There was something familiar about the figure in tears sitting at the end of the hall; you just couldn't put your finger on it. You glance around the empty corridor. There was the faint hum of voices coming from behind the thick doors of the conference room but there was still time before the summit would start. Perhaps things would devolve into chaos before it even started and you would have an excuse to leave. As much as you were worried about the fate of your kind, you felt in your heart that no sort of peace was going to be reached soon.
A sigh rises in your chest. You turn your attention back to the pale man with cat ears before you. Something about seeing him like that didn't sit right with you. In fact you hated it, and the feeling went beyond idle pity. Vague snippets flasged through your mind and were gone before you could fully process them.
He was smaller back then.
You feel your brow furrow.
Back when?
The figure picks up his phone up angrily types off a series of texts, pausing now and then to dry his eyes. A frustrated growl escapes him and he tosses his phone aside, burying his face in his upraised knees.
You couldn't just leave him like that. You refused to.
His ears twitched as you crouched in front of him but he didn't truly acknowledge your presence until your rested your hand on top of his head. He tenses a moment as you burt your fingers in his soft hair. Or maybe it was more akin to fur. You couldn't quite tell. A pair of eyes, one a deep gold, the other bright blue, stabs into you. The malice felt forced, but nontheless you withdraw your hand and flash him an innocent smile. "Forgive me, I couldn't seem to help myself."
The man huffs. He flattens his ears in time with his tail idly thumping against the wall. His eyes were a little red but at least he had stopped crying for the time being. "Well if that's all you came over here for you can leave now."
You hum thoughtfully. Despite him being so short with you he wouldn't look you in the eye. You wondered if he felt that same connection you had... If it could even be called that. Or you could very well have just been imagining things. "Well actually, it didn't feel right leaving you here to cry by yourself, but I did not think you would appreciate me being so forward."
A low growl sound in his chest. His tail thumps harder against the wall. It seems his sadness had shifted into indignance. "I wasn't crying!"
Liar. You always were rather sensitive.
"Ah, I must have been mistaken then." You find yourself struggling not to laugh as you stand and raise your hands in mock surrender. He reminded you more of a spoiled child rather than a grown man. In a way it was rather cute. "Forgive me, I did not mean to start off on the wrong foot." You move your cloak out of the way and bow. "I am Nazeem, I've come on behalf of the mages guild."
Recognition sparks in his eyes. You offer your hand to help him to your feet. He reluctantly takes it, his ears flattening slightly again. He averts his gaze and folds his arms over his chest. "I am Shiro, no relation. Well, no known relation."
Shiro takes a deep breath and steadies himself, his demeabor visibly shifting before you eyes. Although he still averted his gaze. You couldn't say you blamed him. Perhaps what he held in his heart were more than vague inclinations.
The smell of ink and rustling paper. Shiro had been lingering at your side all morning but he wouldn't tell you why.
"I must confess, I've seen a few of your interviews on the news. You seem very well spoken, whoever your people happen to be, they are quite lucky to have you."
Shiro's brow furrows as he pouts, the tips of his slender tail twitching again. He steals a glance at you and tenses when you lock eyes, color rising to his pale cheeks.
You wanted to pet him again, but resisted the urge. Did he think you were being insincere? The silence between you was only growing and you didn't know how to reproach him as badly as you wanted to. Had talking to him always been this hard? You didn't think so. He seemed very earnest, despite the brave front he put on. "As such, I don't think you should waste those imaginary tears on someone who doesn't feel the same. I am certain you can do better."
"I really can't" Shiro shakes his head with a defeated sigh. He lightly digs his nails into his arms, enveloped in another time. "I lost my soulmate a very, very long time ago."
Your blood on his hands and face. He could get through it. He begged you to stay. Begged his friend to save you.
A phantom pain radiated through your chest. The desire to reassure him burned within you again. You really did hate seeing him like this... Even if you had been responsible for it in one way or another.
You rest your hand on his head again. This time Shiro doesn't try to shake you off. "I would not sound so certain. The thing about things that are lost, is that they can always be found again."
A pained look crosses his face ad you rub your thumb along the back of his ear. His sorrow quickly turns to anger as he smacks your hand away. "Do not speak down to me! Some things can never be reclaimed no matter how hard you look."
Tears brimmed in his eyes again. No. You didn't want him to cry anymore. Especially not over you. "Can you forgive me?"
You weren't entirely sure what you wanted forgiveness for. For leaving him? For thinking he would be capable of standing on his own after you had spent so much time sheltering him? For upsetting him when you had set out time be his comfort? You hated the clash going on within you. Everything was there just within arms reach, you knew it! You just couldn't get there and it was maddening. Was he really all that was missing? Or would there be some other hidden piece to the puzzle?
You prayed there wasn't.
Shirt huffs. "What for? Just stop touching me. I hate it."
"Liar."
The word had come out without you realizing, but it was a lie.
Aren't you a little old for this? You'd ask him that every time but that would never stop him from curling up in your lap and demading your attention. You brushing his hair. The smell of woodsmoke nearly masking that of the orange oil he used.
"Ugh, just stop it. Stop acting like him! You aren't..." Another pained look crosses his face. He wipes his face on his sleeve and bends over to pick up his discarded ohone. "Forget it. This never happened. Do not speak to me."
"Forgetting is the problem. Who was I to you? I don't understand."
"Does it matter? Do you really wish to tread in someone else's shadow?" He stares intently at his blackened phone screen. You weren't sure you entirely followed.
"How would I be in someone elses shadow, if that person is myself?"
"But you aren't. You may look and talk and smell like him, but you aren't my master. Not really. Not if you've forgotten everything."
He means forgotten him.
You stoop forward, placing your hands on his shoulders despite him having told you not to. At this point you really couldn't help yourself. Your initially apprehension had evaporated. Touching him felt right. "But I haven't, not entirely. Lets say we aren't one in the same, and these... feelings I get are nothing more than that, is wanting to make you happy not enough?"
Shiro stares blankly at you for a long moment. He searches your face for an answer but ultimately doesnt find one. He steps around you with a sigh. "I'm tired of this. If the humans don't throw us in cages perhaps we can pick this up another time."
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