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They were in class when their familiar old demon started to sneak into their head. Ringing in their ears grew louder and louder, and suddenly, everything was too slow and fast all at once. A cold sweat broke out across their skin, and their heart felt too fast, thrumming too quickly. Crona knew they had to get out and quietly excused themselves, fighting the urge to run until the door closed behind them.
Then the tears began to flow, and all the negative thoughts started swirling around their head as they ran to hide in a closet.
They found one and sunk down, shaking uncontrollably. They tried to breathe, but their breath was too shallow and short, so they gasped for air.
Slowly, the door cracked open, and Crona’s eyes went wide in fear - afraid someone would see them and start mocking or looking at them weirdly, and they just couldn’t handle it.
But to their relief, a familiar face peered in, golden eyes searching for them till they looked down.
“Crona, are you alright?”
At that, Crona tensed and began sobbing harder.
Kid then came in, slowly shut the door behind him, and kneeled beside Crona.
“Are you having a panic attack?”
Crona nodded while still shaking, and Kid frowned slightly. Crona squeezed their eyes shut.
“...Can I touch you?”
That temporarily shook Crona out of it, but they nodded after a moment of hesitation. Kid slowly grabbed their hand. Crona looked down and was surprised at how soft and warm it was, albeit with a few callouses from where he wields his weapons. Physical comfort was something Crona was still not used to, but they didn’t mind. In fact, despite the sobs coming out still, they slowly began to calm down.
“Can you see something red?”
“W-what?”
Crona snapped their head up. Kid did not reprimand or make fun of them but calmly repeated himself.
“Can you see something red?”
Crona blinked and then looked around the closet.
“T-the bucket?”
“Excellent. Now, something orange?”
Crona looked again.
“The spray bottle?”
“Now, something yellow,”
“Your eyes,”
Crona was mentally beating themselves up for saying something weird, but when they looked into Kid’s eyes again, they were smiling lightly and looked… kind.
“Something green?”
It continued until Crona could breathe again. They felt exhausted but comforted.
“Thank you, Kid,”
“It’s no problem - a technique I learned in therapy. Helps when I get overwhelmed too,”
“Y-you get… this too?”
“Yes, OCD and anxiety are often intertwined,”
Crona knew Kid had OCD. But it never occurred to them that he could get consumed by the fear like Crona. They heard an inhale from Kid as he looked down and then into Crona’s eyes. Crona never liked eye contact but found they didn’t mind with Kid, like how they didn’t mind it with Maka or Stein.
“Crona, I would like you to know that if you are having trouble like this again, you can always come to me. I know I’m not Maka, but I understand a little bit of what you’re going through,”
Crona stared, smiling gently and looking down, noticing their hands were still intertwined. Their heart beat faster, but not… not in a bad way for once.
“Thank you, Kid,”