The Soldier

                                    

                                          
She disappeared into the hallway, and now it's just us two again. Shit, now I feel horrible. The man is still standing there, seemingly shocked at the scene before him, and I would be too if I was in his shoes. He turns to me now that she is no longer around, astonishment peeking out from his voice. "Even I wouldn't have said all that." He's interrupted by a sudden low chime from the clock. It's midnight and now everybody seems to be returning to their beds, so that meant the fun was over for me.
I wait until the bells finish ringing out, the sounds bouncing from wall to wall, and look over to the man. "I should say sorry to her." I know I won't though, because this is probably my last night here anyway, and I start walking down the hall. It's only a few moments though until the man calls for me awkwardly while walking hastily to catch up to me. 
I stop and turn to him, shaking off the guilt just for a moment. He catches his breath once he reaches me, and raises an eyebrow. "Where are you going?" 
"I'm walking. It's actually a long walk back to where I sleep for now, so I need to go." I turn again only to see him appear in front of me again. This guy is scarily fast.
"You shouldn't go alone at this time, you're just..." He looks me up and down, "...a little guy in a big, scary world..." He pauses for a moment, thinking of what to say next. I wonder if he knows I'm debating whether to punch him or not now. He finally raises a finger to the sky, and smiles at me like he's discovered the ultimate solution. "You can stay in my room! There's lots of pillows and blankets to make a pallet-" Hell no. "-and it's not safe for you to walk these streets looking as fine as you do tonight." He looks at me smugly, as if what he just threw at me was romantic. I decided on it, I have to punch him now.
I raise an eyebrow, a bit concerned for my safety now. "You want me... a random stranger you've never known, to crash on your couch tonight?" 
"No, in my bed." He smirks even harder than the last time, and I find this my cue to walk away while I can. He starts yelling as I speedwalk away, practically jogging to catch up to me. "Hey, wait! It was just a harmless joke, I'm not just some flirty idiot who drags in whatever he finds!" He stops in front of me again, holding back a giggle again. "Just... you can sleep on a pallet furthest away from me in my room." 
I stare at him for a moment, baffled at this man. "I don't even know your name." 
"Well, it's Alaric Gray, and you, unnamed man, are sleeping in my room tonight," and suddenly a crack of lightning is let out. "...Unless you really want to walk through the storm and get swept into the sewers by the rain water." He points a thumb out to the windows that are being splattered by relentless raindrops. Guess I really am going with this freak.
Even after I swore I wouldn't, for my own safety and sanity, I ended up in his room after all. He keeps pacing around, looking for blankets and pillows to spare for me, before asking, "So... unnamed man, now that you know me as Alaric, what can I know you as...?" He trails off, waiting for my response.
"Felix. My name is Felix." 
He stops and stares at me for a moment, not judgemental, but sort of like analyzing me. "You don't look like a Felix. And your last name is?" 
"It's just Felix. Nothing more or less than that." I do have a last name, but it's not worth giving to somebody like him, but he seems to know I'm hiding it anyways. He puts the blankets down, and walks up to me seemingly puzzled. I notice his cat ears now, they're folded over.
"Did your parents forget to give you a last name?" 
What.
I scoff at this and roll my eyes, and he laughs a bit nervously. "I jest, I jest!" He raises his hands in surrender, "It's okay to not tell me your full name, but you still don't look like a Felix." He puts a hand to his chin, analyzing my face. "You don't come from a royal name, do you?" He pauses, but doesn't give me time to reply, "I mean, I'd know. Even if I didn't already know, you just don't seem like the royal type." He lowers his arms back to his sides and then walks over to his bed.
"Go ahead and make your pallet wherever, I've got to go fix up for bed." He then shoots me a look, "For the love of God, do not try to run off, okay?"
Why is he treating me like I'm some teenager, there's no way in hell I am running off in some storm. I roll my eyes at him and start making my bed while he walks off and out of the room. I throw together my pallet quickly, before I realize this room is filled from top to bottom with books. I walk over as quietly as I can, grabbing one and just inspecting it for the longest time, as I really don't understand the words on it, before he barges back in. 
"I realized you need pajamas, so I got you this..." He trails off as he holds a shirt and pants that absolutely do not fit me, catching me red handed.
I shove the book back into place and swipe the pajamas from him. "Thank you, and goodnight now." I shove him out of the room and lock the door, catching my breath again. The pajamas he gave me could probably barely even fit over my leg, this is humiliating. I end up giving up on putting them on, and I only wear my pants and an undershirt I had on for the whole night, but it's better than whatever the hell I was given.
I open the door again and he appears in front of the door, angrily tapping his foot with his hands on his hips like an angry mother. "You could've at least announced you were closing the door." 
"Well, it's not like those pajamas fit, those fit only on children or you." I shoot back right at him, annoyed out of my mind. I pull my hair down from its ponytail, finally letting it free of the uncomfortableness of being both in a cap and tail at the same time.
He eyes my hair falling down before he lightly shoves me to the side to get inside of his room that I'd basically kicked him out of, "It worked in the end, didn't it? Now.. It's late and time for some sleep. Past your bedtime, ain't it?" He snorts.
I roll my eyes, walking over and laying down in the pallet angrily as he pulls out a book and pen. I turn away from Alaric and soon the sounds of the frantic scratching of his pen pull me into sleep.