Somewhere in the Docks, after collecting their monetary rewards from the boss for robbing a bank, a certain team returns to their hideout. One member, being uninterested in most interpersonal affairs, disappears to take care of her dogs. One member, having left to investigate the subject of his curiosity, has been absent the whole night entirely. The remaining three members gather by the table with varying degrees of unhappiness.
“Alright, Lisa, out with it,” says Brian, crossing his arms. “You said you’d explain after we got paid by the boss. Well, we’ve been paid. So what’s the deal with Saiki?”
“Right,” says Lisa. “Sorry for springing that on you, but I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to discover who Postman was.”
Taylor looks up sharply from where she has been tapping her fingers. “What?”
“I mean, it’s not conclusive right now,” says Lisa. “But it seems likely. A couple days ago I got a request from the boss to look into the PHQ explosion, and he gave me some interesting info on the Bakuda takedown yesterday, too. I used that data to put together a profile for Postman, and your friend matches pretty well.”
Taylor is unsurprised at the idea Saiki is a parahuman, especially after the way Alec and Lisa both took interest in him. What she finds uneasy is the idea that Saiki is Postman. He’s so passive and reserved, it’s hard to imagine him wanting to involve himself with the cape community in any way. And… she’s honest enough to admit that the idea of someone so powerful sitting next to her in class every day is — scary? Incongruous? It’s something that casts her seemingly ordinary days in a completely new light, and she isn’t sure how to take that.
Brian sucks in a breath, then lets it out. “You should have asked me first before roping our team into meeting with him,” he says heatedly. “Postman wiped out a tinker in her own lab! A bomb tinker! And you want to go poking around at his civilian life?”
“He hates attention, he wouldn’t have done anything to us as long as we didn’t cause trouble from him first.”
“Like how you let Alec walk off with him to who knows where?!”
“Alec isn’t stupid enough to provoke an unknown parahuman.”
“Alec provokes people just by existing around them.”
“That won’t be enough to make Saiki do anything. Right, Taylor?”
Taylor nods, glancing at Brian. “You experienced it for yourself, right? At school he even manages to ignore people trying to harass him.” The time that Sophia grabbed him by the shirt and he barely even glanced at her comes to mind. It’s hard to imagine Alec getting a reaction from Saiki when nothing else does, but she can’t help but worry anyways. She really doesn’t want any of the Undersiders getting involved in her civilian life. Of course, Saiki being a parahuman means he could be involved in cape life after all, but she knows him from school, she doesn’t want him to start getting tangled up in her cape business too. Especially since by all appearances she’s a teenage supervillain. “Alec… will probably get bored of Saiki quickly, right?” she says hesitantly, looking at Lisa. “Since he’s so unresponsive and all.”
“Yeah, he’ll probably be back soon enough. And if he figures out something new about Saiki’s powers”—Lisa flashes a smile—“even better.”
“And what have you figured out about his powers, exactly?” Brian demands.
“For Postman? Some kind of time rewinding effect. That’s how he fixed the PHQ barrier. It resets everything by 24 hours — all the clocks inside were set back, too. He’s got something strong enough to break the PHQ barrier. Bakuda hasn’t been very cooperative during the PRT’s investigations, but Postman has a power that lets him understand others’ Tinkertech at the very least. And he got a lot of sensitive information, so it’s likely he’s a Tinker or Thinker of some sort. I just can’t figure out what Tinker specialty would let him break the PHQ barrier and rewind time too.”
“For Postman, you said,” Taylor says cautiously. “So then — what about Saiki?”
“Right. I’m still not certain he’s Postman, but his hairclips are Tinkertech of some sort. My power keeps telling me he’s not Postman, but…” She frowns. “I don’t know. He probably knows Postman or a different Tinker, then. Either that or he has a Trump power that’s messing with my conclusions. I can’t be sure.”
Brian’s eyes sharpen at that. “A Trump effect?”
“How would that even make sense with a Tinker power?” Taylor says.
“It doesn’t. I have some ideas, but I’d need more information to be sure.”
“Yeah, that’s the whole problem, isn’t it?” Brian says. “You’re not sure. You took a gamble on Saiki’s temperament and identity without telling any of us first. What if your power’s conclusions were wrong?”
“They weren’t wrong.”
“They’ve been wrong before.”
The two of them glare at each other, before Lisa smiles. Taylor can’t tell what emotion is behind it — discomfort? Secret satisfaction at something she knows, but Taylor and Brian don’t? “Hey, I was just curious because the boss is interested in recruiting Postman. I couldn’t pass up this chance. But no harm, no foul, right?”
“No, Brian’s right,” Taylor says. “I think it would have been better to take that kind of risk as a team. If you wanted to know more I could’ve — I don’t know, invited you to study with me and Saiki or something.” Although, with the way Saiki ignored her question about their study session tomorrow, who knows if that kind of opportunity would happen again. “And also — you used our civilian identities to make contact with him. I’m not comfortable with that.”
“Agreed.” Brian glares at Lisa. “If that wasn’t breaking the unwritten rules, you sure as hell came close. What would you do if he found out?”
Lisa’s smile goes tight. “How would he find out? If he suspected us I would’ve noticed.”
“That’s not the point!”
Lisa starts to speak, but Taylor cuts in. “Lisa, it turned out fine this time, but you can’t always count on that. What if you made a mistake like you did at the bank?”
That makes her shut her mouth. Taylor feels a brief twinge of guilt at Lisa’s expression but she continues on. “If he was Postman after all, and he acted violently, we could’ve been completely unprepared. Next time, just — back off or wait for a different opportunity, will you? Or at the least, let us know beforehand.” She gives Lisa a significant look. When Lisa had gone sneaking for more information at the bank, that nearly put their bank heist in jeopardy.
Lisa narrows her eyes. For a second Taylor is nervous that she’s spoken too assertively — her position in the group may be better after the bank heist, but it’s still shaky and new — but after a moment, Lisa just sighs. “Fine. I’m sorry. I’ll say something before we talk to a parahuman with unknown powers while in our civvies. Is that good enough?”
Taylor nods, relieved, but Brian isn’t so quick to let it go. “And don’t mess around with Saiki again without getting it cleared by us all first. I’m not risking it.”
“Sorry, but like I said, the boss wants me to look into him.”
Brian’s jaw tightens. “Then don’t go at him in person. This isn’t that hard, Lisa.”
Lisa looks like she wants to argue, but she takes a breath and finally nods.
“Good,” says Brian. “I’m going to the training room. Don’t bother me unless you need something.”
With that, he disappears. Taylor looks at the doorway he left through. He must be pretty worked up if he still needs to blow off steam like that. She can’t blame him, though; she’s not happy right now, either.
Also, now that she’s sided with Brian against Lisa, it feels kind of awkward standing here with her. “I think I’ll head out too. It’s late and my dad’s probably waiting for me.”
“Right,” says Lisa. “Before you go, though, there’s something I should tell you. It’s related to Postman.”
Taylor looks at her. She’s a bit curious, but also… “Shouldn’t you be talking to Brian about it, then?”
Lisa shakes her head. “I thought I’d tell you first. I mean…”
“It has to do with you, after all.”
Lisa talks. She talks some more. Taylor is skeptical, and then she is disbelieving, and then she is angry. She demands answers. Lisa says she’ll get some, if she goes home tonight.
Taylor doesn’t know if she can keep a level head if she goes home right now, so Lisa offers to make her a cup of tea before she goes. This small amount of time won’t make a difference, she assures.
Taylor sits at the table and watches Lisa rummage through the cabinets, and feels conflicted. Should she believe Lisa, or not? Should she stick to her original plan, or not? If what Lisa says is true…
Lisa is just setting the tea on the table in front of her when Alec walks up the stairs. She and Lisa both swivel to look at him, and he raises his eyebrows, holding up his hands. “Whoa. I’m innocent, I swear.”
“...Hi, Alec,” says Taylor. “You were just with Saiki, right?”
The eyebrows climb slightly higher. “Yeah?”
She takes a breath. This is infringing on Saiki’s privacy, probably, but Lisa and the rest will probably find out from Alec anyways, so… better for her to know than not, right? “Saiki’s a parahuman, isn’t he? What did you find out about him?”
“Eh, I don’t know if I’d call him a parahuman so much as paranormally equipped,” says Alec.
Lisa narrows her eyes. “The Tinkertech clips?”
“Among other things. His sensory input is crazy.”
Alec says it admiringly, like he’s giving a review about a particularly thrilling ride at a theme park. Taylor is reminded uncomfortably, yet again, that Alec is a villain and a Master.
“Wait, how did you find out he has Tinkertech?” Lisa says suddenly.
“Well, it’s like wired to his brain. Hard to miss,” says Alec.
“You need time to get used to someone else’s nervous system the more different it is from your own.” Lisa looks at him hard. “Alec. Did you experiment on him with your powers?”
Alec heaves a long-suffering sigh. “I was just messing around a little, what’s the big deal? Weren’t you hoping for me to figure something out when you let me head out with him anyways?”
“I was hoping for new insight, not for you to potentially get crushed by Postman.”
“He’s like the most passive person ever,” Alec says. “I put snacks in his grocery basket and he didn’t even do anything about it.”
Taylor blinks. “You… went grocery shopping?”
“Yeah. Boring as hell.”
“And then what?” Lisa says.
“Hm…I left?”
“Just like that?”
“Well, I guess he also brought me home first?”
Taylor feels like she’s been struck over the head. “He what?”
“Honestly, Taylor,” Alec drawls, “do I have to spell it out any further? What do you usually do when you go to someone’s house?”
She’s just feeling torn between ignoring him and accusing him of corrupting Saiki when Lisa says, “Don’t pay attention, he’s just messing with you. It’s more likely Alec walked him home before returning. Right?”
“Take all the fun away from me, why don’t you.”
“It still begs the question of why you walked him home, though,” says Lisa. “Or why you were so interested in him in the first place. Don’t tell me you actually…?”
“Not my type.”
“I’d like to know, too,” says Taylor.
Alec groans. “What does this have to do with anything?”
“I’ll take your shift doing the dishes tomorrow,” says Lisa.
“Deal,” Alec says immediately. “Like I said, crazy sensory suite. It was real cool seeing and hearing the world the way he does.”
“Taylor can sense bugs but you aren’t interested in that,” Lisa says doubtfully.
“Her brain is boring.” Ouch. It’s not a good thing to get a human Master’s attention, but Taylor still feels like she should be offended somehow. “Saiki’s senses are cooler to look at.”
“That’s it?”
Alec arches an eyebrow. “That’s it.”
“Somehow, I find it hard to believe that you went to all that trouble just because he was interesting to look at.”
A roll of the eyes. “What did you expect from me, then?”
To her slight shame, Taylor can’t come up with an answer to Alec’s question. At least, not one that isn’t “It just seems really suspicious that you’re interested in him.” She can’t just say that out loud. Both for social reasons and for maintaining her undercover spy position reasons. Although, she isn’t sure how much spying is worth, anymore.
So she just asks the question that’s most pressing on her mind. “Are you sure that it’s just Tinkertech and not him having powers?”
“Pretty sure. Capes have a particular feeling to them, it’s hard to explain.”
“So then you could be wrong,” says Lisa.
“I guess.” Alec shrugs. “Was that all you wanted to ask? I want to kick back and play some games.”
Lisa glances at Taylor before looking back. “Sure. I’ll ask you about what you saw later, okay?”
Alec just gives a lazy wave and disappears to his room.
Lisa watches him go. “You should probably go now, Taylor. Any longer and they might leave before you get home.”
Taylor exhales. Being sidetracked by Alec’s sudden entrance has definitely cooled her temper, but it hasn’t cleared her mind by much. On the contrary, she feels more confused than ever. Will she be able to correctly discern what information to trust in this situation?
But there’s no use in sitting around. If she’s going to have a crisis, she can do it while she’s going home. “Thanks for the help today, Lisa. I…” She struggles for a moment, trying to find words, before giving up. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yeah.” Lisa gives her a sad smile. “See you tomorrow, and good luck.”
With that, Taylor departs.
She tries not to overthink on the way home, but she keeps returning to her questions as persistently as a dog chewing on its favorite bones. Her head is no clearer by the time she arrives at home.
There’s a police car pulled up in front, as well as an officially-marked PRT vehicle. Her heart starts to beat faster. If they’re here, then how much more is Lisa correct about? Her palms are sweaty as she opens the front door.
Her father is sitting across from an officer. But more importantly… Taylor’s eyes slide to the most eye-catching figure in the room.
Armsmaster.
“Taylor, you’re back,” says her father.
Taylor nods warily, not taking her eyes off of Armsmaster. “What’s going on, Dad?” she says. “Am I in trouble?”
“Don’t worry, Miss Hebert.” The officer rises and offers a handshake as she slowly walks closer. Taylor accepts it after a moment of hesitation. “Officer Daniels at your service. I’m here to look into the case you filed in January. New evidence has come to light; we may be able to help you this time.”
Taylor has a million things she wants to say to that. She kind of wants to laugh. She wants to yell a little bit, ask why they couldn’t have done this earlier. But she knows the answer to that, so she takes a deep breath and does her best to act like exactly what she is: a suspicious, cynical teenager who doesn’t trust authority figures anymore.
“Is that so,” she says. “Then why is he here?”
Armsmaster smiles warmly at her from under his visor. Two weeks ago and she might’ve been put at ease. Now, she can only wonder if he’d still play so nicely if he knew that she was Skitter, not Postman.
“It’s good to meet you, Miss Hebert,” says Armsmaster. “As Officer Daniels said, you don’t need to worry. I’m simply here as insurance.”
Ha! Taylor thought. “Against what? Against me?”
“You haven’t done anything wrong,” Armsmaster assures. “Normally, your case could be handled by law enforcement alone. But this new information was acquired through parahuman means. So until we understand the nature and intentions of the unknown parahuman parties involved, I will be accompanying Officer Daniels for safety and information-gathering purposes.”
Taylor stares at him before giving an unwilling nod. It sounds like total bullshit. Aren’t the PRT supposed to keep a clean separation of interests from the local police? “So what do you need from me?”
“We’d like to review your case and discuss anything that may have happened recently,” says Officer Daniels. “In particular…”
He trails off and looks at Armsmaster, who takes the cue perfectly.
“We’d just like to ask a few questions, with your permission, of course.”
Taylor suppresses the urge to smile thinly. Armsmaster’s lie detector will certainly be useful for him here, won’t it?
“I’d be happy to help,” she says, sitting down on the couch next to her dad. He brushes her gently on the back, a reassuring gesture that feels more hollow than anything. “Anything to get some justice served.”
She smiles at Armsmaster and Officer Daniels. They smile back. Probably no one’s smiles at this table have reached their eyes.
As long as they’re dancing around the question of whether or not she’s Postman and what she’s capable of…
She might as well take advantage of this situation as much as it’s worth.
——
In the end, they leave after an hour or so. Perhaps the time would have been shorter, except Officer Daniels had so perfectly offered her the opportunity to talk about her experiences, so how could she hold back? It was so kind of them to listen to her rail about her school life for half an hour. So kind she insisted on photocopying all the entries in her journal so they’d have all the evidence they wanted on hand if they ever needed a refresher in the future.
Towards the end, Armsmaster took over the questioning. If she hadn’t known about the lie detector, she would’ve been in big trouble.
— Were you previously aware of parahuman involvement in your case?
— No, I wouldn’t have known if no one told me.
— How do you feel about it now that you know?
— Is that relevant? I don’t care as long as someone fixes things.
Weird, being in a dance in which neither party can acknowledge the elephant in the room.
Her dad tries to talk to her and ask how she’s feeling after they leave, but Taylor brushes him off, saying she’s tired and wants to rest. She doesn’t know if she should feel glad or disappointed that he accepts so easily.
So. The Undersiders’ boss has a mole in the PRT that has supplied files about the mysterious first “Postman” incident to Lisa. And according to these files, Postman made disastrous first contact because he wanted to help her. With her terrible school life.
She’d feel angrier about the fact that Postman has gotten parahuman business caught up in her civilian life, except that apparently the problem existed before Postman even entered the picture. Sophia Hess, Shadow Stalker. Just recalling the moment Lisa told her is enough to bring a bitter laugh to her lips.
It’s a mess. It’s all a mess. This parahuman stuff was supposed to be an escape: put on a costume, spy on the bad guys, go home at the end of the day. But now the PRT suspects her of being Postman, and she can’t trust the PRT as long as they have moles — or as long as they’re willing to keep people like Shadow Stalker on their payroll. It feels like a joke to think that just a few days ago, she thought she could cooperate with the PRT to bring the Undersiders in.
Now… she doesn’t know if she can believe in the PRT, nor if she believes in their law more than she believes the support the Undersiders have given her in just one short week.
But if she doesn’t know if she can believe in the PRT, then what about Postman? Does he have faith in them? It doesn’t seem so from the curt way he communicated, but if he didn’t believe in them, why contact them at all? Why did he entrust them with Shadow Stalker’s case? Is there something there she hasn’t seen?
The questions bother her well into the next day. She goes to the library at the agreed-upon time, on the off-chance that Saiki shows up. He doesn’t. She’s not surprised. If he’s really Postman, though, why would he help her in parahuman life only to push her away in their civilian lives? She doesn’t know what to think.
What would Saiki think of this whole situation, if he knew the whole thing? He’d probably think it was stupid. If she told him about it during break at school, he’d probably give her a look asking why the hell she was telling them, and then write something suitably asinine on his notebook paper if he was in the mood.
Why didn’t he come to the library today?
Is he Postman?
Why did he interfere?
Why did he choose to help?
Does he know that the PRT think she’s Postman now? Does he know about her villainous activities?
Does he care?
Taylor’s thoughts whirl. She sits down in front of one of the library computers and logs in. She stares at PHO threads.
Subject: Re: Late-night Delivery
Posted by: postman54171
What’s the issue? I gave you everything you should need.
She clicks on the username. There’s nothing on the profile. The last time he logged in was on Tuesday, the day Armsmaster asked to contact him and apparently the same day he made the account.
He doesn’t seem easy to find. But if… just if, on the off chance he checks this account again…
Taylor makes a throwaway account. She goes back to Postman’s profile, opens a PM, and looks at the blank new message page.
What am I supposed to do from here?
She stares at the cursor blinking in the message box for a moment longer, before she slowly begins to type.
Back at the hideout, Alec throws himself back onto his bed with a long sigh.
“That was terrible,” he complains.
<What are you complaining about? I’m the one who had to run interference on her power,> says the voice in his head unsympathetically.
“I didn’t sign up to be interrogated by Lisa about how you smell in color or something.” It took a grueling half hour to convince Lisa that Saiki’s interesting sensory suite was totally due to the presence of Tinkertech alone and not him having powers. That was half an hour he could’ve spent lazing around. Making him deal with Lisa like this definitely makes Saiki a sadistic boss.
<Like I said before—>
“You haven’t actually said anything yet, though?”
<—if anyone finds out about me because of you, you’re dead.>
Alec can’t help but think this is slightly unfair. Okay, so he followed Saiki around, questioned him about his powers, and looked around Saiki’s house, but why does that mean he has to take responsibility for the Undersiders all of a sudden? “Hey, I have nothing to do with Lisa sniffing you out.”
<Would she have been so suspicious of me if you hadn’t been so interested in me? This is at maximum two percent my fault.>
It should be at least twenty percent, Alec thinks. Alec wouldn’t have said anything about Saiki’s powers if Saiki hadn’t been so obvious about using them. Like, he’d teleported them out of the grocery store away from the explosions, right? It would be more weird not to say anything after that.
Why did Saiki reveal himself like that anyways? If Alec was in his position, he would’ve ditched any dead weight to escape by himself as soon as there was an attack. The only possibility he can think of is that Saiki helped him out because he’s Taylor’s teammate, or maybe Saiki is still super attached to “acting morally.” Maybe both. It’s a bit weird that someone as clearly powerful as Saiki would care about that kind of stuff though.
<You should care too.>
See, this is what he’s talking about. Earlier when he peeked at Lisa’s files, she’d speculated about some pretty scary powers, and on top of that he got to witness Saiki’s teleportation and pyrokinesis and telekinesis and mind-reading. Any one of those abilities would make Saiki a parahuman that no one would carelessly mess with, but here he is instead, telling Alec that ditching people to die is wrong. Isn’t there something better to do with his time? Think of all the money he could rob.
<If I was going to turn to the dark side, the first thing I’d do is erase you, though.>
He doesn’t even say it like a threat. He says it like it’s an annoyance, like, why the hell would you even speculate about something so bothersome like that? Who wouldn’t speculate about it, though? Wouldn’t his life be so much better if he just took the easy route?
<It’s like you want me to kill you.>
“Nah,” says Alec. “I just don’t get you.”
<Don’t bother trying,> says Saiki. <We’re basically different species.>
“Because of the morals thing?”
<...Call it whatever you want.>
“Does it bother you?”
Saiki doesn’t answer.
It’s interesting, Alec thinks. He knows that other people often feel disturbed by him because he doesn’t share the same conscience as them. They don’t understand him. Saiki can read minds, though. Even after understanding Alec’s thoughts, he’s still disturbed?
<Don’t be stupid,> Saiki says. <Just because you speak to someone doesn’t mean they can understand you.>
<Then you don’t understand me?>
<I understand as much as you do.>
Cryptic. <What does that mean?>
There’s no response, even after he waits. Did Saiki leave? <Hey, you there?> Nothing. <Come on, you can’t answer my question?>
<Why does it matter to you? Whether I understand or not?>
Alec blinks up at the ceiling. Huh. Why does it matter? “Curiosity?” he tries. It doesn’t feel quite right. He can’t be bothered to figure it out, though, so he parrots Saiki’s words back at him. “Does it matter?”
There’s a long pause before Saiki says, <What exactly do you want the answer to? You have half a dozen questions going through your head.>
“I can’t ask all of them?”
Another long pause.
<If I answer, what will you give me?>
Alec blinks. Of all the things he thought Saiki might say, this was definitely not it. “I have to pay now?”
<You’re the one who thought I was weird for not wanting more.>
“I didn’t mean for you to extort me, though?”
<I’m not extorting you.>
Alec rolls his eyes. “What could I even offer?” Money? He’s not willing to hand his over and Saiki already said he doesn’t care for it. Fame? Power? Influence? Alec can’t give it, and Saiki could gain it on his own. Offer him information? Saiki can mind-read, he could find anything he wanted out on his own. Help keep Saiki’s powers secrets from the Undersiders? Saiki’s already twisting his arm into doing that.
Offer to be friends?
<No.>
Yeah, an antisocial guy like that wouldn’t care. Alec wouldn’t know how to be a friend, anyways. Sounds like a pain.
Honestly, there’s only one thing he’s seen Saiki be visibly interested in. “I’ll treat you to dessert?”
<...Really? That’s tempting…>
This guy is hilarious. Just the offer of dessert and he’s basically persuaded.
<Still, I’d rather not spend time in public with you ever again.>
Damn, Alec was hoping he would be bought easily. “What did I do to deserve this kind of cold treatment. I’m hurt.”
<I’m not telling you and it’s not happening again,> Saiki says irritably.
Alec sighs. “Then doesn’t that mean there’s nothing I can offer?” He rolls over on the bed, eyes falling on the T.V. set up across the room. If Saiki won’t answer, might as well kill time doing something else.
Wait a minute.
“Do you like T.V.?”
Only a moment goes by before Saiki says, <You’re offering to let me use your TV and video game systems.> Wow, he’s already pulled the half-formed thoughts out of Alec’s mind. <If the other things couldn’t persuade me, why do you think this would?>
“I saw that shelf of terrible novels in your room. You don’t like people, you don’t care for money or material things, but I bet you’re bored all the time, aren’t you?” If there’s anything Alec understands in others, it’s boredom. “But I bet you’re the kind of person who wouldn’t steal a system for yourself. So, unless you got a lot of money lying around, you can’t get yourself anything cool. Why not use my stuff?”
He imagines it briefly: Saiki playing video games here, giving him hours of uninterrupted access to eavesdrop on his senses. It would be awesome. Plus, he needs people to play with, anyways. Two birds with one stone.
After a moment of deliberation, Saiki says, <Ask your question.>
“Just one? My T.V. isn’t worth more than that?”
<No. Hurry up and pick one.>
Oh well. Alec will have plenty of opportunity to poke at Saiki when he comes over to play. For now, though, if he can only ask one question, what he wants to know the most is…
“What is it that you want?”
There’s a small silence that Alec would almost call surprised.
<You asked this already last chapter,> says Saiki. Chapter? <You didn’t care so much about it, then.>
Alec shrugs. “So what’s the answer?”
<...Hm, it seems your roommates are all out...>
With a slight shift of air, Saiki appears. He glances around with slight distaste. <Your room is a mess.>
“Would’ve cleaned up if I knew you were coming over so soon,” Alec quips.
<No you wouldn’t.>
No, he wouldn’t. “It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy that you know me so well.”
Saiki just gives him a flat look and switches topics. <You answered your own question already, you know.>
Alec blinks. “When?”
Saiki shrugs. He looks out the window. Alec follows his gaze even though there’s nothing to see out there except the ugly roofs of buildings. Funny to think just a few nights ago he saw Saiki through that window, and now Saiki’s in here with him… although, come to think of it, didn’t Saiki have pink hair at that time? What’s up with that?
He turns towards Saiki. “So… as long as you’re here, can you tell me about your h—”
<You already picked a question.> Saiki cuts him off without hesitation. Shame. Alec really wants to know what would possess such an attention-avoidant guy to go out in costume with pink hair.
<Earlier, you were thinking,> Saiki says, <that if there’s anything you understand in others, it’s boredom.>
Alec blinks. “You’re saying…?”
<Yes.> Saiki tilts his head to look at Alec for the first time. <I want to not be bored.>
It doesn’t feel like an honest answer. The expression on Saiki’s face is blankness, not boredom. It’s almost doll-like in its stillness, and his eyes are dull and flat. Alec thinks he recognizes that look, from back when he was still Jean-Paul. His father’s thralls never looked like that. But sometimes, some of Alec’s older siblings did.
If he had to give it a name, he wouldn’t call it boredom. He’d call it emptiness.
Although, perhaps the line between the two is thin.
“For someone who doesn’t want to be bored, you try and avoid attention a whole lot.” He’d call this guy dishonest, but who knows? Maybe he thinks it’s true. “Wouldn’t things be way more exciting if you went out as a cape?”
<I’m not interested in excitement in my own life,> says Saiki, which Alec doesn’t understand at all. <I didn’t expect you to. In the first place, we’re too different. But there is one thing we have in common.>
That piques Alec’s interest. What the hell would that be?
An invisible force lifts up Alec’s T.V., video game system and controllers, and all assorted wires.
<I like video games, too.>
Alec begins to feel a sense of alarm. “That’s great but can you put my stuff down?”
<You asked what I want,> says Saiki. <This is my answer. And also, my payment.>
Saiki’s mouth curls ever so slightly at the corner as he looks at Alec.
<Since you offered so kindly, I’ll be taking this.>
Alec lunges for Saiki, but it’s too late.
Saiki disappears from the room — along with Alec’s entire video game system.