[PRP] The World is Burning (Xavier & Helmut)

[kuropeco]

Xavier looked just as petrified as Helmut did as he peered around the hallway, a few more feathers drifting free from his messy hair and falling lazily to the floor. "I d-don't know," he whispered back, and clung to whatever part of her he could find - which happened to be her upper arm, Xavier wrapping his fingers around her tiny self.

"I...I think...we're okay..."

Enoh Love

 

[Enoh Love]

"Probably..." Helmut agreed, though she continued to use Xavier as a (likely very ineffective) shield from the reptilian monster that may or may not still be out there. His spindly fingers clasped around her upper arm, and she looked around, still unsure. "...Do you think we should go somewhere, just in case?" She whispered, staring up at him with wide, doe-like eyes.

kuroopu

 

[kuropeco]

A long pause.

"D-do you want, um, to go to the c-common room?" Xavier asked finally, looking terrified at the very idea, but less so than the idea of a giant monster attempting to eat them. "It's d-down the hall, we could, um..."

He trailed off, face flushed, clearly still new to this whole friend thing.

Enoh Love

 

[Enoh Love]

"OK!" Helmut cried, excited to get away from the hallway at the very least. She started to squirm under him, trying to get out from under his larger, heavier body. One way or another she managed, and after scrambling to her feet she started down the hallway, though one hand remained clutching one of his sleeves firmly.

"Come on, before it comes back!"

kuroopu

 

[kuropeco]

It was only then that he realized that he was still sort of crushing her. Hastily Xavier rolled off, scooting backwards, except then he was pulled forwards again by Helmut and nearly fell flat on his face in the attempt at actually getting properly to his feet.

He stumbled after Helmut, his hand gripping her arm and looking vaguely like a frightened puppy.

"W-what if it s-sees us?"

Enoh Love

 

[Enoh Love]

"Th-then um...uh...." The Ghoul seemed at a loss for an answer, but she was thinking really, really hard about it. She was also movin them both in a zigzag pattern, giving everything she knew about running away into this trip to the common room. It'd be harder to catch if they were moving weird, right?!

"W-WE'LL FIGHT IT!" She screamed finally, her voice shaking as if she really didn't believe what she was saying. Not that it mattered anyway; they seemed to make it to the room with little fuss and no run-ins with terrible reptiles. Helmut remained clinging to Xavier, but now she was giving a serious, hard look around the room.

"...We should build a fort. You know. For protection."

kuroopu

 

[kuropeco]

Xavier followed Helmut like an obedient puppy, bending over to hold onto her shoulders as the two of them weaved their way towards the common room. His fingers were shaking somewhat, and he kept looking back and forth, in rapidfire succession; but he thought the creature might be gone.

Maybe.

Hopefully.

"Y-yes!" Xavier squeaked out as they finally reached their destination. He gave a fervent nod at her suggestion and immediately beelined towards one of the couches, snatching up a pillow and clutching it to his chest.

"...how do we do that, exactly."

Enoh Love

 

[Enoh Love]

Helmut gasped loudly.

"You've never built a fort?!" She cried, and immediately ducked her head, lifting her shoulders as if regretting her tone; she looked around then, fearing a return of the beast. Seeing none and with nobody to scold her for her volume, she continued at a hushed whisper.

"We put all the chairs together and put up the couch cushions and then drape a blanket over top like a ceiling!" The tiny wendigo went to the nearest chair, and put all of her slight weight into trying to pull it closer to the big couch that had just become their base.

kuroopu

 

[kuropeco]

"N-no," said Xavier nervous, but the idea of building a fort was very appealing to him, especially now. Helmut was attempting to push one of the chairs together, and Xavier scuttled around behind her, helping to shove it towards the couch.

"We s-should get the pillows next," he said, and stumbled in his attempts at trying to get over to the couch, Xavier loading up his arms with squashy throw pillows.

"Where's the blanket?"

enoh love

 

[Enoh Love]

Helmut was happy for the help, but as Xavier brought up the blanket, the ghoul paused, and stared. And stared. And stared some more.

"....IF I'M NOT BACK IN TEN MINUTES SEND A SEARCH PARTY!" Helmut screamed as she bolted down a hallway, her voice getting quieter as she disappeared to find a blanket for them to use.

kuroopu

 

[kuropeco]

"DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE!" Xavier screeched after her, but it was too late; Helmut had disappeared back up the stairs, and Xavier was left standing by himself in the common room. He floundered for a few moments, and then shuffled over to the makeshift fort, setting the pillows in his arms down in front of it and then crawling into the space between the couch and the chair that they had made. He carefully arranged the pillows on top of the chair and huddled down in his space, pulling the hood of his coat up over his head and drawing his knees up to his chest to make himself look as small as possible.

Then he waited for Helmut.

enoh love

 

[Enoh Love]

Helmut's return was, in a word, loud.

The amount of blankets she had in her arms limited her vision enough to make her stumble around, which made her already heavy foot falls even more prominent. The ghoul stomped her way back to the main area as fast as she could, and when she was close to the beginning of the fort she dropped the blankets -

Xavier was no where to be found.

"...Xavier?" The ghoul squeaked as she curled into herself, squishing her tiny hands together nervously. Did he...did he get eaten? Is that why he wasn't there? Did he leave her, maybe? Changed his mind about being her friend? "Wh-where'd you---" She sniffled once, and then again, as tears began to form in her eyes.

"Xavieeeerrrrr~" She whined, lamenting mournfully.

kuroopu

 

[kuropeco]

He didn't hear her at first, but he most definitely heard her the second time, Helmut sounding as though she was on the verge of tears. Xavier scrambled to get out of the fort, nearly knocking over every single pillow in the process, and wound up crawling on his hands and knees towards her, his hood still flopped over his face.

"I'm - I'm here!" he said quickly, and fumbled to move his hood, getting it tangled in his feathery hair. "I'm here, I'm here, I'm - I'm here."

Then he promptly tripped over a pillow and fell flat on his face.

enoh love

 

[Enoh Love]

Suddenly, Xavier was there, appearing from the pillows and knocking them over like a clumsy godzilla. It was a relief to see him, both because his presence told her that the other creature didn't come back to eat them but also because it meant that, on some level, he was still going to be his friend. The worry fled, and with it went her tears.

She let out a small giggle as he tripped and fell on his face, and like any good friend she let that happen first, before she even tried to walk towards him. Even then, she paused long enough to grab one of the blankets she had brought over. Then, like a good friend, she opened the blanket fully...and threw it over him, letting it cover as much of her tall friend as possible.

"I got the blankets!" She cheered quietly, as if that weren't already apparent.

kuroopu

 

[kuropeco]

She'd been tearful when he stumbled out - and fell - but when Xavier lifted his head he could see the relieved expression on her face, heard the giggle that escaped her throat; and it in turn relaxed him a little, Xavier opening his mouth to say something -

- a something that was muffled by the blanket that was suddenly tossed over him, Xavier giving a little squawk.

"Yes, I see that," he said, fumbling with it. "Is there a-anything else we need?"

enoh love