somnium

thirteen.

Groceries.

Piper looked at herself in the mirror and groaned. She had finally exhausted her supply of crackers and chicken soup. She'd have to venture out into the wild great beyond for food.

Don't overthink it, she told herself. But she couldn't stop thinking about it. The more she tried not to overthink, the more she overthought. She glared at herself in the mirror. You're being ridiculous. You need food.

Eventually, she'd worked herself up so much that she took her jacket back off and threw herself onto her bed, burying her face in her pillow. You don't eat that much anyway. Maybe tomorrow will be a better day for groceries. You probably have some pasta or something like that that you can eat for tonight. She laughed bitterly. If you eat.

Her thoughts were interrupted by someone clearing their throat. "So we see one another again," said her visitor, in a tone that could only be described as cheerful.

She lifted her head enough to glare at Fear. "Go away," she said, grouchily. "I'm busy being a failure."

He rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. "But you don't have to be a failure."

"You're supposed to comfort me and tell me that I'm not actually a failure."

He raised his eyebrows. "Ok. You're not a failure. But you are a human being, and you do need to eat. So...groceries?"

"I can't."

"Can't or won't?" He frowned. She buried her face back into her pillow.

"Look, just go away. I can't do this today. It's a bad day," she said, her voice muffled in memory foam.

Fear sighed, exaggeratedly. "Alright," he said, taking her by the arm and rolling her over. "I didn't want to have to do this, but..."

"Hey, what are you doing?" she snapped, glaring at him, even as her stomach lurched dangerously at the thought of leaving the comfort of her room.

"Getting you to the grocery store, even if I have to drag you!" he said, clearly exasperated with her. "If you give up on going today, it will only be worse tomorrow."

"Let me go!" she argued, trying to reclaim her arm, even as Fear pulled her to her feet. He was surprisingly strong for his lean appearance.

Once she was standing, he retrieved her keys and her wallet, shoving them into her right hand and grabbing her left, pulling her behind him out into the living area and to the door, where he waited for her to put on her shoes before dragging her out into the outer hallway.

"Why are you doing this?" she whined, fully aware of how pathetic she sounded. They reached her car.

Fear turned and met her eyes. "Because I don't want to see you back at that lake again." He then smiled slightly. "Unless, that is, you've taken a sudden interest in rowing as a form of exercise or in watching the geese go about their business."

"I guess I just don't get why you care," she said. "I should be no one to you. I'm just someone whose fears you deal with as part of your duties."

She watched, as his expression darkened slightly and he turned away. "It's hard to explain," he said. "But it doesn't really matter. It's not important."