people who do not want to be here: this girl

[crimsonbell]

[There is a little girl with a bright red kimono and a lot of waterworks on the comm today. Frankly speaking, it looks like she would have run away by now, but every time she stops hiccuping and crying into her hands to look up, what she sees seems to terrify her and she goes back to cowering.]

[With every jerk of one wrist, there's the tinkling of bells, and it's a near constant melody to her more painful crying. In fact, uh... anyone with any flashlights... or anything that sheds light at all... That might start to flicker. Or just not work. Sorry about that. The little girl doesn't seem to notice, at any rate.]

[Sometimes, when the crying goes down a little, she looks up at her mun, jaw quivering as she clearly tries to get her voice to work.... only for it to inevitably fail and she curls in on herself as she hides her face in her hands again.]

[The mun is starting to realize this might have been a bad idea.]

Comments

[wingsmakethebestcomforter]

[Just about everyone in this mun's head comes clamoring to comfort and help the little girl at once; she gets their first. And since she has so much experience with kids, the others back off.

She makes a little noise to let the girl know she's there, and then slides down and kneels beside her. Will she accept a pet to the hair?]

Oh, honey. [she makes another comforting little noise deep in her throat.]

[crimsonbell]

[Sure enough, the noise gets her attention, ensuring she doesn't become startled and make a failed attempt at running away. That doesn't mean she keeps from flinching at the touch to her hair.]

[Still. No fleeing. That's something, even if she's peering out from between her fingers and the red sleeves of her kimono with scared wide eyes.]

[wingsmakethebestcomforter]

Shhh. It's all right. You're safe, now.

[Kindly brown eyes crinkle up in a smile, and she delicately moves to stroke her hair comfortingly, leaving her plenty of room to flinch away if she doesn't want the touch.]

I have two little girls, you know. Three little boys, too. Just like you.

[She has a soft, warm, motherly voice. One used to comforting crying children.]

[crimsonbell]

[It's amazing what a soothing voice can do, especially when, for so long, all she's heard have been the terrifying sounds that had begun to fill the house outside her cupboard. Any crying soon becomes sniffles and hiccups, although the kimono sleeves don't get lowered.]

[Her mouth opens a couple of times, as if getting ready to speak, but she loses her nerve every time.]

[wingsmakethebestcomforter]

Shh. [She sits down on the floor, now, offering her a lap to crawl into if she so wants.]

You don't have to talk, not right now. It's okay. Everything's okay now.

[She continues to stroke her hair, and starts a low, soothing hum.]

[crimsonbell]

[The lap invitation is declined, but Chitose still stays close, letting the slow strokes of her hair ease up all the tension in her body bit by bit. Soon enough, she's drooping worn out from her distress.]

...Not Minakami...

[So it's not okay, not really.]

[wingsmakethebestcomforter]

Minakami? ...Shh. You look worn out. Sleep, honey, and we can worry about it when you wake up. Okay?

[She continues stroking her hair. Poor girl. No, it's probably not okay. But she will protect you to the best of her abilities, she promises she will.]

[crimsonbell]

Home...

[Even if home is pretty scary right now, too.]

[Normally, any other time, she wouldn't fall asleep so readily in the open near strangers unless her family was nearby. However, it's been a looong day, and there's only so much a little girl can handle after working herself up in fear and crying herself hoarse. A little clumsily in her kimono, she tries to draw in on herself, like her kimono will help shield her.]

[It takes a little while, but soon enough, her breathing starts to slow.]

[wingsmakethebestcomforter]

We'll get you home. Don't you worry. Shh.

[She starts humming a lullaby soft in her throat as she continues to stroke her hair.]

Poor girl. You've had a long day, huh?

[Once she's sure the little girl is sound asleep, she'll carefully tiptoe off to get a blanket, then come back to tuck her in.]

[crimsonbell]

[A pretty long and tiring day for just a little girl, and it shows in the way she unconsciously burrows into the blankets after just a few moments, becoming a tiny lump in the middle of the floor.]