A Change In The Horizon || The Lost One AU

4. Midnight Pondering

AN

So I probably should have asked you in the last chapter, but what do you think the other higher species are? Or what do you want them to be? I do know a few already aside from the already established ones, but I might add a few still, hence why I ask. (When I write, I usually make things up as I go.)

~🌤~

The night was filled with the sounds of various monsters, but Xelqua barely even noticed them. Perhaps it was because he had heard them all throughout his human life, so much so that they blended into the background. To him, the night sounded quiet.

He stared at the sleeping Watcher beside him, who looked as though he had passed out where he laid. Xel couldn't help but wonder what he might be dreaming of in that very moment, a fantasy that was not the Void. He hoped that it was pleasant.

As for himself, he was left to his thoughts, which for one reason or another decided to return to his old friends.

For years and years, when he had thought of friends, he was sad, sure. Yet this sadness never lingered long, and while Xel would never say that he 'got over' them like an ex-lover, he had felt as though he had moved on. This time the sadness, sharp as a blade against his heart, stayed, never fading. He wished that it would, desperately trying to distract his mind.

He tried to focus on the other feeling that plagued him: guilt. It squeezed him from inside almost to the point of making him nauseous. It was his fault that he and Miesall were here. He couldn't even begin to imagine how it felt to be a completely new environment, fully torn from everyone he cared about.

Well, actually he could. It was exactly what had happened to him a few centuries ago, when he departed from his friends. From his almost sister, Pearl, who he had taken under his figurative wing. From Netty, the sweetest one of them. From Jimmy, the overly defensive yet comically incompetent man who put his heart into everything. From Mini and BigB, Martyn and SystemZee, Tomhawk and Salem, and most of all, Taurtis.

Xel felt himself let out a little gasp of air, feeling as though his throat was closing in on him. A thousand memories swarmed his brain, memories he had almost forgotten about long ago. His eyes stung, begging for the relief of tears, but he forbade it.

In that moment, he wanted more than anything to see his friends again. Even if it was just one of them, only for a minute, he would have gladly given up everything he had for it. He longed for a hug from Netty, telling him that he was doing a great job and that everything was going to be alright (even though he knew both to be a lie). He wished to have one last laugh with Taurtis, remembering the past with him. He wanted to have one last talk with BigB under the spectacle of stars. 

"Xel." A voice said suddenly. Xel hadn't even noticed that Miesall had not only woken up, but was sitting directly in front of him now. Just how much time had passed him right by?

"Y-Yeah?" He heard himself choke, startled by the sudden change.

"You are shaking." Miesall observed, frowning. It was clear that he could tell something was off, but did not know exactly how to proceed seeing as he lacked information.

"Oh, uh, don't worry about it." He dismissed, turning his gaze from the other.

"Did something happen while I was sleeping?" He prodded.

"No, not at all." Xel said just a hair too quickly.

Miesall continued staring at the other, frowning as he mulled over the words. "Why are you shaking?" He asked, a question as direct as Xelqua liked to use on him.

Xel bit his lip. "It's just... I... thought of the Evolutionists was all." He admitted.

"It made you sad." Miesall noted, gears turning in his brain. He tried to understand, but he just couldn't. Watchers were not tied to even their lives. The way they saw it, death was a certain eventuality and it is senseless to not consider one's eventual demise. Even beside that, the players in question had died over a century ago, so why was he still saddened by them?

He wished that he could understand what went in the head of Xelqua's, he really did. He just couldn't quite wrap his head around it, even if the strange feeling tugged deeply at him from within, a sharp pain. He wished to comfort him so he began a human ritual, opening his arms.

Xelqua understood immediately, quickly wrapping his arms around the natural-born Watcher. The smaller one pressed his chest against him and rested his head on the crook of the other's neck. Their bodies connected in as much physical contact as seemingly possible with the two sitting as Miesall wrapped all of his wings around the blonde-haired creature.

Miesall never quite understood this ritual, why humans did it so often. (He had once thought that it was their lust overwhelming them, but now he wished for it too. Unless it was lust that was overwhelming him too in that moment? He nearly shivered at the thought.)

Parting ways, Xel forced a smile. "Thanks, Salt." He said. The other merely fluttered his wings, hating the nickname.

"It's your turn to sleep." Was all he said, moving over to another corner of the little shack they had made. 

As if on cue, Xel let out a yawn. He felt as though his pondering had kept him awake, but at the same, drained his energy. He went to lay his head down on the pillow, reaching for the blanket. He didn't have time to pull it on top of himself before he had fallen right asleep.

~🌤~

AN

Fun fact: A Vex's lifespan is only 10 years.