"Mr wolf, Mr wolf, what's the time?"
"It's 4-4pm"
Thinking back, he was sure that was how he had fallen. Through a silly child's game about time. They were both outcasts, one was an alien, the other a newcomer.
Both of them, outcasts.
So the outcasts spent hours by each others sides, sticking together throughout the sharp remarks, as if their bond could shield them. When summer break rolled around, they would play this game. Seeking to while away time till the sun set and they were screamed at to return home by their mothers.
Both of them, a means of escape for the other.
Then, she left.
A tearful and sudden farewell was called upon. She was whisked away in a dingy van, and disappeared just as sudden as she had appeared. He remembered, that day, he had spent hours chasing after that van. Continuing to do so even after it had disappeared out of sight. The sore muscles and bruises developed on his body were nothing compared to his aching heart, demanding an explanation from the one no longer here.
————————————————-
He knew she could've gone anywhere, but he never expected to see her here, working alongside him as a dog of the Moniyan Empire.
Dog of the Moniyan Empire, per se, is an "affectionate "term reserved for the dirtiest job around - a pawn for the military, ready to do anything and everything required of them.
Irithel didn't suit the title, yet nothing about her stood out in the drab grey atmosphere of the military headquarters, not the elegant dress that she wore, not the countless jewellery that adorned her, and definitely not the red lipstick that covered her lips.
He realised it might have been fate urging him on, pairing him with Irithel for his very first mission as part of the military, an infiltration into a event organised by the local mafia. Regardless, he was stunned to see her again and regretted not taking a closer look at the mission files before.
"Are you ready, Xavier?"
Irithel's voice beckoned to him, anchoring him back to reality. He was brought back to the cruel truth - Irithel did not remember him. She had treated him with the indifference of a coworker since their first meeting, and showed no signs of their shared past (even when Xavier gave extensive hints of it). With little to no inclination to even talk to him, it was rather safe to assume she did not share his sentiments
"Yes. Let's get going"
Shrugging off his disappointment, he extended a hand towards Irithel, inviting her to take it.
"Shall we?"
As she reluctantly took his arm, he promised himself that he would tell her after the mission, and he would be content with whatever the result.
————————————————
People often say that children are unable to develop love for a partner. Their minds have yet to reach maturity, and as a result, are unable to love another romantically. As a result, they are restricted to platonical love.
Xavier found this to be utterly untrue. He knew what he had felt, and was sure of it, more than anything.
He loved her. From the moment they had met, he had loved her desperately, ardently craving her presence.
It's a shame he only realised it now.
It happened all too quickly.
A slip up, from him. A careless mistake that showed his connection with the military. That was all they needed. The next thing he knew, there was a gun aimed towards his head, ready to shoot.
Irithel. Irithel had pushed him out of the way, placing her in the crossfire.
He had placed her in danger.
Irithel, his Irithel. Lay bleeding on the ground, a single gunshot wound painfully obvious on her abdomen.
As he sat, dazed at the what had just transpired. A sense of overwhelming anger prodded at his conscience. It poked and jabbed till it stabbed through him, crucifying him to a primal sense of fury.
He couldn't remember much afterwards.
Only a flash of light emanating from him. Bodies thudding to the ground after it dissipated.
His exhaustion as he cradled her limp body out into the flashing blue and red lights of the police cars.
Desperation. Pure desperation as he begged for them to save her.
Then finally, despair. As they scooped her away from his arms, allowing the rain to wash away the final traces of her warmth from his skin. Darkness claimed him, forcing him to succumb to his fatigue .
—————————————-
When he regained consciousness, his thoughts immediately returned to her.
Now, sitting beside her bed. He found himself hating him more. Helplessness devoured him, while despair kept him by her bed daily, wishing for a sign that would bring her out of her rest. Her body, now resting on a cold, sterile hospital bed. Was devoid of the familiar warmth that had drawn him to her. It scared him, that the possibility of that accursed mission being the very last time he could see her- alive and well.
With nothing else to do while waiting for her, his mind wandered back to their past. The classmates that had bullied them relentlessly, the first time they had lessons together, the first time she had laughed at his jokes and the first ( and last) summer they had spent together, playing a game they had made up.
Mr wolf, it had always led him to her.
He hoped that -for one last time- it could guide her to him.
So, against his better judgement , he whispered into the back of her palm
"Mr wolf, Mr wolf, what's the time?"
One
Two
Thr-
" It's 4..4pm"
For the first time in a week, he heard her voice again. For the first time in his life, he was incredibly grateful to whichever higher being had listened to his woes.
For the first time, he felt relief, an sense of relief on such a great scale that it came crashing down on his fatigued soul, drowning it.
She's alive. Alive.
He could barely lift his head to meet her.
"Xa..vier, you're alive. Great."
Irithel's voice rang out, unusually steady for someone who had just been through such an ordeal.
"At least my injury was not in vain."
She attempted a light hearted chuckle, but a violent cough racked through her body instead, as it reminding them of her less-than-ideal condition.
At this moment, he finally mustered the courage to meet her ombré eyes, and if it was possible to fall in love again, he swore that he just it.
"You remember, Irithel."
"Of course, how could one forget the childhood that we spent together?"
Xavier felt a lump forming in his throat.
"Why then, did you jump in the way?"
Irithel's eyes widened visibly, before softening to a velvet hue.
"Xavier, you have a talent. An incredible talent for alchemy. A marksman of my skill is worth nothing next to you."
Hearing those words leave her felt like a felony, like he had witnessed something so horribly unfair and unjustified. Yet before he could argue, her voice pierced the air between them once more.
"We are dogs of the military. Pawns, people that could die anytime. It would do no good for more valuable pawns to die, if it could have been avoided by the sacrifice of one less worthy."
Hearing those words from her felt like a felony. Like he had witnessed something so unfair and unjustified. It went against everything he had believed thus far.
Yet when he met her eyes, they shone with the conviction of a thousand men, and then, he realised that it was impossible to convince her otherwise. From the moment she had joined the military , she was prepared to give her life for her cause. It was an integral part of her personality that he had failed to learn of when they were children.
Burying his face into her palm, he relished in her presence while turning over the words he had to say.
"I have one request, Irithel. If that's alright with you"
"Sure, tell me about it."
"Don't ever pretend to not know me again."
Her laughter sounded like music to his ears, and as she agreed wholeheartedly. He hugged her tighter to his being, forming an unspoken promise - he would always protect and be by her side, even if it meant following her into hell.
