χ:
>Help clean up the house.

Clover stares at the crumpled charm. Then, she rips it up into tiny pieces, and throws it away. No one needed that thing anymore.

She stands up from the dinner table and looks over the living room. It was a bit of a mess. Beer bottles were strewn over the floor, a few spills and stains here and there. Dad had knocked the lamp over at some point in the day, and the lightbulb was broken. Henry was the one who did all the cooking, so she decided she’d be the one to clean up the living room tonight.

The wolf-girl pulls on some gloves, grabs a trash-bag from the pantry, and begins to work. First, she picked up the bottles, dumping any residual liquid down the sink. Then, she takes out the broken lightbulb, sweeping up all the glass shards. As she works, she makes sure she doesn’t disturb dad. Both of them never wanted to disturb dad.

As she scrubs at the stains on the floor using a mixture of random cleaning products she found under the sink, she hears the front door open.

“I’m home.”

It was her brother’s familiar, deadpan voice.
…She had to admit she was glad to hear it.

As Henry walks in, he briefly pauses when he notices the wolf-girl diligently scrubbing away. Then he continues into the kitchen, setting down his stuff and going to his room to take off his uniform.

When Clover finishes, she puts back all the supplies, takes off the gloves, washes her hands, then sits in her seat, kicking her legs as she patiently waits. Henry re-emerges from his room, then pauses again.

thunk

Henry puts Clover’s cellphone down on the table in front of her. Clover stares at it. He moves to sit in the chair across from her.

“…Alright. What happened.”

…She can’t bring herself to look at his face.

>…