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Dark could not stop laughing, tears welling in his eyes from laughing so hard. Victim was snickering and recording on their phone as Chosen tried and failed to coax Second out from under the table where he was hiding, curled in the fetal position and casting uneasy glances at the stove every once in a while.
"Sec, cmon. It's a stove, not some killing machine of ultimate doom that'll suddenly come alive and swallow you or any of us whole." He said softly but sternly, clearly his patience was already running thin somehow. But the young orange hollowhead wouldn't budge.
"Sec, please. I promise you it's not gonna hurt you or anyone here. Don't make me drag you out here."
At this, Second only squeaked in fearful protest and scooted a bit farther under the table. Chosen sighed, defeated.
"Alright then. Me and Victim and Dark are going to have some delicious real food, but since you won't come out from under the table, I guess you can't have any." Chosen sighed, turning away from the youngest member of the quartet, a sly smirk on his face.
Dark, catching on, composed himself and nodded. "What scrumptious real food is everyone here but Second having today?" Chosen rolled his eyes at Dark's choice of words. Then he thought.
What stovetop cooked food could they lure Second out with, and help him get over this new fear?
Victim stopped recording and walked over, hands clasped behind their back, to give an opinion.
"Macaroni and cheese? That's always a good one. Perfect comfort food." Out of the corner of their eye, they could see Second uncurl slightly and scoot closer, wondering what this new food was.
"Great idea, Victim!" Dark said, enthusiasm somewhat forced into his voice as he gave the gray, ghostly hollowhead a thumbs up.
Chosen ran to the pantry in a Naruto run to grab the elbows, while Dark raided the cheese from the fridge. Victim turned on the thing above the stove, then made a point to act calm as they turned on the kitchenware itself. The fire burst to life under the mesh, and Second initially flinched, before leaning a little closer as the fire calmed down.
As Chosen put the macaroni elbows into the boiling pot of water, and was about to add the cheese, he felt a tug on his arm. Turning around, he was relived to see Second standing there, a look of determination plastered on his face.
"I wanna help!" Chosen smirked. "Are you sure? You said the stove scared you." The black hollowhead was barely able to stifle a giggle as Second put his hands on his hips, leaned forward slightly, and fixed the most annoyed glare he could muster onto his face.
"Chosen! It's just a STOVE, not some killing machine of ultimate doom that's gonna suddenly come alive and eat any of us whole." He said with a surprising amount of sass.
"Okay, okay. You can help." Chosen said, patting Second on the head. The orange hollowhead whooped and smiled.
Later...
Second was happily eating the food, his wide, shiny eyes and big, enthusiastic smile saying it all.
He loved it.