When I woke up, Mari was making me breakfast, and delicious smells wafted from the cooker outside. Momentarily forgetting the weight of Axel's death, I walked over to him. "Hey, sleepy," he greeted me, smiling, as he stirred something on the small portable stove. I smiled back as I sat beside him on the log we used as a seat for most of our meals. He put an arm around me and kissed my head, nuzzling his face playfully into my hair. I gave a small laugh.
"You're in a great mood," I commented.
"Well, you're a great influence~" He replied, smelling the soup.
I just rolled my eyes. He seemed to decide that the soup was done, and carefully poured it out into two bowls.
"You don't have to eat, you know." I said, waiting for it to cool down. It smelled delicious.
"I know. But I like to do things with you, even if I don't need to."
"Always about me, when you're the sweet one..." I mumbled, feeling my face heat up a little bit.
"Aw, thank you." He smirked, having heard me clearly.
I ate some of the soup, contentedly sitting beside Mari in a comfortable silence. But something was nagging at me- I couldn't remember what it was. I concentrated as I ate, lost in thought. Then I remembered. Axel. Dead.
Suddenly I didn't feel hungry. I felt sick to my stomach, and I set down the bowl. It didn't seem possible that someone I had laughed and joked with was gone, so suddenly, so abruptly. It didn't seem fair.
Mari noticed my mood change, and accurately guessing the cause, set down his bowl as well. He reached over and put an arm around me. I didn't say anything, and just rested my head on his shoulder, sighing inwardly and closing my eyes.
...
Mari rubbed your back. He felt nothing like you did at the moment, but wanted to comfort you all the same. Next to him, a small radio played the news station.
"...And there was a fire last night, at the afton robotics distribution center. They suspect someone started it on purpose, but no one has any definite proof, and the manager of the store says-" he turned the radio off.
He knew you would have no way of connecting the fire to him. But just to be safe. Safety, the whole point of all of this. No one was going to come anywhere near you, ever again.
He stroked your hair, and kissed the side of your head.
...
Over the next two weeks, more and more places burned down. There was talk of shutting down the whole company, as people weren't coming to the diners anymore for fear of getting caught in the arson.
But burning buildings wasn't enough.
He had made someone was angry. Very angry. Angry people were dangerous, and dangerous meant threats.
And Mari needed to eliminate threats.