“Aey’s fine,” Yam reported as she walked into the living room. Ari and Rolf were sitting side by side on the couch, each holding a glass of water. “Wha- why are you drinking that?”

“What do you mean?” Ari held her cup up to the light, as if doing that would somehow allow her to see poisons and impurities in the water. “It’s not bad, is it?”

“No,” the Tabaxi explained, “but why would you drink water when you can have hot chocolate?”

“WAIT OH MY GOD REALLY???” Rolf gasped, almost spilling all her water as she bounced up and down excitedly. Yam scowled at her.

“Watch it.”

They then spent the next ten minutes mixing cocoa powder and milk.

As Yam was finishing off the last of her hot chocolate, a noise from behind made her turn around, setting her cup down on the counter. Aey appeared from behind the door, looking dishevelled and tired but alive.

“Hi, Aey,” Ari greeted the Tiefling. “Are you feeling any better?”

Aey glanced at the three of them and flipped her hair over her shoulder in a mock-representation of her earlier cockiness. “Are you drinking hot chocolate without me, lovelies?”

“Oh, god, no,” Yam scowled, heading behind the counter and pulling another cup down from the overhead drawer. “Here,” she snapped, handing the mug to Aey, “make some hot chocolate for yourself if you want some.”

Aey immediately pouted, staring pleadingly at Yam. “But Yaaaaam,” she teased, mimicking the way that Rolf talked that annoyed Yam so much. “Can’t you make it foooooor me?”

“Hey, that’s my line,” Rolf grumbled, stirring a spoon around her hot chocolate.

“No,” Yam hissed at Aey, still holding the cup out to her. “You make it yourself or you don’t have any.”

“Alright, alright,” Aey replied, holding up her hands as a peace gesture. She’d just taken the cup when a loud chittering sounded from the direction of the hallway. Everyone turned to see Bread prancing along, looking as healthy as ever, the dawn light that filtered through the curtains making his orange fur glow like fire.

Ari sipped her mug of cocoa and soaked in the comfortable silence. Just a few hours ago, she was a stranger lost in the forest, and now she was here, with Aey, Rolf, Yam, and Bread - her new friends. Maybe her horrible navigational prowess was something to be praised after all.

Then, Rolf let out a soft yawn and mumbled, “Waahhh… I’m so tired…. Today has been really long so… I’m.. going to sleep now….” She then stumbled over to the couch with an empty cocoa mug and slumped into its softness, hugging the mug near her heart. Her snoring was almost instant, and Ari let out a soft giggle at the sight.

“Welp, now that it’s sleeping time, we should decide on our sleeping spots. What do you think, Yam?”

“Why should I— ”

“‘Why should I let any of you guys sleep here?’ is what Yam would say, am I right?” Aey chimed in with a smug grin as if to prove her correctness, promptly cutting Yam off her speech.

“This is my damn house, you don’t get to decide who sleeps where or whether or not any of you are staying,” Yam hissed back.

“Guys, calm down… We might wake Rolf up at this rate.” Ari tried to calm the two from their bickering.

“Don’t tell me what to do in my own house. God knows why any of you are in here anyway. Fine. Ari, you sleep here,” Yam pointed to a conspicuous corner near Rolf’s couch. “Press the button and a tent should pop out.”

 Ari inspected the corner with confused eyes then stared blankly as Yam. “sigh, behind the leaves. There. What, no- not there- Here- No stop it- Right behind that leaf- Oh. My. God. No- Not that one, that button turns on the sparkle strings- Yes- That one. That button. Press it. WHAT DO YOU MEAN ‘how do I press this’???”

At last, Ari managed to press the button. The walls rumbled a bit before spitting out a tent and a stream of blankets and pillows. Ari jumped backwards, her eyes sparkling from both shock and admiration and she quickly got to work on setting the tent up. 

Yam turned her gaze away from the hard-at-work Ari towards the silent Tiefling. “-and as for you, love, you can sleep outside on the forest floor for all I care.”

“Yam, can’t I have some blankets? I don’t want to be out in the cold, icy forest all by myself,” Aey whined. Yam stared at her coolly, not saying anything, but she lifted up a paw and unsheathed her claws to prove her point. Aey backed away quickly. “Alright, alright, I’ll do something.”

“And I want you all gone by dawn,” Yam warned, setting off down the hallway towards her own room, Bread trotting along at her heels. “Because trust me, Bread can be dangerous when he needs to be.”

On that ominous note, the Tabaxi vanished into one of the rooms and slammed the door behind her, leaving a concerned silence in her wake. Ari and Aey looked at each other, wondering if they should be there at all. What was Yam so angry about? Had they done something to annoy her?

“Wow. Sheesh. Okay,” Ari mumbled after a few minutes of silence. “Um. Aey, where are you going to sleep?”

When there was no response, she turned to the Tiefling, only to find her staring after Yam and Bread, hurt glittering in her eyes.

“Bread wouldn’t hurt me… would he?”