Lumen sighs, taking their time before leaving the changing room: they just lost an important match, one that could have had them enter a State-wide championship, and they're not near their home, so neither their family members nor their boyfriend could come and watch them.

"I should have been more focused..." they mutter sadly. "How will I ever do anything good if I keep thinking about other random stuff...?"

"Hm...", they listen to Amber silently, looking down, and just start smiling a little until she says the word 'focusing': they look at her, tilting their head a little as thoughts start racing in their head. As Amber finishes talking, they jump up and start:

"Yes, you're right! And my bae's mum gets very distracted, but then she suddenly focuses on a thing and keeps focusing like that for a very long time, I should ask her how does she do!". They bounce, suddenly being excited again, and finish before running out: "Thank you, person! I hope we'll meet again after another match, but I'll win next time!"

Amber slowly moves to sit beside Lumen carefully, looking up at them due to their height difference. She wasn't always the best at advice, but she wasn't just going to leave someone down in front of her without at least some sort of reassurance.
"Hey," she murmurs, offering Lumen a careful smile, holding back from a comforting touch to the shoulder due to her not actually knowing if they were okay with that, despite her tending to be a more touchy type of persona, physical affection had always seemed to make it easier to comfort for her. "I'm not going to just say that it was just a game because that seemed really important to you, but regardless of if you lost or not, I'm sure that if your friends and loved ones were here they'd be just as proud of you as they would be if you won," she tries at first. "Focusing is hard sometimes, some people are better at it than others, and that's good for them, but don't let that keep you down! I'm sure there are ways to exercise yourself to help focus better if you really want to, but sometimes people just...have their heads in the clouds at times, maybe because they miss people or because something is just on their mind that they can't quite get to go away. The best thing to do is just take theses losses in stride," she adds before a small smile braces her lips. "After all! Losing battles or anything like that gives character! It'll just push you to find new ways to win the next match!"

Sitting alone on the bench near her apartment, Amber breathed slowly as she rested a joint between her lips, her anxiety had spiked again and she knew few ways to qualm it. Her girlfriend had been gone for about...a week now, Vi had some important family business to attend to and Amber couldn't exactly follow her into Hell. Or, well, she could, but it caused trouble occasionally with other demons or the insanely hot temperatures in general, and Vi didn't want her to have to deal with that. Despite this, Amber almost regrets not imploring her girlfriend to let her come with her, because as much as Amber could handle the distance, it was...admittedly starting to get to her. Meredith was helpful enough, visiting most the time to keep her company, but despite liking to be alone sometimes her girlfriend being gone and only being able to occasionally message her made her nerves spike. What if she got hurt? It's been a week, and she's a succubus, God only knew that her energy must be spent by now, Vi got agitated in only three days sometimes without having a boost of energy. (Since succubi get their powers and life-source from sexual contact as most know, though Amber just sugarcoated it so she didn't sound...weird to other people. She knew Vi wouldn't cheat on her, Vi wasn't like that, and Amber trusted her above anything else, but it made her extremely worried about how weak the demon was likely getting from all of this. She groans and blows smoke out from her lips, trying to let the joint muddle her mind as she shoves her face into her hands. "Please...please God let this damn trip be over soon, if I worry more and more about you Vi my head is going to explode. You should at least come back for energy so you don't pass out down there."

Akemi took a stroll along the nearby park, catching a faint scent of weed. She looked around a bit, catching a glimpse of an orange-haired girl sitting alone. Her face seemed a bit... She didn't really know what to think of it. Regardless, her legs brought her closer and closer towards the girl, until Akemi found herself sitting beside her and taking out a pack of cigarettes. Her lighter was in her back pocket, but if she had asked for the girl's lighter instead it'd be more natural to start talking.
"You got a light?" Akemi asked her with a gentle voice. The red-haired girl was relaxed but was still cautious to a complete stranger. Despite these feelings, she handed off her own lighter to Akemi. "Thanks."

As the cigarette lit, she gave back the lighter and took the cigarette out of her own mouth, sighing as the sky slowly turned towards the evening. The cloud of smoke left her mouth as her fingers took it aside.

"I, uh... Don't really know what's going on. But, I'm sure whatever you're thinking about, whatever you're scared of, it's going to be okay," She was a bit quiet. "I'm sorry if this is a bit out of nowhere, I... Just felt like I needed to say something, seeing you all frustrated and in thought reminded me of a friend of mine."  Akemi put her cigarette back in her mouth for a moment to shake off the awkwardness she felt. "I think, whatever happens, you should trust in your partner. If that's what's bothering you. Again, sorry if... If this isn't helping. You can vent to me if you'd like, I'm a better listener."

-------------------------------------

Akemi sat behind her car in the parking lot at the airport, cigarette in hand as the tears fell from her face. He was gone... Kenta really left and went back home. She knew it was going to happen eventually, and he even flat-out told her ahead of time. Of course, she was sad, they cried over it together and she thought they were over it. No more tears left to cry, only acceptance of the inevitable and the fact that they were going to long-distance their relationship. She was gonna go seem him in the Summer anyway. But still, she was so used to having him around. In her arms,  the feeling of his body warmth against her own as they cuddled while they watched Netflix.  

She bawled her eyes out, the fact that he wasn't going to be with her forever hit her hard and no amount of cigarettes could ease the hole left in her heart. 

After dropping off his brother and reconsidering his decision to let him fly to France by himself, Chris struggled to remember where he parked his car. On the one time he forgot to take note of his spot, it decides to completely escape his mind. Wonderful. Plus, he swore under his breath, cursing his professors and his boss about how they had to keep him down in Chicago while Peter fucked off to Paris doing God knows what. A trip to the city of love would have been great, but more importantly, he shouldn't have let him travel to another country unsupervised. Regret wasn't what he needed at all.

Passing by the endless amount of cars that weren't his, he heard the sound of a young woman crying. Chris stopped in his tracks, turning his focus on her situation instead. Now, was he supposed to talk to her or keep walking like nothing ever happened?

He tried his best to approach Akemi, step-by-step. "...Excuse me. Are you alright?" He took a seat next to her, taking care to reduce his intimidating appearance. "We could talk about it, if you'd like. You don't have to if you don't want to."

Out from his pocket, Chris handed her a handkerchief. "...Here."

Up at ungodly hours, Chris was meant to get some much-needed rest, but instead, he was stuck with this. Sitting at his computer with a coffee in hand, his leg bounced as he desperately wanted to leave the cafe and just go home. But, this paper was due at midnight, and someone just had to completely forget about it. Whose fault was it? Entirely his - and he had absolutely nothing. The caffeine only fueled his anxiety, failing to fill the empty void in his mind. The first tear out of many more to come rolled down his cheek. Wiping it off with a dirty sleeve, he tried his damn hardest to suppress everything, but the waterworks came down nonetheless.

His eyes were still burning, his heart was still racing, his body was still shaking, and he was still hunched over this goddamn paper. Chris put his head down, sobbing, hoping it would all just go away.

In the middle of his breakdown, Chris felt a light tap on his back. Of course he didn’t want to face this person, especially if it was the cafe owner, but he lifted his head nonetheless.

Luckily, it wasn’t the cafe owner, standing next to him was a small... creature? He was too exhausted to be frightened though.

“E-excuse me, mister? Are you okay?” Cam asked quietly, trying not to draw attention, “I-is something wrong?”

Cam plopped themself into a seat next to him and gently patted his back, “Um... You don’t have to talk about it, but if-if I can help, I will! Seeing people crying makes me sad...” They half-smiled up at him and he went on to explain his problem.

“Oh. Well, I’m not smart enough to help with that, b-but I can stay with you! J-just to help you keep calm, y’know?” They scooted their seat closer to him and clumsily gave him a side-hug, “I’m sure you’re very smart, I bet you can finish this no problem! You just need some moral support. I don’t have anywhere to be.” Cam got comfortable in their seat and sat with Chris, helping as best as they could to keep him calm as he continued his project.

(oof I hope that wasn’t ooc, poor dude I know how that be)

Cam was walking around aimlessly, they just had a huge fight with Sir and was on the verge of tears. They didn’t even know what they fought about, it was a big messy blur to them.

They made their way down a dirt path going nowhere in particular, taking big breaths to try to avoid any crying. It didn’t last long though, they tripped over a crack and landed on their bum. That was the last straw.

They began to sob loudly, “Everything is going wrong!” They buried their face in their hands, sitting in the dirt, not having the motivation to even try to get up.

The whole weight of this terrible afternoon weighed down on them and they sobbed as hard as they could, just wanting to curl up in a ball and never have to do anything again.

(Cam is SUPER sensitive even tiny things like this make them cry lmao)

Albus wasn't really sure about how he ended up on that dirt path, or why would someone escort him to that zone in the first place: he probably was napping during a longer than usual walk outside, and a distraction had split him apart from his guide - all he knew, was that he had been left alone, on a wheelchair, in the middle of that unpleasant environment; and if that was not scary enough, the sound of someone crying like there was no tomorrow added to that ambience. He looked around himself, trying to meet any familiar face or reference point, but the only thing he managed to see was a figure sitting on the ground, face buried in their hands, and the source of that desperate sound. He had no clue about who they were, nor why they were crying in the first place, but that sight was so heartbreaking that he could do nothing but immediately try to get off his wheelchair, managing to do so at the third try, and carefully got closer to them.

"Hey, what's going on?" he asked, still approaching a little bit at the time, "What happened?"

He didn't have a clear response before he reached them, almost tripping over himself but safely sitting next to them before that happened. "Are you alright?", he changed the question; then he waited for Cam to actually tell the last part of what was bothering them, which was that unexpected fall.

"I'm glad to know you're not hurt, in the least! But that's still very unpleasant, I'm sorry this silly, dirty road decided to kick you down right today..." he sighed, "These little things always stab you in the back when you least need it, and other things have already let you down in the first place, don't they?".

Then he opened his arms, offering a hug and letting Cam decide if they wanted to accept it or not, then he waited for them to calm down at least a little bit before asking:

"So, what else has been bothering you... Cam, right? I wouldn't mind listening to you and help you if I can"

He listened to their quite confused recalling of the fight they had with Sir earlier, staying close to them, then thought for a little while and said:

"I can't know what exactly happened between the two of you, nor what you two are usually like, but I can tell you really care about him and... I'll dare to say I've had quite a lot of experience with these kinds of situations, so maybe I can help you reconcile. Now, how do you feel about having a chat somewhere else? I have to wait for who brought me here, but then we can go wherever you prefer. Do you like being on the beach?"

Albus had finally managed to convince his spouses to let him go to his editor on his own, so he had just left the front door, with written pages full of new short stories under his right arm, and had managed to walk with a quite steady pace until the end of the garden; but as soon as he had left the familiar place behind, his legs immediately started feeling weak and sore. He gulped, still thinking that everything was going to be fine as long as he ignored the problem, but he soon started gasping, his limbs shaking, and he had to sit down against the closest wall not to fall over. Here we go, idiot - he immediately thought - How could you even think you could make it? You've just recovered from a fever, you're stressed for no reason again, and you're just as weak as usual! There's no need to pretend you're independent and not a burden for your family, it won't change anything. He took a deep breath, telling himself again that there was no need to be so harsh with himself and that he had actually been brave for trying in the first place, but he just couldn't ignore the bad thoughts in that moment. He slowly let go of the pages, without realizing it: he was too busy thinking about how he used to be a great warrior, while now he could barely walk back and forth from the bathroom without help most of the time. He had learnt how to live around it, but there always were those odd days in which he just didn't manage to do anything the way he wanted to, and couldn't avoid feeling sad and powerless. He tried to stay still a little longer, to see if he could recover enough to get back, and ask someone to go with him and get in his wheelchair; but when he tried to do so, his legs just didn't listen to him and moved in a completely unrelated manner. He tried pulling his arms up to give himself a little massage around his knees, but when he realized even those limbs just weren't doing what they were supposed to he started sobbing, seeing no possible solution to the situation he had found himself into.

"Hello? Sir do you need any help?" little Kylie would say to the man that was leaning against the wall, she would go up to him and sense that something wasn't right. To show or let him know that she was there she would paw at his leg, if he didn't give a response to her she would have called out for help from people near by to see if they could do something, but would stay by his side until she knew he was feeling better. If he happened to give a response she would listen to him and try to help him in any way she could, whether it was trying to inform his fiances about him and getting his wheelchair or trying to calm him down and know that everything is okay and that there isn't a reason to put himself down if he wants to keep trying. 

--------------

Kylie would sit on a rock, a forest, thinking about what her and her guardian were going through. They both want each other to be happy, Kylie wants to become immortal so her guardian, who is also immortal, wouldn't have to worry about losing her to age. While her guardian wants her to live a normal life, or as normal of a life she can, though there are complications as to why she can't. She knows both of them don't know how to act their roles either, she may be a pup, but she doesn't really know what it means to be one. Her guardian is also trying to figure out how to be the best guardian for her as well. She would sigh not knowing what to do to make the situation better. 

Kyle wandered into the shop and quickly noticed how gloomy Peony appeared. He assumed she must have been bored, so as he looked around the store and picked up flowers to buy, he talked to her about his day. She didn't need to respond, he just talked about how the rain was cold and how tasty his breakfast was and how his dad had been bothering him lately and such. When it came time to pay for the flowers he gave Peony one of them and asked if she wanted to chat for a bit, as he was quite bored.

---------------

Kyle sniffled, sitting on a park bench. He normally wouldn't be so public with his grieving, but he was very upset about the disappearance of his crush this day and he didn't want his roommates to watch him cry. He didn't know what to do to cheer himself up. He did sometimes write letters to his crush to try and cheer himself up, and to try and get himself to think his crush was still alive; so he got out his writing supplies from the bag he brought to the park and began writing.

Ken had been sitting at the bench when Kyle sat down on the other side, sniffling. He tried not to pry, but it was hard to ignore the wolf ears. He glanced over at the other man, hesitating at the red, swollen eyes. Shit, he's crying. Awkward about cheering someone up, especially one he didn't know, Ken tried to turn away. He wasn't sure the guy would want a stranger's help, anyway. 

But curiosity was a powerful thing and he found himself looking back at Kyle. Oh, he's writing something. Prying eyes glanced down. A letter? Getting caught staring, Ken tended up. "What?!" he barked defensively. "I was just looking in that direction, I'm not curious or concerned, or anything!" he huffed before glaring away. Five seconds later and he was back to looking at Kyle. "So, like," he started. "Did you have a fight with your boyfriend, or something? I know the pain... out if watching TV! It never happens to me in real life! But, uh... I don't know, you want to talk about it, I guess?" He tried his best to not look as concerned as he felt.

_______

Ken stormed outside of the performance hall, weaving around until he was outside in the back alley. Realizing he was still in his idol uniform, he ripped off the rose in his breast pocket and threw it onto the ground, stomping on it angrily.

That guy... That stupid guy! Ten years since Ken had fallen in love with that guy, five years since his heart got broken! That's enough time to heal, right?! That's what he thought until he saw him in the audience during his concert, giving him a smug smirk. Ken growled and placed around angrily, his expression constantly switching between fury, frustration, and sadness. 

Finally, he pressed his back against the wall. "Dammit," he muttered as he slid to the ground. "Why does it still hurt so damn much?"

At the end of the concert, Jared started to look for Ken. He wanted to congratulate him on completing another one of his concerts! After all, it was a buttload of work. He wasn't in his usual place, which caught Jared off-guard. The blonde thought about where in the world could he be in situations like this; First of all, he knew Ken was always angry about something, so obviously he would either be venting off on his band members or go away to some quiet place to have some alone time. He chose the latter. Jared ran outside and found himself entering a back alley. There, he saw a familiar-looking shade of red for clothing and hairstyle. "Ken?" he asked loud enough for him to hear. Jared expected him to call him a loser or something but surprisingly heard nothing in return. "Are..are you okay? What are you doing out here by yourself?" He made his way closer to the idol and sat down next to him. God, he looked awful. Ken looked very heartbroken; Jared looked around, feeling awkward. Seeing him like this..it was very strange. He began to feel empathy for Ken and stared at him with sympathy in his eyes. "I guess I really am a loser, huh? I don't know who or what made you feel this way, but just wanna tell you it's going to be okay. I know you're a good guy so something amazing is gonna happen to you." he reached into his pocket and pulled out some candy from the 90s. "here um. Want some candy? It's good, I swear!"

Jared was walking his way home, his bag and clothes covered in dirt. It was just another one of those days when the strong popular kids decided to mess with an unlucky loser; that kid just happened to be him. Feeling beat, he sighed and thought about his bike that they stole earlier. It was a gift from his parents for his birthday, something he cherished for years. Now that it was gone, he felt like a complete loser, an idiot, 

He sat down on a nearby staircase to take a break. Why didn't he bring a jacket, dammit.

ShELBIE was walking around she spotted someone by the stairs. She would walk up to the poor collage student. With the dirt all over him and a sad look on his face, she knew he must’ve had a rough day. She didn’t really talk with humans before, most would run away because of her extra eyes, but maybe she could help this one. She would smile and paw at his back to get his attention, once she did she would rub her head against him and lay down next to him. Speaking would probably freak him out, hopefully by being around him and showing that she wanted to make him feel better would make things better for him. 

—————

ShELBIE would walk around, her ears down and with a rare sad look on her face. She just arrived on earth and people were all afraid of her, everyone kept running away. Did she look that scary? She would cover a pair of her eyes so it looks like she only has one set? She would sit down near a bench. She just wanted to be friend with people and help them out. 

Dark had wondered what had made that sound, now he was face to face with some cat person's stand off with a raccoon. Normally he didn't want to get involved in conflicts but he had stumbled upon this and there was no one else around here to save them, so he might as well. 

First he shooed the raccoon, it hissed and grumbled at him but ran off with it's meal. 

Now for cat person. Apaethia was still clinging to the wall as Dark approached. "Uh I..." He started, voice rusty from disuse, "It's okay...It's gone now, I got rid of it. Are you... are you stuck-" 

"Wow... you're really high up." He just noticed how close they were to the roof. "You scared to come down?" 

Apaethia was shaking. 

Dark sighed. "Alright... Let go, it's okay, I'll catch you." After a moment, Apaethia came falling backwards and Dark did catch them but as he had never carried someone before he never expected the weight, causing both of them to tumble to the ground. 

The next thing he knew a cat person was staring down at him in worry. "I'm fine..." He groaned, "...I'm just bad at this hero thing I guess..."

(I'm not sure if I need the black bar here or where to put it even. I don't say someone died, it's just hinted at. TW implied past death?)

Winter. Fluffy white snow blanketed the ground and sidewalk. He loved snow days like these but Dark couldn't find any enjoyment out of it today. He always had it hard this time of year.

It was her favorite month.

He brought his knees to his chest and buried his head into his arms. There he waited, huddled on the park bench, almost like if he waited long enough Light would show up and offer to go ice skating with him.

Ralph was walking to a nearby park, wearing a thick minty green coat. His mother didn't exactly care if he wandered off by himself, and his brother was at school. He didn't have school today, so he decided that he was going to go to the park, even if he had to go alone.

He stopped, however, when he noticed someone sitting on a bench. He had no idea if the person was a monster like him or something else entirely, but whatever the case, he looked rather upset. The sight caused a sad frown to appear on the little boy's face. He didn't like seeing anyone sad. Maybe there was something he could do...?

Ralph made his way over to the person, gently tapping his arm a few times. "Hello? Are you okay?" he asked softly, peering up at him. His tail swished anxiously across the snow-covered ground. He tried not to think about what would happen if this backfired. If he was told to go away, then he would go away. He'd be embarrassed, but he'd go away nonetheless. It was still worth it to try.

"I dunno what's wrong, and you don't have to tell me, but I can help! If you wanna tell me, I'll sit down and listen to everything; I've been getting better at that!" He was smiling now, trying to convince him with his expression alone. He hoped he wouldn't find his slight lisp too annoying. "If you don't wanna tell me, then maybe we can walk to the park together? My mom's not around right now, so that's why I'm by myself. The park's a fun place, and it's snowing today! I don't got school, and I don't think you do either."

He paused. "Um, you don't have to if you don't want," he tried to clarify. "I'll go if you want, we don't know each other and I get it if I'm annoying and stuff, but I think you need some cheering up, so... I wanna help you! Will you please let me help? Please? I promise not to make you mad!"

Ralph was sitting against a tree in the park, watching other children playing on the slides and the swings. He would normally be playing there, but he didn't feel like it. His mother had yelled at him earlier when he asked her to take him to the park this time, as opposed to going by himself like he always did. He wished his brother didn't have to stay at that school today. At least it was Friday, so he'd probably be able to go with him tomorrow, but...

He glanced down at his lap, his tail curled around his side. Did his mother find him annoying like other people did? He hadn't noticed before, and after what just happened, he wished he could make it to where he never asked her to go with him. If he asked anyone else, he would probably just make them mad. He wondered if his brother ever got tired of him.

That thought finally made him cry. His face scrunched up as tears rolled down his cheeks, and he buried his head in his arms, drawing his knees up to rest them there. He wasn't even trying to stifle his sobs.