The Dog Bites Back

Easy as a Walk in the Park [Kiku starter]

Tap… Well seemed like a good start as any. As odd as it sounded anyways. It’d be a brief thing, and it didn’t involve a lot of skin being touched. Hmmm. Maybe the shoulder was a bit too invasive, though? Or maybe it’s just because last time she got slapped for it, but she thought it’d not be a great idea.

That’s… That’s a very sweet offer, Red, but it doesn’t exactly work like that. She can talk just fine… on her own. But she understood what he meant in general- if she decided to try to push herself further, he’d try to help somehow. And it did mean a lot, so she nods with a rather shy smile. Yeah. Yeah maybe she’ll try to push herself further… Maybe she’ll start talking to Arthur and pretend Red’s around. That could work, she can talk to animals just fine after all.

Okay so. She scribbles down on her notepad “Okay then, I’ll try it!” as a first warning, then put it down. And… subtly… reaches above his head. Pat. It’s pretty soft and she doesn’t let her hand linger for longer than maybe a second or two because she isn’t sure of his reaction, but hey. That should be fine, right?

Ohhh fuck, why did she pick the head? Of all the places she could have picked. Red flinches reflexively, eyes snapping closed as he holds his breath. Chill. It's okay. Do not yell, hit, or vomit. It's fine.

"............."

And then it's gone. Two seconds felt like an agonising lifetime for Red, but he did it. He didn't lash out. That's definitely something, at least for him. He still feels a little unsettled after she removes her hand however, so he reaches down and finds Arthur, ever available as a grounding source of comfort, there to lick his fingers.

"Ugh..."

The shudder of revulsion that runs through him isn't for you, Kiku, he swears.

"Hoo boy. This is gonna require some work."

Easy as a Walk in the Park [Kiku starter]

Red… Why are you punching people. Tsk, tsk. She’d shake her head in a motherly fashion, but she’s busy listening. It’s probably to save the ‘why must you be so violent’ for later.

… Oh. Kiku hadn’t really noticed about the touchy thing. She just assumed it was because he was in a shocked state of mind. It’s not like she’s very touchy so she hasn’t really tried to touch Red outside of that context- and now she has learnt that it was a bad idea. She smiles a little at him blushing and saying stuff about weird shit - she hadn’t thought of anything like that! why would she? - and nods. Sure, she’ll try to help the best as she can! She lets go of Arthur to write down

"It’s no problem! I’m happy to help. I’d know what is to have weird responses to things. I still can’t talk to anyone here properly."

Well, she did use the notepad to talk, but talking properly, by being verbal, was still off the charts. It’s rather bothersome.

"How should we start trying that, then?"

Don't get nervous and back out now Red, come on. The idea had seemed fairly simple in his mind but now he's faced with the actual thing his heart leaps up into his throat with a resounding No. As he forces it back down - will you chill the fuck out holy shit - he nods to Kiku.

"... sure, I mean, why wait. Shouldn't be hard. Maybe like... tap me or something. That's a start."

It's only Kiku, relax. Kiku couldn't hurt someone if she tried, most likely. Then again she could probably just talk local wild life into doing it for her.

"Oh yeah, and by the way, if you ever need to practice talking, I'm here for that. I won't even say shit back if you don't want."

"Though maybe you should just try Arthur instead!"

Is he laughing because he's nervous or because he's genuinely amused. Who knows.

Easy as a Walk in the Park [Kiku starter]

Kiku doesn’t mind too much he takes a while to see. She also wouldn’t mind baking cookies either- she can certainly do that to most people here, no problem! She’d say everybody, but she wouldn’t really be willing to make them for Jin or Genji. Wonder why. She shrugs slightly to show she doesn’t mind either way. She smiles a little with the compliment. At least she was taking as a compliment, being good at baking was a good thing. Whichever the reason he thought that was.

She notices he starts to slow down with the biscuits and just smile a bit. Well. He tried. Not that she’d mind much at all, she did take those for him anyways. She decides to act as if she hasn’t noticed, it’s not such a big deal anyway. She decides to lean a little and pet Arthur instead while eating her cookie. Good girl.

At his question, she looked back. Huh… A favour? He didn’t seem like the type to ask such things… Maybe it was related to the terrible experience he had to go through? Either way seemed serious enough, and with a hand petting a dog and another with a biscuit, she decided to simply nod. Yes, go right ahead Red.

#fujikawa kiku #chapter 2 #idk what you thought i was going to say ray #but for the record kiku gets arthur in red's will just fyi

He's no good at asking things of other people. Spent too much time living for himself, but sometimes he can't just keep this stuff up on his own. So, two things that Red finds difficult that he's doing anyway today: apologies, and requests. A+ Red, good job.

"I'm trying not to be such an asshole to various people. Maybe get some better impulse control. Because seriously, it seems half the people I'm punching recently have no real business gettin' punched by me."

Just get to the point, Red.

"I'm trying to desensitise myself to the whole... touching thing. Like, I've never minded people hitting me, but - you saw, I hit you when you just tapped me on the shoulder. Shit ain't right. I was hoping you might... dunno, be able to help me with that."

He reaches down and pets Arthur for a little bit of courage.

"I don't mean any weird shit, just, you seem like a good place to start. Bein' not an asshole and all. I'd get it if you say no, though. 'S a weird request."

Basically, you are the baseline of non-threatening people Red can start out with this new test of his own endurance on. And maybe it eventually won't be endurance. Maybe he can trick his own fight-or-flight response into going back to normal levels.

Easy as a Walk in the Park [Kiku starter]

Kiku tries to make any remaining water dry out quicker, but quickly shrugs and sits down as well. She doesn’t immediately shove a cookie to her mouth, not only because she’s not Red about food, but because he got to it first. She just patiently picks another and eats at her own pace. They have a lot of time to kill, so there’s no need to hurry, right?

She smiles happily— Oh good, he liked it! She choose something rather generic in hoping he’d like it because she didn’t remember knowing what exactly he liked to eat or what he liked to eat more. Well, like any minimal observant person, she had noticed that he ate whatever food he choose to eat like a dog- quickly and merrily. It was rather nice, in a way that he enjoyed it so much, not much the talking with mouth full part. She didn’t really mind, though. She’s sure he knows about manners and simply, likely, discarted it because he didn’t care enough.

Then she blinks, smiles and shakes her head lightly. Oh, nooo- well she could have if she wanted, but she liked having time to cook. And she had to meet him at a determined time, so there was some restriction in time. She decides to explain to him though, and putting the rest of the cookie on her mouth, which resulted in a bit being left out. Small mouth, small bites and slow eating didn’t make for her eating a full cookie in that frame of time.

"Oh, no! I didn’t want to risk getting late here, so I just got some I’ve found in the kitchen. I could make some next time, though."

The rain starts to fall more heavily, and Arthur scoots a little more under the shelter of the table and the umbrella over it. Red watches absently as it bounces off the leaves on the bushes nearby, before noticing that Kiku has written something on her notepad, and quickly scans the page.

"Y' don't have to if ya don't wanna. Though you look like you'd be good at baking somehow. Don't ask me why."

Something about being caring and having attention to little things. That ties in with baking skill, apparently, in Red's head. He shoves a few more cookies in his mouth before he sees he's basically eating them all before Kiku can get to them, so he slows down, letting Arthur lick the crumbs off his fingers.

A thoughtful silence falls over him for a while as he watches the rain, and feels Arthur settle against his feet. She makes a good leg-warmer like that. In general she's good for these sorts of things.

"... hey, Fujikawa. Can I ask you a favour?"

Night Horror-Terrors [Kyoki Starter]

Kyoki is grateful that the subject of her past is dropped. She’s not particularly equipped to discuss that with, well, anybody. Best to leave events safely buried in the ground where they can hurt nobody, or at least for now. Best to focus on sharing kindness and happy moments with a friend! And comforting physical contact. At least, she’s pretty sure it’s comforting. The only experience she has had with comforting physical anything has been holding onto her teddy bear, but for some reason, the novelist doubts Red would react positively to being clung to for dear life. So she’s just going to leave her hand on his shoulder.

Kyoki gives a little shrug. If he says that hitting her made up for the name, then it did. It’s not very pleasant, but Kyoki doesn’t have too much objection to being punched. Self-preservation is a concept that, while not entirely alien, she has yet to grasp some of the finer principles of. However, when dog-related silliness occurs, she can’t help but smile, and not just that, She chuckles. A genuine, albeit quiet laugh, born from genuine amusement, is something that seems to be an oddity to experience for her, but a pleasant oddity.

Taking on a slightly more serious, dignified, demeanor, as much as one can when one is on the floor, with a hand on someone’s shoulder and a mild but insistent throbbing pain in one’s face, she speaks, directing her words at Red, because she is Dignified and Proper and wouldn’t do something silly like talk to an animal. “So, with a count of unfortunate misconduct on behalf of one party and several blows to the head of the other, may I assume that all is said and done, reparations have been made, you feel better, and we remain friends? Or is hoping for such a positive resolution a tad too idealistic for the present circumstances?”

It's a little hard to be dignified when you have a dog grooming your hair and making what was already no doubt strange looking bed hair even stranger. Red doesn't seem at all bothered by this. In fact, it's just as comforting as Kyoki's hand, if not more. Speaking of Kyoki, he thinks he can see a nasty looking bruise blossoming on her face. He forgets he punches that hard sometimes. Also, talking to animals isn't silly. Animals love being talked to. Especially Arthur.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, we're cool," he says, nodding slightly and getting licked in the face. "I guess my subconscious got me all wound up and stuff, it's not so bad now I'm awake." Maybe he'll be able to fall back to sleep. Eventually. "The, uh, 'unfortunate misconduct' wasn't even really your fault. So yeah, we're good, don't sweat it."

Satisfied that she has licked pretty much all of Red's head, Arthur sniffs at Kyoki's head, but deigns not to mess up her hair, instead staring longingly at her. Pet me. Go on. You know you want to pet me.

Easy as a Walk in the Park [Kiku starter]

Kiku, like me, didn’t realize how odd would it be to call him a cat of all things until he spoke up. She blinked, and then smiled a little sheepishly— Whoops? Well, he said it works, and it really does even if in a odd manner, so! She didn’t slip in a bad manner. Just an odd one.

At the question, she perked up, and nodded. Sure! What’s better than sharing cookies with a friend? Probably nothing. Well, maybe petting animals with a friend, but still. No one is really comparing here! And they’re good all the same. So she nodded, ready to follow him to the park benches with Arthur.

Besides, this was probably the first time she saw him smiling freely without it being directed at Arthur, so it was good, right? Right.

Well, the benches aren't too wet, so that's good at least. He sits down, and opens the box of cookies, immediately shoving one in his mouth. Pretty good! Tasty, sweet, right amount of crunchiness. Not that Red would stop eating even if it tasted nasty.

"Mmmph. Thsh ish pr'tty good."

Don't talk with your mouth full, Red...

"Hey, Fujikawa, you make these or..?"

Arthur keeps sniffing at the table, so Red raises his hand. She sits obediently, and then he breaks off a bit of cookie with no chocolate in it, crumbles it, and lets her eat it out of his hand. Share and share alike.

Night Horror-Terrors [Kyoki Starter]

Kyoki very gently puts her hand on Red’s shoulder. It’s not really a pat, it’s far too gentle for that, as if she is scared that pushing to hard will cause him to break or explode. She just kind of leaves her hand there as long as he’ll let her. Contact is comforting, right? She thinks it is, anyway. Hopefully.

Her weak, faltering smile strengthens a little as he says she’s not that bad. Admittedly, not the best of compliments, but the best she’s received from him, and by extension, from a friend, in her entire life. So that certainly means something. Being asked a question takes her aback a little.

Her face twitches, as if she is recalling something deeply unpleasant, before she swallows and nods, returning Red’s smile. His word choice seems to have the effect of oddly comforting her. “I suppose that I would not be the person I am now had… certain things not occured in my past. However, I believe that a backstory such as mine is best kept for another day. I believe knowledge of such events would not serve to repair your emotional state so much as burden it. I believe what matters most is that the past is both behind us and with us, but we are who we are now. And we are friends, at least, I believe us to be so. I apologize again for upsetting you with the mention of that name. Is there anything I can do to recompense you?”

Kyoki sounds completely earnest, and without any of the over-the-top suggestions for retribution. The author stares into Red’s eyes in what she hopes isn’t a creepy way, her expression almost neutral, but with a hint of a smile behind it.

#two friendless idiots trying to figure out how to human #fujimori kyoki #chapter 2

He's not gonna pry if she doesn't want to come out with anything, and from the look on her face she really doesn't. Wouldn't be fair. The touch on his shoulder is strangely alien, neither intending to hurt nor setting off his alarm bells, it's simply there. Right, yeah, human contact that isn't violence. That's a thing that exists. Been a while. The only positive contact he's had in years has been dogs, because all dog contact is positive contact in his opinion. She's staring really intently at him too. He supposes this is what friends do? He's seen the occasional movie, read plenty of books, it seemed to go something like this.

She's still trying to apologise for the name. He shakes his head. "Nah, I already hit you, like, twice. That's enough for me. Long as I don't have to hear it again, we're cool," he can't be held responsible for things he does when he hears that collection of syllables, he thinks. Punching a chick is a perfectly reasonable response. Something wet licks up the side of his head and he turns to find that Arthur has woken up, rolled over, and decided to use his ears as a saltlick. "Oh now you're up. Don't mind us, your majesty, slumber ever onwards." He's not actually mad at her. He can't be mad at Arthur.

Night Horror-Terrors [Kyoki Starter]

Kyoki moves a little to try and extricate herself from the iron grip of Red, now that she’s fairly sure he doesn’t need to hit her anymore to feel better. If he did, she’d be okay with that. Because that’s just what friends do for each other, right? She thinks. Kyoki is really no expert on friendship. Quite the opposite.

The novelist listens to her roommate’s story. Can she call it a story? No, not really. More of a stream of consciousness. But this isn’t a piece of writing. This is real. This is his life, and real things that matter to who he is a person, so, with some effort, she puts the part of her brain that interprets it all as a novel, as a tale, as a character arc, as a story, on hold. She lets silence hang in the air for a moment before breaking it. She sounds rather uncertain of herself, but at the same time completely honest. “I preface by saying that anything I say is obtenebrated by the fact that I have little knowledge of your past. But I assure you that all of us”

She pauses, her hand twitching slightly before she continues. “All of us have had experiences that we would rather forget. Things that haunt us for years, gripping our fragile minds in their dark clutches until we can banish them with time and forgetfulness. And for the sake of comfort, we see the loss of painful memories as desirable. And perhaps it is. But the events themselves, even if you expel them from memory, will always have happened, and events like those shape us.” From her tone, she seems to be talking as much about herself as anyone.

She reaches out a hand, very tentatively, and slowly, making sure to give Red time to push it back, avoid it, or hit her again if he does not wish to be touched. “I suppose that, the thing that I am attempting to explain, although I have, as I am wont to be, been overly loquacious, is that however terrible that experience was, is in the past and can be safely forgotten, but it is also one of the things that has made you the person you are now, dreadfully cliche as it is.”

Kyoki averts her eyes for a few seconds before attempting a smile. “And I, considering myself of excellent taste, rather like the person you are, Red-san.”

He has no idea what to say to that. Though he initially twitches a little away from Kyoki's hand, he forces himself to stay still, and eventually the tensions starts to drain, and it's okay. This is fine. Actually, for once he's able to believe that. Usually his inner mantra rings a little false. But he really is fine with this contact and that's a bit weird in and of itself.

"I guess you're not so bad yourself, Fujimori," he says in return, digesting her words (and there were, as usual, quite a few of them). "... yeah. Our experiences define us, is basically what you're saying." He thinks. "I can agree with that. I mean, some of it was just me trying to be me in the first place, but how that ended up meshing with life around me made the difference," he sounds like he's mostly pondering to himself, but also to Kyoki. He looks up at her. "What about you? Would you say there's stuff in your life that made you how you are now, or did you just like, pop into the world fully formed out of the inky blackness of the infinite void." He borrows some of her words with a little bit of a grin.

Night Horror-Terrors [Kyoki Starter]

Kyoki breathes in sharply when the knee’s removed from her stomach, gasping for air for a few seconds before her breathing becomes more regular again. She continues to stare up at Red, tears nearly but not quite materializing in her eyes every time she blinks. After listening, she speaks again, her voice even and calm, but determined.

"I don’t want to stop talking. If I do, I will be unable to help you. Perhaps I am unable to help you anyways. But I wish to try. My utmost apologies if this is insolence on my part. Futile though my attempts may be, you are my friend and I do not believe that a friend ought to stand by and watch another suffer idly."

Don't cry, Kyoki, he's no good at dealing with crying people, especially people he's getting weirdly attached to. They're friends. He agreed to it (somewhat begrudgingly) so, he'll keep his word. But it's not something he's used to, or knows how to do. So he makes his best approximation of it by not hitting her again, and trying to explain himself.

"Look, Fujimori," he says, tiredness creeping into his voice. "This is. This is a thing I've been dealing with for a long-ass time, and up until like, a few hours ago, I thought it was all behind me and I would never have to think about it again. That- that woman and that name are two things I don't want to think about, they're a life I deliberately left behind. Though I..." he glances up at where Arthur, somehow, has remained blissfully asleep through the whole thing, snoring softly. "I guess I would never have met Arthur if it hadn't happened." He's not grateful to her in the least. He's just glad something good came of something terrible. "Coz, I mean. Running away from home turned out to be the best decision of my entire life, but I probably wouldn't have done it if she hadn't..." urgh. Nope. That's as far as his ability to explain that part goes. "And I don't know what would have happened to Arthur if she hadn't found me, either. Probably starved. Or hit by a car. So. Yeah. Don't know where I'm going with this. You're the SHSL Wordy Person or whatever."

Night Horror-Terrors [Kyoki Starter]

Kyoki’s childlike physique and habit of not doing any exercise at all ever mean that the attack Red inflicts upon her is ridiculously easy. She seems to be shocked more than anything. She gives a little yelp as he grabs her and a gasp as the air is driven from her lungs by a knee to the stomach, her eyes stinging with tears, but her expression remains more or less neutral, and she lies limply as he hits her, with no sound other than an involuntary whimper. Perhaps this will make him feel better, and if it does, he’s welcome to do it as many times as he wants.

She’s shaking a little, but only a little. not enough to notice unless you look at her trembling hands. Her eyes sting with tears but there is no place for them here and so she holds them back. When she eventually speaks, her voice is as calm and measured as always, but the dignified air she usually lathers it in is gone entirely, and she sounds much more heartfelt and sincere than usual.

"I am sorry, Red-san. I did not realize that it would hurt you to mention that name. I promise that I shall never do it again. If you say that is not your name, then it is not, and non est disputandum. I hope you can forgive me for mentioning it. If it would make you feel better to strike me again, you may do so. If that is the only way that I can help you, so be it, so long as I am helping you.”

It takes about a minute for Red's breathing to calm, and his own hands to stop shaking. He eventually shifts his knee out of Kyoki's stomach, settling back into a crouch. His fist is still raised, and he uses it to smack Kyoki again, much more lightly, more as a bump on the head than a punch to the face.

"You really have no idea when to stop talking, do you," he mutters. Hitting her does not make him feel especially better, for some reason. Maybe because it won't change anything if he does. And she's almost too easy to hit, like she wants him to do it. "... just don't do it again."

Night Horror-Terrors [Kyoki Starter]

Kyoki doesn’t think that the tightness with which he grips his arms can be healthy. It looks like it’s probably hurting him. He really shouldn’t be doing things that hurt him, that’s not healthy and it’s bad and he shouldn’t. Moving even closer, she tentatively reaches out a hand before rethinking it and taking it back. He might be upset if she touches him. She’s not sure, she has no clue what she’s doing but she has to help.

Her voice keeps catching in her throat as she tries to speak, but she forces herself to anyway, looking directly at Red no matter how much she wants to turn away and mumble. “My most sincere apologies. I only wish for you to be okay. Because I consider you a comrade.” she looks down at her feet. “I do not know why you feared what you did. But I am still very sorry that you had to see that woman calling you Akari-chan. I know not what it signified, but I am still sorry that you were forced to experience such a thing.”

#chapter 2 #fujimori kyoki #she was going to get punched eventually #im sorry kyoki....

The only reason Kyoki managed to finish her sentence is because Red briefly froze at the mention of that name. She could have used that time to run, had she known what was coming, but she didn't, and as such when Red leapt at her, it sent both of them toppling to the floor of their room. It's a mess of fists and grabbing and Red has his knee firmly planted in Kyoki's stomach by the time he rights himself enough to smack her, hard, across the face. His knuckles sting with it.

"Don't you ever say that name around me!!" he yells, voice cracking slightly. He doesn't look angry. He looks terrified. "It doesn't belong to me and I don't want it!" His breathing is uneven, fist still raised like he'll hit her again but shaking hard. So help him god he'll beat the memory of that name out of her and anyone else who speaks it. And everyone heard it. He's going to have to put a lot of work in...

Night Horror-Terrors [Kyoki Starter]

Kyoki flinches a little at her roommate’s aggressive tone, shrinking into herself a little. But she’s determined to help him. She can’t let him just stay sad, because he’s a friend, or at least, she thinks he is. With her hands clasped worriedly against her chest, she slips her feet into her favourite pair of lavender slippers with pentagrams on them that she keeps by the bed, standing up and tentatively moving towards Red, doing her best to make her body language non-imposing.

Her voice falters a little, but she overcomes it, although she is so quiet as to be practically whispering. . “I must apologize once again for my appalling lack of sensibility, but I can recognize lies. I do not think that you are fine. I think you’re quite far from fine. I’m awfully sorry. I just want to aid you. I think of you as a friend, Red-san.”

Despite being relatively non-threatening, Red still tenses as Kyoki comes closer. His fingers dig into his arms through his hoodie hard enough to bruise, and he stares up at her. She just won't let it go, let it lie, let him lie. Calling him 'friend' and trying to help him... he can't figure out her game, what she's playing at...

"I have never, and will never, want or need anyone's help," he mutters quietly, almost inaudible. "Every time someone thinks they're 'helping' me, they're usually just helping themselves." Green eyes glance up at her. Why does she have to be so damn worried about him. It's weird. He doesn't know what to do with it. ".. yeah. Okay. I might not be fine, right now, because fuck that room and fuck this place's bullshit. I don't even know how... they knew..." he trails off into silence, swallowing before his stomach can churn too much.

Night Horror-Terrors [Kyoki Starter]

Kyoki slowly removes her blankets, sitting on the edge of her bed in her nightwear, a set of very expensive-looking black and violet pyjamas that looked more like something you’d wear to a dinner party than to sleep, although admittedly very soft.

She listens, thinks his words over thoughtfully, considers going back to bed, and then decides that he probably isn’t as okay as he would like to think he is. Leaning slightly towards her roommate, she clears her throat lightly before continuing.

"I do hate to be insistent, and if I am acting uncouthly you may beat me to within an inch of my life whilst I scream out in agony but… I really do not think that you sound "fine" as you put it. Neither do you look it. Are you sure you are alright?"

"Fujimori," Red growls quietly, glaring over at her. "You're making that offer to beat the shit out of you sound real tempting."

He knows he probably shouldn't rise to her bait like this. He pulls his hood up over his head like it could stop her from staring at him like that. Does she know how uncomfortable that can make a guy? Probably. Then again, probably not, it's hard to tell what aspects of creepiness Kyoki does on purpose and what she doesn't.

"I always look like this. It's fine. I'm fine." Obviously if he says it enough to make her believe it, he might believe it too.

Easy as a Walk in the Park [Kiku starter]

Duh, of /course/ those are for you, silly. Why else would she be here, offering them for you? Besides, you look like you need them. ….Saint? Why? She’s not that good of a person… Is she? She’s just trying to be supportive as possible! It’s something friends do, right?

Then she blinks and listens to him- lookingly slightly surprised. Oh. Ohhhh, is that what it was about. She soon smiles back, and waves her hand in dismissal- it’s alright, Red-kun!! She had forgotten already. No need to pay that any mind at all. But to be sure, she picks her notepad and writes it out for him

"It’s alright! I know you were just reacting on instinct. Like a scared cat. I should have remembered that, actually! But it’s already in the past, right? Don’t worry!"

She holds it out to him. See? No need to dwell on it any further!

You're only proving his saint theory, Kiku. All of those worries he had about having scared you off were apparently for nothing. Still, he's... relieved, to say the least.

"Like a cat?"

"Well that's a new one. Yeah, I guess that works."

He looks down at the cookie box, and then over at the park benches. The sky above looks like it's about to start chucking down rain again, though it's only been drizzling for up until now. Looks like some of the park tables have umbrellas they can sit under, so that's good.

"Wanna share these with me?"

Because that's the best way he knows how to make up with someone - share food.

Night Horror-Terrors [Kyoki Starter]

Kyoki sleeps light. She always has. She woud regularly awaken at odd hours in the middle of the night or early morning, surrounded by the cloying darkness, shivering under the covers, and under normal circumstances she would cling to her stuffed companion, the one her father had given her when she was very young. She would rub his soft ears and clutch him to her chest and make conversation with the soft toy until she could lull herself back to sleep.

However, now, as her eyes opened, she didn’t have her companion with her. Instead, she was in a strange bed in a strange place, and the only person in here with her was Red. He’d told Kyoki that she could talk to him, but, looking over to him, he seemed like he needed a lot more comforting than she did.

She had wanted to help him after he’d left his room. She’d wanted to stop him crying and make him feel better, but no, she had been useless. Perhaps now she would be able to make up for that.

Clearing her throat lightly, she sat up against the wall, facing Red’s bed. In a quiet, anxious tone, she spoke. “I don’t mean to intrude, but… do you find yourself quite alright?”

He twitches rather than jumps, pulling his hands away from his eyes and looking over at her. He didn't mean to wake her up. Honestly, he'd been pretty good at not waking her despite getting up earlier than her. It's weird having someone in the same room as him while he sleeps. Someone who can talk back at him, anyway.

"... 's fine. Go back to sleep," he grumbles, voice slightly hoarse. Feels like he's been screaming but he can't have been. Though it looks like she's not slept much either.