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"Awwee! Aren't you just a little angel~?" Ripping Current squeaked out as they happily squeezing the poor slugcat in her arms, whose only mistake was to let the slug-crazy god be the one to treat her wounds and nurse her back to health.
Although, it was not like she had a lot more options. Her friend had so painstakingly carried them through countless regions in a dangerous journey over to four (FOUR!) completely different machine-god structures, and five trips were needed to finally take her to someone who had the capabilities to cure her!
She had felt sad, hopeless about finding a cure, and even a little angry at the iterators who were unable to help (starting for the one who had actually worsened the problem before fixing it enough to get her back to square one). However, in retrospective, and now that she was (squeezed!) safe and sound in the arms of the iterator, she could do nothing but feel sympathy for them. It was clear they had actually wanted to help, but lacked the resources to do anything but lengthen her life enough for her to get a final solution...
"Knock knock!" The playful iterator tapped thrice at her brand new, metallic tail, eliciting a surprised "wa!" from the sluggo. It was rather sensitive, in a strange way. Much better than a rotting tail, of course. But the feeling of having something that was, and at the same time was not there... Was not pretty comfortable.
... And Ripping Current was already bouncing her around like she was but a tiny pup.
The blue slugcat, so graciously baptized as "Little Moon", was not the biggest fan of being treated like a child. However, coming from her kindhearted savior, Moon was willing to accept a small amount of doting~
The god-machine was a little too "touchy-feely" for her liking, constantly petting and taking her in their arms every chance it had. Nevertheless, Moon would be lying if she said the gentle bounces were not comforting. Or that the way the iterator glided around with her in arms, movements constant but gentle, wasn't soothing her and easing her mind.
It was a little dizzying, of course. Moonie could never get used to be moved around so much, and the fact that the iterator was going in circles didn't help in the slightest. But the lightheadedness issue was quickly fixed just by closing her eyes. Maybe also nuzzling on her savior, snuggly fitting her snout on their cold neck. That also helped, leaving aside Current's squeak of delight.
As the blunt fingers left soft scratches in her head fluff, Moon was growing more and more tempted to just let herself go, to just nap away the discomfort while settled on the iterator's arms. And as much as she tried to fight against it, she eventually found herself purring in relaxation and kneading softly at their shoulder, consciousness slipping away from her...
"Hey! Little one, hello!!!" But suddenly, Moon felt herself be pulled upwards, and let out a surprised mewl as the gravity reactivated, a soft tingling resonating above her.
She opened her eyes slightly, finding out she and the iterator were actually hanging upside down, if the colorful dots and the green blur in the 'ceiling' were anything to go by.
Moonie didn't pay a lot of attention to the figure, or whatever the ecstatic god-machine was saying, limiting herself to closing her eyes as they started to descend. But to her displeasure, the slugcat was left to rest on the floor.
She squirmed a little, curling up on herself and holding onto her new metallic appendage. Balling up and kneading at her tail used to be Moon's favorite self-soothing activity, but now with just a big piece of metal in place of the soft, squishy flesh she had been used to her entire life, she only felt her discomfort increasing. She didn't like this. Why, oh, why? Why did he have to do this to her...
However, as soon as she let out the slightest whine, a snout pressed softly against her head fluff. It sniffed at her a little, before tucking out their tongue and starting to give away small licks, softly grooming the top of her head.
The blue slugcat didn't even need to look up to know who it was. Hell, she didn't even need the hint that the creature was green. Even if she hadn't seen their green fur, or felt their scent as they nuzzled against her, just the gentleness they exercised with her was enough to recognize the slugcat as her closest friend. Her hero, the one who made all the effort to bring her all the way here, going through countless cycles of exhaustion and pain just to keep her alive...
Moon raised a paw to pet her companion's snout, eliciting soft purrs from his part and a soft coo from Ripping Current, who instantly looked away and tried to pretend she wasn't staring at the sluggos. They spawned in a couple of screens, drawing up stuff and modifying random data in a try to pretend she was giving the creatures any privacy.
Moon didn't really mind. A lot of things weighed on her head. But, at least for that moment, she could just relax and let the pain go. She had to take as much advantage as she could of being in such a safe place, after all~
It was not her home. The place, although secure enough for her to not be worried about danger, and enough food to live for the rest of her life, was not where she felt that she was meant to be.
Something was lacking. Something important. Someone who had hurt her, and yet she missed so dearly.
However, just for now, she was willing to ignore it. She 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 to ignore it.
Just a soft, calm moment to get some much needed comfort, that was all Moon could ask for at the moment. And, with Sig happily grooming her in a try to ease her mind, it was precisely what Moon had.
She could worry about her little sibling when she woke up, when she had healed enough to be able to look after him.
For the first time in a good while, as she dozed off to sleep, Moon felt like she had all the time in the world.