Falling (repeatedly)

66- Dang, Things Are Going Downhill

Herb finishes healing Red Velvet's arm, "How does it feel now?"

Red Velvet flexes his fingers, then moves his arm around, "A little sore, but other than that it's fine."

Herb asks, "What even happened?"

"Well.. Vanilla was crying so I hugged him to help him calm down. He grabbed my arm and hugged it so tight he broke it."

Red Velvet stares at his hand, "It has to have been an accident, right? He would never try to hurt anyone unless they threaten him first."

"That makes sense."

Red Velvet stands up, "We need to find him."

Sprinkles and Chiffon bark. Red Velvet nods at them, "Let's go!"

The dogs start searching for Vanilla.

When people see Red Velvet, they start asking him what happened. He gives them quick replies, though he's more focused on following the dogs.

When they reach the alleyway, the dogs stop, confused.

They sniff around and bark, trying to find Vanilla.

Speaking of Vanilla, he's still with his friend in the woods.

He's tightly wrapped around one of their arms.

Despite their cracking arm, his friend doesn't seem to feel the pain.

Vanilla sniffles, "Where- Where will I go??"

"Don't you have a house?"

"Everyone there prob- probably hates me now!"

"I doubt that."

"E- I broke Red Velvet's arm without even thinking about it!"

His friend moves him back onto their lap and hugs him with their free arm, "They wouldn't turn on you like that for an accident-"

"Do you know how fast they turned on me when I was trying to get Espresso back?! While Pastry and Latte knew what was going on, no one else did."

Vanilla tightens his grip, "And they told me how much everyone hated me. Like they were just waiting for an excuse to talk about it."

"It wasn't that bad. They forgot a few days later."

Vanilla makes eye contact, "And how would you know? You weren't there."

"I was hiding but I was there."

The bushes rustle.

Vanilla leans on his friend, "Please.. Please don't leave me behind again..."

The bushes rustle more, then Espresso walks into the shaded clearing.

He makes eye contact with Vanilla, then looks up at Vanilla's friend.

He takes a step back, "Espresso con Panna?! What are you doing here?! Actually, how are you here??"