Midnight's Cave: I'll be taking that!

".........." Looking again at the device in his hands, Ray let out an embarassed chuckle and laid the level to rest with the rest of his equipment. "...O-Oh, of course! Heh... Um, thanks, Midi..."

Once his back was to the bat, Ray let out a somewhat disheartened breath. How am I going to do this? I can barely remember Midnight, let alone how to rebuild her house! The flying squirrel briefly pondered trying to find his way back to his own home in hopes of possibly finding a book on carpentry. As he picked up yet another tool he didn't recognize, the idea was sadly dismissed. He peered quickly into the Chaos Emerald hanging from his neck, giving off its azure light, and scrunched his mouth to one side. Why can't YOU tell me what I'm supposed to do? You sure seem to be willing to give me other things.

Suddenly it occurred to him that Midi's computer could possibly be the information station he was in desperate need of. Picking up the soda she'd provided him to stave of the headaches, Ray attempted to casually wander over to the flying fox's side. "So.... what're you doing?"

@yami@ "...Y'don't say?" Ray awkwardly took a draught of his pop and cleared his throat. "Um... what kind of stuff are you doing?

"..."

And why is the word "eBay" suddenly flooding my mind?

@yami@ Thiiiis was turning out to be a lot more difficult than he anticipated. It was clear that Midi wasn't going to easily surrender any information, so Ray decided to shift gears into an adjacent tactic. "Are you busy?"

@yami@ "Oh, I was just wondering if I could borrow your computer for a minute... ..." Ray suddenly blinked, followed by a bewildered expression. "Wait, freaks??"

@yami@ "Thanks," Ray said with a nod as he took the vacated seat, doing his best to disregard the her comment. Pulling up the web browser, the squirrel pondered for a moment before typing "tools" into the search bar and hitting enter. He was slightly surprised to see that several thousand sites had come up in the results, but figured the first site had to be as good as any.

As the the blood rushed to his face, Ray's yellow fur gave him a somewhat orange blush as he gawked over what the website actually held. "WHOA WHOA WHOA!!" he yelped, quickly clicking the "back" button.

@yami@ Ray's blonde ears wasted no time in folding against his orangey-hued head. "I swear, that is NOT what I was looking for!!" he quickly sputtered.

@yami@ The squirrel exhaled a sigh not so unlike the one prior to even asking to borrow the computer. Maybe this WASN'T such a good idea...

It's only a setback, Ray quickly coached himself. An embarrassing one, but still just a setback. I'll just have to be more specific in what I'm looking for. Forcefully clearing his throat, the would-be carpenter made a second search attempt, this time inquiring for information on "drilling."

That link turned out to be contrary to his expectations as well. Ray released a flurry of hiccups as he quickly backed out of the website. "WHAT IS *hic hic* WRONG WITH THIS THING?!"

@yami@ Ray glanced at the hovering bat with a clearly distressed expression. "U-um... Could you, perhaps, not linger so closely, please??"

@yami@ Breathing a sigh of relief, Ray turned his focus back onto the search engine. Hopefully, a little privacy would bring him better luck. The squirrel pondered briefly before typing the word "screwing" into the search field.... Then after a bit more consideration, rampantly hit the backspace key. That was just ASKING for trouble.

Unfortunately, "nailing" didn't seem to be much better, and Ray's forehead smashed into the keyboard upon clicking the first link.

@yami@ "I don't think your computer is working properly," Ray awkwardly replied after backing out of the website and rubbing his eyes. His tail appeared to be growing fluffier and fluffier as the squirrel got more flustered.

@yami@ "Spyware?" The word felt familiar to his tongue, but it left a bitter taste in his mouth. Which did not bode well. In any case, Ray's expression fell slightly as he held up his arms in defense. "Hey, I didn't download anything, if that's what you're implying!!"

@yami@ Obediently, Ray vacated the computer chair and stepped aside. "...If I damaged your computer, I'll pay for the repairs," he stated uncertainly before downing the rest of his soda in a single swig.

@yami@ "Just carpentry information." Forcefully clearing his throat, Ray scratched his head and admitted, "I... can't exactly recall what I'm supposed to be doing with some of these things."

@yami@ Ray's mouth pressed into a thin line; apparently, the exact same thought had been repeating in his own mind. Glancing back over at the pile of tools, he slowly began, "Did... Did you ever have a dream that felt so real, you were SURE you were actually awake? But then, you wake up, and realize everything you were doing, and thinking, and feeling... It's all just slipped through your fingers." The squirrel left Midnight's side and took a seat at her couch, plunking his chin into his hands with a look of intense, yet troubled, thought. "If I sit and focus on things for a while, I can eventually remember glimpses, but beyond that... Well, it's like trying to remember a dream. Everything's so fuzzy... Prior to a few days ago, my life is just a big blur."

A frown crept across Ray's features; he couldn't bring himself to admit that he could barely even remember her.