Cold Hearts

Ren made a face when Kotone said she couldn’t get cold. Maybe something contemplative. She would be lucky if she couldn’t’ get cold. “That’s lucky though,” she told the woman quietly. However Kotone was arguing now. That she wasn’t nice, and that most people, unlike Ren, annoyed Kotone. Ren chewed on her lip, continuing until it was starting to hurt. ‘I’m sure if I stuck around long enough you’d probably dislike me too.’

“… Nu-uh….” she said, disagreeing. It didn’t sound especially convincing, because Ren rarely had confidence behind her words, but she was sure she wouldn’t. “I never get tired of people. They just go away… ‘Cause I’m not…. Good enough, I guess. But its alright, I guess, I mean, at least I have a place to stay now. I don’t need… I mean, I’ll be f-fine. But if you th-think I’ll leave, you should spend more time with me, and I can show you I wouldn’t. I mean if you wanted, its your choice…” she mumbled a bit at the end, getting awkward. It was really difficult to disagree, especially with someone with such a strong personality.

Ren had no way of knowing what Kotone was thinking. She would have felt awful interrupting the girl’s thoughts. In fact, she already felt awful for what she’d said. It was too much. Too disagreeable. Too telling. She should have just shut up. She stared at the crate harder, her hooding pulled up by her shadow, so it could cover her face. She was basically walking blind, but then again, that usually worked out better.

Kotone blinked a few times, her hand not moving from the necklace she'd been touching. Was... Ren asking to hang out with her some more? Kotone  hadn't expected that. Why would she? People that weren't Roejaster didn't do that. And he had a new girlfriend as far as Kotone could tell. She looked at Ren questioningly. "You're... asking me to hang out with you more then?" she asked, sounding surprised. Her hand fell from her necklace down to her side, and for a short moment she acted slightly awkward, like she wasn't used to people who weren't very specific people being nice to her. She was convinced people like Roejaster and Taiga felt sorry for her more than anything else, even if she did enjoy their company.

After a moment, she nodded, a grin crossing her face. "Sure, if that's what you'd like... I mean, it could be fun. Not that I know what to do. I don't exactly... just do stuff like that normally." It was Kotone's turn to be embarrassed. She was extremely confident... unless it came to people.Being social and friendly with them, that is. She normally pushed them away, if they didn't outright dislike her anyway. "What would... what do you have in mind?"

Ren didn’t mean to ask to hang out. Honestly, she didn’t mean to say much of anything. It was much better if she had just stayed home. Nope. No. She couldn’t even accept that. Even Ren knew that getting out and meeting someone nice as Kotone mattered. Maybe she would change her mind if she ran off the super sweet girl, but hopefully not.

Kotone seemed reasonably awkward. She asked if Ren asked to hang out, “Uh, I g-guess…” she said. If she disagreed, she might offend Kotone. Surprisingly Kotone actually smiled. Ren couldn’t see her, but she could tell the change in her tone. That was confusing. Was this conversation actually going well? Since when did that happen?

So while Kotone was acting a bit strange, Ren was trying to think of what she actually liked to do. “Well… I like dancing… watching it. I’m too clumsy to do it myself…” she added the last part quieter. “Um, but I like helping people, and…. Walking. I could just travel with you someplace. K-keep you company. I could come back on my own, that would be fine,” she suggested, sounding a bit more eager. She knew Kotone travelled a lot. She could use company, right? Unless she liked being alone, which she had already said. “I mean, if you didn’t mind.” She didn’t even consider that Ren going so far out of her way would seem odd. It wasn’t odd for Ren to do things for people. She could travel anywhere. Just… not Era.

"I told you I'm not in a hurry..." Kotone reminded Ren when she offered to travel to a new place with her and come back on her own. Her tone said she didn't want to put her through having to do hat. "And I uh... can't really dance... but if you wanted to try something or do something..." She shrugged, still not knowing how to handle just hanging out with someone who didn’t come up with the ideas for her. Roejaster usually just sat her down at the bar and got her root beer and a cup of ice. Which was fine.

If Ren was very socially aware despite her own awkwardness… she could probably tell that Kotone sounded a mix of excited, lost, and nervous at the idea of spending time with someone, especially someone who didn’t just throw activities and conversation at her. She wasn’t supposed to be getting close to people. She’d just said they did stupid things or disliked her or something when she did. At least to herself. Kotone let out a sigh. She was acting like an excited puppy. Ah well. She might as well try and have fun. It probably wouldn’t last. “Not that… I would… or could… dance alone.” Kotone was actually graceful enough to be a good dancer. She wasn’t clumsy and though she favored direct and ‘brutish’ combat tactics, she was quite flexible and agile.

“I know, but I mean… well if we hung out when you did have to leave, or something, just an idea…” she told Kotone awkwardly. Kotone didn’t want to put Ren through something, but Ren already felt generally unworthy, so it was the least she could do to go out of her way for anyone this nice. Then she smiled slightly at the comment on dancing, “Well I mean, like… I used to take dance lessons. Like ballet. But I wasn’t good at it, so… anyway, we don’t have to do any of that.”

Ren was very graceful, in her own way. It was unfortunate that she didn’t really accept that. She was too shy and awkward to interact much. She didn’t have a reason, when even the people who were nice to her scared her. “What about um… fishing? Or swimming? You don’t mind the cold. And then Sid could eat fish. And we could cook them…. Its an idea,” she said, almost shrugging. She would have shrugged, but that would be difficult with the box. It wasn’t normal for Ren to suggest anything, or really to be talking, so she was pretty proud of the idea of fishing or swimming. Swimming sounded more like a hobby, and fishing sounded more like a necessity, but she was trying.

"Fish and swimming, huh? I can live with that," Kotone said, shrugging her shoulders with her hands in her pockets. She couldn't get cold so the fact that there was snow on the ground didn't bother her. In fact, she loved cold water, contrary to just about everyone else in the world. The fact that she was wearing a jacket was just because seh liked the look. She could be in short shorts and a tank top and be quite happy right now.

"What do you say, Sid? Care to catch some fish for lunch tomorrow?" she asked the cat, who meowed an affirmative. At least she seemed to think if was an affirmative. "Great. It's settled then. Unless something terribly important comes up, I'll plan on the fishing and stuff. Though I bet I'll be the only one swimming in this weather."

The guild hall was within sight, to Kotone's secret relief. She was tired of walking. She’d arrived in town today after a lot of walking, then she’d offered to carry a heavy crate even further to the Lamia Scale guild hall. The place wasn’t as impressively built as Blue Pegasus or Fairy Tail, but it had a simple feel to it that Kotone rather liked. Whoever has built the place had decided something was more important than expensive marble like Blue Pegasus, or large size like Fairy Tail. The building itself felt more family oriented, even if Fairy Tail was the guild famous for calling its members a family.

Kotone had a positive relationship with cold. Ren had a very negative relationship with it. She was thin, had basically no body fat, and that meant no insolation. She had, unfortunately not planned on this hanging out to literally happen the next day. At least not the swimming. So when Kotone mentioned doing it the next day, and that she was probably the only one swimming in this cold, Ren nodded a little, “Yeah, probably… I am better use fishing,” she confirmed. The idea that she didn’t have to go swimming too took some pressure off of Ren. The girl who walked around in a large hoodie didn’t exactly show off how small she was for people. She didn’t even own a swimsuit, and a tank-top and shorts sounded just as awkward.

Lamia Scale was home for Ren, as much as it could be. When she saw it she was relieved. She was excited to have met someone so nice. She had helped out Kade, and she had plans for the next day. No day was this pleasant, so it was nice to have it going so well. “Well, here we are… we just need to find Kade. He will be somewhere around here, and its his box… he usually has friends around, but he isn’t a night person so… he might be alone now,” she said quietly as they reached the building. She wasn’t entirely sure where he was, but with her luck he would find her. He had a weird habit of knowing her whereabouts.

Kotone nodded her acknowledgement as the pair walked inside of Lamia Scale’s guild hall. She was already entering her defensive mode. There were more people around, and Kotone dealt with most people by exuding an aura of rudeness, or at least not caring that anyone else existed. She stuffed her hands into her pockets, her posture changing. She assumed her ‘cool,’ aloof look as she glanced around the hall. It was smaller than she’d expected, but it was a nice place, she had to admit. It was also a *lot* quieter than Fairy Tail’s constant brawls in the main room. It was nice. She wasn’t in the mood to punch someone right now, even if it was a great way to blow off steam.

“Where is this Kade?” she asked, looking around. She probably sounded and acted suddenly different even to Ren. She was uncomfortable. She didn’t like people as a rule, and she had relaxed for Ren, not for all of these other people. Even if they were Ren’s best friends it wouldn’t have mattered. She fell behind Ren, ironically becoming like her shadow as she tried not to attract unwanted attention despite being the new face that probably stood out.

Ren noticed that when they got inside Kotone got quieter and tense. It was sad to see that the environment made Kotone uncomfortable. Sure Ren was most comfortable alone at night, but she still felt like this was a bit of home. She sometimes climbed up high and sat watching people in the dark. A bit odd probably, but it gave the best of both worlds. She wasn’t alone, and she wasn’t stumbling over her words to talk to people.

Kotone asked where Kade was and Ren quietly said, “Probably in the main hall… It was her best guess. A collection of people would be there and Kade would be talking to them about any number of things. Kotone fell into step behind Ren and the older girl didn’t notice any extra stares. People looked at her sometimes, mostly because it was strange to see her. She hid, she didn’t talk much, it was expected that she would be alone and shrinking off. It actually made people look more because she was with someone. Whether some of these people wanted to ask who Kotone was or not, Ren wasn’t stopping to chat.

They entered the main hall and before Ren could say anything she suddenly saw the blue haired man in front of them. “Er, uh, h-hi Kade, this is Kotone… and here’s your crate,” she told him awkwardly.

Kade was having a pretty good day. He’d gone outside and talked to a little girl in the guild. Sure she was only four years younger than him but in the end she acted like a scared little girl. He liked her though. She intrigued him. Sometimes when she spoke, in more than a minimal length broken sentence he got the impression she was very smart. He wanted to know what made a wizard like her, who he knew was actually fairly sweet, hide from even positive interactions. So he had stopped to talk to her, and she seemed to want to melt away just from talking.

When she left he spent the rest of the day out in the sun. It felt so warm and so pleasant to him. Sure it wasn’t actually warm out, but it didn’t matter. He walked around in a short sleeved button down shirt because he could feel the sun on his skin. He was a bit like a lizard in that he would have loved to lay on a rock and soak up the sun. The opposite of little Ren, but she’d been gone. When it got dark outside Kade went inside and started hanging out with people. He loved to talk to others, it was always so interesting to just hear their stories.

He was in the middle of hearing a story from a girl he’d been spending a lot of time with lately, when he saw Ren. She was standing with someone he didn’t recognize. He gave some parting words to his companions and with a big smile he headed over to Ren and her company before he could be summoned. “Hey Ren! How was the walk? I really appreciate your help,” he said told her before she spoke. He exuded friendliness and he genuinely was happy to see her. Now things got confusing. She introduced her friend as Kotone. Kade blinked, his smile frozen for a moment while he thought about it. He took the crate from Ren with one arm, holding it over at one side and offering his hand to shake for Kotone. “Kotone as in the Spell Breaker? Or did Miss Caverly find someone with a convenient name? Also, as she said,” he interrupted himself, shaking his head at his manners, but still smiling, “I’m Kade, its nice to meet you.”

Kotone followed the quiet girl through the guild hall, enduring the stares. It wasn’t so much that she minded the stares. She was just naturally defensive, and Ren had been, well, defenseless enough to not trigger Kotone’s normal reaction. Finally, they met Kade. He seemed pleasant enough, and greeted Ren on sight. He then asked Kotone if she was ‘the’ Spell Breaker. Kotone was feeling more her normal self in her more defensive state of mind, and in reaction she grinned a cocky grin, her dragon-like fangs showing. “Kotone. Spell Breaker. Dragon Slayer. Take your pick,” she answered in an equally cocky voice.

She could tell people looked up to Kade around here, and on some level that included Ren, from what she had gathered. There was something about him that made him seem charming. But it didn’t work on Kotone. He wasn’t Roejaster, who had a similar quality to him. “Yeah, nice to put a face to the name Ren told me about on the way here,” She nodded her head calmly in acknowledgement, dropping the cocky grin as she greeted him. “I decided to follow Ren home since she was carrying such a big crate the whole way.” She didn't say she’d carried it most of the way. It had been Ren’s job and Ren should get the credit as far as she was concerned.

Kade was a nice guy, he was polite and all that stuff, but he was…. Well a man, offhand. That already set him up as a fearful subject for little Ren. Sure it wasn’t extremely fair, but a gazelle couldn’t help but be twitchy around even the friendliest of lions. On top of that Kade was tall. Maybe he wasn’t tall compared to all the other men around these parts, at just under six feet tall, but he was tell to Ren. Five foot two didn’t really make a girl formidable, and although Kotone was taller, she wasn’t a giant. Kotone had been so nice, and when Kade asked about the Spell Breaker thing, something far from Ren’s scope of interest, Kotone started acting really odd.

She wasn’t the mildly rude girl Ren had met at first. She wasn’t the sweet girl who had walked back with Ren. She was just cocky. Cockiness was something so foreign to Ren some people might wonder if she could register it. She could, but she didn’t say anything… about that. She blushed when Kotone gave her the credit. “Oh, n-no, it was n-nothing. Kotone helped me, she’s… helpful,” Ren said, faltering. She wasn’t sure if she should say that Kotone was nice. Was that bad? It didn’t seem like the younger woman wanted anyone knowing she was nice based on how she was acting.

Kade found it cute. He really did. The girl was however uncomfortable in the environment as she pleased. He really couldn’t tell because he didn’t have anything to compare it to. What he could notice was how she acted when he mentioned the dragon thing. It was almost endearing in a way, that when he brought something up she pulled out the fangs immediately and puffed up with a pride that could keep away any other attention. It wasn’t transparent, but it was curious. Kade loved a good puzzle, a good story, he just loved to learn things. The girl couldn’t be all that old, and if all the dragons went off together she would have been… well, not as old as he had been. He was analyzing her, but he tried to stop.

“Well it’s still a pleasure to meet you,” he reminded her. He dropped his hand when she seemed disinterested in the well-mannered hand shake he had learned he ought employ. It was true, he was a fairly social person, and his general disposition and maturity helped him to be well liked within the guild, but he didn’t use that to his advantage in each interaction. Each person, their stories, their personalities, they were all different, and he was happy to treat them as such. “Well Ren, and Kotone, I appreciate all the help. If either of you like apples you can have some,” he said as he tapped the crate with his free hand. “I needed some for the pies I promised to help with.” He was more than happy to offer Ren money, but he knew she wouldn’t want it. He didn’t want to embarrass her in front of her… new…. Whatever Kotone was. “I am sure you’d both like to run off to whatever you’re up to, so I won’t take any more of your time,” he told them with his consistent genuine smile.

Kotone was aware that Ren was probably confused by her behavior. It actually made her feel kind of bad. But while Ren disarmed her with her incredible innocence, Kade had only his looks going for him, and Kotone was rarely impressed by looks alone. Except for when she was commenting on her own, though she wasn’t actually impressed by her own looks. She was, however, proud of them. Kade made her drop into her normal defensive personality, and the default was either irritable or cocky. Though she was actually naturally rather cocky, while irritable was more of her façade. She reached over and opened the box, grabbing an apple at the man’s offer, taking a bite. She didn’t thank him. Kotone rarely thanked people. One of the few things she did less than thank people was apologize or admit she was wrong.

Kotone gave no indication of that she wanted to be out of Kade’s presence, and in truth despite her defensive attitude she didn’t particularly care. This was as much or more her than what Ren saw, as far as Kotone was concerned. She was used to being around other people. Sid was still in Ren’s bag after the train Ren had made, and he mewed. “You hate fruit,” she reminded him as she munched the apple. It was up to Ren what they did at this point. It was her home and Kade was her friend.

Nice as Kade was, he also knew when he wasn’t wanted. Maybe it was Ren unconsciously translating how strange Kotone was being. She did prefer the nice and slightly uncomfortable Kotone to the rather showy one, but neither would drive Ren away. Okay, a bulldozer wouldn’t drive Ren away. She had been in a very unhealthy relationship with a long time and it had ended because he stopped wanting to be around Ren. She had some issues with leaving people by then, since they would always leave her someday.

Either way, Kade had said that he was going to leave them be and that was what he had done. “C-c’mon, I’ll show you to my room, its… away. Upstairs. Kade, he, uh,” she started as she walked away from Kade. He could hear her, but she didn’t know anything about the dragon senses. Then she remembered Kotone hearing her whisper and she stopped immediately. Coughing. Kade had given her a small glance but then walked off in the other direction. Ren had an apple in her hands, and was staring at it as they found the staircase. “He, uh, I guess he hears well, that’s why I stopped, but uh, he does a lot of gardening and cooking, so I guess… that’s what the apples were about.” As Kotone’s cockiness had resurfaced in the face of strangers, Ren’s anxiety had as well.

Kotone was making an honest effort to relax again by the time they were out of Kade's sight. She only nodded at Ren's insistence that Kade was good at cooking, and that was what he had needed the apples for. She didn’t want to explain to Ren how she knew she was weird. She had problems. Trust issues of her own. She dealt with them differently. By not letting anyone else near her unless she felt completely secure doing so. She knew acting cocky, argumentative, and generally did wonders for keeping the average person away. She also knew she actually was rather cocky and that wasn’t for show so much as it was just how she was.

“I told you I’m not a great person,” she insisted to Ren, knowing she was on edge again because of Kotone’s behavior. Or at least having a good idea as to why, since Kade had likely acted completely normal, while Kotone acted in inconsistent and broken ways. Sometimes it was on purpose. Other times her emotions got the better of her. Right now she felt bad for being inconsistent. She opened her mouth to make some brash excuse, but for once caught herself in time, closing it again then looking off to the side, away from Ren as she tossed her apple core into the garbage and shoved her hands deep into her jacket pockets with neutral expression. “I’m not the nice helpful person you think I am. I get angry. I get cocky. I get standoffish. It’s who I am with most people. I can't help it. I’m sure your friend has noticed that too.”

Kotone was putting far too much emphasis on things. Kotone had issues, okay, that was fine. Ren could see some of them, but that didn’t make her a bad person. Ren had more baggage than she was going to admit, and Kotone seemed like a saint comparatively. A bit standoffish around strangers? Wow, bring out the firing squad. Kotone was generous with Ren’s awkwardness, but condemning of her own. Ren clearly couldn’t read Kotone’s mind, but from what the woman said next, it wasn’t hard to guess fairly accurately.

Kotone said that she wasn’t a great person and Ren frowned, then bit her lip. Arguing was hard. Kade had been normal, but he always put Ren on edge just because he was a person. “Oh…. B-but that’s okay…. You’re still nice and helpful… you can get angry and all that stuff. You’re a person,” she said gently, “He’s not really my friend… I don’t have friends. He just talks to me because I’m quiet,” she said, getting quieter and quieter. Arguing was really hard.

She opened the door to her room. Pitch black, unsurprisingly, with the curtains drawn. She took a step inside without turning on a light, and the curtains separated for her, the use of shadows basically invisible in all this darkness. However with the moonlight now it was easier to see inside. A bed with the head against a wall, desk, book case, books, and a chest. She didn’t have a lot to her name really, but it was enough. A drawer in her chest, that was locked, had her money in it right now. “So uh… this is my room,” she said, and turned on the light, even though she didn’t need it.

Kotone had listened to Renata in silence as they walked up to the room when she started arguing. It wouldn't do any good to disagree with the girl. It would probably just upset her or something, and she already felt bad for her two-faced nature. Kotone could see well enough in the dark room with her dragon slayer senses, though not as well as she could smell and hear. Then the curtains opened and things became clear. Things became much clearer when the lights were on. “Seems pretty roomy for one person,” Kotone noted as she sat her pack down on the floor next to the door. “Well Sid, I guess we’re staying here.” She informed the cat, who mewed and remained in his new friend’s hoodie where it was comfortable.

“It’s kinda nice though. I miss having my own place sometimes.” She decided. She didn’t mention her home in Hosenka town, where she stayed when she was there. She didn’t spend much time at home though. It was mostly where she stored her secret army of plushy cats that she told literally no one about. She didn’t like revealing her childish habits to people. She felt like they would judge her… despite the fact that she nearly melted any time she saw a cat plushy on sale.

Arguing only really upset Ren because it took so much to allow herself to disagree at all. Other people could tell her she was wrong all day. That wasn’t anything new. However she felt very strongly that Kotone was wrong this time. Feeling like the nice younger girl shouldn’t be so hard on herself was probably hypocritical, but Ren didn’t think about it.

“I suppose…” Ren said. It looked bigger mostly because Ren didn’t put a lot in it. Her bedroom when she had lived with her parents had been nice sized. It seemed smaller because she had more furniture though. She honestly didn’t know which room was bigger. That room had basically become her prison, so she didn’t think back on it often. It had seemed to get smaller every day.

“Did you have your own place?” Ren asked curiously. It implied that Kotone had at some point, but no longer did. She said she travelled a lot, so Ren didn’t think she settled down often. Ren walked over to her chest and pulled out a few blankets. She wasn’t fond of the cold, so she had a lot of blankets. “I can use blankets to make a second bed on the floor,” she added, still thinking Kotone should take the bed.

“I have a place in Hosenka town, actually,” Kotone informed Ren when she asked if she’d used to have a house. “It’s not really exactly mine, but an old woman there lets me rent it for free.” She didn’t spend much time there, because Hosenka wasn’t exactly the most happening town, both in terms of excitement or trouble. Kotone enjoyed it there when she needed a break, but that was about the only time she went there. In all honesty, aside from her secret army of plushies, she didn’t own much more than Ren did. They were similar in that way, she supposed.

Then Ren asked about putting down blankets to make a bed on the floor. That made sense. Kotone had planned on sleeping on the floor anyway. After all, she wasn’t one to share a bed with anyone. “Yeah, that’s fine…” Kotone decided, sticking her hands in her pockets as she stood awkwardly in Ren’s room. She wasn’t honestly sure what to do at this point, though she’d obviously relaxed once again, away from the people who had made her uncomfortable. She didn’t take her coat off or anything. She wasn’t sure where to put it. Sid, however, had no trouble making his home on Ren’s bed, laying down in a ball with a mew.

Kotone, surprisingly, said she had a place in Hosenka. Ren wasn’t really sure why anyone would go about travelling when they had a home. Why not stay in the safe confines of their chosen residence? Unless of course it wasn’t chosen. Then it was less a home and more a prison. She hoped Kotone wasn’t trapped anywhere, but after meeting the woman, she highly doubted that was the case. “Hosenka isn’t super far from here,” she said quietly. It was somehow comforting that Kotone had a place not so far away, even if it wasn’t a day’s walk or anything. Still, it was closer than Magnolia.

Ren heard the mew, realizing Sid had left her, and smiled slightly at him. She was sure she could sleep on the floor. The floor was better than Ren had been through before. Unfortunately Kotone had mentioned that she wasn’t going to take Ren’s bed, earlier in their walk, so she didn’t bring it up again. Ren took special care to make sure the blankets were soft on the bottom, and then lay a thinner blanket on top. Nothing too thin, but Kotone didn’t mind the cold, so the thicker ones needed to go on bottom. It all made sense in her head, and she didn’t even speak while she was working on all of this.

Once it was done Ren smiled, “There, it looks good… right?”

“Looks good to me,” Kotone told Ren, not particularly caring, though she did still appreciate the effort Ren was going through. That was rather rare for someone to do for Kotone. And even when they did she didn’t always let them. She didn’t mind letting Ren do this for her though. She was a sweet kid. Even if she was older. Kotone started rummaging through her bag until she pulled out a tank top and short shorts – she usually wore these to bed because they were cool, and since Kotone couldn’t get cold… well it was better than wearing warmer things and getting hotter than she had to, right?

“Be right back,” she told Ren, walking into the bathroom before returning a minute later in her pajamas. She pulled her ponytail down and shook her head, then she grinned a bit at the bed. “I think you might have to share with someone tonight,” she commented to Ren as she looked at Sid. Sid only continued cleaning that paw with invisible flecks of dirt all over it. “… Thanks, by the way.” She decided to tell the blonde girl. Thanking people was hard for the standoffish dragon slayer, but she supposed Ren deserved it. From the looks of things she might actually appreciate it rather than simply expect it, so it wasn’t so bad.

Kotone approved of Ren’s bed creating and Ren smiled slightly. Kotone still thought she wasn’t as nice as Ren did, but that was okay. Ren thought a lot of wrong and bad things about herself, so she wasn’t going to argue. Also she was a pushover, so that also helped the not arguing aspect.

When Kotone pulled out clothes to wear for bed Ren decided she should change into some clothes herself. She had a nightgown in the chest so she pulled that out. It was spaghetti strapped and went down to her knees in a sort of silky black material. She’d had it for a long time, but had never worn it when she was homeless, clearly. She almost sold it to buy some food, but she hated the idea of selling and buying things, so she kept it balled up. She normally only wore it in spring, but her bed looked warm today, so she didn’t much care. Since for once it showed off her arms and legs, and mostly touched her body, it showed how absolutely tiny she was.

She was sitting on the bed petting a spot on Sid’s head when Kotone came back. Ren had also taken out her excess of earrings and put them near her bed, on her folded up hoodie. “That’s okay, I don’t take much space,” Ren said, as far as sharing the bed with Sid. Then Kotone thanked her. Ren looked down shyly, still feeling somewhat awkward at being in any sort of nightclothes around… anyone at all, and also at being thanked, “Oh, y-you’re welcome, thanks for coming back with me, and stuff,” she said, moving enough to slip under her blankets and pet Sid some more.

Kotone giggled lightly, a strangely girly sound coming from the dragon slayer. The sight of skinny little Ren and Sid getting along so well brought a smile to her face. She adjusted her tank top and set her other clothes down next to her makeshift bed. “Watch it though, that little guy will take half the bed if he can find a way. I’ve seen it happen. He’s not a gentleman at all.” Kotone fingered the now visible necklace around her neck, unwilling to take it off after Blaze had put it on her , almost like it was keeping him safe.

She snapped out of the thoughts it brought to mind yet again rather quickly though, smiling gently at Ren and Sidney. Sidney mewed again, pressing his head into Ren’s hand. He was going to be so needy when Kotone departed. She could tell. Part of her would have liked to stay awhile like she did when she visited Magnolia, but she neither had her own room, nor did she know the guild master like she did Rainor Taiga.

Finally, she sat down in her own bed, finding it nice and comfortable, at least as far as the not so picky dragon slayer was concerned. “I guess I’ll go to sleep,” she informed Ren so she wouldn’t seem rude. She didn’t mind seeming rude… usually. Ren was a little different. “Goodnight. You and Sid have fun or whatever.”

Ren looked up when Kotone was laughing a little and then looked back down at Sid. Whatever it was about Kotone that let Ren calm down, she liked it. It didn’t actually make sense to her. Some people could be completely sweet to her and it still made her weary. Some people could be mean to her and she was just neutral, because it was nothing new. Kotone was a strange mixture of the two. She was odd around other people, but she was so much nicer when they were alone. Whatever it was that let Ren relax, she was enjoying it.

Kotone lay down on the makeshift bed and seemed content, but quiet. Ren would have liked Kotone to stay longer, but she knew that wasn’t going to happen. Kotone said she was going to sleep, “Goodnight,” Ren said quietly. She let a shadow go to the light and turn it off, then pulled the curtains closed. She slept in a very dark environment, and liked to wake up to a similar one. Ren lay down in the bed and kept petting Sid. She didn’t mind if he took up most of the bed, even as small as he was. Ren was used to not having much space in a bed, she was fine with it. Sid was cute and soft, if she wanted him to move she would just pick him up. She closed her eyes and slowly tried to let herself sleep.

The next morning came around and Kotone woke feeling rather well rested for the first time in a while. The dragon slayer opened her eyes, still able to see well enough in the darkness that Ren had created in her room for sleeping. She sat up, not feeling Sid anywhere around her. He must still be with the skinny older girl. Sidney seemed to really like her for some reason. Not that Kotone blamed him. She sat up and leaned against the wall quietly, letting out a slow sigh. She’d agreed to do something today. It was almost like they were friends or something, though Kotone highly doubted that. Kotone didn’t have friends. People didn’t want to be friends with her, and she didn’t need them.

When would Ren wake up though? And did she still want to go fishing or swim or whatever? Kotone had no idea. Maybe she would change her mind and have plans she’d forgotten about or something. It wasn’t a big deal either way. At least, that’s what Kotone told herself. She was happy to have something to do with someone that wasn’t fighting or traveling or business. That didn’t happen too often, and she admittedly had been overly excited last night. “… Morning, Ren,” she said quietly when the girl finally woke up. Kotone had been sitting there the entire time, and was curious what she was going to do now.

Ren slept fairly well. She was excited for the next day, and she was nervous, but she slept well. Maybe it was knowing that she had someone nice in her room, or maybe it was the cuddly cat near her. She didn’t know. Either way Ren woke up at Kotone and yawned. She really liked to sleep most of the day away and stay up at night, because it let her be alone. She wasn’t going to be alone today though. Kotone had agreed to hang out with her. She remembered most of this as she rolled around her bed a little, no doubt disturbing Sid.

Kotone greeted Ren and Ren scooted back in her bed, her back against the headboard now, her knees up high enough most of her face was covered. “Hi… Uh, g-good morning,” she said, fidgeting. She slowly pulled the blanket back and quickly made her bed, with a shadow, while walking to her chest and opening it up to find clothes for the day. “So, um, do you still want to go fishing and stuff? And, uh, do you want to get some food before? I don’t really eat much, but, I know… other people do,” she said, rubbing the back of her neck where her tattoo was. She was talking too much. She grabbed some clothes and sat on her bed to wait for Kotone’s answer.

Kotone nodded in the dark. She figured Ren probably couldn't see it, but either way she did. She was still in her short shorts and tank top, and her hair was down, and she looked rather different than when she was dressed in her usual garb. Some might say cuter or more innocent or something. If she wouldn’t deck them for saying such nonsense. She let out a sigh, picking up her red skirt and white button-up blouse, as well as her black leather choker and the tie she wore loosely as decoration, as well as her stockings that went up past her knees and the boots that went up to about her knees. “Of course I do,” Kotone confirmed. She probably could have easily snuck out if she hadn’t. If Sid didn’t screw it up that is. “Of course, we can do something different if you’d rather. I’m just along for the ride.”

Kotone got up and stood near the bed as Ren asked about getting food first. Didn’t eat much. Heh. Kotone ate like a sumo wrestler that had skipped a meal. She didn’t look like it but it was a fact. Well, that wasn’t always true, but she did when she could get away with it. “Food sounds good, yeah,” she said, ignoring her growling stomach’s agreement, followed by Sid’s own verbal response. She walked into the bathroom again to get ready. She was rather modest about getting dressed and undressed, even around other girls, and she was glad Ren had the bathroom. When she emerged, she looked like she had before. Dressed in the clothe she’d picked up, in addition to her long, black jacket and was putting up her hair into the ponytail she was known for wearing. Somehow, she managed to look rather different. Perhaps it was that she looked a lot less vulnerable like this than she did in PJ’s. “Where did you want to go?” she asked Ren curiously.