do you like Phil Collins

[VoltTurtle]

A flicker of a smile was all it took for Katelyn to feel at peace for a single, crystalline moment. For that brief, beautiful time, it was like she was back at home, and all her problems weren't so overwhelming. Then, just as quickly as it had arrived , she was jolted out of it.

She frowned, eyes bearing all her weariness and exhaustion.

When she was young, she would often poke and prod at the few friends she had made, needling them in ways she only now understood bothered them. They were friends she no longer had and would likely never see again, even if she overcame this place. She didn't understand why they abandoned her, until her mother told her that friends don't hurt friends, no matter if it's with words or weapons. She lived by that phrase ever since, even if she still couldn't stop herself from doing so unintentionally.

"Salem..." she whispered his name.

"Friends don't hurt friends," she stated, louder and more confidently. "So I w-won't hurt you. Please don't make me."

[Cicada]

And when she'd finally gotten a bit of her surety back, enough at least that he didn't feel completely out of place, she asked him something he could not guarantee. That was one of the things he'd agreed with Ash with, months or years or however long ago. Idealism died when given oxygen.

"Well... I guess."

He could lie though. Many such cases.

"Let's shake on it or something-"

And he began to stand, arms outstretched for something that was definitely not two hands meeting (firmly grasp it) for formalized agreement. Vulnerable, like the oysters on the plate that hadn't completely closed up, the easy targets. The trademark centrism almost hadn't been there, he'd almost unironically T-posed as if he wouldn't take it back, as if he'd offer affection without expecting anything in turn.

But he did take it back, his hands as quickly vanishing behind his butt as he'd tried to bring them forward.

"With your consent, I mean."

[VoltTurtle]

Katelyn brightened up a bit when Salem agreed. Her crying fully stopped, and the corners of her mouth turned up into the barest hint of a smile. That was one less person she would hurt. One less friend she would make cry. One less competitor for the final throne. One less soul weighing on her own.

"Shaking h-hands is always weird," she replied, softly. "It f-feels unnatural, so..."

She stood up from her chair, moving the billhook slowly and gently onto the ground next to her feet, as though if she did it too quickly, it would startle and bite her. It hit the floor with a quiet, woody thunk, and the heft of it left her hand like a cursed sword that had not yet sated its thirst for blood. It would return to her grasp in time, and with it the bloody path she was carving for herself would keep going, whether she liked it or not.

"U-Um, if you wouldn't mind," she squeaked, opening her arms to him, "maybe a h-hug instead?"

[Cicada]

That floorboard could have been the softest and most vulnerable points on his body and it might've made the exact same sound.

Salem took her into a brief embrace, patting her on the back once then twice like they were just bros in this war of attrition. This he was awkward at, but at least a familiar sort of awkward that he could fake readily, the sort of feel-good gesture he'd pulled out of his pockets hundreds of times back at school. Neither of them were particularly pleasant to hug either, he imagined. Too much cold clinging to them, leftover from Mother Nature's irate demands for their body heat in tribute.

He broke it off first, of course. Too long and he'd burst into flame- and not the sort that'd keep him warm inside.

[VoltTurtle]

That had to have been one of the worst hugs Katelyn had ever experienced, cold, smelly, and awkward.

It was still nice.

She yawned after Salem let go, looking out the window as the last vestiges of twilight disappeared. She yanked her flashlight out of her bag, turning it on to illuminate the room. Now with a better view of her environment, she spotted a large, ornate wooden cabinet off to one side. Without a word, she went over to it, opened it up, and began pulling the contents out and tossing them to the side, shelves and all. Once it was empty, she took the digging bar out of its sling and leaned it on the outside of the cabinet, proceeding to climb inside. It was snug, but just enough to fit her and the rest of her stuff.

"I think I'm gonna s-sleep in here," Katelyn murmured sleepily, "you're, um, welcome to stay, if you l-like. Thank you for being h-here for me."

Then, without another word, she closed the cabinet door and turned the flashlight off.

((It didn't take long for her to fall asleep, despite the circumstances.))

[Cicada]

"If anyone drops by, you ran away from me because I was too badass for you."

In his own kinda-sorta way, he had her back. He stayed a while, not sleeping. He was gone before she woke up, not bothering to check if she was still in that cabinet or not.

- Salem continued under new management -