"Hey, Finn," Peaches said, joining him at the fronting bench.

The jackal was quiet. TOO quiet. He seemed to be focused on the world outside their headspace, wrapped up in whatever was going on beyond the window.

Peaches frowned. "Um, Finn?" he asked, shaking his shoulder. His gaze broke and he looked up at the hare, startled slightly.

"Huh?" he asked. "Oh, it's you..."

"I mean, I *am* admin, I'm usually sitting here too." The hare sat down and sighed. "You've been holding the front for what... 3 days now? You should rest."

"You know damn well I'm not gonna rest. Not with how much has been going on. I know how you get when you engage with the outside world, Chrome, I know well that you have a bad habit of getting too attached." Finn rubbed at his right thumb with his left. "If I can handle frontrunning for this long, you deserve a break."

Peaches chuckled and gripped the jackal's left hand, holding it with his right. "At the very least, can I be up here with you? I'm bored of background tasks and you've never failed to make me feel not lonely."

Zero blushed and swallowed hard, trying to cover his embarrassment. "I... suppose I'm getting lonely, too. Very well." He held Peaches' hand tightly.

Peaches smiled before he spied a curious color perched in Finn's thick, tangled hair. "Is that... the hairtie I gave you? All the way back in July?"

Zero smiled. "Yeah, it is. It's strange isn't it, how that sort of thing works? You come to this world filled with hate and spite, so you build stone walls to protect yourself. Then, without any regard for privacy, the ivy of contentment grows all over those walls and invades, and that cold interior blooms into a bush."

"Ivy isn't a bush plant, sweetie," Peaches said flatly.

"The point is... I've been here for 10 months. I've been at Mayhem House for 10 months. It's been that long since I met you. And in that time, I went from trying to drown Shadow in the summoning pool to trusting him to detain me if I get out of hand. In that time, I've gone from cold and nihilistic to loyal and appreciative of this changing world and enjoying camping outside. And in that time, I've gone from fearing attachment to falling in love with..."

Peaches smiled, rubbing his thumb on the back of Zero's hand. "I'm proud of you, Finn, you know that? You aren't the Infinite I knew when you arrived."

Zero nodded. "I think that if I could go back and tell myself about what I've learned, perhaps I wouldn't have--"

"Shhh," Peaches said. "Don't concern yourself with "could have" and "would have". And please loosen your grip a bit- you're getting tense."