The Tangle breathe

A blank stare, silence — and Mahler turns, remaining a stranger to him. A distant figure in a picture book, a character in a beloved story. Mahler the man, flesh and blood and sins and sorrows, fades away from him again, and he's left with only the silhouette.
And he's okay with that. He'd meant every word he'd said, and if the other man is never more than a passing acquaintance to him through it all, he'll still be okay with it. That is the way things have always been between them. Mahler's life will go on as it had, and so will his. Eventually they'll meet again, and Alarian will remember all the reasons he's drawn to Mahler, and all the ways he can never know him. Maybe by the time they see each other next, the lilac-eyed man will have found someone to help heal whatever hole has torn itself into his heart. It's clear by now that Alarian will never get close enough to try. He turns and departs, this time with a purpose to his stride.