#when th

"Sometimes I really miss them, like, my other friends." Lakan adjusted the braids on Nuniq's hair, hands poised as they caressed the brown locks, softly raking their hands down Nuniq's scalp as they mindlessly continued to speak. "We'd have days like these, you know? Just us talking, gossiping. Like everything is- nice." They muttered, too deep in their thoughts to find any other way to word the things in their head. "Like everything's normal. No threats, no fighting, no loud fuckers down the hall doing god knows what." Nuniq scoffed, hearing Lakan's gasp. Of denial, probably. The young woman laughed, sitting up as she tightened her arms around her pillow. Well, it wasn't really hers- they were in Lakan's- Charlie's room. But Nuniq was a regular visitor, and there was this delightful circular pillow that her friend owns, lined with orange and golden embroideries that swirled and shaped the sun. Nuniq found the patterns comforting, almost as it reminded her of home. Of a constant that she's always had in her life. Now, that constant was a bit altered. Instead of the warm, wooden walls, she was in a cold room filled with books and research papers. Instead of her own familiar sheets, it was a heavy, knitted quilt that Nuniq could only assume was made by Omen. If the pink thread was obvious enough, as it was the only thing that broke the homey Filipino aesthetics of their room. And the stuff that Chamber had too, but Nuniq chose to ignore it lest she gets the burning urge to destroy it. For fun, you know? It's almost laughable, really. Her normal has been turned upside down, and she surrounded herself with a strange group of people, but she admitted that this one- despite their strangeness- was her friend. Her confidante. "I think, Chi, this is fine too." Nuniq laughed, smiling and jokingly punching their knee. They reacted with a small slap to her shoulder, before pulling her into a hug, "Yeah! I get to have a shortass teddy bear who beats me up every Monday!" they laughed, this time, earning a hit to the gut. "Alright, that's where I draw the line, Chi. I can freeze over this entire room and leave you to die." Nuniq deadpanned, wriggling away from their grasp and rolling over to smile at herself in the mirror, with braids that crowned her hair and adorned her features, she was happy. With her friend peering over her shoulder with dark, wide eyes, she took out her phone and reeled them in to take a picture. A sense of newfound normalcy with the unknown. Though it was almost quite literal, it felt... nice.