He really wished his new responsibility could converse.


    He had given her a bit to calm down, but they couldn’t sit there in the hallway doing nothing all night. Once she had a chance to breathe, he had started back towards his room so he could drop off the important bits he was carrying. He didn’t wait long enough it seemed, as she chirped at him and tried to hold him in place when he went to leave.


    At that point all he could do was sigh and pick her up.


    While he was more than happy to work with the girl to get her interested in survival, her own specifically, things weren’t cozy enough that he could just let her do as she pleased. So long as she was off doing her own thing and not blocking him it didn’t matter much, but once she started to slow down progress on finding food and water he had to make some hard decisions.


    While he understood that bodily moving her around like he was would just scare her more, he needed to start work on the second level he had found. Work that would need food considering how long he had been down there. He didn’t know how long she would need him to sit there to calm down, but it was longer than he was willing to spend if his first pause wasn’t enough.


    So here he was, fighting a headache from lack of food and a crisis waiting to happen huddled in his arms. He didn’t know what had spooked her so badly that she needed to stay right there, but whatever it was would get a pan to the face if it showed up again.


    Seeing as how she didn’t make a peep during the entire trip to the mess hall things weren’t looking good. If he had managed to scare her as much as whatever it had been, then she wasn’t going to tell him squat. That was even considering she could get any information across at all. He hoped he could coax her out of the fear coma she seemed to be in with a choco-stick.


    …. Maybe not a fear coma then.


    He had gone to put her down on a bench in the mess hall but she had clung to his chest like a monkey, refusing to let go. Maybe she really was a cat? She certainly demanded attention like one. Now he really had no idea what was going on.


    She had clearly been wary of him in the hall, as she had refused to get closer even while she was grabbing his hand. Now that he had her attached to his chest though he had to reevaluate that entire exchange.


    Had she refused to move from a spot, rather than be afraid of getting closer to him? It would explain why she had changed so drastically.


    Fuck it, he needed calories and miss clingy kitty wasn’t letting go. He set his notebook and pan down on the table and went into the back with the rest of his baggage. At least he had hands to work with again. Not enough dexterity to make food, but it was enough to grab several choco-sticks. He stuffed two into his mouth right there to start with and had a handful more set for later.


    Drinking as much water as he could stomach, he grabbed the rest of his stuff and headed for his room. If his hangers on wanted water she would just have to let go and get some. Though she didn’t make a peep on the way to his room either.


    He didn’t get his first clue until he got into the room. After he had closed the door, which he was sure would get a reaction since it made noise, he set the lights to something less eye searing. While he did that both to conserve power and because he liked things less bright, it seemed to be quite terrifying to his guest. She very much went from ‘I’m not moving’ to ‘bear hug until you can’t breathe’.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    ‘Ah, she’s afraid of the dark. I imagine the auto lights are the worst thing ever for her’


    Well then, how to deal with this little dilemma. The fastest way was to show he had control of the lights, though considering that wasn’t entirely true it probably wasn’t the best choice, but it would probably stop her from being clingy.


    Did…did he need her to stop though?


    Sure, it was inconvenient to have her attached to his front, but if he could get her moved around to cling to his back it wouldn’t matter much. She was incredibly light, so while he would certainly work more to haul her around, she would work less, a kind of canceling out of work. If being there helped her to not panic and kept her calm it would be a net gain on calories in the end.


    Huh, clearly his brain was frazzled and not thinking of everything since it was sounding more and more like a good idea. No, it would be best to show how the lights were controlled…


    When they didn’t flicker like that at least.


    Seems like his stroll on the other level had powered something up. Could be what had spooked the poor girl as well, since her grip had just gotten tighter.


    This did not bode well for their power lasting. He would need to find whatever had booted up and shut it back down. Or at least determine if there was a main power plant to start up. It seemed that exploring that level had suddenly become more important. He sighed again, so much to get done.


    First things first though, he needed to convince a skittish kitty that lights didn’t need to be bright. Flickering lights aside, if he could have her overcome her fear of the dark it would go a long way to get things started.


    Seeing as how he had manhandled her up to this point and she was already scared out of her mind, he turned the lights down dim enough that his eyes would need time to adjust. Doing so seemed to spook the girl worse, but he just pushed on and covered her eyes with his hand. With her thoroughly blind and attempting to crush the air out of his chest, he went and sat on his bed with the girl on his lap. Putting the pan down and opening his notebook, not that he could really see it at the moment, he spent the time contemplating what he had found down there.


    The girl tried to squirm a bit, but considering she never let go he wasn’t sure what her plan was. After his eyes had adjusted enough to see his notes better, he let his hand covering the girl’s eyes fall away.


    Considering the only lights in the room were dim night lights and the overhead was dimmed enough to see them, he expected the girl to need some coaxing and treats to gather her courage.


    She didn’t need them, but he wasn’t exactly sure she had gathered anything resembling courage either.


    Her stance on his continued breathing didn’t change for a bit, but slowly she loosened up. When she had let go enough to look around, he figured things were on the right track and got ready to start the coaxing. When she jammed the stuffed cat into his chest and tossed it towards the door he got a bit derailed. When she started to talk a bit in her rumbly voice he recognized some of the words, though it seemed she was just spitting them out at random. Suffice to say he was thoroughly confused at this point.


    He was not to be deterred though. Once she stopped, he stuffed an unwrapped choco-stick into her hand in an attempt to get her to fully release her grip. This seemed to derail the girl a bit, as she seemed just as confused about the treat as he was about her randomized speech. Didn’t stop her from eating the treat though.


    After it was devoured, she huffed a bit and looked around. He wasn’t sure what she was looking for, but as he was trying to get her used to the dark he decided that head rubs and a good night’s sleep would do her good.


    He would need to be careful of course, he didn’t want to leave the door open in case whatever had spooked her wasn’t light-based and she had just spent the last little bit cursing it out. That unfortunately required that the girl have a door between her and freedom. She seemed fine now, but once the fright had worn off and she realized where she was that would probably change quite fast. He wasn’t looking forward to a night with one eye open to keep watch on the girl.


    She didn’t seem to consider any of that though, leaning into the head rubs like she was an addict. His plan in the process of backfiring on him, since he was trying to get her to let go and she was doing the opposite, he really had no choice but to double down until she passed out.


    ‘I really hope that whatever turned on won’t end us before I get the chance to go back down there’