A/N- Well, as you can tell it's been a while since I have posted anything (almost a year) and I've decided to get back into it. Although I, along with many others I'm guessing, have noticed that since the series has ended not a lot of stories/fanfictions have been updated. Even with that, I still am going to continue to write and as often as I can for practice and for the few who are still here. So, thank you to those who continue to read and review. It means a lot and please take a look at the others who post and write about Spirit Animals as well.
Tears- Coneke
Abeke was getting frustrated. It had been hours since she had told Conor that it was time to stop working and come to bed.
When she had entered his office hours earlier, he looked more tense than usual yet he continued with the paperwork that was scattered around his desk. Even when she was in his office, it was like she was invisible. He never looked up or acknowledged the fact that she had entered. After sighing and coughing to get his attention, he hummed back in response to her, his eyes never leaving the paper in front of him.
She knew that no matter what he did, she would never be able to be mad at him for very long. Conor loved his job even when it kept him in his office almost all day long. Meaning that he didn't see Rollan, Meilin, or Abeke most of the time unless they entered his office to talk to him. But there were times when it would make her sad or even a little angry. Abeke knew that when he had a lot of paperwork to go through that he never left his office unless it was to use the restroom- it always upset her when he never went down to the hall to at least grab something small to even eat. Not only that but she knew that it stressed him out when he got a lot of paperwork and it always hurt her a little to see the dark circles under his eyes.
Once she was able to get his attention, he immediately apologized to her and told her that he would be down soon. She nodded and left his office, hoping that soon would be in the next ten minutes. Although she had never told anyone it wasn't much of a secret that ever since she and Conor had started sleeping together, it was hard for her to sleep without him by her side.
When she got back into their room, she got in the bed and waited for him. In the time since Abeke had left his office, she had tried to sleep yet failed, read one of the many books that she had brought up from the library, and even played with Uraza for a while. When she had run out of things to do she sat down in their bed and watched the door, waiting for him to enter and climb into bed alongside her.
Keeping track of the time, Abeke had noticed that it would soon be dawn- Conor would have worked for the whole day. She sighed and left the comfort of the bed and began her walk towards his study. Upon reaching his door, she didn't bother to knock thinking that he wouldn't pay attention to it anyway and entered the room. Her eyes widened at what she saw- what she didn't see.
Conor wasn't at his desk.
Scanning the room her eyes landed on a figure that was on the floor, leaning back against the wall. It was Conor. His knees were pulled up to his chest while his forehead rested on top. At first Abeke thought he was asleep but looking closer she could see his body was shaking. Every so often he would take a deep breath that would make his body shake even more so than the subtle ones that she had first noticed.
"Conor?" her voice was soft as it echoed off of the walls of the silent room as she walked closer to him.
His head snapped up to face her. When his eyes landed on her, he immediately whipped his hands over his face while looking away from her. By this point, Abeke was standing in front of him.
He took a deep breath and looked up at her, a sad smile gracing his face. "Yes, love?"
Abeke didn't hear his words as she scanned his face. His eyes were slightly puffy and his cheeks were red and wet. He had been crying. Something in Abeke seemed to hurt at the sight of him. Looking into his usually bright emerald eyes, she saw something completely different. They were dull and lifeless, almost as if all of the happiness that had filled them had been sucked away.
She knelt in front of him so that they were eye level and placed her hands on the sides of his face.
"What's wrong? Why were you crying?" she asked, her voice gentle as she scanned his face.
Once the words left Abeke's lips, tears raced down his cheeks as he smiled at her and shook his head.
"Nothing, nothing is wrong," he used his own hands to hold onto her wrist and ran his thumbs along the backside of them," something just got in my eye. I'm fine."
Abeke shook her head. "Conor… that's not true and we both know it," she ran her thumb across his cheek, wiping away the tears," what is it?"
Conor took a shuddering breath and smiled as more tears raced down his face. He squeezed his eyes shut and rested his head back against the wall. He stayed like that for a moment before looking back at Abeke.
His gaze then shifted towards his desk. "It's so much- that's all. It's all just…so much. It's stressful and I-I just need a break. " his voice broke as sobs racked through his body.
Abeke watched as her usually steady and confident boyfriend broke down. She had never seen him like this and it broke her heart. He was so stressed out that he broke down because of it. She knew that his job was stressful and she had always talked to him about it yet he would shake his head and tell her that he was OK. Abeke never pressured him into telling her the truth but she knew that he had lied about it.
Thoughts raced through her head before she finally made a decision. Conor was still looking at his desk as Abeke stood up and reached down towards his hand, gently pulling them towards her. He turned his head towards her and looked up, his eyes still watering.
A small smile spread across her face, in hope that it would convince and soothe him a little, as she tugged his hands once more before he finally stood up. "Lets' go, love- to our room."
He stumbled a little but regained his balance quickly. Abeke wrapped an arm tight around his middle and grabbed his arm that was closest to her and wrapped it around her shoulders as she led him out of the room. They stumbled at first but were able to reach their room in one piece. Abeke kept her arm tight around his middle the whole time to offer support as they headed down the hall towards their room.
Once they were inside, Abeke didn't care if they made it to the bed or not. Her first concern was Conor. She immediately wrapped both her arms tightly around him, using one hand to run up and down his back while the other messed with his already messy hair. Conor stayed still for a moment before wrapping his arms around her and resting his head in the crook of her neck. Abeke moved her head to the side, resting her forehead against his temple.
She kissed his temple lightly. "It's okay love. Everything will be okay."
After a few moments, Conors' body shook as he cried into Abeke's neck. She held onto him tightly, whispering sweet nothings to him in order to calm him down and, in Abeke's mind, to help him- to make for sure that he knew that everything would be OK.
And so they held onto one another, not noticing how much time had passed or how long they had been in that position but in Abeke's mind, she didn't care. All that mattered to her was that Conor was OK and hoped that she never had to see Conor like this again.
Not Again- Reilin
In Rollans's mind, breakfast was the best meal of the day. Not only that but sometimes it was the only meal that he and his friends could share, together, now that they all had their own jobs to do around Greenhaven. Rollan always made time for the other meals but he couldn't say the same for the other three.
Conor worked all day and sometimes late into the night but always made it to breakfast even though he would sometimes fall asleep at the table. Abeke always got done either too late or too soon to make it to either lunch or dinner. The same went for Meilin. She trained new Greencloaks almost every minute of the day except in the morning. She specifically took time off so that she could make it with the others. Meilin would always tell him it was because she couldn't function without breakfast but Rollan and the others knew that, that wasn't true. Just like them, she knew that the mornings were sometimes all they got.
Although this day felt different. Last night Rollan waited outside the training quarters so that he could say goodnight to Meilin yet she never came out. After looking into the room, he found it empty but thought nothing of it. He shrugged his shoulders and walked back to his room. Rollan knew he would see her in the morning, he always did and nothing had changed in the years they had been here.
So, when he walked into the mess hall and didn't see her, he got a weird feeling in his chest. Going over to the table that the four of them always sat at he asked Conor and Abeke whether either of them had seen her.
"I haven't seen her since she came into my office to get papers about the new Greencloaks that were arriving," Conor had answered him.
Abeke shook her head. "The last time I saw her was by the docks last night."
Rollan looked at her, confusion written on his face. "What was she doing by the docks?"
She shrugged. "She was talking to the captain and that was all I saw."
Thoughts raced through Rollans's mind. Why would she be there that late at night and what was she doing? That's when it hit him.
What if she had left?
Rollan swallowed. "You guys don't think that she left do you?"
"I don't know why she would. Especially not without telling us or sending a note," Conor told him.
"But she's done it before-"
"That was years ago Rollan. We were kids then Rollan- maybe she's busy or something got her attention," Abeke suggested.
Rollan shook his head. "She never misses breakfast though," he sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"I wouldn't worry about it," Conor started," we all get busy, and like Abeke said, maybe something came up suddenly."
Rollan nodded at his friend's attempt to calm him. "You're probably right."
When breakfast was over, they all went their own ways. Rollan didn't have to meet with anyone for another hour so he decided to walk by the training quarters in case Meilin was in there. As he made his way down, he noticed that the Greencloaks that Meilin usually trained were all outside the door. When they spotted him one of them came towards him.
"Do you know where Meilin is?" she asked him.
"Wait, she isn't here yet?"
They all shook their heads. "We should've started training a while ago but she never showed up."
Rollans's heart started to go faster as his breathing became shallow. "Class is dismissed for today," he rushed out and took off down the hall.
He knew something was wrong from the beginning. Maybe he had been right. Maybe she had left and didn't want anyone to know but that was a hard thought for Rollan to grasp onto. With all that the four of them had been through, he would at least think that she would tell them if she was leaving and the reason behind it. But Abeke had said earlier that she had seen Meilin by the docks last night. It couldn't be true though. The last time she had left, Rollan hated to admit it but he had missed her- missed talking to her and messing around with her. Then the whole quest had gone downhill when he had gotten sick from the Sunset Death and from that he really didn't remember much else.
Since the others were working and he didn't want to bring anyone else into this, he decided that the best thing to do would probably be to search around the castle in hopes that she truly hadn't left. That his mind was playing a cruel joke with him. As he began to search the castle, he kept getting more frustrated and worried by the second. He had checked all of the training rooms, the mess hall, kitchen, library, the secret study that she had shown him, the garden, and even the random places that he would find her reading a book or just relaxing.
After searching the castle three times, doubt began to cloud his thinking. She had truly left. Without saying goodbye or without a reason and it hurt him. As he began to walk back to his room, thinking of other places she could be, he realized that there was one place he hadn't checked yet. Her room. It was unlikely that she was in there and he knew it. Meilin was never in her room unless it was to sleep. But it was the only place he hadn't looked and there might be a clue or a letter that she left to tell them or show them where she had gone.
He took off towards her room. When he got there, he opened the door right away and was instantly able to take a breath. On the side of her bed was Jhi sleeping on the floor while in the bed, under a few blankets was Meilin sound asleep on her side. Rollan smiled to himself a little and sighed contently. He closed the door behind him quietly before taking his shoes off and walking over to the bed. Rollan got under the covers and wrapped his arms around her, bringing her closer to him, her back against his chest.
Rollan then leaned down and placed a kiss on her temple while she mumbled.
"Sorry for missing breakfast."
He chuckled a little and placed a few more hasty kisses on her temple and cheek. "It's alright."
Meilin turned over and nuzzled her head into his chest while wrapping an arm around him. Placing a kiss on his neck as she did so. With that, he tightened his grip and closed his eyes falling asleep next to her. The thought of the class that he still had was forgotten about and he knew that at some point Conor would yell at him about it but he didn't care.