Fall of hart – Chapter 2; Danmaku paranoia

Characters: Sele/Kalika, Zoe, Sahariel

Warnings: Allusions to sexual activity

Wordcount: 1,139

Vibe: the discourse…………

TOOK ME LONG ENOUGH LMAO.. promise this wasnt dead i was just [gestures at my brain imploding]

zoe and sele and #the discourse . fun fact zoe’s house is like the second pkau location that i visualize to be like my grandparents house (the first is the lorekeeper household/zinnia’s childhood home)

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Chapter 2

“Took you two long enough, I hope you weren’t making out in an alleyway or…” Zoe started, but her smug remark quickly trailed off upon the sight of her sister carrying the unconscious individual.

“…something.”

“Scoot it.” Kalika murmured.

While Zoe’s couch wasn’t small by any means, Zoe just happened to be sitting directly in the middle… and Kalika was fully intending on laying out the mystery woman.

Awkwardly, Zoe scooted over to the edge – while Sele moved to grab the TV tray that Zoe had in front of her as well.

With a final huff, Kalika set the woman down on the couch.

She looked… strange.

While one would initially clock her has an earthen rabbitfolk because of her hooves and flexible ears, her tail was short and fluffy, and a strangely fragmented halo gave off a dim glow from above her head. She also had rather large wings… but they were feathered, not made of skin like the ones Sele or other earthen rabbitfolk would have.

Her fashion was also a bit odd to see from the area, wearing a large, frilly dress with long puffed sleeves.

Aside from her dress being covered in grass and dirt, it was rather modest and made it hard to tell if she had bruising or other injuries.

“Alright, you better have a… good explanation for this, my god.” Zoe said, her tone frustrated.

“This isn’t your street gang nonsense following you, is it? I have enough to deal with already.”

“Can you cool it for even just a minute?!” Kalika snapped.

“Sele heard them… how would you describe it, crash?”

“Yeah, it sounded like someone falling through branches and onto the thicket from a distance…” Sele nodded.

“…That can’t be what happened.” Zoe replied, shaking her head.

“There’s nothing even remotely high up to fall from around these parts – and I doubt that this person would be climbing trees with a getup like that.”

“But… look at them! They… they don’t even look like they’re from here…” Sele said defensively.

“It’s so strange.”

As Zoe and Sele were conversing, Kalika had taken some trips to and from Zoe’s kitchen to grab various first aid supplies. There wasn’t much else she could do for now – as she didn’t want to disrobe the stranger to check for cuts or bruises – so Kalika put an ice pack on the woman’s head while leaving the rest of the first aid supplies on standby.

“You know…” Zoe started up, diverting her attention from Sele as Kalika sat down on a living chair to catch a breather.

“I’m sort of surprised lovergirl here has been so levelheaded. She seemed to me like the type that’d insist on calling the an ambulance, or the cops, or something.”

“I’m from around here too, you know.” Sele huffed.

“It’s too late right now, even if we did call anyone… they’d take until morning to even show up.”

“…Interesting.” Zoe murmured in response.

“She’s right. We should just ride this out until it’s morning.” Kalika nodded, before pausing.

“If you two can promise to get along, I think there’s still time for me to run and get takeout. I don’t… fucking feel like cooking, I dunno.”

“Sounds good with me. I’ll play nice.” Zoe replied.

“My wallet is in my purse near the door. Same card as usual.”

Kalika got up and looked back to visually examine the unconscious woman once more, before leaving without a goodbye.

Then, silence. An uncomfortably long silence.

Sele was content to idly pass the time on her phone, blissfully ignoring Zoe’s thousand-yard stare aimed directly at her… but it seemed that after some time, Zoe wasn’t willing to play any more games.

“Sele, right? Is that even your full name?”

Zoe’s free hand was tapping a finger against the couch cushion impatiently.

It took a second for Sele to respond, and she did so without breaking her gaze away from her phone.

“Well, it’s really Selene, I guess… but-”

Sele was cut off abruptly.

“Selene.”

Zoe’s tone was sharp, the sudden stinging of her works much different then what Sele had heard from her so far.

“Tell me, what the fuck do you think you’re trying to do with my little sister?”

There was a pause to Sele’s scrolling, but she ultimately kept her gaze fixated at her phone.

So this was… what Kalika had warned about.

Sele was obviously at a disadvantage, being in Zoe’s own home… but she wasn’t quite willing to back down, not yet.

Not with Kalika on the line.

“Why does it matter? Aren’t I just another ‘stand of the week’?”

“You’re different, and not in a good way.” Zoe huffed.

“You’re the type who thinks she can just sit and be pretty and get whatever she wants just for being soooo special… a busty gold digger is the last type of leech my sister needs.”

“So what if I am? From what I was told, you’re the last person who’d actually give a shit about what Kalika does.” Sele snapped back.

“If it’s all a waste in your eyes, what’s the point? At least she won’t be ‘wasting her life’ alone.”

Sele intended to keep her gaze locked to her phone screen, which she’d stopped actually paying attention to a while ago – if anything, it was to avoid making eye contact with Zoe… who was wide eyed with some kind of indescribable emotion.

Until she burst into laughter.

The unexpected shift was enough to jolt Sele’s gaze away from her phone, but she could only feel her stomach sink as she quickly realized the tone of Zoe’s outburst.

“You know nothing about my sister, Selene.” Zoe said, returning to her dagger-sharp tone with a fiendish expression.

“So I’d suggest you stop trying to play dumb with me, and reveal your hand now.”

This time, Zoe managed to catch eye contact with Sele – and Sele’s composure quickly started running out.

“What if I don’t have a hand to reveal though, huh?!”

“You’re a woman with ulterior motives written all over her. Are you stubborn or just stupid?”

“I’m BOTH!” Sele growled, lurching upright from the living chair she’d been sitting in.

“The only motive I have is that I LOVE HER. Is that not e-fucking-nough for you?!”

Sele had gotten worked up to the point of practically yelling, but Zoe seemed completely unphased. In fact, she seemed like she had Sele cornered just how she wanted.

But… Zoe’s rebuttal was interrupted by a voice that was unfamiliar.

“Nnhg…”

The two’s focus shifted from each other, over to the third individual who they’d been completely ignoring up until now.

Her frilly dress rustled slightly as she stirred, groaning quietly and slowly beginning to feel around.

Having been previously been confident in how she was interrogating Sele, Zoe froze up.

“Shit.”

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