❝how do you kill a monster without becoming one?❞
In the last city ruled by man, fish soar in the skies above and monsters lurk in the alleys below. Ten years ago, Jase lost both his legs and his mother to one such monster. However, tragedy couldn't...
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Two more weeks had flown by.
Every time they had to fill out a report, he and Kova talked. Since they started, Jase discovered that Kova's favorite color was black, when he wasn't shooting at Smiles he liked painting, and he wouldn't talk about anything more personal than that.
"You're trying too hard," Huraira said, stepping over Jase's piles of dirty laundry and brushing away trash, clearing a spot for herself on Jase's couch. "He's not going to be your friend just because you want him to."
Jase groaned, leaning against Huraira on the couch. He had removed his legs for the sake of comfort - he'd rather be sitting on his couch than in his wheelchair - and it was only Huraira. She'd seen him without his legs before. "Easy for you to say," he grumbled. "Bonnie probably tells you everything."
"Not necessarily," Huraira said with a scowl. "I've worked hard to get what I have out of her. You're just playing games.
"I worked hard to get Kova to tell me what his favorite color was," Jase grumbled. It had been a twenty-minute argument where Kova had changed his answer at least four times.
Huraira still shook her head. "Worked hard, my ass. You're so self-centered that you wouldn't notice someone was a Smile until their fangs were in your face."
Huffing, Jase crossed his arms. "I am not self-centered."
"Really?" she asked, cocking a brow. "Tell me something that you've learned about Kova in the past two months."
"He won't tell me anything!" Jase protested.
"You can learn things about people without having them say it. Like..." Huraira pursed her lips, "Bonnie picks off her nail polish when she's stressed and sings under her breath when she's alone."
"Kova doesn't do those things. He's a guy." Jase rolled his eyes.
But Huraira still looked disappointed. "This is what I meant when I said you were self-centered."
"What? Kova didn't paint his nails or sing!"
Before Huraira could answer, her Chip buzzed. She sighed and tapped it as Jase saw an unfamiliar name: Sierra Bell. Huraira answered the call and Jase saw a holographic woman appear above the Chip.
She looked at Huraira with dark eyes, her lips pressed together in a thin line. "Something urgent has popped up, Huraira. I have information that needs to be passed along." Her eyes flashing to Jase. "Can we meet somewhere?"
"Sure thing," Huraira said. "See you in a bit, SB." Huraira ended the call without another word and gave Jase an apologetic grin. "Sorry, this came up. I was looking forward to spending time with you today."
Huraira picked up her bag and left Jase alone in his cluttered apartment. Sighing, Jase stretched out on his couch, deciding that scrolling through the endless streams of media on his Chip was a far better way to spend his Saturday than doing something productive like washing his clothes. Or just burning them.
