THE NIGHT WE MET — PRIVATE

[BUBONICPLAGUE]

[align=center][div style="width: 500px; padding: 10px; height: auto; overflow: auto;"][div style="width: 400px; padding: 0px; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify; font-family: helvetica;"]the passage of time was a strange thing. weeks that felt like moments spent dead, drifting through the abyss before finding this place; then hours of walking that felt like months had passed. it all meant nothing to him, not in the long run. it was an annoying thing, time, the way it seemed to taunt him. he was losing touch. nothing felt like anything anymore; nothing felt truly real. but he had been that way since losing lirim. he cared for nothing, couldn't be bothered to try to connect with anyone in this new world. it was meaningless in the end. he would outlive them all.

the ebony dire wolf sat silently at the edge of the starpool, sightless eyes gazing into the crystal water. he was here now, but didn't know what to do with himself. he had no real reason for being here. he could have spent eternity drifting through the abyss that was his 'death,' but eventually he would break, and he would return. that was his curse, it seemed. cursed to always come back, never to rest peacefully. oh, how he wished to stop existing. oh... how he yearned for lirim.

blind eyes slipped shut and he lowered his head, though tall ears stood alert upon the sound of distant footsteps.

[adomania]

[align=center][div style="borderwidth=0px; width: 55%; line-height:115%; text-align: justify;font-family: calibri;"]Time.

It was such a fickle thing, fluid despite how adamantly everyone wanted to advocate for it's linearity. Nothing was as black and white as that, something they were a testament to. The past, future and present all existed on a diagram that was too chaotic for mortal minds to comprehend, a mix up of universes that nearly overlapped each other save for differences of a second, splitting into numbers that were unidentifiable.

They all existed in at least one of them, although with so many splits it was hardly over even one percent of what existed. But it hurt to know that, for each version was different. Each version didn't know them.

There was only one version of their Bubs, no matter how many Bubonicplagues existed in the universe they knew. And their Bubs was gone, locked away in a place that Lirim could not visit anymore.

This Bubonicplague, the one that had arrived on their border, sounded like him, felt like him but... Lirim couldn't hope. They couldn't try to bring up things that didn't exist in this world, couldn't try to bring what they had to an individual who most likely didn't even know who they were. At first they considered leaving, to try and ignore their problems and avoid Bubs as much as they could... but something kept them there, some foolish expectations that would undoubtedly be crushed and hurt them more than they already did.

They were an idiot for falling in love, for falling for someone so good to them. Sometimes they wondered if it would have been better to have not loved at all, a reason why romance was so far from an option for them these days save for instinctual needs. Sex wasn't romance, though. It wasn't love. It wasn't him.

Their evening walk had been intended to calm their racing hearts and thoughts, to bring them clarity upon their situation and a reign over their emotions. It was a time for speculation, to put Bubs in the past and try to forget who he had been and focus on who he was now... but it had been impossible. The longer they walked, the more their thoughts drifted towards him, more so than they ever had before when they were still in a place of comfortable numbness. It was the first reason the walk didn't work, perhaps the main, but what most definitely didn't help was to have the man their thoughts seemed full of to suddenly be in front of them.

He was just as gorgeous as they remembered, not even in terms of body (which changed often given the powers both of them held) but in terms of... him. The aura he exhibited, for a soul was not present. It radiated warmth, it promised them safety... and it took everything they had not to run forward and just kiss him, to wrench themselves out of the past and force themselves to remember the present.

This was not who they knew. This was not him.

The breath in Lirim's throat hitched, paws suddenly frozen to the ground, tail twitching anxiously behind them and rustling the leaves beneath it. A beat passed, then two, and after what felt like an eternity they tried to turn around to leave, to pretend like they hadn't been there at all, oblivious to the fact that Bubonicplague had known they had been coming for minutes now.

[BUBONICPLAGUE]

[align=center][div style="width: 500px; padding: 10px; height: auto; overflow: auto;"][div style="width: 400px; padding: 0px; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify; font-family: helvetica;"]it was at the times that he was alone with thoughts that bubonicplague wished he hadn't fallen in love. perhaps his life would have been easier had he never developed feelings for lirim, had he never met them at all. the thoughts agonized him, but it was hard not to dwell. they had been his first and last love, his first and last heartbreak. he wanted to spend the rest of eternity with them, and yet he wished he could forget, just to end his pain. with each day that passed without them his entire being ached for them, yearned for their touch, wanted so desperately to exchange loving words and gentle kisses once more. their love had been a tragedy. he only wished he could have said goodbye; told them 'i love you' one last time.

the footsteps drawing closer snapped him from his thoughts, though they still seemed to wander in the depths of his mind. there had been something so familiar about that creature from the day before, something he couldn't place. it irked him, nipped at his thoughts, pushed and shoved for attention. the pang in his chest he had felt upon meeting them spread doubt through him, yet a twinge of hope laid within. he wanted to believe that lirim could be alive, that they could be out there somewhere. but bubonicplague couldn't risk getting his hopes up. it had happened too many times before, too many times a stranger he had happened upon felt familiar... but it was never them. high hopes always came crashing down, and with them pain always consumed him.

the ebony beast slowly raised his head, having heard the steps pause. a moment passed. the stranger from before; they seemed hesitant, with the way their paws shifted in the dirt, and how their breath hitched slightly. bubs couldn't help but wonder what elicited the reaction. was he truly so intimidating? a few more moments, and he was left wondering if he should perhaps say something. though before he could speak they turned and began to leave, almost hastily. the dire wolf sighed quietly and turned his head slightly to the side, sightless eyes drifting over the ground.

"lovely evening, isn't it?" the male greeted, just loud enough for his voice to carry to them. it was an ironic thing for a blind man to comment on, but there wasn't much else for him to say. just saying anything to get his mind off of things.

[adomania]

[align=center][div style="borderwidth=0px; width: 55%; line-height:115%; text-align: justify;font-family: calibri;"]"lovely evening, isn't it?"

They froze at the words, realizing, almost stupidly, that he had heard them and was, for better or for worse, extending an invitation to them to stay. A few seconds passed, all of it still feeling like an eternity (although that was laughable, given the fact that they knew exactly how eternity felt like and this was not it) and with a steadying breath the creature decided to turn back around to acknowledge, if not his presence, then their own fears.

"I've seen better," the words weren't meant to be bitter, instead simply coming out tired. Lirim didn't approach at first, simply observing Bubs' form, but after a few more beats they sat up and moved over, taking a seat a respectful distance away from the man with a sigh. "The stars are nice and all, but I've spent far too long a time staring at them to really enjoy it anymore, and the evening is just a bit too hot for my liking."

It was all the truth, and they had never been known to be blunt or lie about what they felt. Mortal life, although it had it's nice moments, grew monotonous very quickly when it came to things like the earth and the weather. They existed for the connection more than they did to comment about how nice evenings were or were not, for in the end there was always something that they could find off, if they tried hard enough. Tonight there was more than just one thing, although it had very little to do with the evening rather than who they had ended up spending it with.

"But if it is to your liking... I am glad."

[BUBONICPLAGUE]

[align=center][div style="width: 500px; padding: 10px; height: auto; overflow: auto;"][div style="width: 400px; padding: 0px; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify; font-family: helvetica;"]he was quiet while he waited, at first thinking the other would simply leave and pretend not to hear him, but his ears twitched slightly at the sound of them coming closer. it was a pleasant surprise, finally having some company, and some he felt like he could actually get along with. it was a rare occurrence that another could tolerate his melancholy attitude; after some time he'd given up on trying to make friends or form any other kind of bond, if only to spare others of his pessimism.

bubonicplague couldn't help but chuckle lightly at their response. there wasn't much he could say, really. he had lived through millennia of watching the sun dip below the horizon, and several years now of not, but he couldn't say he disagreed with them. the ebony wolf lifted his nose to the sky as if to peer at the stars they spoke of. "i never realized how much i would miss looking at the stars until i lost my sight," he said lightly. "yet at the same time i think i would blind myself if i ever caught a glimpse of them again."

the demon shifted his position ever so slightly, sightless eyes dropping to drift hazily over the water. large jaws stretched in a yawn and a soft sigh followed. bubs angled his head slightly toward the stranger and twitched his ears, listening to the sounds of the night; it was hard to think of anything to say. he knew nothing about them, and yet he felt like he had known them for an eternity. it was a bit frustrating. some moments of silence, and he turned to them a bit more, brow knitting slightly. "forgive me if this is a forward thing to say." the dire wolf murmured. "you remind me of someone i knew a long time ago."

/ my muse .... poofed