Dragging her claws, Grubsnort managed not to tumble down the rough slate stairs into the lobby of Nightmare Central. Though why she bothered stopping herself from falling and breaking her neck, she had no idea...

Still, she shambled between the stalagmites of the reception area, their jagged edges catching in the black tangles of her fur. Even with the sun already up, shadows filled the place, but it was otherwise empty, she was glad to see. Coming through the maze of stone into the dispatcher's office, she let herself slump among the stacks of parchment covering the slab of quartz Lickspittle called his desk.

Collapsed there, she at least knew that Lickspittle wasn't arching an eyebrow at her. He was reptilian, after all. He didn't [i]have[/i] eyebrows. "Tough night?" he asked after a moment, his voice rustling like dead tree branches.

"I'm done." Grubsnort creaked her neck back to meet his black eyes. "Shave me bald, strip off my skin, cut it into squares, and sell it to humans as chamois leather. 'Cause that's all I'm good for!" She flopped back over the desk.

Another bit of silence drifted by, then Lickspittle cleared his throat. "Am I gonna get a report here, or are you just gonna shed all over my paperwork?"

"Report?" Jumping up, she flailed her arms, softening the bones for maximum effect. "How's this? I'm a failure! I'm supposed to be bringing horrible dreams to horrible people, and what am I doing?" Hardening her bones, she smacked the desk with a crash that echoed through the whole office. "No! Really! Tell me what I'm doing! 'Cause judging by tonight, I don't have a clue!"

Lickspittle hissed a sigh. "Start at the beginning, Snort." He dipped a claw into a bottle of red, crusty fluid beside him and slashed a few marks over a big piece of parchment.

"Fine." She spat the word. "My first client was a vicious little queen bee named Vanessa. She's been making life miserable at her school, so I had her dream of walking through the halls with so much make-up on, the students thought she was a clown. Then I had the place change into a big top full of dancing, scary clowns, and she—" Grubsnort had to take a breath. "She danced right along with them! Snapped her teeth, shook her booty, everything!"
 
Something started glowing in one of Lickspittle's stacks, and he pulled a page out. "Vanessa Turley. After waking up this morning, she applied just the barest brush of foundation before heading to school. Right now, she's arguing with her posse about how phony they look." He nodded. "I'm putting this in the 'keep up the good work' pile. Next?"

Grubsnort blinked. "Well, my second was a budding sadist named Steve. He tore up his little sister's paper dolls, so I had the dolls come marching into his room brandishing the staple guns they'd used to reassemble themselves." She shuddered. "It was [i]supposed[/i] to be a straightforward 'turned-tables' scenario, but it turned into this whole big video game battle! The jerk loved it!"

Another glow springing up led to Lickspittle unearthing another piece of parchment. "Steven Bastian. Right now, he and his sister are stapling her dolls back together and planning the big zombie adventure they're gonna play after school." He set that page in the same stack as the first.

"No!" Grubsnort flailed some more. "Don't put that in the 'good work' pile! I didn't—!"

"Your third client?" Lickspittle held up his blood-tipped claw.

Glaring, Grubsnort snarled, "My last guy was a stockbroker named Vinnie! He's been embezzling from his firm, so I had him dream that he was old and dying alone in the bedroom of his giant mansion! But I don't think he even noticed! He just laid there the whole time! No tears, no moans, nothing!"

"Vincent Gabler." Lickspittle waved a glowing page at her and put it with the other two. "Called in sick this morning and went to church, something he hasn't done since he was in college."

More blinking didn't help Grubsnort at all.

Lickspittle gave a croaking sort of chuckle. "You're doing fine, Snort. Just don't overthink it." Putting one last red scratch on the big parchment, he nodded and set it with the others. "Get your rest. Another busy night tonight."

"Yeah, yeah." Turning, she headed for the lobby's forest of stone. "I'll bet even [i]humans[/i] don't understand humans!"