out and one of the undead picks him up and puts him in a little wagon they appear to have been using to haul all of Mickey’s shit through the Door. He’s jostled all the fuck around while the wagon is dragged through the rough field.
“You know that now that you’ve allowed that parasite into your home, he’s never going to leave, right?” I ask Torin, enjoying the look of displeasure on Mickey’s face when the wagon hits a particularly large bump.
“That’s okay, I want you to have friends over there when I move you in,” Torin declares.
“It’d be nice if it were normal friends,” I mutter as I watch Mickey get some air on one of the bumps.
“My ass bone! Tommy, get in the wagon with me and cradle me so we can protect my ass bone,” Mickey orders.
“Yes, sir,” Tommy says as he rushes over to do so. He pulls Mickey onto his lap and hugs him there while another undead pulls them. I’m so horrified that I want to look away, but Kit won’t stop staring and even jumps aboard so I get an up close and personal look at it.
“The people of your world are quite fascinating,” Torin comments.
“Donotthink Mickey represents the people of my world. Mickey is… an alien being. I’m convinced he’s from another planet.”
