Days passed, and Leonard slowly began to fall into a deep depression, rationally understanding what it meant to leave the cabin behind.

Sitting next to the sink, staring at nothing, he held one of Vincent Lyon’s letters in his hands. But he didn't reread it. He didn't need to. Every word was already carved into his memory.

“Eridanus,” he thought, as his fingers trembled. “Is it really worth the risk? Leaving all this behind…? It is the only place I know. I have no one. I'm alone… I don't know. I don't know what to do.”

That miserable cabin had been his only refuge. His only home for three years of solitude. He had learned to live alone, like the adult he was supposed to be. He had bonded with it, as if it were the house of his childhood.  Leaving it now felt like tearing out a part of himself.

Behind him, the creaking of the wood announced Vin’s arrival. 

The Rainbane had fully recovered from his gunshot wound.  He walked with steady, heavy steps. His towering silhouette cast a shadow that, in another life, might have been terrifying.

Leonard barely noticed.

“Reading those letters again? Oh, no… I don’t want a crybaby dragging me down,” Vin growled as he approached without much subtlety.

Leonard clutched the letter but didn't react with anger.  There was no rage in him. Only doubt.

“I don’t get it…,” he muttered. “Why me? Why should I risk crossing this hellscape just because someone who's not even here asked me to?  Why should I trust you…?”

Vin snorted and dropped heavily in front of him. Their knees almost touched.

“Tsk. You're so dramatic, man!” he sneered, tilting his head. “Listen… I’m not here to beg you. I'm not your babysitter. I'm not your fucking imaginary friend. If you want to stay locked up here and rot, I couldn’t care less! I don't want your cheap sentimentality.”

Leonard’s eyes widened, startled.

“Hey! What?! Don't talk to me like that,” he said out loud. “We barely know each other. I just need to understand. You don't know what it's like living every damn day hunted by mutants.”

Vin clicked his tongue, clearly irritated with himself.

“Fine… I’ll tell you one more thing,” he said, his voice dropping slightly.  “If you decide to come… I won't let anything happen to you. I told you before —you just… don't listen.”

Leonard slowly lifted his gaze.  In Vin’s empty eyes, he saw something he hadn’t noticed before: a raw, brutal kind of promise. Not tenderness. Not shallow affection. Something harsher.  More honest.

“I don’t make promises I can’t keep,” Vin added.

The silence between them became heavy. The rain outside was the only sound.

Leonard clenched his fists against his knees.

“I'm scared… if I’m being honest,” he finally confessed, voice low.  “Not of the Rainbanes. I'm scared that there's nothing left out there.  That all of this... was for nothing.  That Vincent might be dead, and I just stayed here, doing nothing.”

Vin scratched the back of his neck, visibly uncomfortable. He wasn't good at handling emotions.

“Sigh. The world’s a shithole, what did you expect?” he snorted, there was no mockery in his voice this time.  “But sometimes... you find something that’s worth it. You don’t want to die. It’s obvious in your eyes.”

Leonard frowned slightly.

“What could possibly be worth it?” he whispered.

Vin stared at him for a long moment —long enough to make Leonard’s skin crawl.  

Then, wordlessly, Vin pulled off his heavy, battered coat and draped it over Leonard’s shoulders. 

The gesture was so unexpected, so out of place, that the human froze.

Vin turned his head away, feigning indifference.

“What? Don’t want you freezing to death tomorrow.  That’d be a hassle and I wouldn’t even know what the fuck to tell your friend once we get to Eridanus.”

Leonard lowered his head, a small, resigned —yet grateful— expression crossing his face. Without saying anything, he hugged the coat closer to his body. 

It smelled of dust, rain, smoke… It was hard to describe. But somehow, it felt like protection.

“Believe it or not... I appreciate it.  I guess I need to stop being afraid of leaving this place,” he confessed quietly.

They sat in silence for a long while, facing each other, listening to the endless downpour.

Finally, Leonard looked up, a firm determination glinting in his eyes.

“Tomorrow... we'll leave, then. I have to start packing.”

Vin let out a low growl that sounded suspiciously like a suppressed laugh.

“It’s about time, buddy.”

Leonard chuckled lightly.

“Honestly... I really liked the clothes you gave me. How did you even know my size?”

Vin, ever the sarcastic bastard, smirked.

“A big guy like you deserves decent outfits. After all, you're going to see your boyfriend.”

Leonard blushed furiously, caught off guard.

“BOYFRIEND?! Vincent was never… is never… my boyfriend! He was... just a friend from school... although...”

He trailed off.  The memory of a meaningful kiss flickered in his mind.  

Yes, it had been significant, but also... fleeting.

Leonard smiled sadly, holding onto the hope of seeing Vincent again —the man he had grown into.

With that thought, he decided it was time to sleep.  He didn’t want to argue with Vin and end up angry at him.

He would leave behind his refuge. He would walk into the unknown. With the most talkative, rude, annoying, offensive —yet strangely generous— mutant he had ever met.