Verai had taken to carrying Kitten, who was laying limply in his arms, heavy and unmoving as a dead animal. Verai was still petting her gently, rubbing her ears and scratching her cheeks, and very occasionally petting all the way down her spine. She refused to cease being dead.

Couldn't he tell she was heartbroken? Mourning what Could Have Been? Mourning a potential friend who Knew How To Play? And how instead she got just a Weird Mean Bug that Attacked Her?

Sadly, Verai did not know any of this.

It had been another twenty minutes of silence. Verai was still carrying Kitten, who had moved a little bit, but not much.

Verai sighed, stopping and sitting on the ground, manhandling Kitten into his lap. She looked up at him, baleful.

"Kitten..." He tried to think about how best to explain it, so she'd understand. "Not everyone is going to want to be your friend. You have to let that happen."

<We should have been friends! They- They were mean!> Verai took in another breath. "They were mean... but not because they didn't want to be your friend. Sometimes people are best friends- Like you and Sprigatito."

She nodded, weepy. She loved Sprigatito.

"And, sometimes, you're only friends. Or you're only people who know each other. And, sometimes... you're not friends at all." That was just.. how life was.

The torchic looked at Kitten, and then at Verai, and back at Kitten. <Hi!> They chirped, adding nothing else to the conversation. Verai and Kitten both waited, with the torchic staring with wide, black eyes. No one said anything.

Kitten let out a distressed noise. She would never have any friends at this rate.

The torchic finally seemed to sense an emotion, scraping at the ground with a talon. <Do you want a snack?>

Kitten's ears instantly rose. <A snack??? I love snacks!!!>