Salvar looked at his watched and sighed because there were still few minutes before the interaction session starts.
But all while, he made sure to maintain the precise distance with Silas as if he calculated exactly how many steps separated him from the person behind him and intended to preserve every single one of them.
He kept his eyes on the notice board, on Milo, on the potted plant in the corner, on literally anything that existed in the direction that was not behind him.
His posture was casual but his jaw was not. Because here was the thing about standing near to someone who had made sure to chop off his tongue and pluck few fingers from his hands.
There was no etiquette manual for that, no social script, no polite small talk that bridged that specific history.
And moreover, no amount of deep breathing could stop registering the presence of a man whose red eyes you had last seen looking down at you on a cell floor.
Salvar knew intellectually that this Silas did not remember. Only he does.
But knowing something intellectually and knowing it in your body were two completely different countries with no direct flights between them.
He tugged Milo slightly closer without thinking.
Milo, who had been swinging from Salvar's arm like a pendulum and singing something that had started as a random song that Salvar played while doing dishes and evolved to something non existing.
Salvar subconsciously glanced back one more time.
Silas stood exactly as had been, like a NPC.
He was not scrolling his phone or making conversation or doing any of the things people did to indicate they were human and approachable.
He simply stood with the energy of a man who had been told the concept of small talk and had rejected it on philosophical grounds.
Xavier stood beside him, exactly still like his father.
While every other child in the garden was conducting independent research into the structural integrity of the flying butterflies, the contents of other people's bags, Xavier stood with his hands at his sides and observed the people with the calm assessment of someone three times his age who had seen enough already.
Salvar did not mean to stare.
He looked away.
Finally one of the staff came and called the children to the hall.
Milo who was over the nine clouds, tugged unprepared Salvar harshly and made him loose balance.
He almost accepted that the grass and the grass had summoned him until he was caught by his wrist by a strong arm.
One hand wrapped around Xavier. The other wrapped around Salvar's wrist, Silas looked down at Salvar with a tedious gaze.
Salvar's entire nervous system filed an emergency report.
After being lifted by Silas, Salvar removed his wrist from Silas's hand in a speed of bolting light.
He grabbed Milo and moved forward through the crowd like an ungrateful brat, with the focused energy of someone who needed to be somewhere else immediately.
On the other hand, behind him he Xavier's said with his small, flat and completely unbothered voice.
"This is disappointing. I think kid will hate me because of you."
"I saved that person." Silas's voice was even. "What exactly did I do wrong."
"Nothing at all." Xavier replied monotonously while he walked towards the hall.
"That is not reassuring when delivered in that tone." Silas replied.
"It wasn't meant to be reassuring. It was meant to be insulting."
"Stop lecturing me and if you please, go make some friends today." Silas finally sounded like a worried father, rather than a machine operated furniture. "Don't seat alone, don't try to lecture other kids and please don't reply rudely to the teachers."
"Understood."
Xavier said as he waved his hands and disappeared into the hall.
Salvar, on the other corner, sat with a concerning face.
"Uncle Sal I need to go."
"Ah yes," But he didn't loosened his hand.
"Uncle Sal."
"Sorry, Milo."
He loosened it and hugged Milo. Why is leaving kids at school so emotional?
"Be good," he said.
"I am always good," Milo said, with the confidence of someone for whom this was a factual statement rather than an aspiration.
"Always? You just made me fall few minutes ago."
"That was the floor's fault."
Salvar pressed his lips together suppressing a smile before he said, "Go, make friends and enjoy."
Milo went away at speed, already identifying potential friends with the instinctive social radar of a child who had never once in his life struggled to be liked.
Salvar stood.
The parents dispersed into conversation clusters, exchanging business cards, promises of shopping with each other, and as he was scanning, his eyes immediately collided with Silas'.
Salvar immediately turned away and walked to the toilet.
He needed break, or precisely a space that did not contain Silas or parental networking.
The bathroom was clean, white tiles and one long mirror above the basin.
He turned the tap on and looked at himself.
His reflection offered no particular wisdom.
He turned the tap off.
Then on again.
Then off.
Fuck
Fuck
Fuck
Fuck
He pressed his knuckles against the tile beside the basin, until they turned white.
Out of every city.
Every building.
Every school in every district of Thornvale.
Why was destiny doing this to him specifically. What had he done other than dying a miserable death?
Did he come back to life to just die more miserably?
He just wanted one thing.
To move at his own pace.
He slammed the tiles beside and coincidentally, the door to the bathroom opened at the same time.
Salvar looked at the mirror.
His reflection looked back at the person with an expression that said it had predicted this and was not surprised.
Silas walked in.
The door closed behind him.
Salvar turned off the tap.
He turned around and loooked at Silas for exactly one second with the neutral expression of a person who had never met this man before and had no particular feelings about him being in this bathroom at this moment.
Then he made his pace toward the door.
He almost made it before Silas's hand caught his arm.
That took Salvar by surprise. He glanced at his arm and at the tight grip that told him that it had made a decision and was now implementing it.
Silas turned Salvar toward the nearest cabin, opened the door, pushed him inside and walked himself before closing it behind both of them.
The small space held the silence of two people.
Salvar stared at the door.
His heartbeat was doing something he was going to have words with it about later.
Now, his only concern was to make sure he walked out alive, safe and sound.