clem.

still a little bit scary, but.. not as much. i guess you're right.

[ she rubs the back of her neck. ]

.. i don't want them in my hair, though.

[ ohhh she's grinning.. ]

hehe.. heh.

[ she feels a bit shy still, but she's happy to have made them laugh, at least. ]

pfft.. yeah, probably. i imagine it'd get pretty expensive making room for all those legs.. they probably spend a fortune on shoes.

they probably have spider insurance or something to make it cheaper.

[ smiling even more because gabi is going along with her joke... ]

so what, they need little.. spider glasses or something?

[ she snorts at her own stupid joke. okay. ]

[ oh.. she smiles back. if it makes them happy, then she doesn't mind as much. ]

well.. fire away, then. give me your best bug facts.

[ slightly soggy look ] ....maybe.....

i think he's more open to listening to you than me, honestly.

..and that's okay. bugs are... okay. i guess. as long as you don't actively tell him to put them in my bed... just leave it at spiders, alright?

[ an amused little smile. ]

okay, okay, i guess i can deal with some spiders if that's what's happening. i think you could probably teach him better than i could, anyway.

[ given the fact that she has a first grade education. ]

what.

... yeah. that's how i like to see it, too. you're just.. putting them out of their misery.

i taught aj to do the same if i ever get bit. i don't want to imagine it, but.. yeah.

it's sad if you think too hard about how they used to be people... i try not to.

// I LOVE GABI RAAAGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

// sorry kori for liking that so many times im just big and greedy and i love gabi.

[ JUMPING WITH A LITTLE SQUEAK ]

no spiders. please.

— little. another drag is taken as she watches the smoke curl out into the air. ]

— or something instead. but.. the world doesn't work like that anymore. ]

.. maybe it's for the best that you can't. everybody who's ever gotten close to me has either died or left, and i don't know what i'd do if something happened to you, too. i can't let that happen..

[ her voice wavers a —

i always hated homework.

[ that gets a chuckle out of her. they're right, though; as tough as she tries to act about it for aj, deep down a large part of her yearns for the world to be normal again for the both of them. maybe in another life, she could've met mokou at an after-school club —

— see. and every time, his face will fall. i can count the amount of times he's seemed genuinely happy lately on one hand.

... i just don't know what to do. i'm not cut out for this..

[ she holds her head, heaving a sigh that holds all the weight that rests on her shoulders. ]

[ she appreciates that. she doesn't need to be called out for doing these things; not when she already beats herself up about it enough all on her own. a long drag before she speaks again. ]

he keeps asking me if we'll ever find a place to actually call home... every time, i tell him we'll —

[ she jumps a bit at their voice, like a little kid getting caught doing something they weren't supposed to. ]

.. you could say that. nothing's getting any easier, and i think.. aj is starting to notice that.

// i also casted pacify on you

[ smoking again. ]

... i remember when i couldn't reach that brick.

— clementine stands from where she'd been crouched behind the girl, the click of her gun making her presence, her threat, known. when she speaks, her voice is practiced and cold, like she's done this a thousand times. she probably has. ]

turn around very slowly.

— too unreliable, she thinks. it'd take a lot of effort to pierce through what she assumes are tough scales. trying to throw the stranger off balance is off the table, too, when she's like twice clementine's size... seems like there's only one option for getting the upper hand here.

slowly, —