"Where are we going?" Emagīne whined. "We've been walking forever."
This wasn't true. They had - in fact - only been walking for thirty-six minutes. And the reason they'd been walking thirty-six minutes was that Lilja had found someone for Emagīne to stay with and since Kova was the only one she tolerated, he was her escort.
This morning, Kova had talked Emagīne into putting on a pale blue dress Parthēna had brought and made twin braids out of her dark hair. Belatedly, he had situated a white sunhat on her head. The suns were bright today - the smaller getting close to the center of the sky every day - and Kova didn't want her to get burnt.
"You will see, piptīka," Kova said.
"Can you teach me Cynese?" Emagīne asked, running to catch up with him. She had short legs - even shorter than Kova's. He slowed his pace for her. "Please?"
"Juup - copy me." Emagīne turned to him, her eyes wide with excitement. "Crē, g, shī, īp, nach, lēm, meii, del, an, neēx."
"Crah, guh, sheep... um..." Emagīne frowned. "I forgot the rest."
"That is okay, pip." Kova patted her head - or rather her hat. "I forget human words all the time. You just have to say them a lot. Like this: crē - none - g - one - shī - two - īp - three - nach - four - lēm - five - meii - six - del - seven - an - eight - neēx - nine."
"Oh," Emagīne said. "Can you say it again?"
Kova repeated the little chant of numbers for Emagīne. They did it together several more times before she was able to do it on her own. She wasn't very good with the pronunciation of the Cynese words but Kova wasn't very good at pronouncing human words.
Kova was so busy chanting numbers that he barely noticed when they entered Sixth. And then, he did notice. He noticed a lot of things, actually. He noticed the way the fish here knew to get out of the way of people. He noticed the way some couldn't take their eyes off of him and others refused to look. He noticed the fanged and he noticed the toothless. Kova had been in Sixth many times before and he was certain he would return many times more. Because, above all things, Sixth District was the realm of Red Riding Hood.
His vision started to blur. Kova felt his breaths begin to sharpen as his eyes darted to the face of every stranger. Anyone of them could be Red - man or woman, young or old. And then, there was this sick part of Kova that wished one of them was Red. A part that wished to run to her and hand Emagīne over. She would find someone to take care of her.
It wasn't that Kova distrusted Lilja or her choice. He was rather fond of the man. But that was the problem. He was a human man - an old one at that - and Emagīne was a little girl raised on hatred with an awful temper and to top it off she was still grieving her mother. Kova knew that Red would be able to find someone else - someone better - for Emagīne to live with. A full-blooded Smile who could teach her Cynese and would be able to comfort her when she woke chirping in the night.
Subconsciously, Kova started to walk in that direction. Then he stopped. There was a split in the path. One would take him to where he was supposed to go and the other would take him to Red. Would Emagīne be safer with Red? Would she be happier? Or was Kova just delivering her to a fate where her hatred would just fester and boil and she would become an unwilling pawn in the game they were all being forced to play?
"Kova?" Emagīne asked, looking up.
A deep breath. What was best for Emagīne? This wasn't about him - this was about her. Safety or understanding? What would be better, what would be better, what was the right decision? Right or left, right or left, right or left? No - breathe, breathe, breathe. The right decision? Kova didn't know. He didn't know anything besides what he knew he would have wanted when he was Emagīne's age.
His feet chose the path on their own. They were close now and Kova's own anxiety was nipping at his heels. Had he chosen right, had he chosen right, had he chosen right? Well, no, he had chosen left. Would Emagīne grow to hate him? Would she hate him as he hated those who made decisions for him? He didn't know. He couldn't know. He just had to trust his instincts.
He came to the building. Kova took a final breath before knocking on the door. Emagīne turned to him with her wide and impossibly dark eyes. He hoped those eyes would never turn to resentment. He hoped they would be warm and wide and curious forever.
The door opened. The choice had been made.
"Oh, joy, Jason's girlfriend has come to visit."
"Move, Luke," Kova growled, shoving past the much older and much, much larger man. He moved easily for Kova, though.
"Stupid human," Emagīne said, sticking her nose up in the air as she followed him into the house, looking all the way up at Luke. Stacked on top of one another, they still wouldn't be at his eye level. "Jase's boyfriend - Kova says that you gotta use the right words or he'll be sad. Even I know that."
This snotty brat... Kova shook his head but let a small smile through the cracks. "Williams!" Kova called, walking past the AI parts and into the messy inners of the house. "Williams! Where are you?"
"What the shit you screamin' for?" Williams snapped as he walked down the stairs. "I ain't deaf!"
"Sure you aren't Grandpa," Luke said, walking into the room behind Kova with Emagīne just a few steps behind. She seemed to be contemplating climbing onto Lei or at least using him as a scratching post but a well-shot glare seemed to make her reconsider. "You must've been to actually agree to take on a Smile kid."
"Kova asked nicely," Williams said, waving him off. "He's the only one of you damned brats that bothers to visit me."
"He's not even related to us!" Luke said.
"Ka, does not mean I am not inheriting everything," Kova said, picking up one of the crossword puzzles. "You beat me!"
Williams smirked as he snatched the newspaper from Kova's hand. "Damn right I did. That's a hundred and seventy-eight wins for humanity against a hundred and seventy-seven Smile victories."
"Ka," Kova muttered, grumpily. "I will win next."
"As much as I love your crossword puzzle competitions," Lei said, not sounding like he love their crossword puzzle competitions at all, "why don't you two think about something more serious like how we're supposed to raise a Smile kid without, I don't know, dying?"
"Right," Williams said, scratching his beard before he walked over to Emagīne and bent down on one knee. "You must be Emagīne."
"Yes," Emagīne said, looking at him suspiciously.
"Now we got one rule in this house - you ain't eaten us, alright?" Williams said in a very serious tone. "I want you to promise me you won't eat us and I'll promise I'll keep you safe and as happy as possible."
Lei scoffed.
Emagīne, on the other hand, seemed to think about this deal very seriously. She looked at Williams' hand, sniffed it, and then shook it. "You smell like cheese."
"I'll take that," Williams said with a chuckle. "Do you like cheese?"
Emagīne wrinkled her nose and shook her head. "I like peppers. And beans. And tuna fish. Oh and grapefruit."
"What kind of kid likes grapefruit?" Williams asked, shaking his head. "Alright Lei take Emagīne to the kitchen and try to figure out something for lunch." He shot his grandson a very obvious wink. Lei sighed but did as he was asked, leading Emagīne past the stairs and into the kitchen. When they were out of earshot, Williams turned to face Kova with an uncharacteristically dark expression. "You sure this is a good idea, Kova?"
"Chē?" he asked. "You scared?"
He chuckled and shook his head. "Not for me - if she kills me, I'll be grateful." He sighed. "I'm worried about that poor girl. I ain't no good with kids and Lei's so busy with the garage... I made a lot of mistakes when raising Lei. When raising Jase."
"Your mistake was that you did not raise them," Kova said, tilting his head. "You are old and useless now."
Williams smiled a bit. "Way to sugarcoat it."
"It is true," Kova said, lifting his chin. "Do not tinker with your toys and you will be fine." He turned and patted Williams on the shoulder. "You are so slow now you cannot run from your problems. So you must fight."
"I'm not very good at fighting," Williams said.
"You are," Kova said. "Or else you would not have a hundred and seventy-eight wins." He smiled as he walked to the door. "I will see you and Emagīne next Saturday."
Williams chuckled. "See you, Kova."
[author's note]
this chapter is very late but i like it a lot
there's something so comedic about jase's family being very pro-smile while raising this feral little gremlin child
(WARNING: THE NEXT CHAPTER CONTAINS SELF-HARM)