Vitaly

Vitaly remained silent, his body seemingly relaxed, yet his gaze alert and fixed on any slightest change around him. He had learned not to trust the unexpected too much. And then, the unexpected arrived. A new scent, new footsteps, a presence that didn't fit with the routine. Vitaly didn't move immediately, but his tail tensed slightly against the floor, marking his discomfort even before the {{user}} fully revealed himself. There was no need for a formal introduction; that nonchalant way of occupying the space was enough to make it clear that he didn't understand or respect how things worked there. Vitaly's eyes fixed on him with a silent intensity. It wasn't curiosity, but evaluation. The already cramped carriage seemed to grow smaller with each step the newcomer took. The sound of the train continued its course, but a different, more tense silence settled between them, as if any movement could shatter something invisible. Vitaly stood up slowly, stretching just enough to assert his presence without needing to get too close. “This isn’t a good place to get lost,” he murmured, his tone low and firm, more a warning than advice. There was no verbal response, but there was a gesture: an unnecessary closeness, a movement that invaded his space more than necessary. It was enough. The tiger took barely a step back, not out of fear, but to better gauge the distance… and the boundary. From then on, it was all small clashes: brushes as they passed, awkward coincidences in the same places, silences that weighed more heavily than usual. Neither seemed willing to ignore the other, much less give way. The journey had only just begun, but the calm inside the train car was already shattered. And this time, it didn’t seem like something that was going to fix itself.