Young Writers Society

(I don't think I have anything to add. He's gonna fall asleep and enjoy an opium trip)

(Oki perf — do you think Sara is gonna come follow up or nah?)

“…so he doesn’t hate me?” Ky asked.

“Nope,” Pratik confirmed.

“…are you sure?”

“Did he say he hates you?”

“…no…”

“Then yep, I’m sure! Trust me. He’d make it clear if he didn’t like you.”

Ky looked at him skeptically.

“He called me a ‘deplorable’ when I first got here… or maybe that was Sara… or Sera. Don’t remember. They were all getting in on it.”

Ky gaped. You couldn’t do that. Who in the world would think it was a good idea to insult Pratik, of all people? Besides. Sara? Sera? She didn’t think they’d ever say an unkind word.

Pratik laughed at her expression. “I mean. They weren’t wrong. I’m an asshole.”

“No you’re not,” she said quietly.

Pratik smiled a bit. That was high praise indeed, to get a compliment like that from someone like Ky. “Well, whether I am or whether I’m not, they thought the worst of me until they got to know me. And they’re not afraid to tell you how they’re feeling. You’re doing a-ok. Promise.”

She nodded a bit, comforted. She glanced around. This was absurd.

“You headed to your room?” Pratik asked, noticing her shift.

She nodded, but made no move to get up. She’d rather he leave so that she could struggle to get up in peace.

“May I?” he asked, standing up and offering her a hand up, but still staying a step out of arms reach until she said yes so he didn’t frighten her.

She hesitated, then nodded.

He bent down and gently hefted her to her feet, taking the stone from her so she wouldn’t have to carry the weight.

(I think she's gonna leave her alone for an hour or so and then come talk to her.
Did we want to have Rönn at some point?)

(Sure! Do you think he’d signal for her? I’m down for the interaction but she’s still in avoidance mode lol)

Pratik helped her to her room and heated the stone for her, then got her tucked in, and took his leave. He hoped he’d gotten through to her. He distracted her for a bit, if nothing else. But that’s all he could do. Be present and patient.

Ky rested in his comfort for a bit, but eventually her sheer exhaustion caught up and she started crying again and didn’t know why. She eventually drifted off to sleep. And kind of hoped she wouldn’t wake up.

(I don't know that he would; he's wary of her getting too near, still. He's so sure that he's dangerous and he isn't entirely wrong)

(Aww, yeah, fair. Hm. Maybe in a few days? I don’t think she’d do it tonight tbh but dunno how far ahead we wanna skip)

(I can dig a skip if you like! Maybe a few days.
I'm also eager to see her read the journals but we can do that whenever.)

(Ooh yeah! I am excited for that, too! Maybe Rönn first yeah. I could see her being like ‘maybe he can tell me I shouldn’t want to die again’ haha do you wanna skip straight there? Could be fun with being mad at the guards not letting her out to make the signal haha to complain to Gaius — but also we can just skip straight to Rönn, up to you! I don’t have a strong desire for the annoyance scene just a vague idea)

(That works for me! I'd like to skip straight there personally.)

(Let’s do that then! I just got to work and am gonna vanish for like 4 hours but feel free to set it up! I’m good to go straight)

(Okie dokie. I'll set up then!)

Rönn found the stone beside the stag the noble had sent over the wall for him. He picked it up, turned it over in his hands, and looked up at the wall. Ky was nowhere to be seen just yet, but he knew she'd be back to check at some point. He took the rock and grasped the stag by the leg, then dragged it over to a nearby tree and sat down to eat and wait.
The stags sent over the wall were some of the fattest Rönn had eaten in some time. It nearly sated his hunger.
After he had eaten, Rönn took pains to clean himself up so he wouldn't appear so savage to Ky this time around. He scrubbed most of the blood and filth out of his beard and fur, then tried to turn the hair white again instead of the mildewy yellow it usually was. At one point he even left the tree to bathe himself in the stream near the Keep, to no avail. He returned with ice in his hair and sat down beside the deer carcass.

It’d been Pratik’s idea.

He and Tadaaki had been tag teaming the past three days, trying to get her to stop being so pissy. It was a noble effort. At one point Tadaaki had sent in Tasia with Petrir, since he’d known it was impossible not to smile when confronted with an adorable child holding a kitten.

But the progress was hit or miss.

Because, overall, she’d taken Gaius’s advice — and cried in private. A lot.

She’d forced herself to attend at least one meal per day to offer proof of life— usually dinner, so that when she inevitably made herself sick, she could just retreat to her room to be miserable until she fell asleep. Tadaaki forced her to eat at least a little earlier in the day, but not much.

She read a little.

Snuggled with Petrir a lot.

Cried a lot.

And talked with Tadaaki and Aashi and Pratik and Sara when they came by (and any of your other characters who would come to her room to check on her lol).

Otherwise, she didn’t do much.

It wasn’t healthy. And after a day or two of it, Pratik and Tadaaki began conspiring on how to drag her out of her shell.

He couldn’t say this in front of Tadaaki, of course, but in private Pratik convinced her to ask for a meeting with Rönn. She didn’t want to. Not really. But Pratik pointed out that Rönn could give her an update on Zander’s progress, which was enough to sway her.

So she was bundled up to the nose with heavy furs, and waddling towards the door in the wall, trying to get her energy up to put on a show for him.

Rönn could hear someone shuffling on the other side of the door. He sniffed the air--it was her. He rose, rubbing at the bracelet still around his wrist. He had taken pains to keep it clean during all of his feedings and it looked quite alright, if he said so himself.

She let herself out through the door and turned towards him, offering a little tired smile. “Hey Rönn!”

He kept his distance but bowed his head to her. "You signal me, I come. How you?" She looked unwell.