He sat in silence for a minute, seemingly trying to collect his thoughts. When he was ready, he took a deep breath and looked me in the eyes, causing me to still and be lost in them for a second. It was still mesmerizing watching the way his irises moved, shifting to different shades of orange ever so slowly. He cleared his throat and took my hands more firmly in his.

"I guess I should start with what I am," he started, and gave me a brief smile. "My kind is probably most closely related to demons, but there is no sort of religious aspect to our existence. We don't really formally call ourselves anything, but I refer to us as the Watchers. Our mission is to guide humans toward their destiny, as the people we watch over are meant to do great things in life. I have no idea how the humans are specifically chosen, but each of us is created solely for the purpose of our person." He took a moment to pull his foot up under his other leg and settle himself before continuing. 

"I was created, not born, so I don't have any true family. I did have friends on my home plane - they were the closest I had to family - but I was created to watch over you. The majority of my kind choose not to protect their human." My eyes widened as I realized that he had to choose to protect me, and that he truly wanted to keep me safe. A sad smile sprouted on my lips and I held his hands tighter, giving a light squeeze. The smile he gave in response warmed my insides. 

"We are only supposed to present ourselves at the most significant moment of our human's life. Most choose to ignore when that moment occurs, or they decide not to save their charge, like I did for you." I gave another light squeeze and leaned a bit closer to him. "I could have decided that moment wasn't the one I was meant for, but I didn't want to wait. As I've said, once you leave the shadow state you can't go back, and you are fixed to the plane of existence you exit into." His eyes hardened for a moment and he finally looked away from me. "That is why most Watchers ignore their charge - so they can go back to our home plane and live the rest of their eternity out there. It is their home and where their friends are. Most of us don't form an attachment to our human and move on like it was just a few years of service for an eternity of comfort and familiarity." He moved his eyes back to mine and my breath caught in my throat. "I have never known one of us who chose to stay here."

"So why did you?" I asked. "You can never go home now." My voice trembled slightly, still feeling like he had given up too much for me.

Giving a half-smile, he lifted my hands to his lips and laid a gentle kiss on my knuckles. My blush seemed to be reflecting of his skin now. "Because you are why I was created." He let our hands drop back down between us, but leaned in closer to me. "I was made for you, and you for me. I didn't want to just sleep for your whole life and never get to know you. After waiting 2,186 years to meet you, I knew I wasn't going to throw that away."

"But then you've known your friends for all those millennia...and you've only known me for 27 years. That's like the blink of an eye compared to how long you've been around. Did you really think I would be worth giving all of that up for?" I held my breath waiting for his response, as he pondered for a moment, tilting his head slightly and looking over my face. 

"You were worth it." My heart stopped beating for a second before remembering it had a job to do, and I felt my insides contract involuntarily. "From the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew it was nothing to give everything else up - I had to stay. I made my choice long ago." He let go of one of my hands to reach up and move the hair hanging in my face to behind my ear. His hand lingered for a moment on my cheek before taking up my hand again and smiling. "I don't know if now was the right time to reveal myself, but I don't regret it. Now, I get to see you smile and know you're smiling for me." 

Silence persisted for a moment while I tried to force my blush away. "Do you have any questions for me?" he asked, the smile playing on his lips telling me he absolutely noticed my flushed cheeks. 

"Just one," I said, smiling back at the teasing look on his face. "What is your name?"

His smile grew to a grin and he flashed his double canines. "You can call me Lir."