“Umn. Well… we- we have a different culture, obviously.”
What do I say??
“I- uh, I had a friend. His name was Ryder. He had the prettiest wings..” his voice trails off for a minute. “Are you sure you’re interested…?”
Kissa giggles. “Oh my word, Mik, not like that. I can alter my appearance, not completely change.”
Cage beams. “Cool! Can you look like a guy?”
She glances over to him and raises an eyebrow. “Ew.”
"Ooohhhh" Silver crooned, leaning forward. "Of course I'm interested. I want to hear everything." She took another bite of pasta. "What did his wings look like?"
"Oh." Miki said, slightly disappointed. "I thought you could turn into… a dinosaur or something."
Kissa chokes on her pasta for a second. “What? No! That’s stupid! Why would I want to do that? That’s so unrealistic.”
Inhaling shakily, he starts off again. “They were really big and feathery, kind of like Kissa’s, but his feathers were soft and a ashy white. So was his hair. He was the best in the air in our training group, because they were so strong.” He gazes off into the distance for a little while, forgetting he’s in the living room. “He was odd, though, so they wouldn’t give him prizes or praise him. The Crowns didn’t like him.”
"I would want to turn into a dinosaur if I could." Miki muttered sulkily as she took another bite of ice cream.
"Ohhh he does sound pretty. Who are the Crowns?" Silver asked.
Cage nods. “Yeah. Or like, a dog. Can you show us anyways, Kiss? Even though it’s not cool?”
She glares at him. “Rude.”
“The rulers. Basically a small council of elders. We had a technical Queen, but she didn’t enforce law or anything. She was just there for celebrations and big decisions, even though her opinion was normally discounted.” He turns his head to look at Silver for a second, then looks back to the window. “They were very violent.”
"Then can you just… change your hair color or something?" Miki asked.
"Oh no. What happened to Ryder?"
Kissa rolls her eyes. “I guess. How magic works is I manipulate your perception of me, making me appear in your eyes different than I actually look. So it requires me messing with your… brain.”
Cage scrunches his face up. “Mmmmn. Maaaaybeeee not?”
“He didn’t fit in. He refused to preform certain tasks and duties and was cast out of the city after many warnings.” He looks back to Silver. “Where did you live?”
"Okay no." Miki said, violently shaking her head. "You aren't allowed to do anything with my brain."
"Wait me?" Silver asked, surprised. "Um. I don't– I don't actually have memories from before they took me. But Miki and I were street rats. Homeless since the day we were born. But." She booped his nose. "We're talking about you right now. I want to hear all the things."
A sly grin crosses Kissa’s face. “The fun thing is, you can’t stop me.”
Cage gulps. “What if we wake up tomorrow and she’s a dinosaur.”
She rolls her eyes, huffing.
He gives her a slow nod.
Okay
what next?
“When the Crowns heard about the effort being made to better humans and make them smarter and stronger, they treated it like charity. A few competitions were held and three were chosen to be sent away to help. There were supposed to only be two sent off, but Kissa threatened that she wouldn’t go if I wasn’t brought along.” He sighs.
Brat.
Miki kept shaking her head. "I will scream until Ben makes you stop."
"Wait, you mean what was happening to us??" Silver squeaked. "Your people sent you to help, you weren't kidnapped for it??"
Kissa stares in annoyance. “What is Ben gonna do??”
“Fire you.” Cage says, grinning.
Gabriel shakes his head. They made us leave. We didn’t have a choice, and there was a lot of arguments around the subject. Some kids purposefully hurt themselves to get out of the competitions.” He sighs. “But we were sent, not kidnapped.”
Miki choked on her ice cream and shoved Cage away. "Oh my word Cage. I cant be friends with you anymore."
"Oh. Wow." Silver said, slowly eating more pasta. "But… why? What were you supposed to do?"
Kissa leans over the counter to smack the back of his head. “You’re stupid.”
Cage starts to giggle. “No that was a good one! I’m gonna text it to Robby.” He pulls out his phone, biting his lip while he tries not to laugh.
“Provide training, DNA and such. They wanted the humans to become like us. But the scientists locked us up and used us to kidnap others or just study us. It was… not amazing.” His voice trails off.
This is the most I’ve talked in… years
"She's gonna dump you for that." Miki said.
"Yeah." Silver said, voice quiet as she stirred her pasta. "It wasn't. But." she perked up, not wanting him to get distracted and stop talking. "Do you have other family? Tell me about your parents."
Cage giggles as he texts her. “Nooo, Robby loves puns.” He sets the phone down and leans on the counter. “I cannot wait for you guys to meet her.”
Kissa rolls her eyes. “Oh I’m sure she’s just lovely.” she answers, her voice thick with sarcasm.
Taking a little bit of a detour in his mind, he thinks back to his family. “Well. I only ever knew my mother. She was gentle and small. She had black hair like me, but she was frail like Kiss. We were low life’s, so nobody recognized her as worthy or capable of anything. Me and Kiss normally brought in the food since she couldn’t work.”
Miki grinned. "I'm so excited. I hope we don't scare her away." she took a deep breath and stared solemnly at Cage. "I promise to try and behave."
Silver finished her food and set her plate on the coffee table, leaning against the back of the couch and watching Gabe's face as he talked. "I never knew either of my parents. What was your mom's name?"
Gabriel glances over to Silver.
Oh.
I’m sorry.
He swallows. “Why? What happened?” He quietly asks.
Cage smiles, ruffling Mikis hair. “Don’t try too hard, Mik. Just don’t be up in her face or super noisy and she won’t mind.”
Kissa glares at them, then turns around, setting her dishes in the sink and heading upstairs.
Silver shrugged, looking away from him. "I just… never knew them. Miki says she kind of remembers our mom. But I think she died shortly after I was born or something. Or abandoned us. Miki doesn't really talk about it. She was the one who raised me and took care of us. We had friends, so we weren't totally alone, but it was still scary to grow up on the street from such a young age." she blinked, a frown forming over her face. "I… I thought I didn't remember anything from before but… I guess I do."
Miki nodded very seriously. "Understood. I shall not get in your face or be noisy. But… what if I'm loud? Will that scare her too?"
Gabriel turns so he facing her and sits cross legged, “Tell me more.”
Ben seems to have a tiny bit of memory too.
Violet definitely has some.
Does Cage?
He blinks, his mind so focused on ‘what if’s’ that he becomes visible again.
Cage shrugs. “I guess she wouldn’t mind. She laughs when I’m loud. As long as it’s not directed towards her and it’s not angry you’re good.”
"Well. I don't really remember. But I know." She closed her eyes and shook her head. "It's really weird. Like I don't have memories from being on the street and stuff, but I know about it. I know the names of our friends. Blaine. And Graham. Blaine was a little older than Miki and she took care of us. I guess she was the closest thing we had to a mom." She sniffed, swallowing against the knot that formed in her throat. "She's still in Bwien, I guess. I probably won't ever see her again."
Miki nodded. "Okay. Good to know. Loud, but not specifically loud." she put the lid on the ice cream and put it back in the freezer. "Cage, we still haven't tasted the sushi one."
Cage shakes his head. “I think I’ll die if I taste it.”
Listening intently, Gabriel sits completely still.
Odd. That means the memories are probably there, just not accessible.
He nods. “What else do you know?”
Miki nodded. "Same." She closed the freezer and turned back to him. "What if we make Robby taste it."
Silver absently reached out and took his hand, weaving her fingers between his as she thought. "I think I remember what Blaine looked like. Like I can't quite recall a picture of her in my mind but I know she had curly hair and freckles. And her voice was really soft and gentle. And…" she sighed and pushed her hair out of her face. "Miki and I lived in a sewer once." a grin slowly spread across her face. "That was fun."
Cage grins. “Oh we will.”
He stands and walk to the stove, staring at the pasta. “You had some, right?”
a sewer?
why??
whats fun about that??
He nods slowly, trying not to look as confused as he is.
Blanie sounds nice at least.
Miki raised an eyebrow. "Wait, you want Robby to taste your nasty ice cream??"
Silver felt his confusion spike and she looked up at him. "What's wrong?"
Cage nods absently. "Yeah, but did you taste this pasta, is it poison?" He looks to Miki, "This is important. She said she specializes in poison, Mik. Are you gonna die?!" With the last sentence his voice squeaks and he grabs her shoulders. "SHE WANTS US DEAD!"
He bites his lip, looking down at his hands. "Nothing. You humans are… odd."