So they've been in bed for well over an hour when Yeza says, "I have learned of one magical thing in this area that I think even the locals either don't know about or just don't believe in. Did you know there are magic tigers in the woods?"
"There are WHAT?" Veth demands, even pulling herself up into a seated position. "Are you sure? Jester's never said anything about any tigers, let alone magic ones, and we certainly haven't seen any. What are they even supposed to do?"
"Um," Yeza says, looking suddenly way too nervous. "Well, I don't know if they actually do anything, exactly, but they can't be ordinary tigers, because, um....they're friends with Nugget."
Even after everything she's seen with her own eyes, Veth is left to stare at her husband in complete befuddlement. He starts to explain: "We don't know when it started, really; because the Chateau staff didn't really keep track of where Nugget was going during his first months here whenever he blinked out. I guess they figured so long as he kept coming back, which he did, it was probably fine. But of course once we started looking after him, Luc wasn't going to be happy until he knew where he was going, so he started tracking him. He did a really good job of it, too; you should be proud of him.
Of course, when he first came running to me and telling me Nugget was going to the edge of the woods and meeting up with a pair of tigers there, I didn't entirely believe him. But he insisted, and asked me to go with him. And I did, and Veth, he was telling the truth. Nugget goes and meets with this pair of pretty young-looking tigers, and I think they must be magical, because they definitely seem able to communicate with him."
Veth just sits there, still trying to process all this. Sure, she's probably seen weirder things recently, but this feels more like that story Fjord and Jester told shortly after they'd gone to sea that she's just plain refused to believe.
Up until Yeza then says, "He also claims at one point he saw them be joined by a tiny dragon and an octopus with a bucket, but he says he only saw that once, and they weren't there when I went with him, so...I don't know. He could've been exaggerating, or thought he'd seen something he hadn't, or..."
"Fjord and Jester saw them, too! They were on the Mystake when we first took it! And here I hadn't believed them!" Veth finds herself looking around for a moment for her flask; surely anyone would want a drink after learning this. "Were they stalking us this entire time? Did Luc say exactly when he saw them here?"
"Being stalked by a dragon?" Yeza sounds equally alarmed. "I mean, Luc described them as tiny, but surely even a tiny dragon is still a dragon, and they tell scary stories about sea creatures in this town. Apparently there was this thing underneath the city where-"
He's interrupted when the dog that started this conversation suddenly blinks into existence right in the middle of the bed. Normally Veth would yell at him to get off, but at this moment, she finds herself instead scooping Nugget up and looking at him as she sighs, "What is going on, Nugget?"
Nugget just happily pants up at her and licks her cheek. It helps Veth calm down, though, at least enough to think that if these are stalkers, they probably aren't going after her family, and she and her friends have killed one bigger dragon. They'll figure it out if they have to.
***
Nugget's not sure what the girl-who-was-the-goblin (Is she Ms. Veth for good now? She smells really different) was looking so upset about, but whatever it was, it looks like he's managed to cheer her up. That makes him very happy. He likes this family. He knows how to be a good dog for them.
He even hopes they keep him here. Though of course he doesn't need to be here anymore, now that Clapp and Joanne have their new place in the woods. Unfortunately Toby accidentally got left behind on some pirate island because their ship left way earlier than they thought it would, and Sprinkle still has to travel with Jester, so it's just the three of them taking care of Baby and Zaby. But to think, he had to go for so long trying to be a good big brother and making sure Froga Yaga didn't eat them, and now their proper parents are back.
At first Nugget thinks he's going to have to cheer up Mr. Yeza, too. But Ms. Veth is obviously rutting with him, and despite her scoldings, Nugget has seen Ms. Marion do enough of this with her friends to know it should help cheer Mr. Yeza up just fine. Though when Mr. Yeza moves over and looks at Nugget, the dog's happy to yip and pant at him and let himself be stroked a little.
Probably he'll have to go the moment they're done petting him; Mr. Yeza strikes him as being like Ms. Marion's shyer friends that way. Nugget doesn't mind. Hopefully Jester will have lost track of Sprinkle by now, and so they can have a good talk with just the two of them. He has so much to tell him.