Silentum Liked The Cold

Oneshot

Silentum liked the cold. He liked the biting chill, the dreary weather. It made the everlasting hellfire within him sizzle and cool himself down.

With this winter, though, an unexplainable urge struck him deep in his core. The urge and utter pull to hold, to grasp onto and embrace something. To share the warmth in his body with another.

Not just anything either, one specific something. One specific someone.

Before, he'd never had the urge. Sure, maybe he had wanted something to hold, maybe for his own warmth or comfort- but he had never wanted to comfort another. Never wanted to protect and hold someone close to him to keep them where he knew he could keep them safe.

Not until Raymond.

Irritatingly pleasant-smelling smoke filled Silentum's senses, grounding him back into the cold rainy weather. He was sheltered beneath the awning of a diner, its glow from the inside giving him a shadow.

Of course, the shadow only showed what others saw him as. Not what he truly was.

"S'getting colder..." Silentum turned his head to glance at the speaker, his tail flicked in acknowledgement.

A middle-aged man stood beside him, smoking. His complexion was tired, with some lines starting to appear on his face. His blond hair was displaced, clearly ruined from a stressful day.

Silentum resisted the urge to reach out and comb his hair back to perfection.

"I don't really like the cold... you get dry even though it's always so rainy..." Raymond took a drag of his cigarette once more, letting out small puffs of smoke out after.

His lips were cracked, dry, like he said. Why did Silentum notice that? And why did he wonder how they would feel-

He turned away, gazing back at the empty street in front of them, the asphalt gleaming with pools of rainwater. The rain had picked up since they finished lunch, usually it'd be busy around this time, but recent incidents had vacated the town of its usual activity.

"Crazy how just a few murders can make a place so empty, so desolate," Silentum heard Raymond shuffle through his coat pockets, mumbling his words as he did.

"Can't question it though, people are terrified, I know I would be too," Ge stopped mumbling, Silentum glanced over at him, the cigarette was in his fingers as he shook his head, muttering about forgetting something.

He took another drag as he looked up at Silentum. He seemed to study Silentum for a second before he closed and rubbed his eyes.

Silence passed between them, nothing but the sound of rain hitting asphalt and parked cars to interrupt it. It was pleasant, but Silentum had found he enjoyed it much more when Raymond kept speaking.

He was glad the man seemed to be a bit of a chatterbox anyway.

Silentum's tail flicked nearer to Raymond, who, of course, paid no mind and continued watching the street. The man was always in his thoughts, Silentum noticed he never truly rested at any moment, Raymond's mind was always running. It reminded him of himself.

"Are you not afraid?" Raymond flinched at that, clearly not expecting to get a reply.

"Me?" He turned to Silentum with a stupid expression on his face.

He scoffed, "Of course I am, freaks running around killing innocent people so easily worries me," He took another drag.

"But, you're here," Smoke blew out from his mouth.

"You're a bit of security, you know? I just-" he sighed.

Silentum stared at him, now fully facing his direction. He noticed Raymond grow a bit flustered.