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"Make me likeable."

The sentence floated in the almost empty room for a few seconds. Fyr remained very quiet and very still, feeling awkward. There was something the hyena wanted to say but he didn't know how to say it. His words broke the silence after a short moment of tension.

"I like you." It sounded way more condescending than he would have liked.

"No, you don't." The retriever shook his head and gave him a small, unhappy smile. "You like me the same way people like carpets or paintings. I'm there and from time to time you may look at me, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm just part of the furniture."

"That's not true."

"Oh, don't lie to me."

Fyr wanted to complain, but he couldn't muster the strength to do it. As much as he didn't want to believe Gan's words, there was a part of him that thought maybe the retriever was right and he hadn't been paying him too much attention lately.

Or ever, for that matter.

Still, that wasn't supposed to happen. Fyr's attention couldn't possibly be that important! There was supposed to be a moment of acceptance and Gan was supposed to like himself despite what the others could think about him. And that was supposed to be enough. It happened in movies and stories every time. It was the desirable outcome.

"So how do you suppose I could make you likeable?" he asked, pronouncing the last word with a bit of a joking tone.

"It's easy," the retriever answered. "You pick all that I am and dump it in the trash. Then you set it on fire. Then you start anew."

"I can't do that," the hyena said.

"Yes, you can. Easily."

The most worrying thing about it was that Gan remained absolutely serious and calm throughout the conversation. He didn't look sad. Tired, maybe, but he made a great job at hiding it. Under any other circumstances, Fyr might have found his weird proposal alluring - he wasn't made of ice and there was a part of him that liked that kind of power fantasy.

But there wasn't anything horny about the retriever's words. There wasn't anything happy or excited either.

Just cold, sharp, blatant certainty.

"Why?" he asked.

"You asked me what I wanted. I answered."

"You must want something other than this," Fyr argued.

"Heh. I'm here because there's nothing I want. Believe me. I checked."

Fyr remained silent for a second. There must be something he could do. He was supposed to help. Somehow. It couldn't possibly be too late.

"Let's try something different instead," he offered, placing one of his paws on Gan's temple. The retriever nodded, with the kind of smile that seemed like a full sentence on its own. You'll see, it was saying. There's nothing you can do and in the end you'll see that I'm right.

Fyr tried to ignore it and focused on activating his powers. He felt the rush of energy going from his chest to his arm, and then down to the tips of his fingers, right into Gan's temple. The retriever's body shook momentarily and then it fell limply on the table, as if someone had shut a robot down. He looked peaceful just like that, the hyena thought. As the dog's chest rose and sank slowly and rhythmically in his sleep, Fyr guided him deeper into trance. He wanted to give him a nice experience.

He made him think he was a cat. For some reason, he found that cute. Then, he made him laugh and feel good for a while, and he did. There were a few more suggestions involved, mostly those that Fyr new worked well with Gan. Then, he held the retriever in his arms and they talked while the retriever was still in trance. His sluggish words were just a whisper, but they sounded way more hopeful than they'd sounded while he was awake. That made the hyena think maybe there was a choice after all.

Then he woke him up. The retriever stretched. He looked happy for a few seconds - then the gleam of his eyes grew dull and his smile became only a pretense.

"I thought you liked that," Fyr said, a bit disappointed.

Gan nodded.

"I did," he answered. "I really did. But... I don't want you to do this only because you think I'm feeling bad. I want you to do it because you want to do it."

Fyr didn't know how to answer to that, so instead he asked a different question.

"Are you feeling better?"

Gan stroke his hair.

"I am. Right now. But I'll tell you about it tonight, when there's no one to talk with and I'm all alone with my thoughts again."

"Maybe we could fix that."

"I told you how to fix it."

The hyena wanted to ask, but he didn't know the right questions.

"I don't want to do it," he admitted.

"You don't have to. I don't mean to force you. Again, you asked me what I wanted - and I answered. That's all there is. Really."

Fyr thought about it. His right paw twitched and he bit his lip. What could he do?

"There must be someone who likes you." That was a desperate attempt and he knew it.

"Ah. Yeah. Probably. I'm aware that there must be someone. But you know, it's of no use if I can't even tell. If I'm supposed to believe that when there's no proof, I could also believe there's life on other planets. I mean, there must be. It only makes sense."

Fyr didn't answer.

"You're looking for something that you won't find," the retriever said, shaking his head. "Don't overthink it. If you don't want to do it, that's fine. As I said, I don't want to force you into anything."

The hyena looked deeply into Gan's big, empty eyes. The retriever had been right when he'd said it would be easy for him to do what he wanted. It would be just as easy as placing a paw on his temple again, he thought, and erasing everything beneath it. Just an instant - right-clicking on his mind and then selecting the 'Delete' option. He could do it. He had never done that, but he knew the theory behind. His powers reached that far. He knew it. But he didn't want to do it.

What if that helped Gan lived more happily? Well, the retriever had made his choice, hadn't he? And Fyr was no one to tell him it was the wrong one. He had asked what he wanted to do, after all. The retriever had just answered.

Then why couldn't he shake the feeling that there was something terribly wrong about it? Because it is, he thought. And still, there wasn't much else he could do.

"You sure?" he asked, tentatively.

Gan nodded.

The hyena's paw was trembling when it rose from the table and went to the retriever's temple again. Gan gave him a small, frighteningly calm smile. Fyr hesitated and looked into those eyes again. As he watched the hyena struggle, the retriever seemed patient. He wouldn't judge him if he decided he didn't want to do it after all. Fyr knew that much.

Gan looked back at him with green, tired eyes. He could have said something more, but it wasn't really necessary. He'd said everything he wanted to say. Farewells would only make parting harder. And he was calm. And he was happy when energy flew from Fyr's fingertips. And he knew, deep inside, that things couldn't go much worse. They had a tendency to always remain the same, anyway.

He took a deep breath in.

Tomorrow's promises held no more meaning than yesterday's disappointment.