DT Serum, Primary Testing In Progress

Layla smiled. "All right, but you should get yourself one too then."

Geena chuckled softly.  "I don't know... I'm still getting over my newest piece of jewelry.  Do you see anything you like?"

Layla looked over each necklace critically and held one up to her neck and looked in the mirror. "This one." She decided. The color complimented her eyes and skin tone well, and the length of the chain flattered her neck and cleavage well.

"I like it," Geena said carefully.  "Layla... Would you mind a comment?  I don't mean ill by it, and I don't want you to think I'm trying to take over your life, it's just a bit of advice.  Be careful with the girls.  You've got them, it's silly to try to hide them, but just be careful not to flaunt them.  Even with Lex, but if you do, keep it to Lex.  Alright?"  She kept her voice low and gentle, clearly more concerned than bossy.

Layla nodded. "I am a one man woman, and that man is Lex. I will try to only use them on Lex." She promised.

Geena smiled and gave Layla a one-armed hug, kissing her temple gently.  "You're a good girl, Layla.  Now, what do you say we get out of here and go home?"

Layla smiled, genuinely happy. "All right." She said cheerfully. Yes, she was more certain than ever that if she could choose a mom, it would have been Geena, no questions asked.

Once they'd checked out and were on their way home, Geena said, "Thank you for asking me along.  It was nice to finally get out of the house."

Layla smiled. "No problem! I like hanging out with you." She said genuinely.

"It's nice to be with you, too," Geena said, opening the door for Layla.  "Would you like any help making these goodies of yours?"

"Yes please!" Layla chirped, thanking Geena for getting the door and heading to the kitchen.

Geena followed her, chatting happily as she worked and helped.

Tramp stirred at last, moaning softly.

Layla enjoyed talking and cooking with the woman she idolized as the perfect mom.

Ashton was right there, and patiently waited for Tramp to wake up more, and trying to read the guy to guess what hurt and how bad.

Tramp stirred then let out a sharp hiss of pain.  "Ow," he moaned.  Squinting, he tried to look around while Bobo licked his face.  "Bobo?  Where are we?"

Ashton remained quiet, letting Tramp wake and slowly get a grip on his surroundings. He took the pill bottle Gaster had given him out and shook a couple pills out.

Tramp winced at the rattling sound and carefully pushed himself up to see better.  "Ashton?" he said slowly, trying to focus on what he hoped was the real Ashton in the trio of images he was seeing.

"Yeah, I'm here." Ashton said calmly. "I have pain pills for you. They'll help. Narcotics too, so they should help any drug cravings for the time being." He explained and offered the pills to Tramp. "Just take it easy. You can recover safely here. Me and my family will make sure nothing happens to you while you're here." He promised.

Tramp took the pills but held them in his hand as he looked around.  "Where exactly is 'here?'" he asked slowly, trying to knit things together.  He'd gone from being in a box to being in a palace.  He'd thought it was just a dream.

"Right now, we are in my room." Ashton explained. "My.... dad, owns this house. I live here with five brothers, girlfriends of two of them, dad's fiance, and a hoard of cats owned by my little brother." He sighed a little. "My older brother found you hurt pretty bad, and told me. Dad and I brought you here so you can rest and recover in peace."

Tramp gave a slow nod, thinking about that.  "Sounds like a full house," he said with a weak smile.  "Except... why do you pause when you say dad?"  In his world, that was a red flag.

Ashton rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, the personal reason is he is a scientist, and I have bad experiences with them, but Dr. Gaster has proven to be a good guy. I just... I still have some mixed feelings about the whole thing is all. As a dad, he's better than what I remember of my birth father, but there wasn't much competition there..." He explained.

"Scientist?" Tramp asked, tensing.  "So, in exchange for room and board, he pokes and prods you?"

Ashton shook his head. "No, not at all. He keeps his work and home lives separate, and and only does scientist stuff if it needs to be done, like with my one brother. He had back problems, and Gaster, with his permission, fixed it up."

Tramp said nothing for a while, petting Bobo.  "Five brothers?" he said at last.  "That's a lot of brothers.  And cats?"

Ashton nodded. "We manage to all get along."