“Why are we doing this again?” Inum questioned, following behind me into the clothing store. We had gone for a walk, or it more seemed I had to drag her into a walk with me, down the road to find something to do. Despite the long day the only thing that hurt was my eyes, and my body seemed to be put on springs. Every step felt like I could suddenly bounce up into the sky, Inum staring up at the blue blob in the sky as she would wait for me to land.
“Come on Inum, no offense about your tastes but you can’t exactly wear a cloak all day and expect not to be stared at,” I called over my shoulder, immediately heading for the girl’s clothing section. Somehow I knew with red tinged vision if I turned around that Inum would be frowning doubtfully, but I kept on walking. They had a fine selection today, at least I think they did, because her eyes lit up like lightbulbs when she saw them. Which was a bit strange, since her eyes were like a void that I just kept finding myself getting sucked into.
Her bladed tail swished happily back and forth while she looked through the mostly black clothing, and I noticed that most of it was lacy. Crisscrossing patterns like black spiderwebs tying together the chest while the rest of the dress seemed to slim down to fit a smaller figure, coming with a matching pair of dark blue jeans. The corners of my mouth perked up into smiles while I looked through the men’s section, knowing with red vision if I looked I would find her happily going around the rack trying to find anything else.
After a bit shrugging I headed for the changing room, going outside of the changing room she was occupying. Funny how one second she thought nobody would see her, and the next she went into a changing room when she could have just changed in the open. Pulling the curtain back a bit my head poked in looking around for a second before I spotted her. She made a surprisingly cute tomboy, the black lacy top fitting her snuggly outlining her perfectly while still holding a practical feel. The jeans hugged her waist and outlined her b - before my mind could finish any thought having to do with that I suddenly found an annoyed face before my own.
“A little privacy would be nice Morrow,” she grumped pulling the curtain closed right in my face, lightly smacking my nose in the process. “I couldn’t help it I couldn’t tell what you looked like under that cloak,” i complained playfully, rubbing my nose lightly not noticing the blue light emanating from my fingers.
“Then at least wait till I get out of the changing room!”
“But where is the fun in that? Then i see you all serious but you looked so cute the - “
“I’m not cute,” she grumped, poking her head over the curtain. Well, she tried at least before her head vanished again and re-appeared with red tinged cheeks and a pouting face. It seemed the little death was to short to look over the curtain… cute~
“Mhmmm sure, anyway want to get anything else before we head back? Maybe a blue jacket?”
“Hmph, sure.. “ she responded, opening the curtain and going for the clothing section again finding a black hoodie. For a tomgirl though she still seemed to have surprisingly girly taste, the hoodie having small frills on the end and a deeper cut in the front. She slid it on then looked to me, and once again I found myself lost in those eyes. A void was supposed to be empty and suck everything in, yet it almost seemed like her eyes were… full. Full of future and promise, full of wishes and dreams and full of hopes. Full of every single good thing you could imagine, and the feeling only amplified when she smiled.
“Let's get going, or atleast you get going I have another job to get to,” she said flippantly, walking by to the door before stopping at the doorway looking at a poster. Tilting my head I came up behind her, in the back of my head noticing the fact she was half a head shorter than myself, before realising she was looking at the carnival. It was in town this week, through some magical means coming with a ferris wheel and even a few other large rides.
“Is your job by any chance at the carnival?” I questioned and she jumped, seeming surprised I was still there. She turned to the carnival and nodded, frowning a bit. “So how does your power work, do they only die if you cut the thread or…?”
“Well, it's more like cutting it just a bit before the death. Most of the people I cut are seconds away from death at any one point and it's almost like I can see their thread running from their head to my hand, but I mostly cut those who are going to have a very painful death,” she explained while tracing turning to face me. “That boy earlier, if he didn’t get cut he would have slowly died under those boxes with a punctured lung, broken leg and neck… he was stupid to be carrying all that in the first place, but he would have died a slow and painful death if he wasn’t cut a bit early,”
“Huh…”
“What?” she asked, tilting her head questioningly. I started walking, thinking it over and she followed, frowning slightly at my silence. I processed what she told me in my head, turning it over and poking at it from multiple angles. “If you could save them, before they got hurt would you?”
“Well… that seems like playing with fate a bit, isn’t it?”
“You cut threads a bit before they are ready, your already playing with fate,”
“Touche…”
“But when you think about it this is a moral dilemma, is it worth killing someone early to let them avoid pain when they could be found and helped later? Or should you save them when they were meant to die, disrupting timelines and playing fate like a flute, shaping it to your own tune?”
Inum was silent for a while, looking up into the starry sky in thought while she walked with me. I wasn’t sure where my feet were taking me, it seemed like they had set a course and I was left to follow, like a mouse in a maze. I thought about it for a while, then coming to a conclusion I put a gentle hand on her shoulder and stayed silent, continuing to walk. After a hesitant second she leaned into the hand just a bit and closed her eyes, frowning to herself.
Soon we started to see lights in the distance, bright and dazzling even from a distance and I finally figured out where my feet were taking me. We were at the outskirts of the carnival, and after a second I turned to Inum smiling a bit. “I think death deserves a day off from playing executioner, agree?”
She looked to me, and after a bit nodded and we walked in together, looking around. First things first I had to order a ticket to watch the show, how could I not they had lions. Who could resist watching people play with big fuzzy cats? The show didn’t start for a bit though, so we found ourselves heading for a shooting gallery, pistols laid out for guests to try and shoot the small targets. I smirked, and payed the three dollars it required before picking up the pistol cockily.
“Well someone seems confident, you a master marksman or something?” Inum teased from next to me, watching as I took aim. In five seconds all three targets were down and i was left to blow a stream of smoke from the tip as both Inum and the stallman stared at me slack jawed. The red glow that had been emanating from my hand and transfering into the gun subsided and I layed the gun down, smiling at the man. “I suggest making sure its not jammed, could be a problem~”
“How did you do that so fast?” Inum sputtered as the stallman grabbed the gun and checked it, still staring a bit.
“Oh simple, the guns are rigged so the bullets are a bit heavier then they should be so they drag more and miss even if you have perfect aim, so I just sped up the mechanics of the gun so it shot the bullets faster and the extra drag didn’t matter because it was suddenly a lot faster,” I explained casually, pointing to a big stuffed cat in the top. I liked cats.
Inum stared at me for a second, then lowered her head, shaking it with a smile. “You are a bit ignorant, huh?”
Some time later we were at a strongman test, and Inum was staring at the hammer with a mischievous look. “Morrow Morrow Morrow Morro-”
“What?” I asked smiling and chuckling a bit. “Pay the guy real quick then act like your moving the hammer with your mind, he can’t see me after all,” she said and I shared his mischievous smile and payed the man who seemed confused. Inum grabbed the hammer, and suddenly it seemed almost as if the mostly hidden marks on her hands seemed to… move. I had once read a story where a man hurt people through tattoos he stitched onto his own body, and what she did almost reminded me of that.
The blue coloring on her hands seemed to stretch and twist up her arms, going just past her elbows before turning jagged, almost like teeth. Along the blue that now covered her forearms little blades of her natural color appeared, and with a heave she lifted the hammer like it was a toy. I reached out a hand and acted like I was manipulating it with magic, amazed at the show of power. Then suddenly swung my arm down as she heaved again and sent the hammer crashing down, hitting the trigger and causing the bell to ring loud enough to sound even over the roar of lions, the trumpeting of elephants and the talk of hundreds of people. Silence fell soon after, and as everyone stared the tattoos on her arms shrunk and went back to normal as she looked at me and smiled.
The circus was mostly standard, but there was one act that neither of us had expected. A basilisk, giant, silent and a dark blue color emerged from the shadows of the backstage and the crowd hushed, transfixed by the giant snake. Next a woman came out, wearing very little clothing and turned to face the snake. It turned to her in response, and she began doing a slow, hypnotic dance which seemed to make the dance sway like you saw when a flute was played.
It slowly got closer and closer to the woman, and before long it had slid one of her hands into its mouth. She kept dancing though even as it slowly began to swallow her, swallowing her arm then her other arm. Finally it took one big gulp and swallowed her top half into its mouth, her back legs kicking. Then the serpent slithered backstage and the crowd gave a hesitant chorus of clapping. Inum was clapping with them, seeming to have been fascinated by the performance.
At the end of the circus the all came out including the woman and her snake and took a bow, and this time the crowd erupted into cheers whistles and clapping, a few coins even being tossed on to the stage from the seats. As the circus headed backstage to refresh for their final show the crowd dispersed, talking among themselves as they left the crowded tent Inum and I following behind. I felt tired, spent but content. We had one a couple big prizes, seen an entertaining show and relaxed together for a while.
Inum seemed a lot more comfortable now, staying by my side, laughing joking and generally teasing most of what I did. Well, atleast teasing when she wasn’t acting like a mother, chastising me when I did something a bit risky. Like when I tried doing a backflip over a hay bale and ended up falling onto the hay bale instead. I didn’t hear the end of that till the show had started.
“This has been one of the more fun days of my life,” Inum mused softly, smiling a bit up at the sky. I looked up with her, the dark night reminding me of her eyes. I smiled, and looked to her to find her looking at me. Our gazes locked together again, and it felt… indescribable. My heart beat faster, my skin seemed to warm and her eyes seemed like one of the most beautiful things I had seen. She herself seemed to be having her cheeks tinted with color, and the heat radiating from her body seemed to intensify. Then the moment was broken with a loud bang of color and noise as the firework show started.
The two of us watched in silence, both smiling just a bit as the colors flashed in the sky where they dazzled like a new set of stars. The next time I looked at inum, it almost seemed like a piece of those stars had been put into her eyes, a faint white spot emanating from the center of each eye. Then the fireworks ended and we stood up and left the carnival. Exhausted of walking from the day I traveled us to the home, and promptly went towards the bedroom I usually slept in, turning to see Inum.
“You can stay in the guest bedroom if you like, it should be comfy enough,” I said warmly smiling a bit.
“Wait.. alone?” she questioned, her eyes seeming to flash with fear for a second.
“Well yes, it would be a bit weird if we slept together wouldn’t it?”
“But… alright, goodnight Morrow,” she said, and I swear I saw a plan flicker through her eyes before she turned to her bedroom and went in. “goodnight Inum,” I called after her and went into my own room, laying down on the bed and almost instantly falling asleep.