Harm and Harmony

-Chapter 31-

Day: 5 (Blood Moon)

Days Left: 5475

Lives Saved: 0

Letting out a deep breath, Corinna lowered her eyes and leaned in closer. Everything around her seemed to freeze into stillness. Only this moment mattered. She blocked out everything else, just one thing was on her mind. It was so silent that all she could hear was her rising heartbeat and her heavy and rasping breaths. Corinna glanced up at the chimaera, into those piercing green eyes that watched her every move. With a trembling hand, she reached out and slowly pulled out the Jenga block from the wobbling tower.

Triumphant, Corinna waved the spoils of her victory in the air, before setting it down neatly on top of the tower with the other wooden blocks. "Your turn." She grinned.

Harmony lied on the floor on her front, snout so close to the Jenga tower that it was almost touching, a strange tactic which somehow proved to be useful. Despite her large and clobbering three-fingered hands, the chimaera was still in the game after many rounds.

Whilst she waited patiently for the chimaera to take her turn, Corinna gently swayed to the beat of the song that played out of the record player. Having already listened to it five times in the last few hours, she had memorised the chorus and sang along in mumbles and hummed the rest.

After much deliberation, Harmony chose a block at random with little delicacy.

Hands grabbing at her hair, Corinna's body hunched up into a ball, gritting her teeth as she watched the tower waver. She closed her eyes shut. Harmony plonked the wooden block down on the top of the tower. Not hearing anything collapse, Corinna opened her eyes and focused on her own turn. She fixated on the tower, at each individual block, imagining the blueprints of the structure, calculating where it was the strongest and which block would not upset the balance of-

Her hand jolted, almost knocking down the tower.

Attempting to sing along to the music, the chimaera grunted and growled as best as she could to mimic speech, causing Corinna to lose her focus.

Shoulders jittering, Corinna bit down on her lip to stop her laughter. As it simmered down into sniggers, she glanced up at Harmony who only 'sang' even louder. Clutching her stomach, the young woman collapsed onto the floor. "Please stop..." she wheezed, sitting back up. "I need to- I need to- to concentrate." Her eyes returned to the Jenga tower, donning her mask of impassiveness which was quickly shattered by a glimpse of Harmony lip-syncing to the song.

She glared at the chimaera who feigned innocence, staring off into space, head bobbing along to the beat.

Returning to her stance of concentration, Corinna focused on the battle at hand. Harmony copied Corinna, leaning in close to the tower, elbow resting on her knee, hand touching her mouth in deep thought.

The chimaera's snake-tail slowly rose, slinking up higher over Harmony's shoulder, now in view, miming the lyrics, it's head swaying.

Corinna glanced up, seeing a flash of green shoot down into hiding. Her attention returned back to the Jenga tower, which was short-lived as her eyes caught another sight of green. Leaning in closer, her face scrunching up, Corinna gripped her dress, suppressing the emerging smile.

The snake-tail peered behind Harmony's shoulder, then spiralled upwards, slowly opening its mouth-

Slamming her fist down on the floor, Corinna yanked out a block from the tower and watched as it surprisingly stood upright. She scowled at the chimaera. "You cheat." Chuckling, the young woman resumed her stance of concentration, watching the chimaera take her turn.

Squirming into position, Harmony leaned forwards, inspecting the Jenga tower. Her paw hesitated over a promising wooden block, nearing closer and closer until-

The tower collapsed just from the mere contact, the wooden blocks clattering onto the floor in a heap.

Groaning and wailing in defeat, Harmony flopped onto the floor, her snake-tail knocking over the remains of the tower. Corinna joined her and lied down, arms and legs sprawled all over the place. Both of them stared up at the ceiling. Their heartbeats were quick and jarring from the sudden shock and collapse of the tower.

"Different game?" Corinna asked.

Harmony nodded in eager, crawling across the floor to the stack of board games that she had retrieved from the basement.

They continued into the night, playing more games, dancing, eating. Corinna had all forgotten what was outside, that scarlet orb that hung in the bleeding sky. The wicked thoughts that the moon had ignited were all but diminished, only rekindling when the young woman was not distracted by the chimaera. Whenever Corinna left for the bathroom, those thoughts would return, when she was alone, when she saw herself in the mirror. How she wanted to scream, to punch it, to shatter it. But all of that would retreat as soon as she saw Harmony, how terrible her poker-face was during cards, how much delight she got from dancing, how bright those green eyes of hers were.

Corinna wondered perhaps that was the reason why Harmony was unaffected by the blood moon's powers, unlike other monsters: fun and games, distractions, anything to occupy your mind to keep those venomous thoughts at bay.

*

"I want to stay," said Corinna after finishing washing the dishes.

The chimaera's ears perked up, and she looked back at the young woman.

"After the blood moon, if it's alright still, could I please stay?" Corinna clutched waist.

Harmony nodded, giving a thumbs up.

Her body now relaxed, Corinna sighed in relief. "I'm gonna call it a night."

The chimaera bowed her head, flattening her ears. After a moment, Corinna realised what Harmony wanted.

Clearing her throat, Corinna said, "goodnight," to the chimaera, and hesitantly patted her on the head.

Harmony reciprocated and patted Corinna's hair in return.

Feeling the heat in her cheeks burn her skin, Corinna released another muffled, "goodnight," before retreating to her bed, regretting that she reinforced this weird habit of the chimaera's into their custom 'goodnight'.

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Recommended Song for Chapter:

Song: Spread a Little Happiness

Artist: The Jive Aces

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