𝐓͓̽𝐇͓̽𝐄͓̽ 𝐂͓̽𝐈͓̽𝐓͓̽𝐘͓̽ 𝐇͓̽𝐀͓̽𝐃͓̽ become a mausoleum masquerading as motion . beyond their tenuous refuge , the infected drifted through the streets in a slow and ghastly pilgrimage , their collective groans rising and falling like the exhausted respiration of a world that had forgotten how to die . ragatha scarcely perceived them . her gaze remained fastened upon foxtrot alone , upon the silent geometry of his resolve . his ears stood sharply canted toward every distant disturbance , every muscle held in vigilant suspension , while the exposed curve of his claws shimmered beneath the pallid light with quiet , terrible inevitability . he looked less like someone preparing to survive than someone already reconciled to becoming the wall another escaped behind . by contrast , she was scarcely managing to remain intact . one sleeve ended in violent absence , reduced to frayed cloth and torn seams where an arm had once been . wisps of stuffing escaped the ruined stump in delicate white strands , each one carried downward with infuriating indifference , and she instinctively clutched what remained against herself in a futile effort to keep from unraveling further . the irony settled over her like fresh snowfall — he was prepared to surrender everything to preserve her , while she could not even keep herself from quite literally coming apart .
the dolls breath faltered with visible reluctance , she relinquished the pressure she'd kept against the ruined sleeve , ignoring the handful of cotton that immediately floated free , and extended her remaining hand toward him instead . her fingertips found his forearm with almost ceremonial caution , carefully avoiding the sharpened crescents waiting only inches away , as though she trusted him so completely that even his claws had never belonged among the things she feared .
❝ fox ... ❞ 𓊆 🪡 𓊇 ⸺ she murmured , her voice scarcely more than a filament of sound , so delicate it seemed liable to dissolve into the stagnant air before it had fully taken shape , each syllable borne upon resolve too fragile to withstand much more , ⸺ 𓊆 🪡 𓊇 ❝ h - hey ... listen to me , okay ? ❞ 𓊆 🪡 𓊇 ⸺ cotton - cladded digits contracted ever so slightly around his forearm — not with the urgency of restraint , but with the quiet desperation of someone attempting to memorize a presence she feared was already receding beyond her reach , as though relinquishing him now might render the moment irrevocably final , ⸺ 𓊆 🪡 𓊇 ❝ you should ... you should go . i know , i know , you're gonna say no , but ... please just listen , ❞ 𓊆 🪡 𓊇 ⸺ a tenuous smile found its way across her features through evident exertion , lingering only briefly before collapsing beneath the inexorable weight of dread , its fleeting warmth extinguished almost as soon as it had come into being , ⸺ 𓊆 🪡 𓊇 ❝ i'll be okay . o - or ... i'll try to be , anyway ... ❞ 𓊆 🪡 𓊇 ⸺ the assurance faltered in transit , catching within the confines of her throat before emerging burdened by unmistakable uncertainty . even to her own ears , the sentiment possessed the brittle cadence of something spoken not from conviction , but from desperate necessity , ⸺ 𓊆 🪡 𓊇 ❝ i ... ❞ 𓊆 🪡 𓊇 ⸺ her gaze descended for the briefest of intervals , lingering upon the fractured silence suspended between them as though the floor itself might offer some forgotten answer , before rising once more to meet his eyes , carrying with it the quiet anguish of a plea she could scarcely bear to voice. , ⸺ 𓊆 🪡 𓊇 ❝ i don't want you getting hurt because of me . so ... if you get the chance , promise me you'll take it . just ... keep going , okay ? ❞
