Lyza slowly shut the door of her bedroom, leaving it open only a crack. Before she let go of the handle, she heard the footsteps near, and then turn right as her brother went to his room. Only after he settled did she allow the release of her haggard breath. When she turned her friends were watching her, although not staring at her.
"Make yourselves at home," she said, gesturing, "If you wanna sit, Ket, you can sit on my bed."
He went to the foot of the gigantic bed and hopped up on it, his legs dangling nowhere near the floor. Lyza's bed was much higher off the ground than his own, so he had a bit of vertigo but it was quickly subdued. The silence of the room, however, pervaded everything like the smog of a dragon's breath.
"You guys want anything—like a drink?"
"I think you should talk to your brother." Emeral said, reading the rabbit's expression. Her friend was responsible when she needed to be, and a very good host, but right now that wasn't important. "I'll give Ket the rules of your room, don't worry," she continued with a smile.
"Are you...sure?" But even as she asked, Emeral was shooing her away. She slipped out of the door, leaving it cracked a little more, and shuffled across the wood to her brother's door down the hall. The light-brown wooden door was almost stark compared to the deep chocolate of the rest of the house. After their father broke down the old door, they didn't quite find a good replacement.
She knocked, and did not do anything more as floorboards beyond the door creaked.
Silently the portal opened. "I think you should stay with your friends, Lyza." He said.
"They said I should come talk to you," she retorted.
"...Well then you're in a pickle," he joked, although even he didn't manage a smile at the moment. "How's your knees?"
"Better," she lied. "Are you okay?"
He nodded, looking away, "Yeah I'll be fine. Dad just pisses me off sometimes. But listen you should really go be with your friends; we can talk about this stuff anytime."
Lyza sighed, but he was sort of right. "Okay."
"But maybe..." He looked down at her, and knelt to squeeze her shoulder, "Maybe check in on me a while later, kay?"
She nodded emphatically. They hugged briefly, and she went back to her room. Ket and Emeral were silent; Emeral was standing near Rupert, the stuffed rabbit she'd gotten at the pizza arcade, while Ket sat in the smallest possible corner at the foot of her bed. Her best friend regarded her with sympathy; Ket's expression was a little harder to decipher.
"Is he okay?" Emeral asked, coming closer.
"He's good," she responded as her best friend led her to the bed by the shoulder. She climbed up with care and looked over at the two tigers; Emeral leaned against the bed while Ket sat at the other end. Emmy looked at her directly; Ket stared mostly into space, but did glance every now and then.
"What about you?" Emmy asked, after a moment of silence.
Lyza felt the emotions rise. "I'm okay, too," she said, putting on her best costume. But even still, her hand was held.
"It's okay, Lyz, if you need to let anything out..."
The rabbit clenched her jaws. "I'm fine," she said, "really. I got used to it. Dad's always yelling; it's no big deal." And yet her friend rested her right hand upon the rabbit's own. They stared at each other for a moment, Emmy's face soft and warm as it always was during the aftermath.
Emeral turned her head away for just a moment, "Ket," she whispered, "You're embarrassing her."
"You want me to leave?" He questioned back, speaking in the same low whisper.
"No," she hissed back, "I want you to help."
"How? I dunno what to do."
"Well," Emeral's voice raised a little, along with her irritation, "You're not doing anything sitting there like a dumbass."
"I'm not a dumbass," he snapped back.
Lyza felt the stirrings of anger; the heat of frustration started steaming in the air. The dragon was stirring.
"You sure look like one to me."
"You've been attacking me all day," he said, almost in a normal voice—had they forgotten she was there?—"I was planning on watching cartoons but you dragged me here."
"Oh boo," she snapped back, "You-you-you. Stop thinking about yourself for once and actually think about how others—"
"Shut up!" Lyza snapped at them both, the ferocity and volume of her voice perturbing the air.
Like the dust settling after an explosion, silence settled in the room, and both tigers looked at the rabbit in surprise.
"Stop yelling," she hissed angrily, her voice thick with fear and anger. "I'm tired of people yelling—mom and dad, dad and Kval, and now you two. Why does everyone hafta yell so much? Why can't we all just live in harm...harmo...harmonica!"
She hopped off the bed with a terrible wince, but ignored the pain and went over to Rupert. She gripped him by the sides and gave the hardest throw she could, which amounted to him flying a foot before tumbling across the ground. She stood in place, breathing heavily, not daring to look back at her friends. She was a little embarrassed at her outburst.
But even as the shakes rippled through her, a hand fell on her shoulder and then arms wrapped around her from behind. She started to cry, and turned around to rest on Emmy's shoulders.
"Don't yell at Ket," she said through her tears, "he doesn't know what it was like."
"I'm sorry, you're right," Emeral said, "I apologize."
"I just wish everything was normal," Lyza continued, "I wish that my parents wouldn't yell at him at all—at least when friends are over. Now Ket probably thinks my family is crazy or something."
"No, he doesn't," Emeral said reassuringly, "He—"
"It's like a house of cards, isn't it?"
Both girls looked at the boy sitting on the bed. He was looking at his hands, the expression on his face still a little unreadable. It was Emeral who spoke up: "What did you say?"
"Have you ever tried to make a house of cards?" He asked.
"What the heck does that have to do with—"
"We did. Once." Lyza interrupted her friend, partly to keep another quarrel from happening, "It was really tough."
"It is," Ket replied, "You work really hard at it. It's slow, takes a long time, and you have to be very careful with it. The bigger it gets the more careful you have to be." He hopped off the bed and went over to the stuffed bunny, picked it up and set it down upright. "Just when you're almost finished—just when you think everything is gonna be perfect—someone comes by and they just..." he pushed it, "Knock it over, for no reason." The rabbit hit the ground and rolled onto its back, gazing up stupidly at the ceiling. "Then they leave, and you're the one that has to start all over again."
He picked the rabbit up, dusted it off and brought it back to where it originally was, making it sit up with a little bit of struggle.
At last when he looked at the girls, Emeral shook her head. "Maybe I shoulda just not asked you to help. I don't think we need to start talking about card games."
"But he's right," Lyza said. "He knows what it's like."
Emeral looked confused, "What what's like? Building a house of cards?"
"No," Lyza shook her head, "Emmy...it's hard to explain but...he gets it. I know what he means." She broke out of her best friend's arms and went over to Ket, hugging him. "Thanks," she said, and kissed him on the cheek.
"Hey!" Emeral snapped defensively, "What the heck is going on? Why're you kissing him?"
Lyza flinched, "I—I dunno, I was just thanking him..."
"Well...don't kiss him." She stated, crossing her arms.
Everyone exchanged glances, and Lyza's ears slowly fell against the back of her head. "Why can't I kiss him? It's not like I did it on the lips."
Emeral blushed. "Yeah-well-he's—I mean..." She bit her cheek, trying to think of what to say.
"I'm allergic to cooties," Ket explained, "I can break out in hives."
Lyza became worried; "Really? I...I didn't know you could be allergic..."
Emeral took the thread, "Well, all boys are a little bit," she said, in her I'm-an-expert-at-this tone. "Some more than others. Ket's a lucky one, but too much radiation isn't healthy for anyone."
"Ray-day-shin," Lyza repeated the word as best she could, "Is that bad?"
"It's what turns people into zombies," Ket replied, raising his arms up in the air; "And we crave braaaaaaains..."
Lyza squeaked and hid behind her friend, "It's you he wants!"
Oh Lyz, if only you knew...
* * *
"So...will I get to see you again, before Christmas?"
Ket and Emeral stood outside the front door to his house, the overcast sky turning reddish-orange.
"Maybe not. Mom likes to spend 'quality time'." He mimed quotation marks in the air.
She giggled, but understood. "Well, maybe I'll just have to give you your present on Christmas," she said.
"My present?" He put his hands up, "No, I don't need—"
"Too late," she said, cutting him off, "I just hafta wrap it."
"Well...great." He huffed, "Now I have to get you a present."
"Yup," she bopped his nose with her finger, "but I'll go easy on you—this time," she winked, and then tapped her foot on top of his. "Mom's done with her call, I'll see ya. Merry Christmas—And thanks for helping Lyza, even though I don't know exactly how..."
"No problem—Merry Christmas."
As he watched the car sputter away, he took in a deep breath. The smell of smoke and burning wood was still prominent in the air, but now it had a sleepy feeling; of having done too much work today. Tired from waking up so early, from learning how to ice skate, from furthering a friendship, and from taking his first steps as a boyfriend; Ket opened the door to a blast of cinnamon and egg-nog, and to the sound of his mother humming Christmas carols as she sorted junkmail at table.
