Wilardo checked the inside of his wrist once more, troubled. There wasn’t a unit of measurement on the inside of his wrist, but every time a day passed, it went down by one, so he assumed it had to be in days.

Intricate red writing sat, unmoving, on Wilardo’s wrist. The number listed there was a two, and yesterday it had been a three. Was his soulmate really going to die in two days?

Or, more like one day, Wilardo thought, glancing at the window and the ever rising moon. It was probably almost midnight, and a while later, the two changed to a one. 

Wilardo stood up. His soulmate was going to die while he was stuck in this cursed mansion. He was never going to meet his soulmate. Wilardo had been preparing himself to live longer than his soulmate, but he had never prepared for this. 

Distraught, Wilardo unlocked the door to his room and shoved it open. His one hope was that he could find the witch’s heart and die along with his soulmate. Wilardo saw a few of those red monsters roaming the hall and shot them all down, releasing some of his frustrations. 

“Wilardo?” Noel had opened his door, probably because Wilardo’s gun wasn’t exactly quiet.

“Sorry, did I wake you?” Wilardo said, exhaling as he put his gun away.

“No, I was already up. I’m functionally nocturnal,” Noel chuckled. “Are you all right?”

Wilardo was silent for a long time, wondering if he should tell Noel what was wrong, or if he should just seek quiet comfort without explaining everything. In the end, he just shook his head subtly.

Noel gave Wilardo a soft smile, then opened his door wider. “Come in.”

Wilardo found himself returning the smile as he followed Noel into his room. Noel’s room was calming, the large window letting in moonlight that bathed the entire room in a silver glow. 

Noel sat down on one of two cushions that were placed at the long table and Wilardo sat next to him, on the other one. 

“... Are you going to ask me what’s wrong?” Wilardo asked, after a long, comfortable silence. 

“Nope,” Noel said, smiling at Wilardo’s confused reaction. “I was going to let you talk if you wanted.”

“Maybe later,” Wilardo said, after a pause. “Can we talk about something else right now?” 

Noel smiled, his eyes closing as he nodded. His smile wasn’t wide, like Ashe’s, or blindly bright, like Claire’s. It was warm and welcoming. Moonlight shone on Noel’s hair, and Wilardo had to resist the urge to run his fingers through it.

Neither of them was eager to talk about themselves or their past, so they handily avoided those two topics. They talked about their situation, but only for a small while, as it was a depressing topic and everything they talked about regarding that led to a dead end. 

In the end, they spoke about the stars. Noel had an interest in astrology, and Wilardo knew quite a bit about the stars, having stared up at them for countless nights. Noel’s face lit up, his eyes sparkling and reflecting the many stars in the night sky. 

After a while, they started talking about flowers, and Noel’s attentive nature made Wilardo feel a bit lost. He wasn’t used to having someone give him their attention in such a complete way.

Wilardo would regret losing himself in Noel’s attention and Noel’s voice and Noel’s smile. The writing on his wrist was out of sight, out of mind. The light on Noel’s hair brightened, golden light hitting golden hair.

“Wilardo...” Noel said, and Wilardo halted his explanation of the meaning of the myosotis, more commonly known as a forget-me-not. Noel’s expression was somewhat pained. 

“What’s wrong?” Wilardo asked, concern worrying his features. 

“Can I see your wrist?” Noel asked, and Wilardo glanced down at his own wrist, hesitating before finally stretching out his arm. Noel took it, pushing his sleeve up so he could see the number that embellished Wilardo’s skin.

Noel set Wilardo’s wrist down on the table and then lay his own wrist next to it. Wilardo’s eyes widened. Noel’s red writing was an infinity symbol. “What is this?” Wilardo said, panic seeping into his voice as he quickly drew his hand away and towards his chest.

“The sun has risen. I’m sorry, Wil. It was selfish of me, I know, but I didn’t want to stop talking to you,” Noel said. 

“What are you doing?” Wilardo asked, barely comprehending Noel’s words. Noel reached out his hand, the red writing drawing Wilardo’s gaze. Wilardo slowly moved his hand towards Noel, who took it, holding Wilardo’s hand in both of his.

“I’ve always known my soulmate would outlive me, and for me, this seemed like my one opportunity, and I couldn’t lose that. I’m sorry.” Noel’s words washed over Wilardo.

“Wait!” Wilardo said, finding his voice at full strength. “No! You can’t die yet!” Wilardo’s other hand joined the one being held by Noel as he leaned in. “Please!”

Noel simply shook his head, showing Wilardo his last smile, which was tinged by regret. 

Wilardo closed the door to Noel’s room behind him, gun in hand. His search for the witch’s heart would continue. 

A/N: i’ve been told wilardo’s room doesn’t have a window. i’m not changing it it’s a small detail that’s hardly plot relevant i’m sorry