Mamie
As Malus meekly walks through the hallway and turns the corner with a large, wrapped up box that he'd found by the cafeteria. It was just throw-away boxes after the shipment dropped off supplies at the school. He just happened to nab one before going to his room to stuff the gift inside that he'd got from another shop in Isakstad. It sure wasn't from IKEA after the bitter experience he had there with the other students. After seeing how dedicated Barric was to not losing his giant bear had made Mal think that the older boy was into plushies. Those dog bites that the farmer child got had reminded Malus what it was like to be mauled on like a chew toy.

The galactic blue scorpion plush was neatly folded in a sitting position inside the cardboard box. It wasn't a tiny thing. It was rather large. Probably a similar size to the giant brown bear but perhaps a little smaller. Behind his back, there were occasional whispers and weird glances at him as he walked past them. 

It didn't take him a minute to open the infirmary door when he came walking in with a large box in hand. He would ask the nurse with a note. After getting permission to go visit Barric, he nimbly walks over to the area where the dog-bitten kid would be located. 

"Hhhnn... Nuuugh..." Malus groaned, placing the large box right on top of the chair. He happily gestured to the box before eagerly pushing the chair up in front of the kid.
Sheila
Being here was a different kind of annoying. He had convinced them to let him go back to his dorm room, but after putting his bear down, he was dragged back here. Barric didn't understand why he had to be here. Really, he was fine! If they just ignored all the blood and all the open wounds on his limbs. Other than that, he was perfectly fine! He huffed, picking at the bandaging of one of the bites. He refused to lie down on this bed, even if he was slightly tired. Barric had decided to be as difficult as possible during this entire healing process. Which he didn't need because he was FINE.

Barric raised his head as the door open. He watched as Malus shuffled in with a comedically large box in his arms. As the box was placed in front of him, he raised an eyebrow. "What's all this?" He tilted his head, curiosity spiking in the back of his head. He poked at the side of the box, noticing the silent damage to it. "Where'd you get this thing?" Gesturing towards the box. Barric didn't want to seem ungrateful of what he was pretty sure was a gift for him, but the box looked like Malus had dragged the thing through hell. 

He watched as Malus pulled the chair towards him, a smile growing on his face. "What'd you do?" He asked. It seemed as if he was accusing Malus of something, but Barric didn't bother to correct it and over-explain what he had meant.
Mamie
Malus raises his hands up like a shield as he shakes his head,"No," To answer back to Barric. It was an indication that he had done nothing wrong! He actually thought that he was being accused of some sort of larceny which made him flustered.

Hastily his arms blurred from whipping out his cellphone from his coat pocket. His nimble fingers are already punching in the text; then moments later pressing enter. 

This time instead of an annoying roboty voice, the little twerp manages to find an app that replaces it. The voice sounds more smoother in a narrative male's tone.

*"I only got the box that no one wanted from the kitchen. I am for certain that they won't be missing it anytime soon. The gift inside is a little something I picked up along the way. Don't worry, it's not from IKEA."*

Malus raised his hand to give Barric's a thumbs up, giving the other assurance that the gift wasn't from the cursed store. Then he was back to typing quickly on his cellphone, keeping his attention away from the rest of the medical equipment in the room. He wasn't fond of hospitals or anything that looked remotely close to one. It took him a lot of guts to just come here to give Barric a get well gift. 

*This is about him, not about his petty fears.*

The farm boy was the one who didn't fair well against the mutts at the **IKEA** Store where he was mauled. It was so unfortunate that he got chewed up like a Beggin Strips Bacon Dog treat.

*"I am sorry that you got hugged by so many dog teeth. It happened so fast. You got zipped lined away and then Viz skydrop into this Scout-kid person. And more of those weird dogs arrived."*

Of course, he was sort of running on a lot of energy right now trying to keep his mind busy. As the robot was speaking out his text, Malus was holding up pictures of the scene from his perspective. It was all drawn by a pencil and was given character by the coloring utensils. There were a few pages where one showed how Barric was being carried off while he still held the huge brown bear. Then the next scene showed Viz colliding into the kid with more dogs surrounding them. The third page showed Viz flying up Batman mode with Jack. It was a bit strange since it looks like Malus never drew himself in any of the pages.
Sheila
Barric snorted, straightening his back. "I know you did nothing, Malus. You're fine. I'm just pushing your buttons." He watched the kid furiously type away on his phone. Barric hummed as the voice began playing in his ears, reassuring him the kid hadn't done anything. "Good, if it's from Ikea, I'm burning it." It would've been a fucked up joke to bring him something from that cursed store when he was still recovering from bite wounds. Barric smiled, giving Malus a thumbs up right back. He leaned forward, yanking the box towards him. "You didn't have to get me anything, though. I just got bit by a couple of mutts." He murmured, running his fingernail through the tape that kept the box closed. 

The box was slowly ripped open; the tape being pulled back and torn. He pulled open the box, peering inside. Barric yanked out the plushie in confusion. It was cute. But why? His brain seemed to pause for a second, connecting the dots. "Oh! It's a scorpion! I did not get that." Barric turned it in his hands, examining it. Two plushies in a day? He honestly wasn't even *That* Into them. But the more he thought about it, Malus knew very little about him and he had taken the time to notice his weird attachment to that dumb bear. It kind of warmed his heart. The smile on his face grew as he stared at the scorpion. This scorpion was probably the sweetest gesture someone has done in a while.

He paused, trying to think of what to say. Barric swallowed a bit, opening his mouth to speak. "Thank you. I really like it." He murmured in a somewhat amazed tone. Why did he feel so overwhelmed right now? It was just a stuffed animal.

Barric wasn't used to friendships. Was this like a sign they were friends? His eyes flicked between the scorpion and Malus, trying to discern something from the boy's hidden face. What the boy had been saying seemed to enter one ear and fly out the other. He wanted to know. Barric swallowed a rock in his throat, going to speak again. "Does this mean we're friends or something now?" He stared at Malus blankly, his voice louder than he was expecting it to come out as. He was practically yelling at the kid. Barric murmured a quick apology, still staring at Malus, waiting for the kid's answer.
Mamie
"Uhh...?" Malus tilts his head with a questionable look. Well, the mask hid his confused features but the gesture says it all. Then the Barric tone suddenly rising up made him step back from the startling semi-shout. 

Just as he was about to type on the phone it flipped in the air to be caught in his left hand, then fumbled all over the place. Once getting a grip on the device, Mal was half-panic typing.

*"It's really bad to be alone in a place like this. If you want to be friends I am fine either way. You seem to be alright and a lot more normal than the other goats here. ASBDSJAH-BZZT!:"*

A bead of sweat slid down his temple when he realized his phone did the autocorrect and his bot read it out. There was mild panic as he typed on the phone.

*"Can we just be friends?!" *

The blunt answer was the best he could say right now. Talking wasn't his strongest suit from lack of experience with talking to people. There was a semi-defeated sigh from Mal when he saw that his phone glitched, then paused from the crappy wifi. He nervously tug on the collar of his shirt to try to feel as though he is actually breathing. 

As he steeled back his composure, he was a lot calmer now when he saw the wifi bars resurrected itself on the screen. He nimbly texted for the bot to read it.

*"I honestly thought we were sort of friends already before the **IKEA** Incident. Felt bad that you got chewed on because I understand what it's like to get mauled by a dog. It's really not fun."*
Sheila
Barric squeezes the scorpion in his hands, listening to the robot answer his question. A large grin broke out on his face at the answer. Of course, what Malus had said was distorted, but he had understood the message. Well enough to understand what the boy had meant. Barric couldn't contain his happiness. He felt pitiful that he was so excited that Malus had agreed to be his friend. But this was also the first friend Barric had in his life, so maybe this was understandable? "Were we friend before then? I don't know how to tell if people are my friends." He let out an awkward laugh, trying to move on. Honestly, he didn't wanna admit that he hadn't been friends with anyone before Malus, so he just moved on. Barric stared blankly at the scorpion again. "I love it, though. Thank you very much, Malus." His eyes trailed down to his arms. Was he allowed to leave yet? He was getting bored just sitting here, and he wanted to wander around.

"The drawings are nice, though." He nodded his head towards the drawings still in Malus's hands. "You're a good artist." That had been obvious in the art room where they had first met. The kid was probably the best artist he's seen. Granted, that isn't that hard, but it held some sentiment. He resisted the urge to snatch the drawings out of Malus' hands to get a closer look, holding onto the scorpion tighter to help. 

After a moment, he placed the scorpion onto his lap, letting out a breath. A smile broke out on his face. "You don't have to apologize, by the way. I should've tried harder to climb that wall. Either way, I'm glad you, Scout, and that dragon kid got out injury free. I'd prefer I end up here over one of you guys." He laughed. It had hurt like a bitch getting treated like those mutts of chew toys. He would've felt worse ending up here with one of them or not being here at all while one of them was. At the end of the day, he was okay, and everyone else was uninjured. "What'd you end up getting from the cursed IKEA?'
Mamie
Malus takes the beat up cardboard box to set it aside before sitting on the chair, then placing the drawings on a nearby table. He sat there with a straight back with his hands clasped together on his lap. His legs sway beneath him where he remain in a proper posture. 

He was observant enough to see how the older boy was squeezing the bear in his arms. Behind the porcelain white mask, there was a genuine small smile on Malus's face. It was unmistakable that the masked kid was also happy but he was expressing it more calmly.

His hand pulled up a cellphone to create another string of text for Barric to hear. Since sign-language and writing are poorer options for the other to comprehend. 

*"Well, it takes time and deciding whether you feel okay enough to be with a person that you want to know more. From what I understand, it shares some level of trust and understanding. The basics usually start with genuine interest in what's going on in your life; how you think or feel. They're more accepting who you are. Feel comfortable sharing a bit about themselves. It works both ways for the parties. Mostly they just hang out as companions."*

Malus let the bot read it all out to explain this to Barric, letting the farmer kid digest all this information first. Then he begins nimbly texting on the screen before pressing enter for the Bot to read his sentences. Malus isn't used to moving through so many topics at once. Responding to them all was a little difficult when he relied mainly on three things; writing, texting and sign-language. He stuck with the part with Barric being inexperienced and not knowing what friend is. And he moved onto the IKEA goth kitty plush that he "Stole" From the store.

*"What you also need to know is to be careful who you're friends with. From my experience in highschool, some were just interested in wanting me for either my status, looks or to be part of some bullying gang. They had no interest in being my friend but a resourceful connection or to gain some sort of benefit for their selfish reasons. I've been lied to, tricked, harassed and betrayed. Those were tough lessons I had to learn along the way. It's so easy to act nice and flatter someone into trusting them. I'm not professional in socializing but I have at least some standards for understanding people."*

As the bot was still reading his message, Malus happily pulled out a plushy black kitty with petrified yellow buttoned eyes. It has obvious stitching keeping it together to give it this hastily made look. On its belly revealed a moon tarot card with roman numbers. The young boy held it up in triumph with light glinting from the yellow button eye.
Sheila
Barric hummed, nodding slowly. He needed to slow down. Malus seemed to be able to type pretty fast, but he didn't want to the cause of the poor kid's fingers cramping. His eyes followed the drawings as they were placed on the nearby table. "Uh yeah. It does." He let out an awkward laugh, unsure of how to respond. Barric was still keeping the kid at arm's length, but he had to know a few things about Barric by now without him directly telling the kid. 

He liked to think he knew Malus. Even if it was only a little. He held the scorpion to his chest. "We know a bit about each other?" It came out more like a question than a statement. He felt as if he needed reassurance that he knew enough about Malus to be considered a friend. Barric bit his tongue, pulling back from another question. He didn't want his first friend to think he didn't want to be friends because of his dumb questions. "Oh." Barric whispered quietly to himself, barely audible to the boy across from him. He didn't know how to reply to that. "Well, I don't think you have to worry about that with me. I'm a bit of a loser." He let out another awkward laugh at the self-deprecating joke. It was meant to be some sort of comfort or some form of comedy at the moment. "I don't think anyone would include me in their bully squad."

Barric stared at the cat plush that was pulled out of nowhere. Malus seemed excited to have it. The plush looked a bit strange to the other boy. It looked home made as if the boy's grandmother had made it. But it was obviously from the IKEA store by the way it had been brought. "It seems like you as a plush." He tilted his head. "If that makes sense. It's cute. Looks homemade. Well, as homemade as IKEA can be."
Mamie
*"A bit? There's no rush."*

He sheepishly scratched at the side of the porcelain mask, unsure how to respond to this since those were a little harsh to say those things about yourself. Then he returned back to his phone to begin texting once again. 

*"I don't think you're one? Such a word is used in terms of a person who constantly disappoints people and is doomed to fail. And I think maybe you didn't have time to find out the best of yourself yet. You're only a teenager. It takes time to figure yourself out."*

Malus didn't know this was some sort of joke. He didn't show any gesture of laughing when he took this as a literal thing.

The plush stayed captive in the crook of his arm while he had both his hands on the phone. Its arm dangling from its side and with its cat head tilted. The petrified yellow eyes seem to be staring at Barric.
The question about the plush looking similar to Mal caused the boy to raise his eyebrow. It's not like the farmer kid would see it behind his mask. He had almost forgotten about turning into a shadow thing at Ikea to go hide in Viz's shadow.

*"Oh? It does? Did you manage to get to see what I can transform into?"*

Malus was surprised as he and the manipulated cat turned their heads to look at each other, then back at Barric.
Sheila
"Yeah there isn't." He blurted out. Trying to not sound desperate for friends had quickly gone wrong. Now he just seemed desperate to move on from to a different conversation topic. Which felt like the best in Barric's mind for now. "I mean, I think there are multiple definitions of loser. Maybe your well your definition of loser is definitely different from mine cause you just explained it." He paused, trying to figure out how to continue. Barric dropped the plushie on his lap, instantly beginning to crack his knuckles. "But yeah, people have different meanings for words sometimes. It's just a joke either way. I don't know if you realized that."

He laughed at the time to figure himself out comment. Barric had seventeen years to do that out, and he barely knew what he liked at this point. It was so sad it was funny to the boy. He laughed to himself for a moment, still cracking the bones in his hand. "I think I've been on this earth long enough to somewhat figure myself out. But yeah, I guess you're right." He shook his head at the question. "No, I." He kind of cut himself off trying to figure out how to explain this without directly talking about his eyesight problems. 

He sat there for a moment in silence before realizing how long he had been sitting there quietly. "I didn't see it. I wasn't really paying attention to you." He scratched his face, laughing awkwardly. Maybe he should explain himself further. "Not that I was purposefully ignoring you or something! You just seemed to have a plan and Scout was kind of in danger and I couldn't figure out what to do, so I thought you were fine so I didn't pay attention to you." The scorpion rolled off his lap as he leaned forward, trying to grab it. He placed it back on his lap, looking back at Malus.

"But yeah, at least you seem to match its looks or whatever, if that makes sense?" He murmured to himself.
Mamie
From what his expression can tell with that mask on, Malus was taken back by now knowing the loser part was meant to be a joke. 

There was an "*Oh,*" Look when he had his gloved hand by his mouth, now understanding what Barric meant by it. He made a fist and presented to knock himself on the side of his head like,"*I dummy,*" Gesture. It didn't really occur to him that half the things Barric says are taken out of context.

He was rather patient waiting for what the older boy had to say. His hands resting from the sides of himself while swinging his legs where he sat. The black cat plush sat next to him with its petrified yellow eyes staring up at the ceiling.

Malus could somewhat tell that something was on Barric's mind. It was his intention to disturb him now while he was waiting silently.

Then as soon as the responses arrived, he sat there listening and now having his hands clasped together on his lap. And returning back to his cellphone to provide a response in return.

*"Ah, I see now. To be truthful, there wasn't really a plan thought out at the time until the situation happened in play. I sort of panicked and hid to see what else I could do when an opportunity happened. Viz was the most mobile one, so I chose his shadow to hide in. It helped get the proper layout of the scene. There were those weird dogs chasing other people around in the IKEA store. They kinda resemble the same power type as Pernilla, except that they didn't belong to her. I wanted to check the security or announcer room to find out who is doing this. Just didn't get the right time for it. A lot was happening."*

As the bot was reading out his message, Mal was holding up the cat plush trying to see if it really did match him in comparison. When he thinks about it a little more, it kinda does? He was still happy with the "Stolen" Prize that he got after the trouble they went through at the IKEA store. Then he set the plush down aside as he picked up his phone.

*"Hey, if you want to leave the infirmary you should ask the nurse if you're good to go. I have to catch class soon, so I have to leave. It was nice to see that you're faring well after getting nibbled on. Try not to get bitten by other dogs while I am gone. 🙂 "*