I took a different turn, taking the path towards the beach where I was sure Foolish would be.

Sure enough, as I reached the beach I spotted the silhouette of Foolish sat by the waves, the setting sun highlighting the golden streak in his hair.

"Foolish! Over here!" I yelled.

He turned around, his face lighting up as he spotted me. "Hey Y/N! Sit over here, come on."

I walked over, sitting next to him. "What're you doing?" I asked curiously.

"I found a cat." Foolish said, turning so that I could see a small tabby kitten with one white paw and white patches curled up in his lap. "She was hurt, so I tried to help her, and she kind of fell asleep. I think she's a street cat- look how skinny she is." He stroked the cat gently, and the small kitten shifted slightly in her sleep, resting the white paw on his hand.

"Aw, she's so cute!" I said brightly. I reached out a hesitant hand, glancing at Foolish, who nodded, and stroked the cat gently, tickling the tabby under her chin. The cat started purring loudly, shifting slightly in her sleep again.

"If nobody claims her I'm definitely keeping her." Foolish declared.

"Have you come up with a name for her yet?" I asked, smiling as the small kitten pawed at Foolish's hand, still purring.

"I was thinking Patches." He said happily.

"Then if nobody claims her, I hereby name this little kitten Patches." I said, grinning.

"Patches it is." Patches let out a small meow, as if agreeing with her name choice.

We sat in silence for a few moments before I spoke up. "Actually, I was looking for you- I need to talk to you about something."

Foolish straightened, frowning slightly. "Oh. What is it?"

"So... um... wow, this is much harder to say than I thought..." I paused, taking a deep breath, and the words came out in a rush. "I know you said that you liked someone, but I wanted you to know that I really like you, and I don't want to get in the way of you and the person you like, but I just wanted to tell you."

Foolish stared for a moment and then, to my surprise and confusion, burst into laughter.

I blinked. "What's so funny?"

"Oh my god, Y/N, you're mostly, like, a freaking genius, but you're really stupid sometimes."

I frowned, more than a little hurt. "What do you mean?"

"Y/N, I like you."

Now it was my turn to stare. "You do?"

"Yes. I was very vaguely talking about you when I asked."

I laughed. "You asked the person you liked.... For advice about asking out the person you liked?"

"Mhm. I tried to be vague about it!" Foolish protested with a smile.

"You were too vague it seems. I was worried you were laughing at me saying I liked you, you- you idiot!" I shoved him playfully.

He gently shoved me back, smiling. "I am nothing if not vague and mysterious."

"Foolish, you are the least mysterious person I've ever met."

Foolish let out a shocked yelp. "I'm mysterious! I have the bandage thing on my eye, don't I?" He pointed at the bandage wrapped around part of his face, covering his right eye.

"Ah, true, true. A real mystery." I teased. There was a thoughtful silence before I said quietly, "Okay, I want to ask something, and if I'm being insensitive, tell me to shut the hell up, okay?" He nodded. "Why do you cover up that eye?"

He sucked in a breath through his teeth and the expression on his face told me he knew what I had been going to ask. "Truth be told, when I was still learning how to use my powers, I somehow tripped and broke the totem of undying and struck myself with my own lighting at the same time." Foolish reached up and carefully pulled the bandages away. "I managed to repair the totem somehow, but now my eye looks like this."

I bit back a gasp. His right was scarred as if it had been repeatedly slashes at with a knife, golden veins going off of it. The eye itself had a golden iris and the sclera was dark brown-gold-black.

"Oh. I get it now." I said quietly. "I think it looks kind of cool, but you know..."

"You do?"

"Yeah!"

——

"I'm home!" I announced brightly. I was greeted by Patches meowing loudly, nudging her food bowl with her white paw.

"I'll feed you soon, don't worry." I muttered, stroking the cat gently.

"Oh, you're back! How was patrol?" Foolish asked, walking in from the next room.

"Boring." I huffed. "I ran into Adapt and Wildcat, who were also on patrol, and they're doing okay, which is good."

"That is good news!"

"I'm just gonna feed Patches quickly-"

"Don't be fooled by her lies." Foolish said bluntly, sitting down on the floor to try and get the cat to walk over to him. "She was fed an hour ago."

"What?" I let out a gasp of mock offence as Patches sat down on my feet. "Oh- guess I don't have a choice now. Sorry sweetheart, the cat wins again." Patches let out a meow of approval, and we both stared at her for a moment before bursting into laughter.

"Someone needs to tell that cat that she lives in our house and not the other way around." Foolish joked, attempting to entice Patches away from my feet by shaking a bag of treats.

"That's where you're wrong, sweetheart. I believe she's claimed this house as her own." I said with a giggle.

"True, true. Come on Patches, leave Y/N's feet alone." The cat reluctantly got up off my feet, walking over to Foolish and sniffing the bag of treats.

I laughed as Patches batted at Foolish's arm, causing him to drop the bag, and treats went everywhere. Patches started purring loudly.

"Aw, Patches, I have to clean that up now!"

"I think she'll take care of that for us." I said with an affectionate smile as Patches jumped away from Foolish to start eating the treats that were scattered across the floor.

I sat down next to Foolish with a yawn, resting my head on his shoulder.

My life couldn't be more perfect.