[attr="class","body"] What even is that thing, indeed. Yaoyao sure as hell doesn’t have a clue. But she does know this — all of a sudden, she can breathe again. The animals around them are at ease, even delighted all of a sudden, and there’s this sense of… relief, mixed with a faint sense of joy? And she doesn’t have the slightest idea where it’s coming from. It’s so distant it doesn’t even feel like her own emotion, or even Lili’s, but one thing’s for sure:

“I’m no Sherlock, but I’m guessing this little bundle of joy’s the source of all that noise, huh?”

The creature’s about the size of a bulldog, and just as lovey too; crossing the store — after making sure her baobao’s a-okei— and scooping the little thing up off the ground (and outta the face-full of ice cream sandwiches it was helping itself to) is about as much effort as it’d take to lift an overweight cat that’s really, really dedicated to treating your face like an ice cream cone. Can’t be more than, what, a few dozen pounds? Light work. And now she’s able to get a good look—



She lifts the miscreant up, Circle of Life style but facing her, and almost, nope, just can’t help returning the sharp, toothy grin being beamed down at her. Their pet-shop pipe blockage culprit is… a podgy little bulldog-sized great white shark with four little legs, each one featuring three stubby little webbed toes. And also just about the cutest thing Yaoyao has ever seen — second only to her baobao, that is. Maybe even tied; with a mouth full of razor shark teeth and a pair of button eyes the stars themselves seem to shine in, the little guy has the sweetest face she’s ever seen on an apex predator of the deep in her life.

That’s it. Her heart’s set.

“Baobao, I’m calling him Jawnathan Bingqilin Hada the First. Jawny and Bingbing for short.”

yaoyao has firebender vibes, ironically. i think with her extreme temperament and how decisive she can be while also adjusting to things on the fly and changing course as needed... i could see her figuring out (normal, hot) blue fire. lili's definitely a waterbender, though, and a heal-y type. and kousa is an airbender, obviously.

[attr="class","body"]Kei is not the only one who screams. Lili, for all her usual soft-spokenness and seeming inability to make a sound above a certain decibel on the most average and normal of occasions — oh, she feels terrible about it, she really does, especially when she’s right next to his ear but that fish thing is so big and does not look natural at all and the moving and the bang and everything,

She shrieks, quickly cut off in horror but shrill all the same, and she would apologize, honest, but they’re falling! They’re falling, and Kei might get hurt and Yaoyao might never forgive her and she’d be right—

Lilac fumes envelop the both of them in full, a few offshoots grabbing hold of a nearby fire escape in just enough time to offset the full force of the fall. It’s enough at least that she can wrap — it — herself — the energy — around Kei and protect his head as they tumble to the ground. Thank goodness, thank goodness, she couldn’t forgive herself if he got a concussion — but oh, gods, they need to move and they need to move now. “Are you okay? Can you walk, can you — oh god oh god Kei let’s go let’s go let’s go!”

Later she’ll realize how self-centered she was being. Later, she’ll remember the screams and the chaos around them, and all those people, just as terrified as she was, just as lost, and just as in need, and she’ll feel awful —

But right now - right now, Yaoyao’s instincts are strong. So strong. And strongest of all of them has always been — will always be — protect. Protect us. Protect him.

[attr="class","body"]“Aww, baby.” He’s so cute. She pulls him even closer to her side, nice and snug and safe, and lays an adoring smooch to his forehead. Can’t help but laugh a little, though — ’are they at the end yet’? “The building didn’t look all that big. Won’t take too long to get through, just stay close and we’ll be outta here in no time.” Her poor, poor baobao. Maybe they should just find the exit, and she’ll come back in by herself to enjoy the chaos without Kei having to develop grey hairs early outta stress.

Just as she’s set her mind to do just that, though, things finally get interesting — they round another corner, and then start the screams. Running footsteps, shrieks of fear and delight, laughter and yelps and screaming and curse-words, howling and groaning as zombies and clowns (actors) chase people through the halls and in and out of rooms.

To Yaoyao, this is the most hilarious thing she’s ever seen. Give her a bag of popcorn and she could camp out here all day.

For Kei, though…………………

[attr="class","body"]Yeah. Yeah, yeah, that’s it. Someone’s tripped. Probably tripped, or spilled hot coffee on their nice new top, or a minor car accident maybe. Something happened, something probably bad but nothing that concerns them and more importantly certainly not Yaoyao and probably not Kei.

Ha. Her birdie is such a terrible liar. It would be laughable if it didn’t stress him out so much.

“Okay,” she says, anyway. He can lie. It’s okay. She sure won’t call him out on it. “Okay. I - Sorry.” Fuck. She hates hearing herself apologize too, but she — she can’t stop. It feels like a compulsion, like an itch under her skin. A nagging at the back of her brain. “S—damn it.”

The screaming cuts out. Something tells her she should care more than she does, but she just - she can’t. She’s focusing all her brain power on walking for now, thanks. Slow is steady and steady is smooth and smooth is fast and the faster they’re out of here, the sooner they’re home. The sooner he’s safe.

Suddenly — movement. Rumbling, beneath their feet. A roaring in her ears, a roaring in the ground, pressure, another scream — the manhole feet away from the bursts from its seal. Water sprays everywhere. The noise, the feeling, the chaos around them, people running and shouting suddenly, phones and cameras, panic and confusion — too much, it’s so much, it’s too much she’s going to explode out of her own skin—

The water. There’s something in the water below. She feels it before she sees it, ice down her spine, every hair rising on end. Danger.

A threat.

[attr="class","body"]She hates this. Hates making him worry, really worry like this — but the feeling is - it’s - it’s so — it’s distant. Dull. Muted. Which is familiar, which should be terrifying, except she just can’t muster up the goddamn energy to be scared. She’s so tired, and it’s all… Hard to care about, hard to focus on, hard to remember when she can feel her own heart beating against her ribs. Kei says something, but it’s hard to make out. He says the word “slow” - thinking feels bad. Moving feels worse, somehow. Like walking through molasses and quicksand at the same time, which… ew. The thought is almost worse than reality - that she's doing this. Dead weight instead of on her own two feet.

How fucking sad.

"Sorry," she mumbles again. "Sorry. Sorry."

Her mind is swimming and her balance is shit. The doors open and she wants to be sick — world is still too big, too bright. Too much light. Her clothes feel too stifling, too present against her skin. Too much.

But her arm is around Kei, her body is pressed to his side. And as she leans her weight on him she tries, honest to god, to focus on the feeling of his breath, of the way his chest rose and fell beneath her, his warmth. His presence. Just his existence, keeping her grounded.

How good it feels to have something solid, something concrete to hold onto. She clutches his hand, her arm over his shoulder, like a lifeline. Her skin’s all clammy and cold but he doesn’t seem to mind, because he’s a saint. Or he’s too concerned to give it mention — whatever it is, it makes her clutch his hand all the tighter.

God, her Kei. Her sweetness. Her - her baobao.

She can do this. She can do this, with him. For him. One foot in front of the other. Slow and steady.

Slow and steady.

Slow and —

Is someone screaming?