The Aspiring Archivist

"Feeling kind of... sick." This seemed to worry them. "Maybe it's just the aftereffects of almost freezing to death?"

They looked at his hand, suddenly seeming a bit dazed.

"I guess we can find somewhere else." They glanced at the people in red cloaks warily.

"I think I need a little while to think."

"I guess so."

"It's probably nothing to do with us," Erin replied softly, though they seemed unsure.

"Thank you." They also eyed the new arrivals.

"Would you come with me? If I want to go back?"

Erin did not yet eat, seeming lost in thought. "Yeah... You'd think I could never forget that life, not so fast, but it already feels like it's fading. Sometimes I can hardly remember their faces."

"...Maybe. To say sorry, I guess. And to remember."

"I wouldn't deserve that. I can't imagine what they thought when I disappeared. I probably really hurt them. But I was so scared, and I hated the way people looked at me like I was already dead, or like they could catch it."

Their voice was quiet. "Uh. Yeah. The same."

"Well, I had a family. My moms and my older brother. We were happy enough, I guess. I was adopted, so the magic was a pretty big surprise. It's pretty uncommon down south." They sighed. "It wasn't a problem until I got older. We talked to a specialist, and were told that it was an incurable disease. And when I started falling apart, and I knew I was going to die, I ran away. I couldn't handle it. The way they looked at me..." They stopped, looking down and dropping his hand. Their expression mixed sadness and shame.

"I don't know. There were good things and bad things there. But things will have changed, too."

"I'm... far away from everything I knew. I left when I got sick."

They looked back at him thoughtfully. "If there isn't anything that happens that forces our hand... what should we do together?"

"Yeah." Erin held onto his hand as they sat down across from each other at a small table.

Erin smiled. "Alright. Now we just need to find where to eat and where we can stay... after all, the inn burned down."

"Okay." They took his hand. "Let's go. Hopefully we can get back without more people appearing out of nowhere."