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There was a fumbling noise from the doorknob, then slowly it swung open, a little will o' the wisp peeking around the door. She looked as if she'd just gotten out of bed, her hair messy, her eyes bright.

The sound of someone muttering something came from the large wrought iron papasan bed. "Riiiiff, why'd you open the door?" Roch complained, looking up sleepily from his bed. "Oh, jack, uh, gimme a second," he said as he saw the monster boil at the door. He leaned over, grabbing his pants from the floor next to his bed and dragging them on.

His hair, usually made up in a faux hawk, stuck out in strange angles. It wasn't much different from his faux hawk, though. "Hey," he said, yawning. "Late night, sorry," he added, shoving his blanket to the end of the bed and revealing a starving stray and a solar flare that had been sleeping under it. They didn't look happy about being woke up.

His room was rather bare save for the ridiculously ornate iron that made his bed, the fishtank that was rather like it in the corner, a TV, and a desk with a chair.

"Come on in," he said. "And, y'know, thanks. I could really use some help."

The pets that'd been sleeping in the bed jumped as the pillows fwoomped down on it, racing to higher ground since that was a "what the jack" moment for them. Even Roch stared at them blankly, wondering if this guy was a bit crazy or something.

But, hey, he was a monster, right? Monster logic was... well, strange, as far as Roch could tell. Shaking it off easily he thought about the question Ren had just asked.

"It's not that I can't bring up my FEAR or anything," Roch said abruptly, heading back to the bed. "but my FEAR ability, it's... well, it's touchy, y'know? I use a guitar--" He held out his fist and summoned the guitar in question. "And I feed the FEAR into the chords--er, chord, right now," he said, leaning back in his bed like a couch. "So I kept trying to do that during practice, except I either use TOO much or not enough. And it makes me sick. Literally."

"You mean with the bush?" Roch asked. "Yeah, uh, lemme go get it," he said, getting off of his bed and heading for the closet. "This might take a little bit," he admitted. "Little b*****d's terrified of me. I think I DID grab Xiu's by mistake."

He disappeared into the closet, leaving Ren alone with the minipets, who were inspecting the pillows. Riff, the little will o the wisp, promptly headed for a red one, sitting on it like a princess and then seeming to have an argument with the starving stray.

Roch came out then, carrying a bush under his arm, one that showed no sign of being a pet. "This, ah, could be a problem, huh?" Roch asked belatedly.

Roch nodded, looking at the bush and taking a deep, hopefully calming breath. His hand tightened slightly on the neck of his guitar, while he started focusing, bringing up his FEAR. Not too little, but not too much, he thought, closing his eyes for a brief second. Then he opened them, staring at the bush just like he'd been told to in class.

The little bush animal popped out, looking up at him incredulously, then snarling evilly. It sensed that it was time for its revenge! Why had he ever thought this guy was scary to begin with??

Roch thought, caught on the "something weighing on your mind" comment. "Yeah," he admitted. His hand tightened on the neck of the guitar before he forced it to loosen again. "I did something... well, it ain't like it was horrible or anything, but..." He sighed, feeling stressed. "I need to get over it. Focus--"

His hold changed on the guitar and he did a few quick riffs, then forced himself to focus on something hard. "Sorry," he said. "Gimme a minute, I think I can concentrate after I do this."

It wasn't something he had ever played for school things. But his expression calmed as he played it, turning more focused, less stressed.

Roch glanced up, a hint of red creeping up the back of his neck. "It's cuz I'm part guitar," he said, a little grin pulling at his lips. "It's what I do." His mind was full of A) Music, and B) food. And recently one ghoul. But right now he was set on music. That was a comfortable place for him to be.

Mentally he replayed the song, letting it fill his mind, letting himself focus. His guitar seemed to hum, even though he wasn't playing it. It vibrated, glowing gently. And his FEAR started to rise.

Still too little. But he didn't seem bothered by it. He took a deep breath. "Again," he said quietly. "I think I can do it."

Roch snorted, then started laughing. "Oh, that was great!" he teased the gryphon boil. "Did you check out a book on cheesy encouragement lines? Can I borrow it sometime?" he said.

Maybe it wasn't Fur Elise that was his trigger, he thought. Maybe that was too calming. "Huh... let's try something else," he said, starting up his favorite new relaxing song, Perfect Waves.

When he was done he grinned evilly at the little bush and wrapped his hand around the guitar neck, drawing up more FEAR.

It was enough to worry the bush, but not quite enough to do the chord that had given him so much trouble, he thought. "Just a little more," he told Ren. "If I can draw up just a tiny bit more I'd be able to do the chord right. I did it twice."

It was starting to look like Roch wasn't AIMING to pull up a lot of FEAR, instead he was aiming to pull up just enough.