animal ears

?"Eh?"

Are you angry about this?

"Norman didn't say a word before, I thought..." Cole stopped, looked at the coquettish orc who was desperately pounced on him, calmed down, and said, "I thought...Norman was because I was so late Angry for not coming back."

"I'm angry!" Norman pouted, raised his head impressively, and said angrily, "But I'm not angry because of this!"

That is……?

Unable to figure it out, Cole looked at Norman puzzled.

The sloppy orc with an aggrieved expression, with his ears downcast, looked unspeakably pitiful, and stared at his partner. After a while, he twisted his eyebrows, and once again slammed his arms around Cole, his head drooping, and he said softly: "... I was mad at myself."

"Eh?"

"I'm afraid that Cole is gone." The breathless words, slightly trembling voice.

Hearing this sentence, Cole couldn't help being startled for a moment, then his eyes relaxed, he stretched out his hands to hug the head buried in his chest, and rubbed it slowly and comfortingly, the fine short hair, warm body, lively The throbbing heartbeats all touched the softest place in the bottom of my heart.

He's been worrying about himself.

this fool.

So with a knowing smile, Cole lowered his head, kissed Norman's forehead, and said, "But didn't you come to see me?" Then he held his head, which was close at hand, and pressed his forehead against it, and whispered, "Yes You found me and brought me back."

That being said, Norman was terrified all the while looking around for Cole.

I'm afraid that if I don't pay attention, or if I'm a step late, I won't be able to touch the temperature in my hand again.

This kind of worry is not groundless. How many times Cole has saved himself from life and death, Norman can't count.Because he was often injured when he went out when he was a child, and sometimes the injury was so serious that Cole had to go to collect medicine for himself in the middle of the night, but he could only stay in the cave in a daze, looking at the dark sky outside the entrance of the cave. Ants eat all kinds of suffering.

At that time, how afraid he was that Cole would just be... gone forever.

Norman hated himself very much. He clearly promised his parents to protect Cole, but he always became his burden, so he kept trying to grow up quickly, but it was counterproductive. The more impatient, the more the gain was not worth the loss. , making Cole worry about himself.

──I may not be qualified to protect him at all.

When I was alone, I used to think so negatively, but I couldn't let go of that gentle look in my eyes.

Don't want to lose, don't want to lose at all!

At the same time, Norman didn't want that look to turn to anyone else—he didn't even dare to think about it.

If that's the case, he must go crazy.

So Tyson's sudden appearance made Norman unable to restrain his feelings anymore. He vaguely felt that Cole probably still had Tyson's shadow hidden in his heart, and he knew Cole's feelings for Tyson since he was a child. He couldn't bear it, so he made Cole accept himself desperately and half-forced, he thought, he was really selfish and despicable, but he didn't regret it.

In this world, the most despicable and unfair competition is love.

As long as he can monopolize Cole's gaze, he doesn't mind being a villain, but he is still afraid that Cole will suddenly disappear one day.

The more you cherish something, the more afraid it will disappear, just like fleeting happiness.

Maybe this is just my imagination, but it is undeniable that Norman has always had this uneasy feeling.

So he hugged Cole tightly all the time, unwilling to let go.

You have to feel his presence, you have to touch his body, you have to hear his breathing, in order to calm your restless heart.

And the hug given to him by the other party made him unable to let go.

"I always believed that Norman would come to me," Cole smiled, lowering his eyelids slightly, "so I have been waiting."

"Cole..."

Raising his eyes lightly, staring at those beloved amber pupils, Cole held his cheeks that were still showing shame, bent his lips and smiled, and said softly: "If I disappear again in the future, please find me and take me away." Bring it back, okay?"

In just a moment, his eyes were so moved that his eyes were moist.

"Of course!" Sniffed, "I will definitely find you back! No matter where you go, I will find you and bring you back!"

Touching the orc's head again, Cole said softly, "Well, then I'll trouble you."

Cole then kisses Norman.

For some reason, Norman who was kissed suddenly blushed, turned his head, and then arched his whole body, and instantly transformed into a beast shape, a big furry tiger, and then lay down next to Cole, with its round head leaning over , opened his mouth to frantically lick Cole's face.

Cole couldn't help but laugh.

Having been together for so many years, Cole certainly knows that there are two reasons why Norman turned into a beast. First, he sensed danger, and second, he was shy.

So Kele couldn't help but smirked, raised his eyebrows, and suddenly hugged the tiger and scratched his belly. The tiger whose belly was scratched shivered all over, and became even more shy. Leaning on Cole softly, he was allowed to be slaughtered. The big tiger, which had no resistance at all, kept turning around, and finally howled a few times in grievance. The two tiger eyes looked at Cole pitifully, and the tiger ears drooped down. , a look of begging for mercy.

Seeing this, Cole no longer continued to bully Norman, but calmly snuggled up to him, and then explained the reason for returning home late today.

"The kid seemed very wary and kept a distance from me at first, but he probably thought that I could take him back, so he followed me all the time. I was afraid that something would happen to him, so I sent him back to the entrance of the village." Cole Saying so.

Norman shook his head when he heard this, then lowered his head and licked Cole's cheek.

"But that child..." For some reason, Cole suddenly thought of the skinny little orc, and felt a little helpless, so he shrugged his shoulders and sighed in a low voice: "That child... looks very timid and afraid of people, it should be Frightened by wild animals in the woods, alas, I don’t know how his family let him play in the woods.”

What's more, the clothes are ragged, and the body is too thin to look like.

Maybe have been lost in the woods for many days or not.

With big furry paws around Cole's shoulders, Norman licked Cole's ears comfortingly.

Realizing that Norman was comforting himself, he raised his head. Cole nodded with a smile, but for some reason, thinking of the little orc's eyes, he always had a strange feeling in his heart.

The next day, Cole was collecting hemp leaves not far from home, but halfway through the collection, he suddenly noticed something staring at him from behind, so he immediately took out the bone knife in his waist, turned around sharply, and looked back carefully Go, there is a figure looming behind the big tree not far away, so Cole shouted there: "Come out."

The figure shrank obviously, and shrank back.

Cole frowned, lowered his gaze, and said in a cold voice, "Do you want me to go over there and drag you out?"

Facing the threat, there was no movement at all. Cole couldn't bear it, and walked over. Suddenly, a small figure slowly moved out from behind the big tree.

The silver hair and silver eyes turned out to be the little orc from yesterday!

The little orc, who was obviously frightened, trembled a little. He looked up at Cole, grabbed the tree trunk with one hand, and lowered his head without moving.

This kid... why did he come here again?

Quickly recovering from his daze, Cole hurried forward, walked up to the little orc, bent down and asked, "Why are you here again? Didn't I tell you yesterday that it's dangerous?"

There was worry and blame in his tone.

The little orc bit his lip, lowered his head, clutched his old clothes nervously, and still didn't speak.

But even though he didn't say anything, something seemed to be flowing slowly in those lowered eyes, his eyes were red, and his dirty face was always facing the gravel-covered ground.

Cole looked at his feet along the way and found that his feet were also bruised.

"You..." Feeling distressed, Cole couldn't help softening his voice and asked, "Why did you come here?"

The little orc still didn't speak, didn't even look up at Cole, and after a while, when Cole didn't know what to do, the little orc suddenly raised his left hand and stretched it straight towards Cole, and in his hand, gently grabbed With a small white flower like the one I saw when we met yesterday.

"Is this...for me?" Cole was stunned.

Nodding slightly, the little orc held up the flower, raised his eyes secretly, glanced at Cole, and then quickly lowered his eyes.

After receiving the flowers, Cole felt baffled, but also smiled and thanked: "Thank you."

Seeing that Cole took the flowers, the expression on the little orc's face instantly became much happier, and then he stared at Cole blankly. Seeing the stain on the little orc's cheek, Cole couldn't help but reach out and wipe it off for him, the little orc Ren Keer wiped his face for him without any resistance, but kept looking at Kele without saying a word.

Later, Cole sent him to the river again.

Along the way, the little orc clung to Cole's sleeve and refused to let go.

"Don't come into this forest alone in the future, it's very dangerous here, you know?" Cole told him as he walked, he didn't hate being relied on by this strange silent little orc, but felt a little sympathetic, remembering that he had never heard of it. After the little orc made a sound, Cole couldn't help asking, "Why don't you talk?"

He raised his head and stared at Cole quietly for a while, then the little orc lowered his head, lowered his eyes, looked at his own reflection in the water, and shook his head slightly.

"Can't you speak?" Cole came up with this guess.

Slowly, the little orc nodded.

That's why he came to the woods alone.

No matter where, no matter what the reason, people will reject and hate people who are different from themselves because of prejudice. In the cruel competition for survival, in order to seek more space and food, this is an essential principle, and this kind of The so-called principles of the majority always cruelly squeeze the small group of people to the margins.

Sometimes it's just life, and sometimes it's just people's preferences.

However, Cole is no stranger to this kind of thing.

Somewhat choked, he looked at the little orc who was firmly grasping the corner of his clothes, and suddenly felt pitiful, so he couldn't help touching his head with his hand, and said softly: "If you don't dislike it, let's be friends ?”

The little orc was a little surprised, blinked, and looked up at Cole.

Cole narrowed his eyes and smiled, pointed to the animal ears on his head, and said, "Look, I have these ears. It's very strange, so don't reject me."

The only way I can think of is to accommodate him. He is still so young, and his heart should not be covered with too much dust.

"My name is Cole." Nodding, Cole said, "You..."

Suddenly remembering that the other party couldn't speak, Cole frowned and thought for a while, feeling a little distressed, then lowered his head and saw the flower in his hand, he suddenly realized, raised his head slightly, handed the flower to the little orc, and said with a smile: "You The flower you gave me is called Palanch, since you can't tell me your name, then I'll call you Palanch, right?"

Palanch, in the animal language, means perseverance.

Staring at the flower, the little orc raised his chin, neither nodded nor shook his head, but there was a faint light in his eyes. ?