We have a visitor the leopard purred with satisfaction in his mind as he finished up the drawing of Kira. It wasn't turning out like he'd hoped… he just couldn't get the curve of her mouth right, or the depth of her eyes. He sighed in frustration, knowing there were some things that just couldn't be caught on paper unless you were a master artist.
He looked up at the leopard's words, seeing the elementals around him watching him intently. A few of them were looking over his shoulder as well. He turned around to see Kira smiling at him and nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise that she was there, letting out a small cat-like noise in his shock.
Her amused laughter filled the air as he calmed down, trying to smooth down the fur that had stuck up on end in his startle. "Don't scare me like that." He grumbled.
"I can't believe I snuck up on a leopard." She continued laughing in amusement. "Were you that wrapped up in the drawing?"
Kyle felt a flush burning his cheeks when he realized she had caught him drawing her. He held the paper to his chest protectively and stuck out his jaw stubbornly. "I get involved in my art. Sometimes I forget to pay attention to things around me."
Kira just gave him a wry smile, moving to sit down on the floor beside him, the elementals moving to give her room. "So… why do you have elementals here? Usually they only help those in need."
Kyle shifted uneasily, not knowing if he should tell her his story. "Well, I am someone in need, that's for sure. They're helping me out for a while."
She tilted her head, but seemed to decide not to pry. Thank God. "Either way, I've never seen this many in one place before." She looked around at the variety and number of elementals. "It's… strange."
"A lot of things about this place are strange." Kyle grinned and shrugged. "It's just how it is."
"So where did you learn to draw like that?" She asked, pointing to one of the drawings on the ground."
"Masters in illustration." He answered without thinking, then tightened his mouth in alarm when he realize what he'd said.
She gave him an odd look before she shook her head in dismay. "You talk in very strange ways, Kyle. Sometimes I don't understand what you say."
"I went to school for art- I was taught by people who are much better than me until I met a skill level that they call a 'master'. I'm not really sure if I'm worthy of that title in the actual literal sense, but it's just a name they gave me." He tried explaining with some difficulty.
"I never went to school." Kira said a bit wistfully. "I always wanted to, but I never got a chance to."
"Why not?" He asked, frowning. "Are women not allowed to go to school or something?"
She gave him a look of surprise. "You do not know that? Of course women aren't allowed to go to school."
"Well that's dumb. People should be able to do whatever they want." Kyle scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me we have the gender issues thing to still go on here…? Oh man I'm going to be on the wrong side of that one."
She shook her head again, still not understanding what he was saying. "You're… not from around here, are you?"
"A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away." Kyle smiled in amusement. "No, I'm definitely not from around here."
"Well if women can go to school where you're from, I'd like to go there." Kira said with interest.
"Ah… sorry, can't do that." Kyle said with a sad smile. "That boat already sailed. I'm afraid I can't… go home." Saying the words were so much worse than thinking them. Somehow by saying aloud that he couldn't go back to his home cemented the idea in his mind.
He was stuck here… alone.
"What's wrong?" Kira asked, moving closer to him.
Kyle didn't know whether to be more surprised that she was moving closer to him of her own free will, or that she cared enough about him to ask why he was depressed. "Nothing that matters anymore. I'm just dwelling on the past."
Tinder watched him for a moment before crawling up onto his lap and laying down, curling in a circle to try and comfort him. He looked down at the lizard and pleasant surprise and put his hand gently against the warm scales of Tinder's back.
"The elementals trust you very much." Kira said with surprise in her voice.
"I guess so." Kyle shrugged, still resting his hand on Tinder.
Perhaps she will trust us too. The leopard whispered hopefully.
"Doubt that." Kyle answered a bit bitterly back, flushing when he realized he'd said that out loud when she gave him another odd look. "Nevermind."
"If the elementals trust you, then you cannot be all that bad." Kira said softly, looking out to the creatures in front of them. "They do not trust someone who is ill at heart."
Yay, so he wasn't an ass. That made him feel a bit better, at least. He slouched down at the thought of home again, remembering his parents and his sister. He was dead- they at least had closure that way, but he hadn't said goodbye to them. "Do you have any parents?" He asked Kira softly.
"Yes, a mother." She answered back in surprise.
"Make sure you talk to her often. Give her a kiss and goodbye every time you leave her." He gave her a pained look before standing and leaving the room, not trusting himself to keep talking in front of her without breaking down. He glanced over his shoulder to see a concerned look for him, the worry in her eyes making his pain just that much worse.
What had happened to him to make him feel this way? He had obviously lost his parents somehow… and her heart broke for him at the idea of losing his family. He seemed lost, and just as scared as she was in some way. She wished he would tell her more about himself, where he came from and what had happened to him, but he seemed so quiet and secretive that she didn't want to stick her nose where it didn't belong. She looked out the window of the room to see the sun setting, the lizard that had crawled onto Kyle lap gave her a look of frustration before it burst into a flame and disappeared.
She didn't understand why the elemental was looking at her like that, but decided to head to bed with the setting sun. She had starting walking down the hall when she heard a loud yowl of pain, followed by tortured cries and pants.
She rushed down the hall toward the noise, opening a door to a room to see a man with sandy blond hair leaning back against the wall, panting for breath as his chest rose and fell with the effort of his breathing. She bit her lip at how attractive the man looked, even with how exhausted and hurt as he appeared. He looked up at her and she gasped in shock when she realized… it was Kyle!