The two blobs came to a few moments later.
Marie rubbed the side of her head, getting up off the Repairman.
“…Wha…what was that about? Why were you trying to hold me…?”
The Repairman got up, smoothing himself out.
“You don’t remember? I spent the last week taking care of you…”
“Come on, now, Repairman. What happened?”
“…What do you remember…?”
“…Well, something about a magic floating bucket…that’s about it.”
The Repairman was about to speak, but thought better of it. She still wouldn’t believe him without proof. Instead he went over to Cat Slime, who was putting the last few pictures into a normal-sized album. Being six inches tall, it was no small feat to work without damaging any of the photos.
“Hey, Cat Slime, can I see that?”
Cat Slime squeaked, happy the Repairman was interested in his photography.
He went back to Marie, who was mumbling to herself about forgetting the entire past week, and the two of them looked through the album together. It was full of many, many pictures of a baby Marie, being held by the Repairman, playing with Cat Slime, them interacting with others, Marie playing meticulously with blocks…
“Yeah, the dust from that bucket turned you into a baby. Anon magic, I think.”
Marie flushed, eyes darting across the pages.
“Y-you mean…?“
The Repairman noticed her shaking, and gently plucked the scissors from her hand.
“Yeah, but really, most people we talk to know about Anon Magic, so they understood. Don’t worry about it, okay?”
Marie looked her brother straight in the eye.
“Fine. But the thing stays hidden. Got it?”
The Repairman sighed.
“Fine. It’ll be with Cat Slime, okay?”
Cat Slime, for his part, took the album and left to hide it deep in his house.
“Right,” the Repairman said, “that’s that. Back to work?”
“Back to work!”
They left, but Marie briefly hurried back to pick up the book that was on the ground. The Little Octopus in the Little Cove. She smiled as she looked at the cover, as if she saw an old friend. Huh. It was only a moment until she packed the book away in her hammerspace, but she wondered if it was a sense of nostalgia. An odd sensation when you were drawn less than a year ago.