None of Crona's friends understood why they chose to stay in the same room they'd been imprisoned in. "You're a student, you're entitled to stay in the dorms," Maka had told them. "You don't have to stay in such a depressing place."
Crona knew that, but they hated to intrude. The DWMA had already done so much for them, and asking for more just felt greedy. Besides, it was still someplace familiar, even if it didn't quite feel safe anymore. After everything that had happened, familiar was more than enough.
They had trouble articulating that, though, so the questions continued. Kid had recently gone so far as to invite them to stay at Gallows Manor. "This way you wouldn't feel like you were relying on the academy's resources, and I can assure you that you wouldn't be intruding," he'd said. "I don't want to pressure you into anything, but you shouldn't feel obligated to isolate yourself."
Crona had sort of laughed it off at the time, but they were still thinking about it as they went home. They knew Kid had a lot of empty rooms at the mansion, so it probably wouldn't be too much trouble. And it would be nice to be closer to their friends.
On the other hand, while they'd been to the mansion a few times it wasn't exactly familiar yet. Was it really worth giving that up for the sake of convenience? What about when they didn't want to interact with anybody?
But it would be a place Medusa hadn't tainted for them. It was hard for them to even imagine, and they were seriously considering moving just to find out.
In the end, they did what they always did when they had to make a hard decision: they asked Ragnarok. He was almost never helpful, but it seemed only polite, especially for decisions that would affect him too.
They posed the question as soon as they were back in the room. Ragnarok hadn't bothered to pay attention for most of their visit, on the grounds that Kid was boring and not worth it, but now that the were alone he'd probably be listening. "How would you feel about moving in with Kid and Liz and Patty? I know Kid isn't your favorite person, but you like Patty, right?"
Sure enough, Ragnarok appeared immediately. "She's better than most of your annoying friends, even if she asks stupid questions half the time. But Kid's even more stupid than the rest of you idiots if he thinks you're isolated! Did he really manage to forget about me?" His grin became a leer. "Maybe we should remind him."
Crona ignored the suggestion with practiced ease, instead focusing on placating Ragnarok. "I'm sure he just wasn't thinking, Ragnarok. I don't think anyone could forget about you."
"Then explain your idiot friends!" He crossed his arms. "Whenever I try to join your conversations, they're always, 'oh, Ragnarok, we were just trying to talk to stupid Crona, what are you doing here?' If I have to listen to your boring conversations, they could at least try to include me some of the time."
Crona's eyes widened. Their first thought was that Ragnarok was jealous, but that sounded really out of character for him. He was probably just complaining like usual. Still, they scrambled to do damage control, just in case. "I'm sorry, is there something I need to do?"
Ragnarok sighed. "Calm down; I can feel your heart racing and it's annoying. Besides, it's not your fault your friends are idiots. I mean, who else would choose to spend time with you?"
Well. That was suspiciously nice, at least as far as Ragnarok was concerned. Really, when they thought about it, he seemed a lot less angry lately. Sure, he still insulted them constantly, but otherwise it was almost like he was trying to be helpful?
They shoved that thought to the back of their mind. It was just weird, and besides, they weren't about to question a reprieve that could end at any moment. "Ummm," they said. "Does that mean you're okay with us moving in with them?"
"Yeah, whatever. A mansion that big is bound to have a good kitchen, right?"
And Ragnarok sounding that muted was just wrong. Crona knew what they were about to do had a high chance of backfiring, but at least that would make Ragnarok more himself. They took a deep breath. "Ragnarok? … Thank you."
"Wha? Why are you getting mushy all of a sudden? It's gross, save it for your dumb friends." He sounded genuinely confused, but at least he was being obnoxious about it.
He vanished before Crona could say anything else, which was probably for the best. They had no idea what they would have said next anyway. Still, they had Ragnarok's reluctant blessing, and they were going to make the most of it. It would be nice to have a room they could decorate and claim as their own, even if it was in someone else's house.
More importantly, they were going to start making more of an effort to include Ragnarok. It would be weird, and he would almost certainly complain, but he complained about everything. Crona knew that if he was actually unhappy, he would make it apparent.
The idea that Ragnarok was trying to consider their feelings was bizarre, but it seemed to be true, and they appreciated it more than they could say. The least they could do was return the favor.