001 { howling in the dead of night }

[determinedhowl]

Characters: Koromaru and you, good sirs and madams!
Setting: All around the tower, starting in room 3-04.
Format: Starting in prose, but I'll match your preference.
Summary: Puppy did not have a good few weeks in the tower. Why all his friends either not here or acting strangely? :(
Warnings: Possible omg cute while everything else goes to hell pfffffffffffffffft.

The last three weeks have been very confusing for the humans he's seen, and even more so for the canine that awakened in a strange room with three strange people he didn't know. Though, they did seem to be okay... and running into Chie-san wasn't too bad, either!

But... where were his friends?

He couldn't really put his own collar on by himself (we do not count the one he awoke with, it doesn't do the same thing), so he carried it in his mouth for a while, unless someone was kind enough to put it on him. Really, he looked kind of down about it as he began searching every floor for any sign of them being alright.

Probably didn't help that the last thing he saw was one of his closest friends flying up to the moon on his own as they cried out for him...

> ...
> Bother the furball?
> Yes
> No

Comments

[sixthsense]

[She wipes her eyes with the sleeve of her kimono, looking apologetic as she hears the whine. She gives a chuckle, low and unpleasant, in an effort to both hide and regain control of her emotions.]

I'm sorry...I must seem pretty pitiable right now.

[Mio starts to reach her hand out, hesitating halfway before attempting to pat him on the head. She wonders if he'll be disgusted by her could touch. She didn't want to scare him off--to have him come close was more than she had hoped for, but...]

[determinedhowl]

[He whines. A little, but you don't smell like a Shadow, and you're really sad... He just wishes he could do more to help? Because that's a little... well, sad.

He pauses for a moment too, before lightly poking her hand with his nose. Brr, cold! But... so was Death. He whined again.]

[sixthsense]

I'm sorry...my hands are freezing, aren't they? I'm not normally like this, though.

[It's hard to say whether she's saying that for his sake or her own. Still, there's an apologetic smile on her face, looking more natural than the previous one. She allows her hand to run over his head after it's bumped before crouching down. She rubs behind his ears, but only for a moment before resting them on her knees, tilting her head slightly to one side.]

Hey...once things are back to normal--if I go back to normal--do you think we could meet again?

[determinedhowl]

[He shook his head, trying to be polite at least. He's felt colder, really! Like, Nyx-bearing-down-on-them cold. A ghostly hand wasn't nearly as bad, so he smiles and barks twice. He's used to doing that as a 'no, it's okay' for humans who couldn't understand him.

Also he kind of likes ear scratches, anyway. He isn't that picky.

As for the question, he nods once, barking the same amount of times. Of course it was alright. Look, he even raised a forepaw for a paw-five!

'It's a promise, ghost-lady! You seem really nice, despite being like this. Though that wasn't your choice, was it?']

[sixthsense]

[She can't understand him exactly, but after a few seconds of confusion she's able to get the gist of what he means. The paw-five manages to draw out a small, soft laugh from her, the closest to feeling happy that she's been in some time. She returns the gesture as best she can, placing her hand against his paw carefully so as not to go through it.]

It's a promise, then....ah... [She leans forward a little in order to get better look at his collar.] What's your name?

[determinedhowl]

[It seems the laugh was also something he'd been trying to pull from her, because soon after that and the paw-five he gave a lopsided dog-grin and another bark. He even moved his neck a little after his paw touched the ground a bit so it was easier for her to read it.

S.E.E.S. KOROMARU]

[sixthsense]

Koromaru...?

[She reads the name slowly, before smiling once more.]

So you're Koromaru. I'm Mio. It's nice to meet you, though I'm sorry the circumstances couldn't be better.

[determinedhowl]

[He nods once, barking. It's nice to meet you too, Mio-san! Don't worry about the things you can't change though, okay?]