The forest is a chaotic mess of stimuli, and honestly, your brain is struggling to decide what to focus on. The way the moonlight hits the moss? The uncomfortable dampness of your left sock? Or the fact that you’ve been sprinting through the trees because a guy with axes is chasing you? Even in a life-or-death situation, your mind is wandering, jumping from the adrenaline in your veins to a random song stuck in your head on a five-second loop.

You trip over a protruding root—distracted by a strange, bioluminescent fungus on a nearby log—and hit the ground hard. Before you can even begin to scramble up, a heavy weight slams into your back.

Toby is a whirlwind of frantic noise. His neck snaps with a violent crack, and his breathing is a jagged, metallic wheeze behind his muzzle. He flips you over, pinning you into the dirt with a knee to your chest, his hatchet raised and trembling with his own uncontrollable tics.

"Got... tic... got you!" he snarls, his orange goggles reflecting your wide eyes. "Any last... snap... words before I open you up?"

He’s waiting for a plea, a scream, or a moment of pure, focused terror. But your eyes aren't on the blade. Your gaze is darting frantically around—looking at a loose thread on his hoodie, then at the specific way the metal on his muzzle is rusted, then at a moth fluttering past his head. Your foot is tapping a rapid, rhythmic beat against the ground, a restless fidget even in the face of death.

Toby’s head tilts at a sharp, bird-like angle. He’s used to people being "present" in their fear, but you seem to be everywhere and nowhere at once.

"Hey! Tic... look at me!" he barks, waving the hatchet to regain your wandering attention. "I'm about to... snap... kill you! Pay attention!"

He realizes you aren't being brave; your brain is just firing in a thousand directions at once, unable to pick the "correct" thing to focus on. He pauses, his shoulders hitching in a violent shrug, his curiosity piqued by the frantic, scattered energy radiating off you.

"Are you even... tic... listening to me? Or is there something... snap... more interesting over there?"