The Survivor Becomes a Dungeon

Remi POV

Remi was currently going over Haven's food stores, which were surprisingly plentiful. Despite Cinco taking it easy after accidentally impaling himself on his own arrow, the community as a whole has been able to successfully bring in a consistent amount of food along with the occasional surplus thanks to a mix of fish traps and foraging for wild foodstuffs. Ultimately, with what they have now, he figures they would have more than enough to eat comfortably for the next couple of weeks without tightening their belts all too much. But they would need to either double their efforts to prepare for winter or find some way to get a merchant out here with a delivery of food and supplies before winter was fully on them.

Alone in the privacy of the walk-in pantry, Remi could feel his anxiety simmer as he considered the encroaching winter. Even in the capital, there were a few deaths here and there in the outer districts and the slums, and that's with the donations of the clerics and acolytes of the church, as well as the more affluent churchgoers. But out here, all they have is themselves; while there may not be as many people they need to gather supplies for, he wasn't looking forward to having to deal with the untamed feet of snow that were in their near future.

Fully immersed in his thoughts, Remi failed to realize that he was no longer alone. A finger tentatively poking his back and startling him as he jumped and looked around, startling Mina, who had come across him and eeped anxiously from his sudden movement. "S-sorry for d-disturbing you, Remi... I tried calling your name, but you weren't responding." She quickly explained, stammering at first while her ears twitched.

Remi quickly collected himself as he smiled sheepishly down at Mina, his own ears absently flicking as he spoke up. "It's fine, Mina... Did you need something?"

Mina watched him curiously, concern plain on her face as she wrung her hands together. "L-luna asked me to check in on you and to get some rice and beans for tonight's dinner." She said and pointed at the bags of dried foodstuffs beside him.

Remi turned to look, only to realize that he had been holding a tuber of some kind for a while now, likely what he'd been staring at without realizing before Mina found him. He casually placed it back in a basket with the other dirt-coated tubers before flashing a small smile as he grabbed some nearby bowls they had been using to scoop out food from these bags without having to take the whole bag. "Gotcha, well, we shouldn't keep her waiting then, now should we?" He mused while putting on a false smile, doing his best to reassure Mina as he took a knee and started filling the two bowls with beans and rice.

"W-would you like to pull on my ears?" Mina asked, stammering a little at the offer as she brought her hands up to gesture at both her rounded ears at once.

Sufficiently blindsided by that offer, Remi turned to stand and look at her, only to hit his head on one of the shelves, which caused him to drop the bowls of rice and beans as they clattered to the ground and scattering the precious foodstuffs while he clutched his head. Quietly hissing from the pain and rubbing his head, he turned to properly look at Mina, who seemed to be on the verge of tears as she stared down at the floor and wasted food. "W-why would I want to pull on your ears?" He asked, sighing and moving to properly stand while rubbing his head some more.

Mina, for her part, had dropped to her hands and knees and began meticulously collecting every single bean and grain of rice and putting them into their individual bowls. She started murmuring to herself, sounding rather distressed as she seemed to beg for forgiveness. Remi sighed once more, rubbing his head a little more before getting down to his knees and joining her as they collected the spilled food. After several minutes and once they were nearly done, Mina had seemingly mostly recovered from her fit as she plucked up yet another bean before speaking up softly. "Y-you seemed stressed and upset..." She said, glancing over at Remi, ears flicking once more as she avoided eye contact with him, focusing on her task of collecting rice and beans. "Mistr- I mean... Diarosa..." She said, correcting herself for a moment as she appeared uncertain of even saying that woman's name without the title. "She would often pull on my ears whenever she was upset... It hurt so much, but she would always thank me for helping her de-stress... I... I just thought if it really helps, that you could do it too, to feel better..." She explained, trailing off near the end.

Remi was taken aback by the revelation, and he could feel bile rising in his throat at the thought of the years of that sort of abuse she would have had to endure to even consider it a normal and comforting act for others. He did his best to keep his composure as he sighed and shook his head. "I uh... Appreciate the offer, Mina, but that isn't something you should be offering." He explained, sitting up and dropping the last few beans into the bowl before turning to watch her. "To handle someone else's ears is a rather intimate act. It is really only meant to be done between family, close friends, or lovers... What you experienced is nothing short of cruel abuse, and it would not bring me any kind of good feelings to do something like that to you." His voice undeniably somber as he watched her gather the last grains of rice.

Mina's ears twitched and waggled in thought as she nodded slowly, picking up the bowl of beans and holding it close to her chest. "I... I see... Thank you for telling me." She said softly before moving to stand by the door and waiting for Remi.

Remi stood after her, taking up the bowl of rice as he offered her a small smile. "No problem, now come on. I'm sure Luna has waited long enough." He mentioned before stepping out of the pantry. Glancing back at Mina, he did vaguely regret not taking the chance to at least mess with or touch her ears since she had offered, they looked so soft and cute, softer than his ears for sure; but considering what he learned and her overall naivety, he would have definitely regretted it later if he had acted on his impulse. Mina seemed to be in slightly better spirits as far as he could tell, offering him a small smile when their eyes met.

He made sure to return it before looking ahead as they made their way to the kitchen space and to Luna as she worked on deboning one of several good-sized river fish. She flashed a wolfish smile at their approach and set her knife aside, and took a moment to pull off her hide gloves. "Well, you two sure took your time, I hope you didn't get lost on your way to and from the pantry." She mused mischievously.

Remi just rolled his eyes as he set the bowl of rice down on the counter, taking up Mina's bowl and setting it on the counter as well. "That was my bad, I made a bit of a mess." He said while gesturing to the bowls. Mina stood quietly to the side, clearly still feeling guilty about what had happened for no good reason.

Luna looked between them, one of her ears perking curiously before looking to Mina as she procured a rather large, grass-weaved bowl and poured the two bowls of rice and beans into it, ruining the duo's hard work. "Mina, could you go and rinse these? They need to be cleaned anyway. Afterward, put them to soak until we need them." She instructed, the ratkin girl nodding dutifully and picking up the larger bowl before hurrying off, leaving Luna and Remi alone. Luna then looked over to Remi, her tail slowly swaying behind her as she turned her body to face him before leaning back against the counter. "So... What happened?"

Remi looked away, scratching the back of his ear before sighing a bit. "I was, uh... Zoned out in my thoughts when you sent Mina. She must have noticed that I was stressed or something and asked if I wanted to abuse her to get my spirits up or something." He explained, just shaking his head at the idea.

At that, both of Luna's brows raised, and her ears perked before just shaking her head as well. "Woof... That's rough, buddy." She said simply as she rubbed the back of her neck.

Remi nodded while looking over what Luna had set out before speaking up again. "Yeah, I was so surprised by the offer that I ended up hitting my head, spilling all the food on the floor. We just finished picking everything up again before I explained to her why what she said was not good." He then sighed again as he crossed his arms. "It just really hits home how horrible her childhood was... And how horrible our lives could have been if it weren't for Reyvyre, Reonim, and Vitmori."

Luna nods intently, turning back around towards the counter before pulling her gloves back on. "Well, get to work and tell me what was on your mind. It must've been something if even Mina noticed." She said simply as she brought another fish over to her cutting board.

Remi nodded in response, taking a moment to go wash his hands in a nearby basin, using some kind of herbal paste that Virtisa made for them. Returning to their workspace, he set about peeling some tubers as he considered what he should say. After a couple of minutes, he decided to just cut to the bone of his worries. "I'm worried that a lot of us are gonna die once winter hits... We aren't nearly as well supplied as the capital city, and people still die there every winter... How well do you think we're gonna fare on our own like this?" He asked, not really expecting an answer, but simply putting his thoughts out in the open.

Luna nodded intently, letting the question hang for another few minutes before speaking up with her own thoughts. "We should be slaves right now, facing some of the worst circumstances and being treated as nothing more than cattle or pieces of meat. We should be dead right now or dying very soon to some sort of monster or mana beast. We should be struggling to stay warm and desperately build some kind of shelter or be lost trekking through the wilds to find some sort of civilization." She then shrugs a bit as she adds another fishbone to a growing pile of bones beside her cutting board. "A lot of things could have happened, and we should be worse off for it, but we have been protected and delivered from the worse possibilities of what could have been. Maybe not by Gaia, as it was her clergy that likely did this to us, but perhaps another one of the gods is watching over us. Everything is not hopeless, and we are in a relatively good place." She then smiled a bit, looking over at Remi before looking back down at the fish she was working on. "Have faith, and keep doing all that you can do. If you can look back on the day and feel good about what you have accomplished, then you should hold no regrets as we face the trials of the next day, whatever they may be."

Remi's ears twitched thoughtfully before just sighing as he picked up another tuber. "I suppose you have a point, I'll do my best to keep all that in mind." He said with a hint of a smile.

Luna nodded once again as she looked back over at Remi. "You also probably shouldn't be too alone with your thoughts, I'm sure Mina would be glad to keep your company if you let her." She mused lightly.

Remi smiled a little, but he shook his head at the thought. "No... She's a nice girl, and I do mean she's very nice and thoughtful, but I shouldn't burden her with my troubles. She needs time to recover after what she's gone through and to be able to discover who she is now that she's free. It wouldn't be fair to her to pressure her with my feelings."

"Y-you're no burden." Mina spoke up, having seemingly been standing in the doorway for the last few moments, carrying the now somewhat heavier bowl of beans and rice over to the counter and looking over at Remi as she dried off her hands on her apron before putting her hands on her hips and attempting to puff herself up. "You've been nothing but kind and supportive to me. All you have." She said while looking over at Luna as well before looking up at Remi once more. "I may be lacking right now, but I'm sure, with your help and the kindness the others have shown for me, that I'll soon be a proper person that can be relied on, just like you." She enthused with a genuine little smile as she stepped closer and placed a hand on Remi's arm.

Remi could feel his face warm up, though he couldn't help but smile a bit while gazing down into Mina's vibrant pink eyes and nodded a bit. "I'll be looking forward to it, and I suppose I'll be troubling you for the foreseeable future."

Mina smiled cheerfully before going back to work with the rice and beans, pouring them into a pot that she'll fill with water later to start soaking them. Though after a few more minutes of cheerfully quiet working, someone had walked into the kitchen area of the longhouse, tapping their knuckles against the wall and briefly startling Remi and the others since they didn't even hear them walk in.

Turning to look, they spotted Vitmori standing there with Sekha sprawled over his shoulder as he flashed a bit of a smile. "Hey there, sorry to bother you, but can you all give me a bottle of wine?" He asked rather politely.

The surprise of seeing Vitmori quickly passed as Mina got rather cheerful, stepping away from the counter and offering Vitmori a polite curtsy. "Of course, oh great Vitmori. I'll be just a moment." She enthused reverently before hurrying off.

Remi watched her go before turning to look at Vitmori curiously. "I don't mean to pry, but what do you need a bottle of wine for?"

Vitmori chuckled a bit while looking over at Sekha, reaching up and affectionately tickling her throat before looking over to Remi. "I've got to go make some peace with some squirrels." He said simply, not adding anything else to that statement as Mina soon returned with the large bottle of relatively good wine and offered it up to Vitmori. "Many thanks. Have a good day now." He said cheerfully enough, turning to leave as quickly as he arrived as Mina happily went back to work.

Remi couldn't help but feel confused by what he just heard as he turned to look over at Luna and quirked a brow. "Squirrels?"