#nemekii

A look of confusion, but not anger. Chopper smiled in relief, having come prepared for the girl's typical aggression toward what could be looked at as a condescending action.

"Does a friend need a reason?" Chopper murmured softly, his head lowering to the ground as if in some deeper thought. "If someone who cares wants to show it, there doesn't need to be any deeper meaning behind it, right?" Chopper lifted his head to smile at the younger girl, a reassuring expression that let her know this wasn't anything to be concerned about.

The nature of these battles was only now dawning on the reindeer. Tia could be taken any day by another of her kind, returned to her world with nothing to show for it but the memories she made with Megumi and others. Having prioritized Kolulu at every opportunity, it was becoming clear to Chopper that if Tia vanished from this world tomorrow, she may have faded doubting the legitimacy of her friendship with him.

“I didn’t always live here in Adventure Bay,” Chase admitted slowly, as if he were ashamed somehow. “I was born in Adventure City. Remember how I told you cities were way bigger than towns like this? Well… Adventure City sure was…”

The pup nodded. “Yeah, I did. The streets were awful. I’m glad you don’t have to live that kind of life.”

Now he was going to have to try and make himself sound… well, not pitiful. He didn’t want that.

“I got adopted by a couple back there when I was little, but… they left me on the sidewalk one day and sped off. The city was huge, and I was tiny. I don’t know how old I was, but I shouldn’t have been alone. No-one should be alone.”

Chase couldn’t yet bring himself to look at Simba, but he continued his story, quickly deciding he’d make it shorter so he wouldn’t have to talk about it anymore. “I’m just lucky Ryder found me and brought me back here, ‘cause otherwise I… don’t know where I’d be.” He tried to smile convincingly enough to look like he hadn’t just shared an early that had left a painful, permanent impression on him.

“It doesn’t bother me as much anymore, to be honest, because now I’m a police pup! The town sees me as a hero… it can be hard to feel like one sometimes, but I really am happy here. We still go to Adventure City every so often, the team and I, and I still get kinda scared,” he admitted, feeling a bit better, somehow.

“I learned a trick, though: whenever you feel scared or stuck, close your eyes for just a minute. Think about what makes you a hero. You gotta push through and keep going, you know? That’s how I was able to save Ryder.”

"Oh!" Claire gasped, jerking back from the sudden appearance of the rabbit. A hand goes to her chest to calm her rapidly beating heart. It looked like one of the Smiling Critters. Hopefully, this was one of the friendly ones and not the ones who were trying to kill her...

"Well, Cherish knows you're all kids and she adores kids, and takes care of them where she's from, and since well, seeing what you've all gone through, I cna't stand it, makes me hate humans more and I am a human." Nicoel sat down.

It was the last mass of the day and Quasimodo had attended to it, as usual. Sitting by the back, the bell ringer had paid attention to the priest's words up to a moment when he saw a small four legged shadow sneaking around and hiding under one of the benches.

No one else seemed to have noticed so he waited until they were all gone to knell down.

The redhead's eyes widened a bit, that was one big cat!

— H-hello little guy, what are you doing h-here? — Quasimodo extended his hand for the creature to sniff.

Freddy’s smile lasted as the child looked around, but it vanished when he spoke.

“You have… two names?” he murmured, puzzled. But how was it that didn’t he know why he was called Little Leo? It sounded sort of like his own: he was called Freddy Fazbear because… well, it was an entertainment character’s name, and he was the face of an entertainment company.

The bear paused, still baffled, but smiled again. He’d think about the name thing later, if it was necessary. For now, he was going to make sure the cub felt safe.

“Well, if you’d rather be called Simba, that’s what we’ll call ya. Sound good?”

He eyed the bubble wrap and foam padding around the boy, so Freddy carefully brought his paw closer. “Y’need some help with that stuff, bud? It’ll make me look all static-y, like someone rubbed a balloon on me!” he joked, a short chuckle leaving him.