Act 5, Pray, prey.

Staring at the shrine it felt all too wrong, he couldn't pinpoint why but he felt a sudden anger towards these.. these false Gods. His hand clenched around the cone of incense, causing it to crumble in his grasp, shocking him out of his rage.

The ash spilled out from his palm sullying the floor below with grey powder...

He blinked a few times, shocked, he wasn't usually so.. rough? So.. hasty with his actions, so angry. He let out a soft sound of discontent at his own actions, wetting a rag to wipe the floor, having to go all the way back out to the kitchen to put it in the washing machine. He spent the seconds he was in the kitchen to glance at the clock again, not holding back on a little wince at how much time he was wasting with his clumsiness.

He replaced the cone he crushed with a new one, equipping himself with a long necked lighter before cupping the cone, lighting it, mirroring the motion with the other cone, the plumes of smoke were already floating up and up into the air, "cleansing" it with it's scent.

Before he knew what he was doing he had placed his ash-covered palms together, spreading the powder to the opposite hand.

He wasn't the religious type, but with that outburst it felt right to pray now.. to remedy the situation, to calm himself for the third time that morning.

"Please forgive me God, or any God.. if you are listening.. - uh, for my outburst.." He stammered, awkwardly, not used to such words falling off of his tongue, but he continued "I didn't mean it.. i don't know what came over me." He bowed his head, squeezing his eyes shut "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry!"

He took a breath before opening his eyes once more, letting his hands fall apart, he grabbed the stick of incense, his hands suddenly shaky again, before lighting and setting it down among the rest, leaving the doors open so the house was 'cleansed'.

Finally, he walked to his room, grabbing his back from his closet and fishing around for things he needed for the school day ahead..

He opened his drawer, grabbing the appropriate school supplies - his books, pencil case, a hydro flask for water.

He couldn't pinpoint why but his heart was hammering against his chest, he rationalized it - passing it off as just being tired due to house chores. But it felt like a whispering at the back of his skull.

Everything felt so big suddenly, since he met Emily -or, rather, Eve he felt important, more so than those around him who.. felt like side characters? This inflated self-worth, this ego, felt alien to him, felt disgusting. He didn't like feeling like divine attention was on him, he liked his normal, nothing life.

He just wanted it to stop, he wanted no more weird dreams, no more deja vu no more-

The door bell rang, causing him to jump and nearly drop his bag. Three more raps, like before. He sighed again.

Walking with haste to the front door, he almost stumbled over the row of shoes which lined the lip of said door, only just managing to stay upright via leaning against the wall, putting a firm hand on the handle he opened it to reveal:

Emily - or Eve - Florence.

Her long white hair flowing in the wind, red eyes hidden under sun glasses and a parasol perched on her shoulder.

She had a look on her face like she was expecting to be dismissed, she was in what seemed to be school uniform, which made Kacper hastily second guess himself.

"Is.. it an important day today?" He worriedly inquired, she smiled in turn "Oh, yes." before she flushed, realizing the true meaning behind his words (if it was an important day, at school) "I-i mean, well, no. I just prefer wearing uniform sometimes."

Kacper nodded slowly, letting out a relieved breath, before tilting his head "Why.. are you here?" he seemed out of his element with such basic interactions, he had no friends in school, so such made sense

"I wanted to walk to school with you, maybe stop for breakfast first though.. i'm starved!" Emily smiled, taking a small step back as if to let Kacper join her

Kacper looked over his shoulder, momentarily pondering what else he needed to do before leaving - because he certainly wasn't letting this chance for connection go, not after the morning he had - he still felt on edge, however, which lead him back through the house to snuff out the incense - even if it wasn't truly a fire hazard.

He practically ran back to the front door, sitting to put his shoes - grabbing his student ID which always sat beside hos shoes (so he wouldn't forget) on before joining Emily outside, fishing his key out of his bag to lock the door and holding his ID in his spare hand, walking now, Kacper's eyes searched the street, internally pondering what to talk about - he felt like he knew Emily so much already, despite having met her yesterday... like the silence was comfortable.

Emily seemed to think so, too, as she hadn't spoke up yet.

"Um," Kacper started, wringing his hands before letting them drop with a finality at his sides, forcing the words out "So- where are we going to eat? I-i don't have much money so.." He let the silence describe his ailment, Emily picking up on his discomfort through words not spoken "I'll pay."

There was no hesitation on her part, if anything she seemed *eager* to be the one to pay on his behalf, he felt his cheeks redden as he muttered a small thanks, before tilting head aside, she followed the prompt and continued "We can stop by a cafe i like.."

During the journey she hadn't looked at Kacper - well, he didn't think she had anyway, he couldn't see much through her sunglasses.. but when she finally did, she offered a smile that made Kacper's body warm up as if it was ablaze.

She was so kind, she was a natural at every conversation - she was perfect, like an angel. This overwhelming feeling of euphoria, was this what friendship felt like?