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The manananggal had not gone straight for her room, surprisingly enough. She continued to walk through the campus. Yes, walk, as in with her two feet clad in the same sneakers, chicken-design shirt, and pleated miniskirt ensemble she wore to the field trip. The same field trip that had just ended but felt both like it had happened ages ago and was still happening at that very moment. Maritess hadn't been very close with their Gym Professor but she owed the werewolf a great deal.

Maybe not as much as she did Christof, but she couldn't deny the gratitude she felt.

So, why then? Why did she not feel like clawing at her hair and sobbing her eyes out despite having witnessed Red's death? Why instead of commiserating with her fellow students was she aimlessly wandering from dorm to dorm, from classroom to classroom, with no particular goal in mind?

Lizzy had basically packed enough clothing to spend a few nights in her boilfriend's room. In fact, immediately after her return to school, she had spent the first night at Mac's, his presence greatly comforting her but still not stopping the nightmares from happening; while she was comfortable and happy in her boilfriend's arms, she kept herself up for most of the night, knowing that if she went to sleep, she would probably have another nightmare which would wake up the poor boil with her squirming and tossing around... That was why she managed to somehow slip out of his arms early the next morning, even before the pumpkin sun makes its way up the Halloween sky, to take a walk.

As she exited the reaper dorms, she caught sight of a familiar figure, one she had worried about. One who had possibly saved her life.

"Tess!" She screamed, almost unable to believe her own eyes; she had not seen the ghoul since her own death by Red's fire, "You're alive!" Well, undead but at least she wasn't dead-dead. So excited was she, that she ran towards her, tossing her arms around her best friend and squeezing her to herself.

There was a numbness in Tess' crimson eyes when she heard her name, turned towards the sound, and saw Lizzy running up to her. And then promptly got her breath constricted from the tight hug. It was automatic for the undead ghoul to respond with an equally fierce hug, then again, Lizzy was the only one she'd been hugging lately. Maritess isn't sure what to make of that realization.

"Y-yeah. Surprisingly. Y-you're okay. I'm glad." she choked out, trying to keep the realization that Lizzy could have been just as dead as Red and she didn't even realize it as far away from her thoughts as possible. The manananggal didn't know what she would do if that had been the case. "Where have you been?" she asked.

Tess followed without resistance, the pull on her arm leading her feet to follow. She was still whole, which was always a good thing as far as Tess was concerned. It meant Legs was less likely to get herself into trouble and the manananggal had enough to process as it was. "I haven't slept at all, I think..." Tess murmured, just now realizing how much time had passed since they returned. This was not good for the undead's health. "I can't really tell..."

She listened as Lizzy told her of what went on between the demon and reaper. "If Mac did take the news well, I think you'd need to get him checked in the head." she muttered beneath her breath. She noticed the blush on her friend's cheeks and couldn't help herself from prodding with a knowing grin, "Is that all you two did?"

"Aww..." She frowned, holding her friend close as she petted her hair, trying to be comforting, "You should try to get a bit of sleep, or at least some rest... Do you need me to stay with you until you can sleep?" She could always text Mac her whereabouts so he wouldn't get worried; Tess seemed like she needed the comfort. During times like this, she really wished that she could brew some of Xiu's calming teas.

"W-what do you mean?" Her blush deepened as she averted her gaze, "He just held me and comforted me... Uh, with kisses." Yes, that sounded about right without revealing too much!

Tess didn't resist the hair-petting as she settled her head against Lizzy. This was nice. Very nice. And comforting and soothing. And something she assumed her best friend would much rather be doing with her boilfriend. Who she had gone to the prom with. That was still a strange turn of events that also made her feel the teeniest bit resentful.

No, she will be happy for Lizzy's behalf!

"I'll be fine," she insisted. Except she didn't believe it herself. Or rather, the part of her that was more Legs than Tess didn't believe it. When Lizzy slightly elaborated on what she and Mac had done, Tess simply wiggled her brows suggestively at her, "Uh huh, what kiiiiind of kisses?" she giggled, ignoring the twinge of jealousy brewing in the pit of her stomach.

Lizzy's web of connections was infinitely superior to Tess' but despite it, the spider demon still considered the undead as her best friend. This was one of those moments the winged ghoul didn't give two scragg's a** about how her actions could be misconstrued as she flung her arms tight around Lizzy and gave the pink-haired ghoul's cheek a light peck. It was a friendly kiss. The kind a lot of ghouls her age gave to their fellow ghouls. "Thank you so much. And a ghoul's day out sounds lovely!" Tess nodded. It did indeed sound like something she should be getting involved in. She had made so few friends it was all rather pathetic, really.

Crimson eyes widened when Lizzy brought up the vampire boil from the festival. "He sounded like L-Leoward?" she stammered, her cheeks suddenly flushing at the mere mention of his name. "I-it's probably just a coincidence. Lots of creatures sound alike unless you really know what to look for. And Legs remembers what that Hunter looked like and Leoward is far more attractive. I mean! Um! Yes, they're definitely not the same person! And I'm sure Leoward wouldn't force anyone into a cage or anything they didn't want to do." Listen to her ramble, Lizzy. Just listen to her ramble!

The kiss was unexpected, but since a friend-to-friend kiss had been given to her before, she took it with a smile and a light blush. The hug was readily returned, her smile growing as she giggled, "I'm glad you think so! I think it would be nice if we could just... Maybe go shopping or for a movie. Just us ghouls, no boils. We could talk about ghoul things without fear!" She really wasn't much of a gossip monger, but she liked knowing what her friends were up to!

"Awwww, do you have a crush on him?" She couldn't resist giggling at her friend's reaction before turning serious, offering a nod of agreement, "I am sure you are right! There is no way that they could be the same person..."

"Oooh, I do need a wardrobe update. My closet's starting to fill with... horribly uncoordinated combinations," the manananggal sighed dramatically, trying her best to turn the mood light again. "I'd certainly love to meet your other friends," she added. She only hoped the feeling was mutual with Lizzy's friends. What if they hated her?! What if they pressured Lizzy to drop Tess like a bad habit?

The anxiety she was feeling was starting to get to her as her stomach started to ache and knot and twist. She tried to ignore the pain and was for the most part, seemed to be succeeding.