“What the fuck are you talking about?”
He chuckles.“They’ve—I mean,you’veyet to see what the Void’s cock looks like.”
Blood leaves my face as he grins wide. So wide that his face disappears and all I see are his mouth and teeth, smiling like the Cheshire cat.
“Do not look so terrified.”
I remember now that he had told me this before, referring to himself in third person.I knowfor a factthe Void has a cock.He looks like he’s proud of it, too. What ego…
The sun has begun to rise, but we are under the forest’s thick canopy so it’s still darker on this side. We rinse our mouths in the stream and just…relax.
I can’t remember the last time I actually had a moment to think for myself. To deliberate my decisions, plans.
“I have a surprise for you.”
I don’t know why this makes me nervous. “And that is?”
He licks his lips, eyes darkening. “It is the tooth I lost. I will make an adornment for you using it.”
“Awww, like a necklace? That’s actually so morbidly sweet of you.” I throw my arms around him, feeling all the fuzzy, fluffy giddiness.
He throws his head back and the shrubs, leaves shake with him.“Something like that, yes.”
“If you are this sweet, why are you single, Datu?”
He tilts my chin up so we are looking eye to eye.“I have been waiting for a feeling.”His voice sounds tight.
Something pricks my heart. “What feeling?”
“Any feeling. It does not matter what it is.”
“Have you found it yet?”
It takes him a while to answer, but when he does, all I hear is grief.“I am meant to exist in pain, in hunger. When I found you, you breathed life into me. I do not just exist, but I exist for you to notice me.”
Hearing this feels like someone has stabbed my heart repeatedly. “What did I ever do to deserve this?”
“You do not know this, but you deserve everything the world has to offer.”
Datu
It is perplexing to me how humans need to eat so often, but it makes sense. The sun does not sustain them like Terra. They need food for fuel like this form needs water and sunlight constantly.
My belly roars in disagreement. Water and sunlight do not agree with it right now. It craves…somethingelseAs I stare at Xiaoyu, I realize that it is her I want. Xiaoyu who I hunger for. What kind of hunger—I cannot determine.
Such a simple yet complex need. I show signs I have changed. My claws and teeth sharper, my form growing leaner the longer I let the thrumming in my gut gnaw at me. My eyes linger on her skin for too long, my mouth watering at the sight.
“You know…I’ve never seen you eat before.”
“There is no need for me to feed in this form.”Somehow, it feels like a lie.
“Mmmm, why don’t you try eating? Maybe it could help. You got the claws, teeth of a carnivore. You obviously evolved after your near-death experience.”
I am silent as I consider this possibility. Tragedies force changes. I know that for certain, but I am afraid if I start masticating, I am going to seek more until I end up eating Xiaoyu. Plus, it is not in my nature to eat in this form. I always feed in my natural one.
Thankfully, she changes the subject.
“You have any idea how the other girls are right now?”
