OVERLOOKED ㅤkotlc

061

KORAY.
SIENNALAIR
JAN 3 . 10:03 AM

The next day, I'm still surprised the human's not mad at me for making her hurl and face her (greatest?) fear.

I've picked up on how she wakes up early, so I also wake up early now, just so she can't kill me in her sleep. But, as time goes on, I don't think she has it in her to do that, even if she is a human.

"Do all the other Santa slaves think you're a good thief?"

I eye her. Who's Santa? "Yeah," I say.

She laughs at me. Predictable. "You're a terrible thief." Predictable.

I shrug. "Sure," I say. I have to admit, she probably is the better thief, just because the Forbidden Cities probably has higher... thieving standards? Something like that.

But I'm not about to admit it, because I'm a stubborn person (derogatory).

The human thinks for a moment, then says, "I can give you tips."

"On stealing."

"Yep! You're welcome," she says, "you really need them."

I flip her off (but don't protest), and that's how I end up sitting there, listening to her lecture me on the art of stealing, because we're the most honorable here.

I don't think I can stop her, so I listen patiently. The tips are only okay.

Once she's done talking about How She's The Best Thief, and How To Become The Second Best, the human becomes strangely quiet.

Her eyes are thoughtful for once, and not mean and annoying.

I raise an eyebrow. "Thinking up a new insult?"

"Something like that." She considers me, and I meet her gaze steadily. What's she up to now?

She averts her gaze after a while; "You done?" I ask.

"Yeah," the human says. "Out of curiosity, are you loyal to this group?"

Me? Loyal to this group? "Not really."

She grins. "Good."

I watch her, wary. "That doesn't mean I'm gonna break you out, you know."

"Oh no, you will," the human says, with a smile. "I have your marble, remember?"

She has a good point.

"I was talking about something else, though," she says. "Do you know Dex?"

"Uh..." I have to think for a moment, then remember a boy who sucked at fighting. "Yes? Why's that important?"

"Okay. Try not to tell on him, though, will you? He seems like the type to cry over this, and I don't want the guy dead, even if he is half-Goody-Two-Shoes."

If I'm honest, I don't really care, but a part of me's curious. "You think I have anyone to tell?"

She raises an eyebrow at me.

"Fine. I promise," I say. "I give you my word."

"Like that's reliable," the human—Skylar—laughs. She continues, though, so I'm pretty sure she didn't really care if his secret got out in the first place. "He's a double agent, or a traitor, or something."

I study her, surprised to realize that she has a straight face on. "Oh." I pause to digest the information. "So?"

She laughs again. "I thought it was interesting," she says. "You can use it as leverage, you know, against him."

"Wow," I say drily. "Look at you, looking out for me. Historians will say you're a good friend."

"Historians will wonder why my taste in friends is terrible."

"Historians will wish you died sooner."

"Historians are biased and wrong."

I roll my eyes. It's futile to continue this; this feels strangely like entertaining a kid who has no friends (and for a reason). "So Dex is gonna betray us soon?"

The human laughs at me. "Try not to sound so interested now," she teases.

"I'm not."

"Do you not understand sarcasm?"

Oh. Right. In my defense, Gisela isn't very sarcastic, and I haven't really talked to anyone else. "Maybe you're not good at being sarcastic."

She looks at me, amused. She really thinks ridiculing me is a hobby, doesn't she? "I'm not good at being sarcastic?" the human repeats. "Falsehood."

"I hate you," I decide to say.

The human only grins. "I know," she replies, and changes the subject: "So you said you're here because you owe these people, right?"

I hum noncommittally. "Pretty much."

"Do you ever miss your old life?"

I regard her thoughtfully. Her decency just pulled a 360 on me. "Sometimes," I say slowly, as my brain chants all the time like a cult.

"What do you miss?"

I raise an eyebrow. She's being suspicious. "Are you psychoanalyzing me right now?"

The human looks amused. "No," she says, and it sounds genuine. "Well, probably a little bit."

I laugh, letting my guard down, just a little bit. "I miss my family, I guess." I hope they still remember me. "I miss belonging somewhere?"

"You sound hella old right now."

"I'm not wrong, though," I press. She should understand this feeling, or maybe I'll just shut down if this gets ridiculed and invalidated. "I just don't know life's purpose, and I want something to be excited about, you know?"

She thinks, thank God, she thinks over my words. They turn in her head, and she tests the words against her tongue. She says, "Life doesn't need a purpose, just have fun! We'll all die one day and it won't matter."

Her flippant attitude is jarring, and a second passes before she realizes why the words were so ugly out loud. The human studies me, with something almost apologetic in her eyes. "Damn. Doesn't living get boring?"

I imagine it does. "I'm not old enough to know."

"It probably does." She sounds so nonchalant about this. A pause. "I guess I get what you mean, though. Belonging, right?"

There's a piece of me in this topic. So I can only nod, trying to hide the way I internally hold my breath.

"Belonging," the human echoes. "I'd like that one day."

"It's safe, though," I say. I can't help but be surprised. "Wouldn't you want something exciting?"

She only shrugs, and sends me a look that asks Are you stupid?. "Belonging can be exciting, you just have to choose a person you fit with."

It's almost annoying that she's right. "I thought you were dumb."

The melancholic air dissipates and falls through my fingers. I let it go.

The human feigns an expression of two moms coincidentally seeing each other at a grocery store. "That's funny, I thought you didn't have anything up here?"

"Shut up. You're literally so stupid."

"I look at you and think, I'm glad I didn't turn out like that bozo!"

And then we do something terrible; Skylar and I laugh at the same time, and my cursed brain enjoys the sound more than it should.

But she's a human, and when a human dies, the world doesn't hold its breath, because it's only inevitable. Best not to get attached.