#int.aravis

it feels like aeons have passed since they emerged from the collapsed school building, even though it has really only been a few hours. ravi sits in a folding chair in a quiet corner of the clinic, mourning the lives lost ( not the hunters, fuck those guys ), annotating their own obituary with a bowl propped under their chin to catch any tears. the sound of footsteps has them looking towards the doorway, heart rate spiking despite knowing the hunters are gone. “ sheesh, i nearly gave myself a heart attack, ” they joke. “ good to see you, though. how have you been ? ” the answer is probably bad, they doubt anyone has had a good day, but it never hurts to ask.

it's a relatively normal, peaceful day at the bookshop, customers coming and going throughout the day while ravi sits at their desk doing admin work. the bell rings above the door, and they glance up. “ hi matty, ” ravi says, “ looking for anything in particular, or did you just come in to say hi ? ” probably the former, with the way the town is at the moment — lots of people are looking for information to explain what's going on — but ravi can dream. “ 'cause i got a new record the other day, and i think you'd like it. ” they know matty prefers live music — have had arguments about it before — but this one's a real banger, and they're hopeful it might get her to acknowledge that pre-recorded music can be just as good.

“ i'm after something that can fireproof clothes, ” they say, giving in and accepting that they'll need help to find anything. “ do you guys sell anything like that ? ”