Mei quirked a smile and raised his brows. He might as well have said: I can't talk, remember?
"Oh." If he'd been capable, Valice might have flushed. "Would you like some tea? Your mother was kind enough to bring us a years supply." A bit of an exaggeration, but it was a lot.
The boy nodded, smile deepening, and Valice piled wood into the oven and lit the fire. Mei walked to the pantry and selected the tea he wanted. When the kettle boiled, Valice started to pour it into the teapot, but Mei hastily intervened. Apparently, there was an art to making tea.
Valice watched with interest as Mei measured the leaves into a cup, rinsed them with boiling water, and then spooned them back into the pot. He poured water inside slowly and left the pot to steep.
Valice rarely had visitors, much less someone his own age, and he stumbled through a one-sided conversation, until Mei began teaching him a few words in sign-language.
"Table." Valice said in response to a gesture and smiled at Mei's encouraging clap. The boy sipped his tea and pointed to Valice's cup, raising his brows inquiringly.
"This? It's cow's blood." Valice laughed at Mei's shocked grimace. "It's very nutritious. For necromancers anyway."
After a pleasant hour or so, Mei yawned and Valice was feeling pretty tired himself.
"Forgive me, but it's late. I enjoyed your visit. No one has ever come to see me to just...talk." He trailed off awkwardly when Mei's face fell and the corners of his mouth turned down.
The boy nodded and stood, reaching for his cloak. His spirit was fluttering uneasily inside him and it was no wonder. He had to be wary of walking alone, after everything he'd been through. It must have taken a lot of courage for him to visit Valice in the first place.
"Would you like me to accompany you?" Valice said and felt his heart thump at the bright smile Mei sent him.
The road into town glittered with frost and the night air smelled clean and fresh. Valice didn't mind the boy's silence; he'd never had any friends and he'd learned to enjoy the peace and quiet.
The pale glow of the moon reminded him of his mother's eyes and Valice barely noticed when Mei's cold hand found his and their fingers linked. After all, this was how he'd accompanied Mei's ghost.
The boy lived in an apartment, with his family, above the theater and Valice brought him to the door. But when he tried to extricate himself, Mei's fingers tightened reflexively and his eyes widened with fright.
"You'll be alright, you know." Valice said with a comforting squeeze to the boy's palm. "You're still recovering. Just give it time and your spirit will settle."
He was unprepared for Mei pressing into his arms and clutching his waist tightly. The body against him felt solid and warm. He'd only ever been this close to frail and dying human's, never healthy ones. It was a rare thing, and an honor, to be trusted.
Valice found his hands lifting and resting lightly on the back of Mei's cloak. The boy's ghost finally calmed, like a fluttering bird folding its wings, and Mei sighed, shoulders relaxing.
"You'll be alright." Valice repeated gently and the boy looked up at him.
Valice had noticed Mei's beauty distantly before, the same as he would admire lovely scenery or a work of art. But seeing him this close, and holding him so intimately, made Valice look deeper.
Mei's dark eyes were hooded and tilted, like a cat's, and his brows were fine and straight. His nose curved gently and narrowed into a sharp point. His skin was smooth and clear, with a flush of cold in both cheeks, and his soft mouth was dark pink.
Cold fingertips trailed over Valice's jaw and then Mei's breath was warm on his mouth, lips brushing his lightly.
Pillowy heat and velvety softness. Valice closed his eyes and inhaled, drawing Mei's spicy scent into him. Their lips moved tentatively and he could almost taste the boy's wraith, like a cool spark of energy on his tongue.
Mei eased closer and their chests pressed, pelvises brushing. Valice could feel the quickening beat of the boy's heart and the heat of his skin. His thighs softened and cold hands slid past the folds in his cloak, to run up his ribs.
The sound of a window slamming shut was like a slap to his senses and Valice tore away, breathing hard.
"T-that, uh." Valice tried to collect himself and took a trembling breath, still tasting Mei's spirit in his mouth. "Goodnight...M-Mei."
The boy had been watching him with alarm, but at the sound of his name his almond shaped eyes softened and his lips parted in another bright smile. Almost too bright to look at.
Valice walked back in daze. His cock was painfully hard between his legs and his heart was beating fast. Was that what humans felt when they kissed?
Now he understood what all the fuss was about. All the drama and the trysts. He couldn't let himself be involved. Mei was mortal and he wouldn't live long. None of them ever did.
A hoarse meow made him stop in his tracks and he looked over the fields to see a sad little shape limping towards him.
Valice's desire cooled and his heart slowed. It was Madam Telavive's cat, Gingersnaps.
Unless he had raised them from birth, animals tended to not like him. They had a deeper connection with the spirit realm, than humans did, and they instinctively knew what he was.
But now the cat that usually hissed, and puffed its fur at him, was approaching with single minded determination - and there could only be one reason why.
"Hello, Gingersnaps." Valice knelt and carefully stretched out his hand. The cat blinked yellow eyes at him and brushed its soft cheek against his fingers.
It was old and dying. Arthritis burned hot along its back and hind-legs, and its kidneys were shutting down. Left alone, it could probably last a couple more weeks. But it would be a slow and painful death. "Poor thing. You haven't been well in a long time."
He brushed his hand over the cat's trembling spine and reached for its spirit. With a painless little snap, he set it free.
The cat went limp and Valice gathered it into his arms. Its body felt small and hollow, as if its soul had had physical weight. It was at peace now, on the other side.
He walked to Telavive's farm and stopped by the fence, eyeing the sheepdog watching him unblinkingly through a window and showing its teeth; dutifully protecting its home and its mistress. One more step and I'll bark, it seemed to say.
Valice acknowledged this with a small nod and placed the corpse gently beside a brush, that still carried red fall leaves.
Madam Telavive took good care of her animals. They were all groomed and well-fed - and he'd often seen her sitting on her porch, with Gingersnaps in her lap.
She would give the cat a proper burial in the morning. He was sure Gingersnaps wouldn't have wanted it any different. Big or small, all living things loved deeply.
"Rest with Anu." Valice murmured and left.
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