Damnation Of Devotion ✔

11: Step On A Deer's Shit

{ KI }

"Ki... You're crying."

We both open our eyes, and I watch tears slide down his cheeks too.

"Really? I thought I'm leaking."

His laughter puts me at ease. Although his look is tinted with an old wound, he kisses me as if he thanks me.

"Better, Aht?"

"Surprisingly, yes. Cathartic even."

"You held it in for too long."

"That might be it." His nose touches mine. "You're ready? Of what you might go through?"

"About my home will be permanently ripped away from me, I'd be thrown into the human world unceremoniously, and something happens that'll lessen my faith in humanity?" His teeth clench together and his brow furrows. I won't lie, it gives me jitters, but my decision remains the same: accept my impending fate and become a human like him. Only... "What happened next?"

He throws me a questioning look. "You can see my mind again."

"My dear, it's too invasive. I know you don't mind. I do. I don't want to dredge up the past in visuals and sounds while you're still struggling to put it behind you. Gloss over the details, yeah?"

He glances down, blushes, and gazes up at me with appreciation. My hair is played in between his fingers. "I snuck away. Stole supplies and clothes from the soldiers' camp, which was located far from my place. I've adapted since I have little powers now."

"What powers do you still have?"

"Sensing auras for starters. Never sleep, fatigue if there's no food. Any ailments, I'd recover. Just not as fast as before. I can manifest certain things..."

"But?"

"If I manifest something, even a small item like a blade, spirits will find me because— Really, how does a human have a spirit gift, right? Moths to my flame, and they found out I was a former spirit. Several times I did it, several times they warned me. The last one was Esj."

"You survived by stealing and fighting?"

"Yes." He bites his lip from shame. "Not an honourable lifestyle. I applied for jobs, albeit they were intimidated. I... wish I'd live on clean money. I'm not sure which powers of yours will remain later."

My thumb pulls down his bitten lip, and I kiss him. "I get it. You can't shape-shift anymore?"

"Sadly, no. But do you know what's amazing?"

"What is?"

"When I got a fever—I didn't know I'd get better in an hour—I panicked. Went to a hospital."

"What? You should go to a clinic."

"It was my first time having a fever!" I feel bad for giggling at him until he joins in. He snorts and continues, "The doctor checked everything. He took my blood sample, X-ray, and even a urine test! After he got results, his... confusion kicked in."

"Why so? Your body doesn't have anything wrong, right?"

"No, nothing wrong. I have two different reproductive systems. Fully formed male and female sex organs. The female one is tucked in nicely, even though I have no... uhh opening down there."

...I gape at that. "Hermaphrodite? Like fishes and snails?"

"Yes. For humans, it's called intersex since it doesn't involve genitals only. Features, body shape, other things. I should let you know, you're handsome at times." He grins shyly, caressing my cheek... "Other intersex humans are out there and rare."