***
*Old Note*
March 30, 2005
I'm sorry. I should have asked you to come home with me. I realise that now.
I'm so so so sorry...
Your Friend
***
*Present Day*
As they exited the house, Ilari hesitated.
"What about your car?" he asked.
Kir stopped in the middle of putting his backpack at the bottom of the passenger seat and looked up at Ilari.
"I left it at my office."
"Should we go and pick it up? I haven't thought of it before but you'd probably need to go to work tomorrow and the next few days, right? Sure, I can drive you in the morning or you can go with Dad and Ivor but if you prefer to use your own car…"
"No, it's fine," Kir shook his head. "I took a leave… for a few days. But I still need to go there tomorrow to take care of some things so I can pick up my car then."
Ilari gaped at him (he almost felt like today this expression was becoming his default one). It was only a few hours ago that Kir was told about the whole engagement thing and to stay at Ilari's place. That was some leave on short notice for sure. When did he even manage to…?
"Would you be alright?" Ilari asked, taking his seat. Kir followed him shortly. "I mean… I know you're a Director but still, Dad and Ivor have a hard time getting any free time at all. Won't you get into trouble with your superiors?"
"I won't, not for that, anyway…" Kir hesitated. "I'm a Director by title but I'm not working full time. Everyone is used to me… not being there, occasionally."
Ilari gave him a look full of suspicion but eventually decided to take his words at the face value. He needed to concentrate on driving. On a day full of surprises like this, the last thing they needed was having an accident! No way Ilari was risking it.
Ilari was a slow and steady driver (much to the annoyance of his fast-paced siblings) – and those who rode in his car usually wanted to leap out and get a faster means of transport.
Ilari was a little apprehensive that Kir might feel the same way – but to his surprise (and a teeny tiny bit of delight), Kir did not express any dissatisfaction with the journey.
The ride to the market was quiet but comfortable. Ilari focused on driving carefully, afraid that his untimely thoughts from before could bring them misfortune. In the passenger seat, Kir seemed contemplative and in the back, the two felines explored how to cuddle the most space-efficiently.
I might need a bigger car, Ilari mused, pulling up to the parking lot. His car was the smallest one in the family, since he had the smallest familiar in the family. His siblings and his parents all had big SUVs, and the family van was more of a truck than a van.
"I forgot to give this back to you," Kir said guiltily just after his fiancé turned off the engine. He extended a hand with Ilari's notebook and pen. Back in the house, Ilari had only torn off the page on which Kir had written what he liked and taken the sheet with him.
The question, "Is that what he was thinking about during the whole drive?" sprang in Ilari's head uninvited, making him snicker.
"Don't worry about that," he said, taking both the notebook and pen back and putting them in one of the many pockets of his jacket. Next, he took out a similar set from another pocket and opened the notebook on the page with the fresh grocery list, and the sheet on which Kir had written was neatly folded and stuck between the pages with paper clip. "I always have a few at hand," he added.
If Kir was surprised or started to notice that Ilari might have a certain fondness for checklists, he didn't comment.
They entered the store with both familiars in tow. Kir picked the shopping cart and drove it carefully as he followed his fiancé's lead. As they entered the fresh produce section, Ilari could almost physically feel the curious glances being thrown their way. Rummaging through vegetables, he decided to indulge himself with a little mental exercise.
If he were to guess, the first thing most people noticed about their small group would be the tiger. Although there were families like his own who tended to attract a certain type of bigger magical animals generation after generation, or even individuals with far more exotic familiars, these were few and in between. Even magical big dogs were becoming familiars less often than small ones and from what Ilari remembered, there was only one family who bonded with actual wolves, but they had a magical pack living on their lands since forever and they coexisted peacefully. As for his family's big cats, each end every one of them traveled for half a world just to meet their chosen human after they sensed them for the first time. It was a well-known phenomenon, although an unresolved one from humanity's point of view. Just how were magical animals choosing their human companions? - it was not the knowledge they would share with anyone.
So the first to be spotted would be Kai, Ilari pondered. Then, most probably, he himself - he was pretty much aware that many people tended to take notice of his unusual, silver hair and start to wonder what could have caused the discoloration on a young man like him. Then, they usually noticed Alair and their gazes would turn from curious to appreciative - Ilari disliked it, too.
Humans' hair usually matched the darker, milder tones of their familiar's colors but, naturally, there were exceptions. Him, for one. Also, one of his closest friends got her hair viciously green after her lizard familiar, which, by the way, liked to ride on top of the said friend's head and pretend to be a chameleon.
That was leaving Kir to be the most unnoticeable one, with his slightly oversized coat, scarf and glasses. By now, only the most persistent observers would be left to wonder about the two men's relationship. Ilari, who for twenty years of his life remained blissfully unperturbed by romance, blushed out of the blue. Did they look like a couple?