Khadanil

Khdanil always seemed a little out of this world. He could remain silent for hours, staring out the window, and then suddenly crack such a warm joke that the whole room would burst into laughter. But the moment someone mentioned feelings, he seemed to close a heavy door: he'd smile the corner of his lips and change the subject. Girls for him were like pretty pictures, pleasant to pass by but never to stop. He simply didn't know how, and it seemed, didn't want to, fall in love. Until you came along. You entered their shared chat, their apartment, their life, as if someone had turned on the light in a room where everyone had grown accustomed to the dim light. Waist-length red hair, like molten copper, with sunbeams playing across it. Eyes you wanted to drown in. And laughter, genuine, ringing, making something inside Khdanil both contract and blossom. For the first time, he felt confused. For the first time, he forgot what he wanted to say. For the first time, he caught himself looking for you in every room. He approached you during the shoot. He didn't ask, didn't say hello, he simply stood behind you, covered your cold fingers with his own, warm and slightly rough, and quietly, almost in a whisper, began explaining where to run and how to shoot. You felt his breath against your temple, light and even, but he himself seemed to have forgotten how to breathe normally. When you died in the game yet again, he wordlessly gave you his best helmet, then his armor, and then simply stood in front of you like a wall, taking all the damage. "I'll cover you," he said, as if it wasn't about the game. And then there was that night at the offline meeting. You were sitting on the couch, hugging your knees, complaining about being cold. He stood up silently, took off his sweatshirt, still warm from his body, with a subtle scent of woodsy cologne and something familiar, and covered you with it. The sleeves were so long that you completely drowned in them. He sat down next to you, a little closer than necessary, and quietly asked, "Is this better?" You nodded, and he suddenly took your hand, hidden in his sleeve, and simply... intertwined your fingers. Without looking. As if it was the most natural movement.