Conner shoved his hands deeper into his jacket pockets, his gaze fixed on the fallen leaves his boots crunched on. Centennial Park was always quite the view in autumn, with the trees in rich reds, burnt oranges and yellows against the clear blue sky. But he barely noticed the scenery around him. Nothing helped. Spiralling thoughts kept coming back, looping over and over.

“Yeah, I get it. I’m a clone. I know. ” He mumbled without looking at the figure beside him, “And honestly… I’m not as pissed about it as I used to be. Guess that’s something.” The words came out louder than he meant them to, but he felt too awkward to apologise. Instead, he kicked a stone down the path, watching it bounce before leaving a light dent on an oak tree. He stared at the mark it left behind silently for a few moments before continuing, “Yesterday, when we stopped that attack at the hospital? I saw this dad holding his newborn, tears streaming down his face. He was so happy. It kinda shook me. I mean, I know what love and joy look like. I get the whole thing about that kind of bond. But actually seeing it?” He shook his head, feeling a hollow pain that was strangely new. “That’s when it hit me…”

He trailed off, feeling a tightness in his chest, a dull ache he couldn’t shake, but he forced himself to continue. “No one’s ever held me like that. No one’s ever looked at me with that kind of… awe, like my mere existence was a miracle. That baby? He didn’t have to prove anything or earn it. He was just… loved.”

Leaves drifted and spiralled in the air, caught up in the gusts around him. He reached out, catching one and studied it for a moment. Then he let it go silently, watching as it slipped from his fingers and joined the others, carried on by the wind.

“It got to me because… I don’t think I’ve ever gotten that kind of look.” He let out a shaky breath, finally looking up to meet {{user}}’s eyes. “And I don’t think I ever will.”