Aster was already a bit worn out from his own training, but the tiger was relentless. The human was giving it everything he had, and he still was losing... Badly. Oust Candori was finally proving a point, at least in Aster's eyes.

Oust was faster, Oust was stronger, and Oust was the indisputably superior one here. Aster could feel it, the malice behind the strikes. The passion behind those glaring eyes... What else could it be but such resentment? Oust was setting the story straight at last.

Oust didn't want Aster around anymore. Oust wouldn't be trying to kill him if that wasn't the case. Aster blocked another bone rattling fist aimed right at his face at a speed he almost failed to even see.

The human let out a weak cry as his shoulder threatened to give way for a moment, creating the fastest opening for the beast.

Oust launched another fist towards Aster's midsection, making the boy scramble to cover it. Oust shot his other arm forward, aiming straight at the boy's face again. Aster flailed to raise the shield but didn't realize the fake out until it was too late.

The tiger took a bit of a dipping sidestep, raised his fist again, and struck towards Aster's head with every bit of speed behind a hummingbird's wingbeat. The beast was reaching towards his face hungrily, his gaze locked onto Aster's as the boy realized he could never block in time.

Oust admittedly relished the look of fear that flashed across the runt's face as he submitted to the tiger's strength. As Oust finally proved himself worthy enough and strong enough to stand beside him.

Aster turned his head away, clamped his eyes shut, and flinched in anticipation of the deadly impact colliding against his skull. The strike never came, not in the way he had expected anyway.

The softest touch brushed against the boy's cheek instead, coaxing him to open his eyes as the window for the strike long since closed. The human cautiously looked up to the menacing tiger, a single, lingering finger lightly caressing his face all the while.

Oust was close to him, staring down with those red eyes again, in a way that made the human burn within his own skin.

Oust opened his hand a bit more, and pressed the pink pads of his palm and fingers flatly against the runt's scarred cheek, holding nearly half of the boy's head in his careful, larger hand.

Aster kept staring up at the beast, which had just bested him, feeling confused. It's like all of that bloodlust he had been showing during their match had vanished entirely.

Even so, before he realized it, the human brought his own hand up to cradle the tiger's, holding the soft palm to his face with a sense of comfort. Oust adjusted his hand slowly, trailing his fingertips along the human's jawline and the short beard just beginning to grow over it.

The tiger moved his thumb to rest between the two scars as he gently slid it along their length, tracing the damage from Aster's nose, over his cheek, and resting just where his ear began. The beast spoke in that calm voice of his, never letting the human break eye contact.

"How something so small, so frail, and so kind can still be so strong is a mystery to me." Aster tried to look away in embarrassment at the praise, but the beast wouldn't let him. Oust didn't want to look away from those eyes this time.

Aster's hand trembled against the tiger's as his own convoluted feelings simmered beneath his surface. The boy did manage to at least answer the beast.

"Strength isn't measured by power alone. It's measured by how you use it. Being kind is not a trait of the weak, Oust. It's a choice, not an ultimatum. It's your choice too."

The tiger dropped his hand, closing his eyes as he broke the eye contact at last. He took a few paces towards the bank before he called back to the human.

"And what if I'm bad at choices, Runt? What if there's something stopping me from choosing anything?"

Aster stepped towards the bank, brushing off his need for a proper bath all the while. He came up beside the tiger once more, answering as he walked right past him.

"Then you can just rest for a moment while we figure it out. I think this rock looks like a good spot to do just that."

The boy jumped up on a nearby boulder, pulling himself up with ease as he turned and took his seat. He flashed the tiger a toothy smile as he patted the spot next to him. Oust looked hesitantly at the boy's offer but yielded to the request, humoring the runt as he jumped up beside him.

Aster quickly shifted, turning his back to the tiger, looking over his shoulder with the same grin as before. Oust gave him a puzzled stare, so the boy elaborated for him.

"Sit back to back. It's something me and Cortist used to do, helps talk about tough stuff." Oust's brows furrowed as he replied defensively.

"What makes you so sure I need to talk about anything?" Aster stared at the tiger with a skeptical look, silently reminding the beast of the condition he had found him in only moments ago. Oust lowered his gaze and his ears a bit as he turned his head away.

He begrudgingly turned his back to the human, still feeling like this whole thing was trivial. He almost jumped out of his pelt when he felt the human's bare back lean against his own exposed fur.

The tiger cautiously looked over his shoulder, but the human was only staring up above, smiling that dumb smile of his, gazing at the stars peeking back down at him through the larger trees.

The tiger turned his own gaze, looking up with him as he focused on breathing. As he focused on the boy's breathing against his body.

"See? It's not so scary like this." Oust actually chuckled, his rumbling sides pouring into Aster's own.

"Nobody ever said you were scary, runt." Aster glared back at the tiger in annoyance, but he was happy the beast seemed to be lightening up some.

"I wasn't talking about me, Oust. I was talking about whatever you have going on inside of yourself. I get it, I had some low points, too... Times where I felt there wouldn't even be anyone to miss me if I just gave up... Cortist helped me through that stuff, and he did it just like this. Just... Give me a chance here."

Oust went silent, but Aster felt the beast nod, agreeing to hear him out. The boy beamed at the progress, letting the sounds of the forest overtake them a while more before interrupting the natural symphony of crickets and frogs around them.

"Tell me what's bothering you?" Oust remained quiet for a while, letting the silence build between them.

"I don't think I like talking about it. It makes me feel like I'm fishing for pity..." Aster closed his eyes, thinking how to answer that.

"Alright, I get that. How about you just tell me about your mom then? I'd like to know more about her." The tiger relaxed against the human just a little, letting his back rest on the boy's own.

"Well, she was really kind... Far too kind for my father. Their marriage was arranged because my father has a thing about purity. She was a beautiful white tiger, her fur as blinding as the snow, but with a smile that could warm the coldest room."

Aster smiled softly at the description, trying to imagine what she looked like. The boy asked another question.

"So, both of your parents are all white? Where did the orange come from?" Oust leaned off the human a bit, drawing away in his insecurity. Aster almost panicked, fearing he had crossed a line, but Oust answered this as well.

"My father blamed my mother's side... Said it was something hereditary, a 'spoiled Pelt.' My sister and brother didn't have it... My mother kept it hidden until I was ten. I remember, twice a week, she would paint a little white dye over the orange, carefully avoiding the black stripes that crossed it... There's a story about a spoiled pelt rising from within my family, and she always feared how my father would react... She was right to be afraid back then."

The tiger shifted uncomfortably, feeling like he was talking too much again. Aster leaned his head back some, coming into contact with the beast's wide shoulders once more as he spoke.

"So, one day he found out, and I'm guessing it went badly?" Oust let out a heavy sigh before he replied.

"No... That night was going badly long before that secret was revealed..." Oust clenched his fists before he even realized he was. That was part of THAT night...

"I won't pry there... Not until you want to tell me." Oust spoke again, grateful for the boy's approach there, but speaking in a lower voice than ever before.

"I don't know that I'll ever want to tell anyone." Something about the defeated way the tiger muttered those words struck Aster in a very raw way. Oust was letting him see who he was at last, but the boy didn't know how to help the beast with all that hurt he carried around.

Aster felt the sorrow behind Oust's anger, and for a reason that wasn't even clear to the boy, he felt his eyes mist up as that familiar desire to protect those he cared about rose within himself once more.

"Your coat... Your `Spoiled Pelt,' as they called it. It doesn't happen often, does it?" There was a rasp to the human's voice that the beast just couldn't quite identify, but there was a passion that was very audible as well. Oust was almost taken aback by the sudden question, but answered it a bit curiously.

"No... Different white variant species can have it happen... But you don't see it, but maybe once every five generations per bloodline." Aster rebutted quickly, making sure he got to his point.

"So in the entire world... In our country, and those that surround it, you are the ONLY single person that has a pelt like that? That white with the orange tint on your back?" Oust shifted, starting to feel a little self-conscious, discussing his pelt so in depth. Even so, he answered the boy.

"Yes." Aster straightened up, his smile growing bigger than ever as the tears fell faster than before

"Good! You know what that means, right?" Oust huffed a little, having plenty of guesses as to what that meant, but knowing none of them were what the human would say anyway. The beast spoke with a touch of patience.

"What does it mean, Runt?" Aster lowered his head, leaning back into the beast as he near whispered his reply.

"It means you're like me. You're alone, Oust. The only one like you in the world. Maybe this means we are special in a sense, or maybe it's for some reason of fate, but what that doesn't mean is we have to be lonely. Even if we are different, we can stand beside each other. We can stand as friends... You are unique, Oust... Not a mistake. I would kill for fur like that... I would've given anything to be born as a beastman to fit in this world... But I was born the human I needed to be... So I'll just have to settle for staring at that amazing coat of yours instead... It really is beautiful, Oust."

Aster turned, laying eyes on the pelt once more, marveling at the way the creamy white melted into the larger patch of orange between his shoulders. How the patch of orange swirled out into the smallest curls and tendrils at the edges of the marking.

The way the colors folded, highlighting one another as the patch slowly grew to overtake the white more and more over time, stretching up his neck and the back of his ears, along his shoulders, and down the small of his back.

The black stripes only adding another layer of depth to the illusion. Oust's exposed torso was something Aster could find the smallest patterns in, a natural work of art. The boy placed a caring hand between the beast's shoulder blades, noting the tight muscles beneath the pelt flinching from his touch. He left his hand there anyway, averting his gaze as to not stare for too long.

Aster would sit in silence. He had said what he needed to. He could only hope the tiger would believe him, that he would know it was the truth. Oust said nothing. He hadn't moved much since the human finished speaking, making Aster worry he had crossed a line.

More of those sad tears fell from the boy, making him close his eyes and drop his hand from the beast's back to give him some space. Another soft touch at his cheek made the boy suck in a breath, but he didn't look back at the tiger just yet.

The beast scooped away a single falling tear, drawing his hand away after as he finally realized the human was crying. Aster said nothing. He felt he just couldn't say anything else. Oust finally spoke, in a softer tone.

"You would even shed a tear for me." Aster laughed a bit at the bewilderment behind the statement.

"Of course I would." Oust could only stare at the boy in shock, Aster never realizing the severity that came with shedding tears in the Candori household. The tiger merely went quiet again, this time in pure bewilderment and butterflies.

The boy had called his fur beautiful. He would expose his emotions for the tiger's sake. He would call him a friend. Aster felt the tension in the air as he feared he had gone too far. The boy let out a heavy sigh and started his apology, opening his damp eyes slightly as he turned his head back towards the beast.

"Oust-" before the boy ever got another word out, Oust cuts him off. "Thank you, brother..."

That was the second time he'd referred to the human runt that way. Aster only smiled as he gazed at the stars.

***

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