“Goshdarnit, you come at the most appropriate of times!” I said sarcastically, hauling up the now-slumping Cricket.

“Oy, Cricket.” His head was hanging laxly, and I tried to bring him back into wakefulness.

Stupid. Exerting himself.

“Hold on in there, buddy.”

Cricket nodded slowly, but Lin laughed.

“You want him to ‘hold on’? As in, grip you and not let you go?”

“You know what I meant.”

We walked along in silence for a while, Master taking up the lead.

The ground was sometimes soft beneath my feet, other times completely dry and harsh. All my musings were cut short when Lin spoke again.

“Hey…Xiaoli?”

“Yeah?” I turned to face her. Her eyes looked distant and clouded. I knew there was something wrong.

“I know…I know I haven’t been a good friend lately.”

...What in the?

“But, I want to thank you.”

I managed to croak out some words. “For what?”

“For accepting me…” she paused and smirked again. “You didn’t run away like the other kids when you saw my collection Campbell soup spoons.”