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Ephron gave a sharp nod, returning Ilyrosa's grin with one of his own. "No problem; just a sec!" he said as he took the bowl and rose to the kitchen. He admired her ability to push the horrible events from her mind and focus on the here-and-now, something he knew was not easy to accomplish. Some good news crawling out of everything that had happened probably helped on the matter, but there was still a great deal amount of sheer willpower. As he dished up some more soup, he flicked his eyes to Nina and sighed silently, hoping that she would be able to take her friend's lead and calm down as well.

As her name was spoken, she brought her thoughts back into what was happening around her. Seems that her mind was becoming a dangerous place to dwell in, and with this realization came a relief when she was fished back out. Her thoughts may still have been unwilling to let go of her consciousness, but she fought them back with an exclamation, "Oh, good idea! I'll be right back with a stack!"

She left her hesitation behind, scampering back to her room with her now-sheetless bed and digging through the clutter on her dresser and desk for the small box. As she reached her right hand out, she stopped before touching the speckled cardboard, turning her hand around. Palm-up, she frowned at the cuts she had made, pulling her arm back before any blood could fall on the surface of the desk. "Better clean that up before I head back," she sighed, grabbing for the deck with her other hand and heading for the bathroom.

Bringing the bowl of soup back to Ily, holding it carefully so as not to spill. It isn't until you're trying not to spill something that you realize you're hands are shaking, he grumbled mentally, though found it rather amusing despite himself. Holding it out for Ilyrosa to grab, he warned, "Now, don't overdo it, okay? You should think about getting some sleep soon." Guh, he sounded like such a mother with that comment, but felt that it needed to be said. Trying to forget things could only go so far, after all, before they became dangerous.

It was then that Nina returned, waving the deck of cards slightly and smiling meekly, "Sorry it took so long, my desk is a mess." She hadn't wrapped her hand up, to keep attention from being drawn to it, but hid the gashes with her taloned fingers closed around her palm instead. Cards weren't difficult to play one-handed, after all. Moving to sit beside her friend, she placed the deck on her lap, figuring it would be better to wait until Rosa had finished with her bowl of soup.

Ephron, meanwhile, was back in the kitchen, taking the remaining soup off the burner before it got too much warmer. "Anything else sound appetizing, or is the soup enough for you? I don't mind fixing anything else," he called into the main area. Honestly, if it kept him busy, he was happier than sitting and worrying about when the police officers were going to get there. Besides, he remembered from the sleepover that the girl had quite the healthy appetite, and didn't want her to feel afraid to ask for more. At least the thunder had quieted down.

Ephron couldn't help but snicker at Ily's reply, a combination of the bundle of overreacting nerves and relief rolled into one. Well, that, and the amusement at the question. He physically waved it off, calling back over, "Yeah, sure thing! I'll get them both started right away." He was amused at least until he thought about the context, at least: quick products made with chicken did tend to be labeled as comfort food, didn't they? With that, there was no doubt in his mind whether or not the label tended toward truth. Playing with the idea, he started preparing the kitchen for both of the suggested food items.

"Ehehee, I bet," Nina giggled, imagining what Ilyrosa's room may look like. As it was, Nina's room wasn't too much of a mess, but she tended to stack random items on any flat, table-like surface. She usually knew where everything was in her room, as long as she wasn't forced to clean or "organize" it in any manner. It wasn't as if she really lost anything important, after all.

With a confused start at her friend's question, aimed at the other preteen, she frowned. "Hmn? I'm fine!" she replied. It never really dawned on her that such an experience, as traumatizing as it was, could heighten the senses to that sort of thing; it wasn't as if she had any personal experiences other than this very night with which to draw such knowledge from. To her, the question seemed to be reflecting in the way she had been acting, rather than the fact that she had accidentally sliced up her palm, so put a smile on her face to mirror this.

However, her attention quickly moved from that, fearing that dwelling on anything even remotely negative had the potential to drive her back into the grips of her thoughts. Instead, she leaned into the explanation as Ilyrosa started laying out the playing field with the cards. The first thing she mentioned was a quick, "It's surprising how many different games you can play with a little pack of cards, isn't it?" It almost made her want to create a game of her own, considering the range left her thinking it might be easy. "What happens when we can't keep our hand at five cards?" she asked, glancing quickly at her own hand as she spoke and listened to the explanation. Detracting her own question, she hastily added with a chirp, "It sounds like fun!"

By this point, Ephron had already gotten another can of soup on, family-sized this time, and was waiting for the oven to preheat for the chicken nuggets. As soon as he heard a minor break in conversation, he called over, "The soup should be ready in about fifteen minutes, the nuggets about twenty-five. Might be able to get one or two games in." This was including the tutorial period as well, but then again, it depended on how quickly the two of them played.

"Two more questions!" she quickly stated after a momentary lapse in hesitation. She hated having to ask so many questions, but if she understood the game from the start, there was a good chance they could play that much longer. Rifling through the cards to get her bearings as to which ones she had, she continued, "Can we add to either middle card pile, or just our own? And what happens when we can't put a card down? Do we just pick another card?" She was fairly confident she could play the game without another break to clarify confusion if these two questions were answered.

An apologetic smile and Nina insisted, "Last questions, I promise." Her right hand twitched toward the middle deck before she pulled it back, figuring it would be safer to hold the cards with it instead. As long as she was careful, at least. Switching hands, her left extended to rest on the deck in front of her instead, fidgeting in excitement.

Ears twitching slightly to the sound, Nina gave a nod of understanding. With a grin, she added, "Looks like we're going to have to play fast so you don't pass out before the food's ready, huh?" A little bit of teasing, but one that colored her understanding. Her eyes turned toward the kitchen, where Ephron was sitting on the counter as if he were a kid trying to get into the cookie jar that was too far over his head otherwise. She caught sight of the timer on the oven, hoping she could keep Ilyrosa preoccupied enough until that slow-moving timer went off. Perhaps some well-meaning bantering could aid in that as well.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be! The rules make sense enough to me," she clarified, fingers twitching to take hold of the edge of one of the middle cards in anticipation. "Ready, set?"

Although most of Ephron's attention was on watching to make sure the soup didn't boil over, the man couldn't help but find himself trying to watch the two girls play their game. After all, watching food cook wasn't the most entertaining of stations, especially when they were on a set timer.