A Dimension in Time

Thawing a Frozen Heart

✧♢♡☆ Chapter 18 ☆♡♢✧

Thawing a Frozen Heart

It had only been minutes since Snatcher stormed off, even more since Cooking Cat told the girls she could handle the situation. Yet that alone wasn't enough to dissolve kids concerns nor convince Bow Kid and Hat Kid that things were alright. Sure, Cooking Cat knew what she was doing far better than Hat or Bow herself... but that didn't ease the tension. Even when Dawn said to give him some space, Bow knew that Dawn still wanted to help, even when she couldn't... especially when she couldn't.

Bow eventually left the kitchen with Dawn and Hat, silently passing the scene in the living room/hub area. A scene where two figures laid, one handling the situation while the other begged to be left alone. However... Instead of leaving the scene with her friends, Bow quietly stayed in the entryway to the bedroom. The ribboned child could see the former ghost on the ground, clutching his head from pain; even more from stress when covering his over-sensitive ears. If the ribboned child didn't know any better, she would probably assume he tripped on his untied shoelaces. It would explain the thud she heard outside the kitchen before leaving with her friends. Cooking Cat said nothing, she only looked at the former ghost sympathetically while rubbing circles into his back, comforting him the same way she had done for both her and her sister earlier. Bow had never had anyone hold her and her sister the way Cooking Cat did, was that how having a mother felt like or something close to it? A choked out sob from the former prince snapped Bow out of her thoughts, reminding her why she stayed behind. Bow Kid wanted to help, she wanted to tell Snatcher that it was okay and that things would get better. That her and Hat had a plan to fix this mess! Bow Kid wanted to hug him like Cooking Cat, her sister Hat and Dawn, they have the best hugs and they always make her feel better. Like how Dawn hugged her after a nightmare or all the times Hat Kid had hugged her to say how much she loved her as her sister. Bow wanted to make all those bad memories go away, memories that seemed to haunt and torment their contracted BFF. She wanted to look him in the eye and tell him they would get through this together. But... What good would that do right now? She couldn't make him feel better with that plan that could be doomed to fail... this had never happened before. So the ribboned child's hypothetical solution could easily go up in smoke. Just because the hypothetical solution with the magical hourglasses worked for Time's End doesn't mean it'll work for this type of situation. Suddenly, Bow Kid felt a hand on her shoulder, a comforting hand. When her purple magenta eyes looked away from Snatcher and Cooking Cat, her eyes met concerned cerulean eyes, Hat Kid's eyes. "Bow? Are you okay?" Her sister asked with a mix of anxiousness from the previous outburst and concern for her sister. Bow couldn't bottle it up any longer... and at long last, the ribboned girl allowed a rugged sigh to escape her lips that she herself didn't know she had been keeping in. "No... not really Hattie. I'm worried about Snatcher..." Bow Kid audibly whispered as the duo walked down the hallway. "Hey. You're not the only one Bow, I'm worried about him too. Even if he's a stubborn jerk. But that doesn't matter because I care about that stubborn jerk. He's our contractual BFF after all! Besties forever!" Hat Kid jokes, cheering Bow Kid up with her enthusiasm. "Yeah, BFFs alright. But... that's not the main issue I have." Bow confessed, stopping in the hallway midway and looking out the window, her sister joining her in that gaze before they sat on the ground.

"Then what is?" Hat Kid inquired, taking the time to readjust her top hat. "Snatcher... how is he gonna get through this? He's barely been human for less than a couple hours and we barely got through today... How is the world's grumpiest bookworm gonna not only get his specter from back but coexist with us here on the ship? You saw how he acted..." Bow Kid eventually laid her chin on her knees, lowering her eyes, yet never fully closing them. The ribboned child remembered that being in this situation was not easy for any of them... yet that didn't make this any less frustrating. However, it was certainly better than the metro and Time's End, that was for certain. But the certainty and uncertainty still tore at Bow's aching heart... making the girl hug her knees tighter. "...We're trying to help, we're doing our best, but it's not working! And Ice acted kinda odd around him earlier. I think it's because we know part of Subcon's past. How are we gonna tell him that we know?" Hat Kid's eyes widened before tearing her gaze away from her sister. Neither of them had truly given that much thought, but now that it came to it... how would they tell Snatcher they knew about the fall of Subcon Forest? How would they explain that without hurting him in some way? It was tough to swallow. "I dunno... but right now is CERTAINLY not the time Bow. We can't tell him right now, his mental state seems to really be in the ashtray right now." Hat sighed, pulling her ponytail over her shoulder and twirling it in her hands. Bow could only giggle at that statement. "And now you sound like Thor." Hat then shoved her sister playfully, laughing as she did. "What!? No I don't! I tried bringing Old Tim's wisdom here! But I guess even Thor got that from him! Timmy would have laughed his butt off seein' us like this." The duo laughed, remembering Rehan, remembering all the good times there and all the bad times there.