Rogue Shadow

Chapter 20 - It Begins

Chapter 20 – It Begins

13:00 Sunday, 22nd October 2017

Slade found Natasha much like the previous days, head deep in her book, sprawled out on her bed, lying on her stomach with her arms propping her up.

"You hungry?" Tash instantly moved to mark her page and slipped off the bed. At least she had an appetite today. Slade led the energetic girl down the hall and into the kitchen. He pulled a glass dish out of the oven, turning off the gas on the stove at the same time. Slade served two portions of the lasagne bake onto separate plates, adding a side of steamed greens and carrots.

Wilson handed one plate to the hesitant child and led her to the table. After watching the man start on his food, Natasha turned her attention to her plate and began eating in silence. She hadn't expected the man to be able to cook, but over the past weeks, she had been proven wrong. And she had to admit, he was a decent cook.

"Are you okay, kid?" the question was asked over the table. Slade watched Tash's eyes dart around, land on him, and then quickly avert back to her plate. He had been studying her behaviours intently, putting together a profile of her in his mind of usual actions and quirks. If he was going to help her, he had to be able to understand her first.

Nat felt the blood rush to her face. She had been staring at her plate without moving for a bit too long.

"Oh... yeah. I'm fine, sir. Sorry."

Her habit of apologising was yet another thing he would have to break.

Nat didn't really know what to say. There was nothing wrong, per se, but the thought had occurred to her that had caused her brain to freeze for a minute. Nat was embarrassed to be caught out in such deep thought; she had been making a rather odd face directed towards her food since her brain had exploded.

"What's on your mind?" he asked again, "you look concerned."

"I'm okay." It was stupid. Just a random, flittering thought of no importance. It didn't matter.

"Seriously," she pressed, "It's nothing."

He raised a single brow. "If it's nothing then you won't mind sharing."

Nat realised that he wasn't going to let it drop. She conceded, "it's just – I realised that if you stack one lasagna on another," she began, using her hands to demonstrate, "you still only have a single piece of lasagna."

Slade couldn't hold back a soft chuckle at the girl's comment. She was so strange, yet still so human. Slade watched as her face went an even brighter red in embarrassment. She ducked her head further, picked up her fork and began to shovel food into her mouth as a way to avoid more conversation. He had pressed her. He should have expected something strange, but perhaps it was the innocence behind the comment that caught him off guard. Sometimes he forgot how young she truly was. Eleven really was still just a child.

"You have a strange mind, kid," said Slade. Were all children this strange? Slade thought to himself. He did not remember such strange topics popping up out of nowhere. But then, he mused, their abnormal conversations had become so normal to him that he barely thought twice before answering.

~~~

"-ddy! I got a paper cut! Why is the paper so mean?"

"Because paper is really cross with humans for cutting down all the trees."

"They do it for revenge?"

"I suppose so."

"But that's not the Jedi way!"