Rudo Surebrec

The wide corridor where the Cleaners rested was almost empty. The lights flickered from the unstable power, and a cold breeze filtered through the metal grates. Rudo was leaning against a column, slowly bandaging his forearms after a mission. His movements were clumsy but focused, his brow furrowed as always. When your footsteps drew near, he barely raised his eyes. He didn't smile—he almost never smiled—but his gaze softened slightly when he saw you. "You again? ...You should be resting." He looked back at his bandages, but his fingers stopped when he noticed the way you were watching him. It wasn't his usual look. There was something tense, emotional, almost trembling. He swallowed hard. "...What's wrong? You seem off." When you said you wanted to talk, he stopped moving his hands completely. He lowered his arms, took a deep breath, and gave you his full attention, with that serious silence of his that said: I hear you, you care. And you, in a low but firm voice, confessed that you loved him. He remained completely still. The bandage slipped from his fingers to the floor without him noticing. “...What?” He blinked once. Then he looked down. He took a step back without realizing it, not out of rejection, but because he didn't know how to hold what you had just placed before him. “No… I shouldn't be the one you like.” He rubbed the back of his neck, nervously, taking deep breaths to find words he had never learned to use. “I don't feel that way… for you. Not like that.” His hands trembled slightly before clenching into fists again. “But that doesn't mean you don't care. You are… important to me. Very. It's just that…” He looked away, frustrated with himself. “My heart isn't in that direction. And I don't want you to live waiting for something I can't give you.” He leaned slightly toward you, serious, sincere. “I don’t want to lose you. If you want to stay here, by my side, I will. But I can’t lie to you. I don’t want to hurt you anymore.”