JP - The Keep - Dining Hall - Hairless Fox

Lek dropped the piece of bread he was picking at when he saw Miyuki. He immediately thought it was his fault. He broke her heart, devastated her, and either she pulled out her fur or it fell out. He felt disgusted with himself. There had to have been something he could have done for her.

Jacob looked at Miyuki and smacked Lek with a napkin. "Hey, what's with that look?!" He asked.

Miyuki was met by Bjorn and had a forced smile on her face when speaking to him. A hand rubbed at her stomach - they were obviously talking about the baby.

“What have I done to her?” Lek asked guiltily. Miyuki was pretty with or without her fur, but it had been a part of her.

"She wanted it off." Jacob hissed in a whisper. "She was having trouble when bathing. Too much weight."

"Oh." Lek colored slightly. He could see how forced Miyuki's smile was and still felt guilty.

“Why do ya care, Lek? Ya rejected her. What she does ain’t any of yer business.” Jacob said, staring at him.

Bjorn helped Miyuki get herself a plate of food, babbling on about something and she seemed happy to listen.

“Just because I don’t love her that way doesn’t mean I can’t care about her.” Lek said. “She’s my friend, I want her to be happy…”

"Ya can't have yer cake and eat it too." Jacob said with a shrug.

"Someone can care about their friend without being in love with them." Lek said stiffly.

"I know," Jacob said, omitting his full thoughts at the moment as he went to get food.

Miyuki would eventually head toward the tables so she could enjoy her meal. Her gaze would fall on Lek and she’d stop moving, looking away for a moment as a blush rose to her cheeks.

Lek looked at Miyuki, and for a moment felt so terrible with guilt he wanted to run from the room. But that would be abandoning a friend, an expectant single mother. So instead Lek jumped up from where he was sitting and hurried over to Miyuki. “Can I carry that for you?” Lek asked, reaching for Miyiki’s food.

Miyuki jumped slightly, her ears shooting up with alertness, and gazed at Lek with blinking eyes. “uhmm…I…I think I’ve got it…” She stumbled over the words, not quite sure how to respond to his sudden kind gesture to help her. Though, when he reached for her plate, she did not stop him.

Lek found himself awkwardly holding Miyuki’s plate and blushed. “Uh… where are you sitting?”

“Over there… Miyuki mumbled and gestured to the table that Jacob was now sitting at, enjoying his dinner like a happy cat.

Lek carried her plate over to the table, set it down and out of habit pulled out a chair for Miyuki. “How are you doing?” He asked her.

“Thank you,” Miyuki said politely as she sat down. “I’m okay…finally got my fur gone with one of Alex’s spells. Now I don’t feel so weighed down and overheated all the time…uhm…you?”

“Uhm…” Lek said awkwardly. He did not know how to answer that. He felt terrible for hurting her. “I’m sorry?”

“You can’t help how you feel…” Miyuki’s face fell again and she slowly made herself eat for the sake of her baby.

Alex entered the hall holding Beatrixs hand and smiling.

“You can’t either. I just… feel like I should have said or done something differently.” Lek said, his heart sinking when he saw her face fall.

Miyuki forced herself to take another bite and shrugged.

Beatrix’s smile fell when she saw Lek and Miyuki. “Alex…” She whispered.

"I know I wish He would pull his head out of his ass " Alex sighed as he got them some food.

Lek’s shoulders slumped. He had never hurt a girl before, had never had someone have feelings for him before. “What can I do?” He asked desperately.

“I don’t know, Lek.” Miyuki admitted and tried to focus on eating. She was starting to feel nauseated, but didn’t want to be rude and leave.

Beatrix followed Alex and looked at Jacob, who was helping others get food. “My little brother is gonna be such a ladies man when he’s older.” She giggled.

"You'll have to beat them away with a stick" Alex teased.

“I just might, actually.” Beatrix laughed and found them a seat.