Crow's Blessings → Sylus

Two Types Of Men

"Hey."

My eyes fluttered open, mind hazy from being abruptly awoken. With a soft hum, I sat upright, my neck sore due to craning my head back while sleeping. Glancing to my right, I saw Sylus sitting comfortably with one leg over his knee, staring at me with his usual placid expression. "We're here."

I merely nodded, knowing full well that Sylus was mentioning my apartment. Pushing open the car's door, I stepped out of the vehicle and walked around it, only to meet Sylus standing by the gate of my apartment building. "What are you doing?" the drowsy fog covering my mind was starting to dissipate, and I became alert to my surrounding — especially to the cool night air.

"I'll walk you to your door," Sylus grabbed my hand tenderly, which I found unusual, but shrugged it off, thinking that maybe he believed that I'm still drowsy from sleep. So, I let him guide me through the gate and into the apartment building.

Sylus and I walked side by side, his hand gently gripping mine as we walked into the elevator. Judging by the lack of tenants walking back and forth around the lobby and the fact that the elevator wasn't playing one of those outdated pop songs, I could tell that it's well past 9 PM. We stood in silence, our shoulders pressed against each other despite the elevator offering more than enough space for us to stand farther apart. Neither of us protested though, as we shared the comfortable silence until the elevator creaked open.

Stepping out of the elevator, we walked forward until I caught sight of my apartment's door. "Thank you for today," I stopped by the door, flashing Sylus a polite smile.

Sylus nodded, the corners of his lips flicked to show a lopsided smile. "Get some rest," he lifted my hand up to his lips, kissing the palm of it. Sliding my hand off of his, he smiles and lingers for a moment longer, before walking back towards the elevator.

It took me longer to decide what motive Sylus did earlier; Did he do it out of general politeness, or was he hinting on me? He did smile at me, was he expecting something when he lingered a bit longer after kissing the palm of my hand? Why was it so important that I crack the mystery behind Sylus's facade? 

Shaking my head, I pressed my thumb against the fingerprint scanner and pushed the door open. I didn't bother changing my clothes as I head straight into my bedroom, throwing myself on the bed with a loud huff. It gradually became harder to breathe as I had my face pressed against the mattress, so I turned to my side, staring at the dressing table across from my bed.

Strangely, there was an abundance of things sitting on the dressing table. Standing up, I walked over to the dressing table to inspect. There was a wicker basket with various exotic fruits stacked over one another wrapped in plastic so that it would hold its place, a maroon gift box with minimalistic, golden patterns, and the brown tote bag Sylus gave me earlier — which I only realized that I had probably left at Qalb Cafe. On top of the gift box was a card, its material slightly thicker than ordinary paper.

"You forgot your uniform, again."

I chuckled quietly to myself as my hands reached out to retrieve my uniforms from the tote bag. As I was pulling my uniform out of the tote bag, my hand brushed against something soft and slightly grainy. Putting my uniform aside, I reached into the tote bag again, pulling out a folded black leather jacket. I shook my head, pulling my phone out of my pocket to take a picture of the dressing table.

(Name)

Sylus

Did you break into my apartment?

Almost immediately, as if Sylus had been expecting my text, he responded.

Sylus