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Lady Terror was gone. Fei had already disappeared, but this time when he had come back to his room...Lady Terror was gone too.

And of course all but the most timid of the vaisel kittens had been out of his room as well. Arthur had just been sitting at the open door, surrounded by balls of fluff that he was leading astray as they rolled around in the hallway, and they had been easy to lure back with a bit of food. But Lady Terror was not among them. Naturally he had gone to the closet first, called for her repeatedly, and then combed the hallways.

But now he was past that, and she was no where to be found.

Yin might have had a few feelings about losing minipets.

He was just about frantic looking for the vaisel, sweeping out from the monster dormitory in wide arcs. His eyes focused on the flames first, then noticed who she was following...had Alexander...taken...Lady Terror? And Fei? Though the vaisel was his in all reality. But he was headed back toward the monster dorms.

Lady Terror spotted him and, flicking her tail at Fei, bounded over toward Yin, happily twining around his legs when she reached him.

Well, it was a bit hard to just walk away now that he had been spotted. And with a vaisel rubbing all over his legs, soon to be joined by another. He just...stooped down to pick up Lady Terror. If nothing else she was a good shield for him. And maybe just...yeah there was nothing odd about this.

Alexander was just standing there, and he was just standing there, and the minpets were just...yeah it was just slightly awkward.

Yin stared at anywhere but Alexander until the zomboil spoke and then...well he had to speak too...right?

"...Greetings...Alexander..." There, he had done better, no matter how strained his own voice was.

Alexander was moving closer and Yin moved approximately three centimeters forward. There. It was good. It was progress.

Just incredibly, incredibly awkward progress. Lady Terror seemed the happiest she had been in a month though, rubbing her face against his, making approving noises in his ear. It really just...almost made it worse. Made it all the more clear of how happy things had been in the past and how just...wrong they were now.

He was just...Yin glanced up, just in time to see his bonded...ex-boilfriend...whatever he was anymore brush his hand through his hair. Still just an empty socket. For just a minute the look that crossed his face was one of utter pain but he quickly masked it. "...who did it." A gesture of his hand, and that was it. Alexander would know what he meant, there was really only one thing he could be talking about. He had left him alone for less than a month and look what he had went and done.

A hunter.

Of course it was a hunter.

He let out a hiss of his own, a full, mantisy hiss rather than a simple escape of air. From whatever look was on Alexander's face, from the fact that it was indeed a hunter and hearing it from him...just everything. It was ridiculous.

Lady Terror fidgeted nervously and jumped down to rub against Fei, watching them both. This was not what she wanted.

And which hunter was it? Was it one of the ones he knew? That he had spoken to? Was it just...did it matter? One more thing the hunters had taken. One more thing he did not know how to deal with, how to respond to. Barely over a month ago he would have been trying to figure out whatever he could to fix it, to avenge it, to...it was really not his place anymore.

The apology, which he took for what it actually was did soften him slightly. "Did you go see Nurse Cricket?" When in doubt...go to Nurse Cricket.

"Yes." Yes he should have been more careful. How he could let a hunter get to him, to gouge his eye out was beyond him...though really, he was the absolute last one to talk. He would have gladly given his eye to have his darling back by his side.

So he had not see the Nurse. Yin wondered if there was anything she could still do, willing to talk to her, though he expected no sort of special treatment. He was already receiving enough, though Alexander was one of her students so there was always that chance.

He was musing on that when all his thoughts where chased away by the zomboil's whisper. His name, said by that voice, something he could not ignore. Would not ignore. The words cut through him, seeming like he was referring to so much more than his eye, his physical well being. Moving toward him. It was chipping away at the mask that he tried so very hard to put up around others. The one he used on himself when he told himself everything was just fine and would be okay and maybe if he just meditated all would be well.

But here and now it was just crumbling away piece by piece. "I know." His voice wavering, even as he tried to keep himself together. He was in public. "I am sorry as well." For everything that had happened really.

Nothing was really that easy though. An apology did not repair the hurt, the insecurities, the entire past month where they had not been there for each other. He did not move forward, holding his ground, fairly certain that if he took a step back like he wanted to even this fragile chance at talking would be ruined, even though in a way he wanted it to be over. "I am...we are not the same." A statement. Not just referring to physical changes but just...everything that had been happening to him. Just a reminder. What they had had...they would never go back to. Scareling's innocence. Just a reminder. Simple words could not change that.

"Just...be happy, Alexander." He sighed, not sure of what else to say, knowing that that was the only productive thing he really could say. "Be happy."

No, no one stayed the same forever. But few, or at least, he desperately hoped few, were tagged by hunters. Had their closest love one killed by hunters. And then, to just add to an already crazy couple of months grow into what was somewhat adulthood even if no matter how hard he tried to act the part he kept failing at, move up in his education, and get adopted. It was just...it was a lot. He had managed to somewhat stand strong, managed to at least give off the appearance that he knew what he was doing. Had hid the little cracks that worried at him when he was alone, just covered up the always present indications that everything was far from right. He just had to act like everything was perfect, and then everything would be okay. He would be okay. He just had to keep moving on. He could not afford to stay in one place for too long.

He just nodded in agreement. Adjust adjust adjust. Mask mask mask. No one needed to know about anything else. Just be happy, even if you did not feel like it, because there was no other solution that really worked. At least Alexander was trying. He wanted to be happy to, and that...that was good. He had to be happy. The zomboil had done too much, he had earned a bit of happiness. As for himself...he was happy. He was, there was happiness in him. Sure there was pain, fear, anger, lurking just below the surface, but he was happy. He...he had a family now. And friends still. It would have been better if he had had his best friend as well but he was just being selfish. It was still for the best this way.

"It will be easier," he said quietly, though if he was really speaking to Alexander or more to himself was hard to tell.

And really? He had no more to say. It hurt just to stand across from him like this. Knowing what had been, and where things were at now. And he did not want to deal with it any longer. It brought too many things to the surface that he was trying to shove down. "Do you require anything of me?" Slightly dismissive. He just needed to get away for a bit, this was too much for the moment. He would not just walk away though, nothing would get solved with that. But the indication that he was thinking about leaving was certainly there. But still, an open invitation if Alexander needed anything from him before this encounter was over.

Yin was ready to move on, about to get Lady Terror and make the trek back to his room. But instead, Alexander was changing his mind, telling him that there was more. Yin waited, he would always wait if Alexander needed something from him. They were still bonded and to Yin...that gave Alexander a certain measure of his attention. He would at the very least pause to hear what he had to say.

"I shall try," and really he would. But there was only so much he could do. He would fight his hardest to stay safe, and he would make it his goal, but he could not guarantee it. Maybe in he past he would foolishly claim that he could, but now he had learned the hard way. What was curious was that the zomboil kept talking and Yin looked up as his voice began to trail off, a flash of hope crossing his face quickly chased away by a grimace of pain.

Alexander still cared about him. And it was more than obvious that he still cared about the zomboil, if he had not it would not hurt as much as it did. Still, it was hard to deal with it right now. "October 6th," he found himself saying. The date was important, though at the moment he could not...wait, his day of birth perhaps...yes that was it. "October 6th I will be in the library." That was all he could manage for now. Alexander could decide what he meant by all of that. That Yin was telling him where he would be on a special day for him right after he said he cared about him. That would give him time to think...both of them time to think. To figure out where they both were. To be prepared to talk rather than just staring at each other awkwardly.

He looked away, stooping to pick up Lady Terror. He needed...he needed to go do something.