5.0.5. rubbed his eyes as he shuffled back to his bed. The hallway was chilly in an eerie, unsettling kind of way, as was most of the top hat-shaped mansion. The bear stopped for a moment, trying to shake off the goosebumps that formed. As he was doing so, he heard muffled sobs coming from a nearby room. 5.0.5. had a strong, protective instinct that usually resulted in more harm than good in cases involving Black Hat, and in this case, caused him to burst through the door into your room.

You jumped back and clutched your heart. “Jesus, 5.0.5, you scared me!“ You wiped the tears from your eyes and the snot from your nose. “What’s wrong?” you asked, your voice unsteady from crying.

5.0.5. closed the door behind him and walked up to your bed. He whimpered as if asking, “Are you okay?” You looked away from him, embarrassed at being caught like this. “I’m fine buddy, don’t worry about it.” The bear softly growled, he knew this was a lie. He placed his head on your bed and raised an eyebrow.

You sighed and turned around so you were laying on your stomach facing him, your chin resting on your hands. You sniffled and took a deep breath. “It’s just dumb stuff…” you told him, trying again to get off the subject. 5.0.5. only blinked, waiting.

You turned your head and groaned. “I just feel… I don’t know…useless, I guess.” Your mind flooded with thoughts of, Shut up! No one cares! 5.0.5. made a sympathetic sounding noise that relieved some of the thoughts in your head. You continued. “I don’t feel like I contribute anything, that I’m just taking up space,” you explained, your voice wavering again. This caused the tears to start up again. 5.0.5. pushed his head closer to you and touched his nose to your forehead. He was unable to offer any advice or comforting words, but he whimpered in way that had the same effect.

You reached up and stroked his ear, letting your tears run down your face. After a few moments, you calmed down enough to give a small smile and wipe away the tears again. “You sure have a way with words,” you joked. He let out a “Yip!” and licked your face. “Gross!” you giggled, pushing his face away gently. 5.0.5. just smiled at you, happy that you were happy.

He let out a huge yawn and you looked at the clock. You were startled at how LATE it was. “Oh geez, you should go get some sleep.” He sat up and tilted his head questioningly. “Yeah, I’ll be fine now, thank you.” You didn’t tend to seek out people for comfort, preferring to suffer in silence and not bother them.

He gave you a big smile, happy he could help. He stood up to leave but you stopped him. “Hey actually… do you want to sleep in here tonight?” 5.0.5. gave a delighted noise and crawled into your bed. You snuggled up close and 5.0.5. wrapped his arms around you. He was very comforting to have nearby, like a familiar plushie one might have as a kid. The shared warmth caused you both to fall asleep quickly and neither of you wanted to leave the bed in the morning.