Julien rolls eyes that are starting to bulge from his head, and obeys. The points in the fused keratinous structure that replaced his teeth are more prominent and tinged pink with blood vessels. "Seriously?" he says once he's let go. "This is what bendy straws were invented for. My trachea's in the floor of my mouth, get something to the back and it can't go down the wrong tube."

He's terrified - is that all of why his eyes are so wide and round? - even with athelas's influence but if there's someone here to see, he desperately doesn't want to show it. That leaves trying for peevish smartassery, or asking questions. Either is possibly a distraction to seize at. God, he doesn't want this. The good thing about laying in pain was that it had been so hard to think.

"You've got a giant hole in your memory too, right? Start of the year, like everyone blacked out for days and suddenly you're in a different place."