Assistant 23 angled his head. “What is that?”
“A small, furry herbivorous creature.”
“Like... arabbit?” He held up two fingers above his head to indicate a pair of long ears. The gesture charmed me.
“Yes, I assume they are similar enough.”
“Aw. That's cute.” There was still gentleness in his voice, for he did not know what was coming.
To say I found them fascinating would be an understatement. They became all I could think about. I did not eat or sleep. Every waking moment, I thought about them obsessively.”
"Okay," he said, still on board.
“It grew to a point where I could not tolerate it. I needed to know everything, or I would lose my sanity.”
The human went still and quiet as he continued to listen. How I wished to see his expression—though perhaps it would make this conversation more difficult.
“One morning, I woke up determined to sate my curiosity. I went out and caught a Ripgrass with my bare hands. Unfortunately, I was ignorant. I did not hold back my strength. In my excitement, I squeezed the creature too hard and ended its life.”
“Oh,” Assistant 23 said sympathetically. “Were you sad?”
It took a moment to admit the next part. “No. I was happy it had stopped squirming so I could examine it properly.”
“A-ah.” I heard him swallow behind the face shield. “And… then what?”
“I opened it up and took it apart. Limb from limb, down to the tiniest bone, until my curiosity was finally satisfied. Until the obsession pounding in my head quieted down.”
Assistant 23 breathed faster. I knew my revelation had frightened him. The incident was difficult to admit, but he needed to know my true nature before he slept beside me tonight. Even if it meant potentially losing him. I did not want our relationship to be built on a lie by omission.
“And how did you feel after?” Assistant 23 asked in a rasp.
His question surprised me. I expected to be scolded as I always had been.
“I had many feelings,” I murmured. “The loudest was regret that I killed the object of my obsession. It was not my intention to harm the creature. But beyond that, there was deep relief and satisfaction. It almost felt like…”
I dropped my gaze to my hand, my palm against the ground, holding me upright. As my fingers curled into a fist, my claws scored the dirt in five neat rows.
“Like release,” I admitted.
Assistant 23 swallowed audibly again. I wondered how fast his frightened heart was beating. It was a shame. He had only just calmed down enough to lie next to me, and now he would turn his back on me. But I did not want to hide the truth from him, and this was the price of my honesty.
Suddenly, Assistant 23 got to his feet.
“I’m sorry. I need a second,” he said quickly. “I’ll be right back.”
Accepting his instinct to run, I remained on the ground. It was unfortunate that he felt the need to lie, but I understood why he did it. I had shattered our fragile peace with my awkward confession.
“I will be here,” I promised.
His reply was a brisk nod before dashing out of the overhang’s shadow and out of my sight. I heard him scramble up the edge of the grassy ledge, where I assumed he would seek out the village and run straight home.
Away from me.
7 /Assistant 23
Holyshit,I was hard.
What the actual fuck was wrong with me? Farr’vye just shared his deepest darkest secret with me—a sad and kind of horrific tale about killing a small animal—so why wasthishow my body responded? Was I some kind of sick freak?
