Xol, upon hearing the word *no*, turned around slowly and in silence, his expression dangerously threatening, closing the distance until he was face to face with Morgan once again. Yet Morgan stood his ground, defiant, meeting his gaze with firmness and without fear.
This caught Xol slightly off guard. He stepped back a few centimeters and let out a laugh.
— Well, well... looks like the kid finally learned to stand on his own two feet.
Morgan simply held his gaze in silence, chest steady, eyes full of challenge.
Xol looked him up and down, smiling, mocking the determination being shown to him.
— And now what? What's your plan now — play blind when the danger is clearly right in front of us? You really don't learn anything, do you? NOTHING!!!
(Xol shouted, furious)
Morgan relaxed his expression and answered calmly.
— It's not that. I just don't want to believe that everyone is a threat. I don't want to see the world in such a... sad way. The way you do.
(Morgan said softly, with melancholy)
Xol didn't respond right away. He stood there facing him, not searching for words, letting the silence do the work. Morgan didn't move either, but something in his posture had shifted — a small tension, almost imperceptible. He kept his expression firm, but there was something melancholic in his eyes too. The way he looked at Xol was almost like pity.
— Living like that must be exhausting.
(Morgan said, with a trace of sadness)
— Living like this is what has kept me alive. In life, and especially in this world, I've learned perfectly well that you're either the hunter or the prey.
(Xol said coldly)
— And that's living? Distrusting everything, everyone, always... and calling that strength? Do you really plan to live like this forever?
(Morgan asked, with sadness)
— It's called surviving. Something you don't understand because you still believe the world has some decency left in it. Especially after everything you've seen.
(Xol said seriously)
— Yes. I know what I've seen, and I think I'm starting to understand what the beings of this world are capable of.
(Morgan said, lowering his gaze to the floor)
— So then...
Xol, who believed for that brief moment he had won the argument, smiled — but Morgan didn't let him finish. He lifted his gaze and stood firm once more.
— That's exactly why I refuse to believe this is all there is. It simply can't be. Not everything can be like this. I flatly refuse the idea that something like that is possible. Maybe you want to survive, but me — I want to live. And I'm sorry, but your way of living doesn't go with me. It never will. So don't ask me to see the world the same way you do, because that will never happen.
(Morgan said, with a defiant look)
Xol looked away for a second. Just one. Then he drove his gaze back into Morgan with all the coldness he could gather — but something didn't quite close the same way it had before.
— You have no right to lecture me. You talk about resolve, about determination, but all you know how to do is cry and run. That's all you've done since you arrived in this world.
The words hit. Morgan let them hit him.
— I know.
Xol didn't expect that. Something in his expression faltered — barely a fraction — before hardening again.
— I know.
(Morgan repeated, with pain)
— And that's why I want to change it. I want to be strong enough not to have to cry. Not to need you. But I'm not there yet. And I accept that. I know I'm an idiot who has told himself the same thing countless times and still ends up running and crying anyway.
Xol said nothing. He just laughed. He turned around and began to walk away, as if that admission had made him lose all interest in Morgan entirely.
Morgan watched him go. He didn't run. He didn't shout. He extended his hand toward his back, slowly, and with a broken voice and a sad gaze, said —
— I need you.
The tone of his voice made Xol stop dead. He had never heard that tone from him before — least of all directed at him.
— I already told you. And I'm telling you again. Not to stay like this. But so that one day neither of us has to run from the other.
Xol didn't turn around.
He simply stood there in silence while Morgan held his hand out to him.
— So then... what will you do? Will you keep running... or will you do this with me?
---
*End of chapter.*
*Next chapter: getting to know each other better.*