Human - Tao X OC

January

Snippet of Chiyo and Tao's life, two years after Carol and Tuesday's "Mother" release.

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For a while, Tao and I hardly did anything at all. We stayed inside mostly, he hardly even saw the light of day compared to me, who was the designated grocery shopper. The first year was probably the hardest, though. The spoiled Tao had to get used to the fact he couldn't use any high tech materials and had to learn how to live like the poor did. Carefully, with a minimalist mindset.

After he started to get over all the things that irked him, he became an official clean freak. After the first year most things had calmed down, so he decided to take up work with a few places around the neighborhood we lived in and cleaned houses for money. I tried not to laugh when he told me, honest.

For me, I worked full time at a beautiful tea shop at the corner of the town, where tons of people would gather. After the second year ended and the third year began, it finally felt like we had made a home there. Tao started going out more and we took up daily walks after we had dinner together. He would come to pick me up from work every day, and then, one fateful moment changed everything.

I almost teared up at how excited it made me. We'd been living so carefully for the last two years, and Tao new very well I'd been as patient as I could, being someone who constantly liked to be evolving and doing new things. On that day, my routine was finally twisted and flipped and it was exhilarating. Because of that old man at the shop who'd heard me humming, Tao and I started diving into the depths of music again. 

It didn't snow on Mars. But somehow the cold was just what we needed. The skies still darkened faster and with that darkness, when we were both off work and full from dinner, Tao and I would sit in front of each other on stools and he'd help coach me with my voice.

On January 20th, I got permission to take home the guitar that always sat on display in the shop, and Tao learned how to play it within one week. Well, one week including nights. I hardly slept. 
But that was mainly because as he was teaching himself, he was also writing a song, and was having me sing along with his playing to help him formulate the melody.

"No."
"Tao, I've done the same thing ten times now. Higher, or lower?"
"Neither."

My eye twitched, but I really couldn't argue with him. I knew that he knew best, so I did my best to listen. He decided to abandon the guitar to focus on me completely, and his hands reached out - fingers pressing to my neck gently. 

"Sing it again."

I took a breath and did as told, and stayed focused even when he pressed down slightly. This wasn't the first time he'd done stuff like this, he really had no real processing boundaries. He was always just doing without really considering. He knew what he liked and didn't like, but he seemed to not be able to understand how others felt very well. 

Either way, I found it amusing. 

He readjusted his grip and gave me a few tips, then I sang it again. His eyes widened and he smiled. After these two years, I hadn't seen him smile like that. I might not have even seen it before we moved away here.

"That's it! Keep singing it."