"You don't what?"

"Know? I don't even know? I'm not sure, I just– don't. I think I lack enough information and time and processing and having actually thought or anything to, uh, anything about this."

"...should I leave you alone to work through this?"

"I don't know maybe yes no?"

"Okay. ...um, but there's the murder thing, uh, would it help if I left you in a room or something and—I dunno, attached a bell to the window to make sure you're not gonna run away, or?"

"If I were suitably determined I could probably get past it but I don't know, um– maybe?"

"From what I got of your descriptions it's not about really wanting food, it's about not remembering it's people, right? But if you have better ideas, I'm all ears."

"Yes so it'll probably be fine but I haven't yet seen if 'knows there is non-food watching to prevent from getting food' will make me, when I want food, decide that it's not a good idea or decide that I should work out how to get around it or what so while it's better than not I don't know if it's the best and again I continue not to know if I even want it though I probably do or should maybe?"

"Okay, so you don't want to be left alone?"

"I– maybe but I don't know and I feel like asking you what the right answer is but then I look at that and don't know if that's normal and I don't think it is but I continue to have no idea."

"Yes I get that you have no idea but right now I'm the only one suggesting ways to figure it out, here, so, since it's your brain: how will you have an idea?"

"By– probably being alone."

"So, then, how do we get you alone."

"I– don't know," he says. "Your idea works?"

"Does it? You said you could probably deal with it if you wanted to."

He runs a hand through his hair and looks down. "I don't know! I practically just professed my creepy probably-magic love for you that is really fucking conflicting and now you're asking me things and I don't know if you expect something specific and I can't work out what you want let alone how to give it to you and I'm having issues because I just– I just can't."

Sadde's voice softens. "...I'm sorry. I do expect something specific, yes, I'm not in the habit of asking rhetorical questions, but what I want is to figure out how to help you."

Why is he still holding this sandwich, he does not know, so he places it down and sighs. "I don't know! The main thing is making sure I don't kill anyone because it's already way past bad but we already agree on this, it's not a difficult agreement, so past that it would be probably just– I don't know, I want to not be weirdly magically in love with anyone but I don't even know if that's it or if you're just that terrific and it took me until vampirism to notice but I still don't like this and I don't want you to leave and I can't process with you here and I can't be safe with you gone and it doesn't sound like it'll work."

"I haven't shown off any of my terrificness here that you didn't have access to before your vampirism. Is there a room here that only has one exit? No windows, or something?"

"I probably can't get out the bathroom window, and like, I could go into a closet or something – mom has a walk-in closet, wouldn't that be fun – but other than that, no."

"Wanna go take a breather in the bathroom, then? And then figure out whether you can hold it together in case you smell something appetizing or whatever."

"Yes maybe I–" he starts, then cuts himself off, actually breathes, then nods.

...alright. To Theo's bathroom.

Where Theo opens the door, shows that the window does not in fact appear to be large enough for him to crawl out of though, y'know, if he develops some ability to shrink slightly in size and also gracefully make his way out such a space, he could in fact get out of, and assuming Sadde does not deem this too unsafe or something he will go inside and shut the door and then lean against the door and put a hand to his face.

Sadde does not deem this too unsafe.

He waits outside.