Broken Faith

Lesson 5: It is forbidden for commoners to fraternize with a World Noble

"Whatchya doing?"

"AH!" You jolted, fumbling with the carving knife in the air before the blade sank into the tree stump next to you.

Scratching his head, Sabo chuckled, "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. I was just curious is all."

You cocked your head to the side, "About what?"

He gestured with his pipe to the growing mountain of wood chunks scattered around you.

In hindsight that was a foolish question.

"There is a boy in Foosha I am...," you scrunched up your brow to think of the right word, "...close to. It is his birthday in two months, and I wanted to make a present for him."

"Two months eh?" Sabo whistled, stepping forwards out of the shadows to admire your handiwork, "That's dedication..."

You waited for the inevitable glower to follow him, but there was nothing, "Where is Ace?"

"Well...uh..." The boy chuckled breathlessly, fingers spinning around each other, "I...uh... sortaaskedhimnottocome."

You raised an eyebrow, "I beg your pardon?"

He sucked in a breath, doing everything possible to avoid eye contact, "We saw you doing this earlier this week...and I was really curious about it...but I know you and Ace don't really get along well...and he would probably would've said something mean...and you would've hit him...so I asked him not to come."

You were stunned. From what you'd seen, it was evident that Ace was Sabo's best friend and closest confidant. The two of them were as thick as thieves, pun not intended. So for Sabo to send away his friend merely to satisfy his own curiosity was touching. Very touching.

It made you feel valued.

"I hope you don't mind," he blurted out, "It's just that...you're like me, remember? Being a runaway and all. It's nice to hang out with someone who understands."

You started shaking your head before he had even finished, "It is no problem at all. I'm actually quite flattered you chose to spend time with me."

His face glowed, "So you want to hang out with me more?!"

"Of course," you dipped your head, "I was afraid you wouldn't want me around."

"Why would I want that? You're a robot!!"

You rolled your eyes despite your small smile, "Hardly."

He giggled, "Yeah, I guess you're more of a cyborg really. But it's still cool."

"Hm? I can guess I can attest to that."

A flock of birds took off from a distant tree.

You turned your attention back to the piece of wood you were carving, before chucking it over your shoulder.

"Woah!" Now it was Sabo's turn to juggle with the chunk.

Ignoring him, you picked up an unblemished log and switched to your pencil to start afresh. It was always important to mark on where you were going to cut. You had barely touched the graphite to the wood when your previous work appeared under your nose.

"Why'd you throw it away? It's good!" His face pinched as he inspected it once more, "Really good actually... I could see this in a shop window no problem."

You rolled your eyes, "Hardly. It has not even been sanded yet, or varnished, or had an axel put through it."

"Why does it need an axel?"