Seeing the Unseen

His Partner

Seeing the Unseen Chapter Nine:

"His Partner"

I sat, dumbstruck in my bedroom as Mason waved his hand in front of my face, his eyes widening when he didn't elicit a response from me.

"She's not dead," his partner reassured. "Humans are just emotionally fragile."

I glared daggers at them. "Mason, I don't like your partner."

Mason made a shocked expression. "Beatrice, they are one of the top reapers. You can't just disrespect them."

They sighed, looking at me. "I will see the Z'ç (zauss) and 'yku (ike-oo) about everything for you. I'm older and more experienced, so I will fair better. Just... don't get into more trouble than I can get you out of, okay, Xyll' (hih-yah)?"

Mason nodded, smiling up at them from beside me on the bed. "I'll try my best, Oxe (oh-hey)."

With a short wave, the new reaper left, leaving me alone with the brunet.

"So you do have names!" I exclaimed.

Mason shook his head. "Xyll' is a way of referring to someone younger or less experienced than you while Oxe is how you refer to someone older or more experienced than you."

I nodded, my eyebrows knitting together. "'A way?' Doesn't that mean there's more than one?"

Mason nodded. "We speak to each other familiarly rather than formerly."

"I see. So you're like friends?"

"We're partners."

"Then what are we?" I inquired, curious to his definition of certain relationships.

"I guess I'd say friends because you feel like a friend, it's just that I'm not actually permitted to have any relations with you," Mason explained. "I call my partner a partner rather than a friend because even though we enjoy the other's presence, we're only together in terms of business."

I cocked my head to the side. "Aren't you only around me because of a job?"

"I protect you because of a 'promise'. I stick around you because I find your presence..."

"What?"

"I can't think of the word. All of the human languages kind of blur together sometimes." Mason continued to ponder.

"So you're a polyglot," I concluded. "It must have taken a long time to learn everything."

Mason hummed. "Well, reapers are telepathic, so we just learn stuff from reading the minds of other reapers who know a certain language. I learned French from 'yku and Spanish from my partner."

"So 'yku, they're your teacher?" I asked, trying to grasp more of the alien language.

"X'y (hi)." The brunet nodded as he said the word.

I rubbed my hands together. "Telepathic, eh? Read my mind."

"W-W'no (wah-no)!" Mason stuttered, shaking his head violently. "Reapers aren't permitted to read the mind of a human!"

I pouted. "Why are you so against humans? Also, why is it w'no? Wouldn't it be easier just to say 'no?' I mean, the word is already in it."

Mason's eyes widened. "That word does not mean something pleasant in our language. If I were to say it without a proper reason, I would be severely reprimanded for it."

"I see. So your partner is going to help us sort this all out?" I questioned. "They don't seem that much of a pleasure to be around. They're too closed off and seem to be always brooding."

"They have dealt with the loss of multiple partners in the past, even one of romantic interest I guess you could say. Reaper 'relationships' are really us just staying together and keeping each other company until we grow tired or decide to start over again with a new person a few decades later."

I frowned. "That doesn't sound very fulfilling. So you can die? I thought you were already dead."

Mason just shook his head. "It's too complex for a human to understand."

"If they stay here, I should give them a name so that I don't just refer to them by the use of pronouns. I could call them Oxe, though I'd prefer they have a proper name..." I began to ponder. "A name like Charlie."

Mason shook his head. "Absolutely not. They would not be happy with you naming them or even having a name in general. They would probably take it as a disgrace to be named by a human as if they were some pet."

"So are you disgraced?" I asked, highly offended by how much humans seemed to be looked down upon by the reaper community.

"No. Well, an outsider would say I am, but I'm not as old fashioned. I find humans... interesting, though there are certain things I will continue to stay away from... For now, call them Oxe. Don't get too attached. Most reapers are weary of humans." Mason's expression was one I couldn't quite discern.

I closed my eyes, sighing. "How could I be half reaper? Is that even possible?"

Mason drew his brows together. "I don't know, Beatrice. I really just don't know."