Chapter 21: Words & Truth

Chapter 21: Words & Truth Misha held out the talisman to Melody and tried to act confident. The girl’s hesitant hand moved towards it then stopped. "I..." Coral said something to her that Misha guessed meant something like ’Just take it’. When she didn’t, Coral took it upon herself to grab the talisman and shove it into her quiet friend’s hands. "It’s free right?" she said to Misha. Without waiting for a reply, she shooed Melody to the back of the shop where Misha could see a small shrine was set up for some deity - probably a money god. Melody said something to Coral, but the latter patted her on the back and pointed around at the shrine. Eventually Melody relented and stuck the talisman on the inner side of the box near the red, electric candles. "I don’t get it." Misha jumped and turned to find Bran standing right next to him. He put a hand to his chest to calm his beating heart. "When’d you get here?" he asked. "A while ago," Bran replied. He turned to Misha. "I don’t get it. Do you like older women, or younger women?" Misha nearly tackled him into one of the bookshelves. "They’re kids," he said through gritted teeth. "They’re teenagers," said Bran. "Yeah, kids." "You’re a teenager." "I’m nineteen." "That’s still a teenager." "Yeah, but I’m in the middle of university and they’re in, like, high school or something. That’s a big difference." "So? Just wait a year or two and she’ll be legal, then it’ll be fine." "Why do you keep - I don’t even..." Misha paused. "Wait, how old are you?" "Twenty-six," was Bran instant reply. "...You look younger than twenty-six." "Thank you. You’re not the first to say that." Before Misha could try to escape the conversation, Coral and Melody returned. "Ooh! Is this your friend?" giggled Coral. She whispered something to Melody that Misha assumed was along the lines of ’isn’t he cute?’. "He’s my boss," said Misha, more forcefully than he’d intended. Bran gave him a look. "Boss?" asked Coral. She turned to Bran. "You run a business too?" "A wish granting business," Misha cut in. "There’s a box out on the corner that accepts wishes. You write what you want on some paper and stick it in and maybe it’ll become true." -- The silence dragged on and on between even after we finished installing the rest of the talisman and were on the way back home. Pretty quick my anger had faded away, but you still wouldn’t talk, making me feel more and more worried. Had I crossed the line? I’d been annoyed, angry even, but I didn’t think what I said was that bad... right? It was late afternoon, and the streetlights were already flickering on as domestic helpers and housewives came out onto the streets to buy ingredients for the night’s meal. Together, we threaded through the building crowds, you ahead, me behind. We were at the end of our street when I felt I couldn’t stand it anymore. We were almost back home, and Amethyst had surely returned and... "Bran," I called after you. "I’m sorry." You stopped abruptly, then turned. "What for?" you asked. "For... For talking about the Wishing Box. I was, was feeling annoyed, jealous, that’s why I said that. Have I ruined things?" You stood absolutely still and stared at me. Finally, you shook your head. "It should be fine," you said, then paused. "You don’t need to be jealous. I’m not interested in dating anyone. You see any girl you like, feel free to-" "That’s not..." I bit my tongue and closed my mouth. "That’s not what?" "...That’s not who I was jealous of." Your blank face now showed confusion, and I had to look away. "I was... jealous of Coral," I finally admitted. "I know I’m just feeling insecure because of everything that’s happened, but it just made me feel uneasy when she started talking to you. I felt like... I was going to lose you," I quickly cleared my throat. "I mean, going to lose that security." The sounds from the bustling city seemed to fade into the background, like we were in another reality, another world with just the two of us. Finally, you looked away. "You’ve been up to the roofs here, right?" you asked. "Yeah. Why?" "Show me." -- The sun was setting right as we reached the roofs. There were still some kids playing, but even they knew that it was time to get home, and most were finishing up their games. The storm from some days prior had swept through both the Walled City and the larger city proper, leaving us with brilliantly clear skies that were now a glowing gradient of pink and orange. You walked along the roof then sat on a little outdoor bench someone had thought to set up. The paint on it was peeling and the metal was rusted but it seemed to take your weight okay, so I followed and sat down beside you, not too close, but not too far. For some minutes I stared at the sky and waited for you to say something. Time stretched out and I began to think about dinner. I’d been planning on dropping by the market to pick up a few things... "I was annoyed too," you said suddenly. Enough time had passed that everyone else had already left, leaving just the two of us. "I was annoyed because... it seems like for the same reason." "The same reason?" I asked. You leaned forward, elbows on your knees, and chin on your hands. "I don’t have many friends, or much family. It’s mostly just me, alone. I have... certain hang-ups about things and they make me... retreat from people, but with you..." You sighed. "You’re more or less new here, you don’t know anything, and that means you end up relying on me. I... I like that. It makes me feel needed. It makes those hang-ups... shut up for a while." I didn’t fully understand what you were saying, but I could get the gist of it and I remained silent to let you continue. For a while it seemed like you’d finished, that that was it, but then you broke the silence again. "When I was sixteen, my father pawned my soul for a small fortune. I... more or less lost everything, not just my life at the time but my future as well. Finally, one thing led to another, and I ended up as the sheath for a demon blade." You patted the instrument case you had set down on the other side of you. I didn’t know how to respond to that. But it also made a lot of things make sense. I’d been wondering more and more lately why you were going so out of your way to help me, going above and beyond what was required of you, but now I kind of knew why. We sat in silence for a while longer, until the sun had truly set, then headed back home. "So, are we good now?" I asked as you crossed the threshold of the front door. You raised one eyebrow. "We’re good." I decided it was time for me to ask the question that had been burning in the back of my mind all this time. "Do you really not have a phone?" I asked. "A phone? Like a smartphone?" You went into the living room while I stepped inside and shut the door. "Yeah." "I don’t have a smartphone," you said. "Do you have a computer?" I asked. "No," you replied. "A laptop?" "No." "You’re one of a kind, Bran." I got my slippers on and headed into the kitchen. Even if you weren’t hungry, I was, and Amethyst should be home soon. "...It’s not out of choice," I heard you say from the living room. "Huh?" You stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame. "A side effect of the sword is that I disrupt electrical technology if I get too close to them." "Huh?" I was surprised, not so much at your explanation, but the fact that you explained it at all without me asking. "That’s a bit of a pain," I said. "It is." "Wait. But you can take a train," I said. You shrugged. "Trains are big and I’m small. When it comes to disruption, it seems relative size matters a lot." I nodded slowly then quickly closed the fridge as it started to beep angrily at me. I washed the carrots and radishes in the sink then set them on the chopping board ready for processing. "Elevators are okay too?" I asked. "They’re okay. Same as escalators." "That’s good... Electric bike?" "...Now that I’m not sure about. Never tried it." You came into the kitchen proper and watched me dice the root vegetables. "Need some help?" you asked. "You can marinade the meat if you like," I said, pointing at a small bowl of already sliced meat on the countertop by the fridge. "Soy sauce, pepper, corn flour." You nodded and got to work. As I did my side of things, and kept a close eye on you to make sure you didn’t bring your usual cooking skills to the table, I silently decided to myself that once I saved up enough money, I would buy a smartphone for you. You wouldn’t be able to use it directly, but I could. I took the marinaded meat from you and added it to the already frying vegetables on the stove.