You left Chava alone that morning, and sure enough when you returned home he was gone. At least he'd cleaned up his mess, you decided silently.
The next two days passed by without issue, you went about daily life happily. This familiarity of routine was something you were eternally grateful for.
Then it happened. One day you walked into work and everybody was abuzz.
"(Y/n)! There you are!" Tulip gasped. "Thank goodness! Come with me!"
She grabbed your arm and pulled you along with her. You were in too much of a daze to disagree.
You arrived at the conference room with a lot of people inside. Easily the whole department. In that moment it clicked. The boss was here— somewhere.
Tulip sat you down next to her and Yun, who yawned as she fixed his hair. Your gaze drifted across the room, barely able to pick up on the worried whispers from your coworkers.
The door slammed open, and you flinched in surprise. Immediately your gaze fell upon those pink eyes... Eye. The other was covered with an eyepatch. There stood before you was a person dressed to the nines.
Their mouse brown hair looked so soft and fluffy, and the freckles strewn across their cheeks gave them a soft look... Their expression? Not so much. That eyepatch and those piercings didn't do much for their case either.
"Good morning." The person sighed as they walked into the room, shrugging off their suit jacket.
"Good morning!" The staff around you replied, and you stuttered something akin.
They plopped down on a swivel chair at the head of the table, and rested their cheek on the back of their hand. "Start the meeting." They demanded, and so that was exactly what happened.
All the while they looked so... So something. You were staring, and before you realized it, they were staring back. They rose a brow and gestured for you to pay attention.
Your face turned red as you looked down at your lap hastily.
Just barely, you could hear a muffled chuckle.
The embarrassment didn't seem to die there. Everybody began to leave the meeting room, but you...
"Hey," Ichó's voice called, "you there," they rose a finger and pointed. Your eyes widened. "C'mere."
So you did, and everybody else rushed out. "Yes?" You mumbled, keeping your gaze fixated on the ground like it was the most fascinating thing.
They tilted their head. "... What's your name?"
"(Y/n)."
"Good name." They yawned. "And what do you do here?"
"Oh, you know, paperwork... Project management, sometimes..."
"How boring."
You agreed. But the monotony was nice in its own right.
"You must be new." Ichó commented idly, their gaze piercing through your very being. "You were staring at me. Nobody stares at me. Why?"
"You looked sad." You said breathily. And before that moment, even you hadn't quite realized what drew you in.
"Sad," they scoffed, "I looked sad?" Ichó stood up, angling themself to stare directly into your eyes. Then they backed off, brushing past you while grumbling to themself.
And you watched them go.
And you felt sad.