White Tattoo Pt. 2 || Sedona + Echo || April, 2025
Echo: His other hand disappeared gently into hers, and Echo leaned into his warmth. She had been on the verge of answering him, but the moment he continued, the words fizzled away.
He said she was his other note.
Her face warmed and she looked up at him with a small, almost shy smile before nuzzling into his hand.
“I’m just Echo,” she said, as if reminding him. She was just a little mouse. Someone who followed, loved, protected, but wasn’t meant to be… big. Not like the words he’d said.
Most likely there would be someone out there one day who’d fit with him better, someone who wasn’t her. But she loved him. She loved him with everything she had and that would never waver. She tipped her head to the side, resting it against his shoulder as they walked.
Sedona: What he wanted to say didn't belong confined to his thoughts, nor did it deserve the usual, casual articulation. Some conversations required an ounce more of clarity.
"If there was someone else. This imaginary person, you'd leave me, or would you love them, too? How can you think like that? Like... you're just the best of a situation, and then it's over?"
His little mouse was nearly lifted from the ground with his embrace, back to his chest. Held firmly and swung as he lumbered forward.
"That's stupid. That was a big dumb thought. You're my Echo. Allll mine. Mine, mine, mine."
Echo: Her little gasp came out half-squeak, half-laugh as she was lifted and swung as if she weighed nothing at all, her sneakers dangling above the pavement. Her hands instinctively clung to his forearms.
“I just meant…” she tried again, voice shrinking a little, “That when my job is done, when you don’t need a familiar anymore, I don’t want you to feel stuck.”
Her eyes closed as he carried her forward, her frown loosening as the back of her head gently bumping against his collarbone. If she had ears, they would have sunk down but the way he repeated mine chipped away at that insecurity.
“…Your Echo.”
Her fingers slipped down his arm until her hands covered his.
“All yours.”
Sedona: "It's always been both for me, baby. Or maybe I wanted you first. I think I like that. Want. I want you. I want you happy. I want you healthy. I want you in my pocket all the time."
He wanted to know she was where she wanted to be. Not another vampire she tolerated, but a place, even a little room in an apartment full of weirdos, that she could call home.
The tattoo parlor wasn't on display with neon signs or a spray-painted mural. Nothing but a large yellow finger stickered onto the brick wall with the word Tattoo pointing to the steps of a basement establishment. It gave the immortal pause, but only briefly. If Ariel of all people could come here, his Echo was in good hands.
"You ready?"
Echo: Healthy. Happy. In his pocket.
She could live there forever, tucked against his heart, and he wouldn’t mind because he wanted her. The warmth in her chest made her eyes drop for a moment, a tiny smile on her lips. As long as he wanted her, she would stay.
But when she looked up again, she was met with the big yellow sign. It was odd and a little strange. Her favorite combination.
Echo studied it… then studied Sedona. If she was nervous, she buried it well. She’d be a brave little mouse and she absolutely, definitely was not going to cry, no matter how much it hurt.
She lifted her chin, heart-shaped glasses slipping slightly down her nose.
“Ready.”
Sedona: Sedona arched his neck to get a good look at her expression. By now, she was firm on her feet, though he was reluctant to release his gentle hold. "You ready for this? We gonna be here for hours." That is, if they weren't scheduled for later. He didn't think that would be the case.
The interior was a stereotypical hodgepodge of gothic and punk nostalgia from a bygone era that Sedona had lived through and never experienced. Crushed velvet posters saturated in blacklight paint. Black walls, blue-painted floors, and ceilings with a thousand glow-in-the-dark stars. Everything, save for the leather and steel chairs, worn and splitting on their backs, was polished to a shine.
A woman with hair as blue as the floors looked up from her phone, her eyes, lined with silver glitter, brightened at the sight of potential earnings. No need to ask her name when it was tattooed backwards on her collarbone.
"Hey there! What brings you in?" Kareena was already scoping their bodies for ink.
Echo: “Hours?”
She didn’t think a small rose tattoo on her hand would take that long…unless—
“Oh! Should I get the flowers too? Like the whole vine?” She motioned against her ribcage.
But before her immortal could answer, the little mouse took the lead guiding them down into the flowing, star-splattered basement. Her heart-shaped glasses were pushed back to rest atop her head as she took in the decor and then the artist herself, with a bright smile.
“Hi!” she chirped. “I would like to get a tattoo, please!”
She extended her hand, part greeting, part presentation, so Kareena could see the neat little template Sedona had drawn beforehand.
Sedona: "Hours, babe." All he had were other people's experiences. After years of reflection, it was a wonder why his father never bothered marking all of the aunts, uncles, or even the children. But the reflection was as self-indulgent as it was useless.
"That a fact?" Kareena's mouth twitched. The offered hand was given a glance and squeezed. One couldn't call the gesture a handshake except out of politeness.
"You want like that? And right now?"
Only then did she acknowledge the taller figure behind the squeaky little woman, gaze met with a smaller friendly expression.
"You, too?"
"Nope. I'd probably die if you ink me."
"... Oh."
"But whatever she wants. She's a queen."
Echo: “Yes!”
But maybe her enthusiasm was a bit too much as her answer came out a little too fast, and the familiar smiled sheepishly.
“Please?”
She glanced back over her shoulder at Sed, blinking up at him.
“Would you?”
Her eyes narrowed as she studied him, genuinely trying to puzzle it out. After a long, thoughtful squint, she shook her head.
“No… yeah. That wouldn’t do it.”
Turning back to Kareena, she lifted her chin again, confidence rebooted.
“Mm, just me, but—!”
Her eyes brightened, remembering something important.
“Do you sell those tattoo pens? The ones that stain your skin for a few days?”
Then, realizing that she might be losing focus, she gently reeled herself back in.
“But for me just this right now.” She gestured to her hand, then hesitated, fingers drifting to her sternum. “I was thinking maybe a white flower something… here. But I don’t really have a design yet.”
A pause.
“But that doesn’t have to be today!”
Another pause.
“Is it going to take hours?”
Sedona: Kareena was doing her best not to look confused. Dealing with customers was no different than dealing with fae, she imagined. There were some things you kept your mouth shut about, and never ever was flinching acceptable.
"I, uh," but the subject trucked forward, and the artist bit her pierced lip.
"That flower on your chest? Or that flower where it is?"
Another woman peeked behind a pale blue shoji divider, dark eyes darting between the newcomers before returning to her laptop.
"If you don't know what style you want, it's gonna take a while. You got time, right?"
"She's got all day and all night," said Sedona.
"I don't have all night, but it won't take that long."
Echo: Echo’s white hair swiviled as she looked between Kareena and the immortal, blinking as the conversation zig-zagged ahead of her.
“Oh.”
The shift caught her a little off guard. She’d come in thinking of getting a small tattoo, and now it sounded like more. Her fingers curled reflexively by her side as she smiled at Kareena.
“Where it is is fine.”
She glanced down at her hand, then back up at the artist. “I think we were talking about doing it in white?” Her eyes flicked toward Sed, searching his face for confirmation. Some of the morning’s details had already gone fuzzy.
“But…maybe after we’re done…we could talk about a design?” she added with a tentative smile. And if this tattoo was anything like her sigil wrapped around her arm, it wouldn’t take long at all.
Sedona: His little mouse was tightening up. Why, he didn't know. Rather than interrupt, his arm slipped around her waist - more like her upper half, but that couldn't be helped. He made sure not to plant his hand on her chest, however tempted.
"Right. First one, then the other," the artist smiled. "Luckily for you, I've actually done white tattoos. Got one myself!" Long nails tugged at her baggy collar, revealing a white butterfly the size of her hand behind a sparkling red bra strap.
"Just need to see some ID, and we'll come over here to this table for some mock ups."
Echo: Her slim shoulders loosened as his arm came around her, the tension easing by an inch. Echo rocked back on her heels, pressing gently into Sedona in quiet acknowledgment of his touch.
Her eyes widened at the glimpse of white ink, and her smile bloomed again as she leaned closer, studying the butterfly with open fascination.
“Oh amazing! Did you do it yourself?”
That settled it. She was in good hands.
At the mention of ID, she nodded quickly, already prepared. The little mouse fished her wallet from her pocket and presented it, chin tipped up just slightly as if proud of herself. If she was meant to tweak anything on the faux ID, it had slipped her mind entirely in the moment.
Sedona: "The mock, yeah. My arm ain't that long."
Given her sense of humor, Sedona knew they were in good hands. So long as her humor remained where it was, and not an inch closer to Echo's ignorance and otherworldliness.
Had they thought the same thing? He could swear... good hands. That was Echo.
The ID was out of obligation, and for the camera situated above the glass door. The one fixed on the front desk, unable to see beyond the partitions.
The card was handed back without a word of suspicion, hardly to the count of three.
"So, you want that exact flower. I can trace it, or..." Dark, heavily lashed eyes looked over at who she assumed was the boyfriend. "You draw it? Draw another one?"
That, like most things today, was entirely up to Echo, whom he looked to for the answer.
Echo: Echo blinked at the comment about arm length, head tilting. Why would it need to be longer? The thought slipped away almost immediately, attention snagging instead on the faint rose smudged across her skin. She lifted her hand, turning it this way and that, evaluating the drawing. A small frown tugged at the corners of her lips as she worried the inside of her cheek, then she glanced at the immortal.
“Maybe you can redraw it?”
Sedona: "Yeah. As many as you want 'til you like it."
"That'll probably be one," Kareena would hazard a guess. "Got paper and a pen over here." On the long table lined with simple round bar stools, either plucked from another era or designed with the 50s in mind.
Sedona planted himself at the head of the table, tugging the sketchbook close. He didn't need to see his handywork to replicate it. He didn't know why it had come to mind to begin with, other than being something as flowery as his mouse. She was girlish without being ladylike. Delicate and yet contradicted by resilience.
Thoughts which floated in his mind as he made a perfect copy of his work.
"You sure you ain't want a daffodil, or like, a daisy?"
Echo: Echo drifted after Sedona like a pale little shadow, rising onto her toes to peer over his shoulder as he drew the same flower. It was lovely, and she was quite pleased with it. But when he offered alternatives, her head tipped to the side, considering this.
“Can you put them… around it?” she asked, fingertip hovering near the page, careful not to smudge. “Like they’re friends. But not too many.”
Girlish, yes, but not too much. She wasn’t fragile, despite her small stature, no matter how often her mistress had been kept out of harm’s way. It was a rocky balance she was always battling within herself.
Sedona: "Like a tiny bouquet?" he grinned. He could do that. He just had no memory of a daffodil. He sent an assumed image to her mind. A daffodil-lily hybrid. Not quite.
"Y'all figure that out. I'm going to the little princess' room," said the artist.
Echo: Another nod and the familiar would pull out a chair to sit next to him.
"I think so."
At the image of the hybrid, she smiled a little harder. Not quite but she would make adjustments and give it back.
"No bows though."
She leaned forward, propping her elbows on the table and cradled her chin in her hands as she watched the immortal work.
Sedona: "No bows," he said. Another draft. The same rose, slightly larger, with a daffodil and a daisy on either side, respectively, all connected as one stem.
It didn't require an underlying biblical meaning; it just was. It was cute, and that was good enough.
"How's that?"
Echo: “Cute! Do you think it’ll work if it’s all white? Ooor… the flower outlines are in color, like pink, purple, and yellow?”
She would carefully pull the paper closer to her, taking it to layer it over her hand to get a better idea.
Sedona: "You mean like fillin' it in?" He shrugged. "I dunno if they are. Would be kinda cool, huh?"
The bathroom faucet squeaked. Sedona glanced and bit his lip.
"What animal do you think I am? I said coyote, and you said...?"
Echo: “Nah just meant the outline of the flower petals,” she traced the rose head to clarify. But watercolor art with the flowers outlined in white felt pretty too. She presented him this idea.
“Uh…raccoon. Because you’re sneaky and you feel like an adventurous eater.”
Sedona: "Ye, ye, ye. Those are your words. You can draw that on me, later." If she had the patience. A raccoon with a mouse riding between its ears. He had meant to offer as a future tattoo, forgetting when he opened his mouth that he couldn't, and he wouldn't push the idea on her body.
"Like someone spilled watercolor paint? That'd be pretty. Ain't daisies and daffodils white? Wanna make em whacky colors?"
Echo: Echo giggled at the image he painted for her. She liked the idea of the raccoon but for some reason her mind insisted on giving it a tiny cowboy hat with the mouse perched proudly on its back.
“Mmm… maybe that’s a bit too much for my hand,” she decided at last, eyes dropping back to the sketch.
She smiled again, smaller this time. “We can leave it like this. White… or just black lines.” A tiny nod. “It’ll be pretty.”
Sedona: "Why you flip-floppin'?" He laughed, laying his head to rest on his arm, taking up space just because he could. He was smaller than her in this moment, yet near, like a blanket waiting to be attached to.
Echo: She shrugged.
“I don’t usually make decisions.”
It was better when someone else did, and she understood why.
Sedona: "Well, today you do, baby. It's your body." When it came to this, she would always have the final say. A promise he offered to her mind with insistence.
Echo: Reluctantly she agreed to it, especially with his insistence. She'd keep it simple then.
Sedona: A fleeting question of whether this had not always been the case flitted into his mind, immediately stomped like a crawling zombie. He didn't want to upset her in the middle of a tattoo parlor, far from the security of the apartment, or anywhere remotely private.
Echo: With the design settled, Echo took it as her cue to slip from the chair and begin to wander. If she’d caught even the faintest brush of his thoughts, there was no sign of it as her hands clasped neatly behind her back and she explored the shop.
There was so much to look at. Things that she hadn’t seen before like the art on the walls, or the glass case filled with bits of shining metal meant for piercings. She drifted like that, light and distracted, curiosity carrying her along until the artist returned.
Sedona: Sedona watched her like a hawk, kept like a loose-armed doll on the chair. The artist was setting up her station, looking over her shoulder at her client with a gently confused and equally amused light behind her eyes.
"You decide on the look?"
Echo: Echo straightened at the sound of the artist’s voice, turning with a small, gentle smile. She nodded, then padded back toward the table to retrieve the sketch the immortal had modified for her.
She’d present it to the artist.
“In white please?”
Sedona: Only if it was what she absolutely wanted. That was becoming his theme, and would remain in his thoughts as he stood and paced the room, trading places with Echo's restlessness. He watched their back and forth from his peripheral, and then down the barrel of his nose. He would remain on his feet unless told to sit by either Echo or the artist, and only then.
But he ended up beside her by the time the tattoo machine began to whir to life.
Echo: Echo eased into the chair, hands settling in her lap as her attention fixed on the artist’s preparations. She’d never seen tools like these before. Her armband had been added through an enchantment. This was something else entirely. It was mechanical and strange.
And when the machine whirred to life, her shoulders jumped, heart skittering faster in her chest.
She folded her arms lightly across her middle, eyes fixed on the machine.
“So how….do you do this?” she asked the tattoo gun.
Sedona: Sedona scooted closer to his mouse as she all but squeaked at the machine. He hadn't anticipated a fear of electronics; rather, her being startled. Perhaps he should have. But rather than dwell on it, he offered his hand.
"It's a bunch of needles going yayayayayah to your skin."
Echo: Ya…?”
Her eyes lifted to him, wide and round as little blue saucers, trying very hard to picture what yayayayayah was supposed to mean. It did not sound reassuring.
But he was offering his hand.
That mattered more.
Her fingers slipped into his without hesitation. She drew a steadying breath and nodded once.
“Okay.”
Sedona: "Look at me," he grinned, then crossed his eyes. It was the only thing he could think of, making stupid faces to distract her while the needle finally made contact with her skin.
Echo: The familiar would look at the immortal, his distraction working, a laugh slipping out at the state of his face. It worked until the needle made contact with her skin.
She winced, unable to hide it. It was an uncomfortable type of pain. It was a dragging, buzzing irritation that made her skin feel hot and strange, like something was scratching it.
Her fingers tightened in his. But she was a brave little mouse. So she focused on his ridiculous face.
Sedona: His smile widened, for her sake. He didn't know what she was experiencing. Only vague discomfort in his stomach and lungs when getting sick, a memory so far behind and removed that it felt more like a dream. He felt for her, and that was all he could do. And squeeze her hand.
"Know what? When I was a kid, I tried to catch fog with a net. I mist."
"Don't make her laugh," Kareena tried to frown, failing. "She'll move and this'll be a really long day."
Echo: A snort escaped her, lips pressing together as she fought back a giggle. But at the warning she glanced toward the artist. A mistake. The needle was already touching her skin, and the sight of it made her head swim slightly as tiny pricks of blood bubbled to the surface.
She swallowed and quickly tore her gaze away, fixing it on her sneakers. She reminded herself of the battles she had faced—undead, monsters, dragons. This was nothing compared to those.
“Tell me another one.”
Sedona: She was battling something, that much he was certain. He wondered for a moment if reciting the Bible from memory would have been comforting, or impressive at all, and then threw that idea in the trash.
"Should I do em rapid fire? What do you call a fish with no eyes?"
Kareena seemed to know this one, already biting her lip and bracing.
"A fshhh!"
Echo: Giggles filled through the studio as Echo did her best not to bounce her arm under the pressure of the needle. Her free hand flew up to cover her mouth, shoulders hunching slightly as if that might muffle the sound. She didn’t dare look at the artist, half certain she’d be scolded the moment she did.
The little mouse bit down on her lower lip and looked away from Sedona, drawing in a careful breath. In that quiet moment, she whispered something soft, a guidance spell so Kareena’s hand might stay true, and the work finish just a touch quicker than expected.
Sedona: "Holllld it. Hollllld. Don't you break." She turned away, and he inched forward, playfully in his antagonizing persuit to lock eyes with her. All in good fun, of course, believing he had as good a grasp on her strength of will as she did.
'Is that a prayer or somethin'?' he thought to her.
Echo: Him inching closer wasn’t helping her keep her face steady. She shut her eyes, thinking that would be enough. If she couldn’t see him, he couldn’t distract her.
Or so she thought.
His voice slipped into her mind, catching the little spell she’d cast on the artist.
‘Something like that,’ she replied. ‘Guidance, so her hand stays steady… because someone is making that a little difficult right now.’
Sedona: 'I dunno what you're feelin', baby.' As though that would explain everything. Perhaps it did, and she would fill in the missing words.
But now he was watching the tattoo gun, the artist's hand, and the condition of Echo's skin. As though his supervision might aid the spell.
Echo: ‘Can you…feel when you grind your teeth on accident? Or that sound of something sharp scraping against glass that makes your ears feel funny?’
It was the best way she could think to explain it.
‘It’s like that. Uncomfortable… but on your skin.’
She paused, swallowing as the needle hit a more tender spot along the webbing of her hand. A small, startled squeak slipped out before she could stop it.
‘My armband wasn’t… wasn’t like this.’
Sedona: 'Wasn't that made with magic or somethin'?'
He frowned as she squeaked, offering to squeeze her free hand, if she needed it.
'I mean, the sound is annoying. Nails on a chalk board kinda thing. My aunt would do that if we didn't pay attention in class.' He considered. What came remotely close to the idea of pain?
'When I could eat whatever I wanted, I ate a shit ton. Like, I looked like I swallowed a bowlin' ball. Throwin' up... that's all I got.'
Echo: There was a small nod from the familiar, hopefully only discernable to her owner. She appreciated the offer, her fingers tightening in his hand as she focused on the conversation. Somehow, it distracted her just enough from the grating sensation along her skin.
At the shared memory of overeating, her nose wrinkled instinctively.
‘That is such a terrible feeling,’ she half-whined.
But it sparked another thought.
‘Can you feel when you’re hungry… or thirsty?’
Sedona: People made random, nonsensical gestures every day. Thinking everything under the sun, talking to themselves, acting out scenarios; he'd seen it all. Shaking his head was instinctual, and he didn't stop to wonder if Kareena thought he was crazy.
'I want things. The taste of somethin'. But hunger pains?' Another shake. 'I do it 'cause I know I should.'
Echo: ‘Huh.’
She wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that. Sentiment didn’t feel useful here, especially if he’d always lived with those dulled senses, or the absence of them altogether.
‘Oh…how about if you gotta pee like really bad? Nothing?’
At this sudden impulsive thought, her smile broke wider. She had to bite it back, stifling a giggle before she could shake her hand, despite the quiet spell still guiding the artist’s work.
Sedona: There was another shake. 'Had accidents as a kid. Then Mama put me on a schedule. Made me try every hour, then every two, then three. Don't drink too much all at once, or go back to checkin' every hour.' Speaking clearly in his mind, not a scattering of random reels of memories, ideas, and images, was becoming easier by the day.
Echo: ‘Huh.’
There it was again, that little word. She couldn’t quite imagine what it was like, not getting those signals from body to mind. It wasn’t something she could quite understand.
Still, the conversation helped. It kept her focus off the needle tracing along her skin. Even if they might look a little strange, staring at each other like that, she let her gaze drop briefly to the floor, just to feign some semblance of normalcy.
‘I suppose it has its benefits coupled with being part lizard, but growing up and even now, I imagine it’s frustrating.’
She winced as a line got retraced.
‘Some part of you always has to be thinking about it. That sounds….tiring.’
Sedona: 'You ain't ever thought about this? You followed me, wanted me, been with me, and this the first time?'
There he was being odd again, smiling like a loon at nothing spoken.
"Did-"
'Did you just call me a lizard?'
At her grimace, he squeezed her hand and kissed her knuckles.
'She's almost done. You're doin' great, baby.'
Echo: ‘I was more concerned about you eating me if you were a werewolf.’
She had thought about it, yes, but perhaps not this deeply.
What? ‘Yes...that's what I call you in my head sometimes, or geko.’
And as if he needed further explanation, 'Cause you can regrow limbs...’
She glanced at her hand, the skin red with irritation, but the shape of the flowers had bloomed. They were pretty.
Sedona: 'I mean, some humans eat mice, and roaches, and like, grasshoppers and shit. I coulda been fuckin' nuts!'
The immortal was hiding behind his arm now, at least his smile was, pressed against his bicep to prevent laughter from screwing everything up. Spell or no spell, he didn't want to take the chance.
"So..."
"So, we're done! Gonna clean this up and put some Saniderm on top and you're good to go." Kareena continued on, going over the dos and don'ts of caring for her new tattoo - Sedona was back to clearing his thoughts for conversation.
'I thought I was a racoon? No, wait... it was a fox. Yeah, a fox.'
Echo: At that, Sedona earned a pointed look in his direction. It took all her effort not to break into another smile or another fit of giggles. She somehow managed to stay serious.
Her good behavior paid off. The machine stilled, and she was finally free. Echo slipped from the chair, immediately lifting her hand to admire the artwork.
“Thank you!”
She hovered, tempted to touch it, but the skin looked and felt too raw beneath the ointment and wrap. Better not.
Her attention flicked back to him, a quiet thought following.
‘Sometimes… but I think I like gecko better. Like the one that pops up on TV sometimes.’
Sedona: 'Ah great, I'm a fuckin' car insurance salesman. I ain't even got a funny accent!'
He was staring at the little wound with her, wondering if she was going to heal it as soon as they walked outside, or would curiosity have her holding off, just to watch the human process in real time. Healing was fascinating, quick or slow. Too often he'd seen his body stitch back together in a manner unlike normies. Like thread and needle made of flesh.
As soon as the door shut behind them, the immortal was stretching his arms and yawning like some overachieving theater kid.
"Fuckin' finally. How you feelin', baby girl?"
Echo: The familiar shifted her hand in the light, admiring the small piece of artwork now resting there. It was so pretty.
She looked up at him. “I don’t like tattoos.”
Wait that didn’t come out right.
“I don’t like the process,” she corrected softly. “I liked how my armband was done better. This…” Her nose wrinkled as she gave a small shake of her head. “It was okay… but it took so long.”
Sedona: The immortal burst out laughing right there in the street, head thrown back and arms around his ribs. It was too blunt and strong for most people - even seasoned locals - to handle. Eyes were upon him disapprovingly as they passed. Very few paid them no mind.
"Ah, process. Yeah." His arm was around her waist, even if that meant lifting her an inch to achieve it.
"Some people get off on the feelin'. Dwight likes the pain. This pain shit confuses the fuck outta me." Then again, their neighbor in room 101 was an odd fellow to begin with.
Echo: Echo startled at the sudden burst of laughter, shoulders jumping before the reaction melted just as quickly into a smile. Her hands rested lightly atop his arms as her feet lifted for a brief second off the ground.
“I don’t get that either,” she said, giving a small shake of her head. “I don’t like how it feels when I get hurt.” She couldn’t imagine how someone would like that feeling. Humans were weird.
“So now it’s your turn,” she added, tilting her head. “What are we going to do?”
Sedona: Then they would drop the subject of pain, as it would do nothing but stiffle them with their mutual confusion.
"What are we gonna do?" He looked around, as though he might find the answer on their street.
"What ya want, a noodle shop or a taco shop? Wanna watch some skateboardin' while we eat?"
Echo: “Mm, a quesadilla sounds so good...or one of those soft tacos wrapped around a crunchy taco.”
At the mention of food, her eyes lit up, the ache of the tattoo already forgotten in favor of something far more important.
“Uh…yeah!”
She tipped her head back against him so she could look up at him upside down, grinning.
“What’s skateboardin’?”
Sedona: "You know, the more I learn 'bout you, the more I'm worried that other guy kept you in a cage or somethin'." And he didn't like that. She didn't know everything about her powers. She didn't know what skateboarding was. And by the sound of things, she had been in this realm of reality for longer than a sneeze, so why did she feel so sheltered?
Fuck, did she hear all of that?
"It's like, a board, 'bout this big. Got wheels. Was supposed to be this cool shit people could get around on, but you got psychos out here actin' like you killin' people for usin' one on the sidewalk. Makes no fuckin' sense. I had one and ate dirt. Broke that shit in half." He suddenly wanted another one, immediately.
"Under the bridge down that way, they got a taco shop lookin' at the skate park. Used to go there all the time when I got here."
Echo: “Del?”
She tilted her head and gave a small shake. No, he didn’t keep her in a cage, but he also didn’t take it upon himself to show her much of anything either.
“No, he didn’t keep me in a cage…I just was a bit sheltered.”
She wasn’t sure how else to explain it. Despite being on this side of the realm, there was still a lot to learn, especially when it came to her magic.
“Huh…it sounds like fun. Maybe we should try it?”
But she was very amicable to the idea of tacos and watching the skatepark.
“Mm, and maybe a lemonade or a boba.”
Sedona: "Well, ya got me, now. I ain't no theoretical physicist doctor know-it-all, but I got ya a phone, and I'm kinda old, I guess. If I ain't got the answer, we'll get the answer. Sound good?"
Like the day she had tried invisibility, the day of tailing his target. They needed more days like that, he decided.
"Mm! They got limonada! Some drink with chia seeds, and like, they can rim that shit with chamoy."
They had a small hike to get there, but the smells were a beacon a block before the food truck came into view.
Food truck was one way to put it; the wheels had been removed long ago, held up by cinderblocks and hope. But the line was a promise of good things. The menu was concise, written with colorful chalk on the side of the vehicle, which had long ago been covered in chalkboard paint.
Tacos de calle, served with onion, cilantro, and lime only. Al pastor, carne asada, barbacoa, suadero, carnitas, and cabeza and lengua.
No sides, and drinks came from a giant plastic cooler.
Just feet away, children and adults enjoyed their meals, some on the ground, others in lawn chairs. Most had their eyes on the skateboarders. Those learning were designated to one side, while the experienced practiced tricks in the deeper bowl and half pipe.
Echo: Echo was more than happy to look things up whenever she needed. The day he’d gotten her a cellphone had felt like being handed endless candy. She’d spent nearly the whole day glued to it until the battery gave out. She’d learned a bit of restraint since then.
But the aroma of food was an easy distraction. Her attention drifted, taking in the lively scene around them. The random bursts of laughter and children shrieking in the park was…nice. It was comforting in a way that felt familiar, yet still so different from where she’d come from.
She leaned into his side as she peered up at the menu, head tilting.
“Do you think they have something with just cheese or veggies?” she asked, glancing at him. She wasn’t entirely sure he remembered that his familiar was vegetarian.
Sedona: "Let's see." The last time he had been here, he would swear he had seen black beans. Maybe it had been a special that day. Either way, he held her hand and waited for a sign. Someone walking buy with their paper plate with more than four little tiny tacos.
"You good with black beans? If they ain't got it, that noodle place is over there," he pointed further down the same road. At a little hole in the wall next door to a laundry mat and another dirty spoon breakfast 24/7 joint.
Echo: “Mm, I can do beans, or...um... what do they call it?” she worried her lower lip as she tried to remeber, she had even looked it up once. “Sofritas! It’s a tofu and soy mixture that looks like ground meat.”
The little mouse would be perfectly happy with noodles too, but the idea of tacos had already rooted itself firmly in her brain.
Sedona: As they arrived at the front of the line, a man nearly as wide as the window and a woman as tall as his elbow looked down at the pair. The man looked like a creature out of time. Burley. Sturdy. Someone who belonged on an ancient battlefield. Not in a food truck in Manhattan.
"You got somethin' for a vegetarian?"
"Radish," came from the man's throat like a cough.
"Why ain't that shit on the menu?"
"No one orders."
"What's in it?"
"Cooked radish. Pickled radish. Raw radish. Cilantro, onion, salsa."
Echo: Did she know what radishes tasted like? Echo honestly wasn’t sure. She was content to let Sed take the lead, blinking up at the man filling the cart window.
He looked like he could pick her up and throw her halfway across a field without effort. The resemblance to some of the paladins she’d met on her adventures was almost uncanny.
“It sounds good!” she smiled at the taco knight. “Can I please do an order of that and…” Her eyes flicked over the menu again. It didn’t seem like they had drinks. “That’s all for me!”
Sedona: Sedona was already rummaging through the plastic cooler as she made her order, coming up with a can of something he knew she enjoyed, and something he had never tried before, just for the hell of it. The can was brown - he'd learn in a minute.
"Lengua cabeza thing." He paid in cash, as he always did, and they didn't blink twice about it.
"Five minutes," said the food truck paladin. There were only two round picnic tables with umbrellas that had seen better days many, many days before. One was filled with two families trying to make it fit, the other, with an old man with more eyebrows than hair on his head, on his last barbacoa taco. Sedona smiled. The man nodded.
"Thank ya thank ya." Sedona straddled the attached bench and finally looked at his tamarind soda.
Echo: The mouse familiar took her drink when handed and inspected it. Strawberry cream! She was fairly certain she would love this.
She followed after the immortal, offering the stranger a warm smile and appreciative nod before settling beside her lanky owner.
“I don’t think I know what a radish tastes like,” she confessed, staring thoughtfully at the soda can in her hands. She liked the little drawing on it. Something about the way the strawberry was illustrated was lovely.
“Have you had a radish?”
Sedona: "Thought that woulda been somethin' over there." And then his eyes widened. A question almost escaped his mouth, before glancing at the co-owner of their little table. The old man was staring down the pages of a paperback book.
'Are they the same shit? The food, the animals. Like... were there cows? Apples? Peaches?'
Echo: “There are. I just never ate radish.”
At his question, she gave him a briefly puzzled look before nodding.
‘Well, yeah. We had the food animals, but we also had humankin that were… minotaurs, and turtlefolk, and giffs, which I guess are kind of like hippos here.’ She tilted her head thoughtfully. ‘We had all that and then some.’
Sedona: He thought of how else to word the question. Surely there was something...
'Was there a, like a... a fruit or veggie there we ain't got here? Somethin' weird lookin'?'
Echo: ‘Oh…tons.’
The problem was figuring out where to even start.
‘There’s a plum that, if you eat it, creates an exact double of you about ten feet away for an hour. It copies all your movements and everything. Uh… some necromancers carry corpse fruit too. They smell awful, but ghouls, zombies, and other undead creatures love them. There’s a lot of strange stuff like that. Should I continue?’
Sedona: 'Why you talk like I'm gonna cut you off?' The back of his fingers brushed against her cheek. He was smiling, as he so often did when she spoke with enthusiasm. Didn't matter how much. When she was comfortable, the world was right and peaceful.
'Miss one? If you could have it in front of you right now, what would it be?'
Echo: ‘There’s this fruit called Relum that looks kind of like a pear. When you eat it, it tastes sweet at first and then savory, but the real effect is that it coats your stomach and traps any toxins you might swallow.’
Her thumb brushed over the little strawberry image on the can, and she smiled softly at his touch.
‘I once found a straw that was actually a strawberry shaped like a straw.’
Sedona: Well, those were two different... he stared into space, trying to picture first one then the other.
He had nothing of equivalent to offer. She could have that thought. Wasn't any harm.
"Miss my mama's cookin'." Saying so out loud felt right. Besides, they had been sitting in silence too long, not even staring at their phones.
"Ever had grilled grapes?"
Echo: Echo’s head popped up at the immortal speaking, her white bangs swaying slightly with the motion.
“What was your favorite dish?”
But at the mention of grilled grapes made her nose wrinkle. “No, I’ve had frozen ones, though.” She looked genuinely perplexed. “How do they taste? I wouldn’t think warm fruit would be all that good.”
Sedona: "Not one? Babygirl, we gotta get outta here and get you some bananas foster. Banana all warm and covered in, like, caramel and rum or some shit. Or like, cherry pie or somethin'. Grilled grapes are just... good. It's - I dunno. Always had it. Mama would make em with honey."
Echo: “Oh, you’re right! Fruit pies are warm fruit, I suppose.” She smiled. “I just don’t think of it as the same because it’s changed shape.”
She kicked one leg out, beginning to swing it slowly beneath her seat.
“You can make me some when we get back...or when we get hungry again.” Her gaze drifted toward the taco truck, wondering if their food was almost ready. Her stomach growled as if on cue.
Sedona: "Sounds like we're gonna be cookin' a lot more fruit. I see it now!" he said, hands out as a soothsayer might, trying to work up a performance.
He was ready to list every pie he had ever heard of when his name was called. He took their two flimsy paper plates and returned, looking over at the skate park.
"Wanna get closer?"
Echo: “Somehow that sounds wrong.” She narrowed her eyes at him, thoroughly skeptical, though the expression vanished the moment his name was called from the taco truck and her attention snapped that way instead.
Balancing her plate of tacos and soda carefully in her hands, she nodded.
“Do you want to taste my radish tacos?” she asked with a faint smirk, glancing down at the dish. It smelled earthy, but seasoned too.
Sedona: "Only if you hate em." He wasn't about to eat her share and his plate.
Sedona figured she would want to see only the best. He walked them over to a small group of older teenagers and their circle of fast food sitting on their skateboards. They were only half paying attention to the men on the half-pipe.
Echo: “We’ll see.” She had a feeling she wouldn’t, but she was willing to share a bite or two if he promised not to gobble them all up.
She followed him toward the teens, immediately captivated by the jumps and spins they pulled off.
“Whoa.”
Once they settled down, she placed her soda beside her and carefully balanced the paper plate of tacos in her lap. For the moment, though, she was too enthralled watching the skaters to pay much attention to the food.
Sedona: He had hoped for as much. To see her interested in something, something they could learn - or in his case, re-learn - together. Something he could participate in, where magic...
'I'm not a very good master, am I?'
The thought hadn't been intended for her, and yet, it was inevitable.
He smiled softly at her. Something akin to an apology.
Echo: She had finally reached for one of her tacos, stuffing a bite into her mouth while still watching the skaters, when the immortal’s question stole her attention instead.
“…No, you’re not very good at it, but that’s okay,” she admitted after swallowing. “You don’t really use me to help you much.” Her shoulders lifted in a small shrug. “I’m a companion because it's what you need, and I'm happy to be that for you.”
Sedona: No one was near enough or interested enough to eaves drop. He might as well follow her auditory lead.
"Familiars can be companions, right? Like... It ain't against the rules. You told me 'bout it. But... What we done did - before. What we did with that... bald guy... We can do it again."
Echo: She’d been so focused on the skateboarders that she hadn’t realized he’d asked her that in her mind. It wasn’t until his voice sounded right beside her that her attention snapped back to him.
“Yeah,” she answered, lifting a hand to cover her mouth while she chewed between words.
“We can,” she nodded. “I’m capable of handling myself.” Her gaze flicked toward him briefly. “I feel like you don't trust that I won't get hurt."
Sedona: "It's..." What a place to have this conversation. Their morning had already been cloudy. Not with tension of their future, but the reality of vulnerability. Of being perceived, read begrudgingly, and read willingly. Just hours ago, they had shared the worst moments of their lives. What was a little more honesty?
"Sometimes, it's like... you didn't have cameras everywhere, watchin' what you be doin', when, where. Cities ain't what they used to be. If I could go back in time... I'd do it. If I could go back with you, over there, I'd do it. I worry 'bout that, and... I know you're strong. I know you're awesome, but other people ain't. What if one of them not-awesome-but-strong people take you from me?"
A question asked to his last taco.
Echo: The little familiar stayed quiet, letting the immortal have his peace while she finished off one taco and started on the second. It gave her time to think and to chew over both her food and the words he’d given her. She could hear the concern in his voice, and she knew he thought she was capable, even amazing at times, but sometimes… it felt like he doubted his own words.
She finished her second taco, letting the silence hang there for a moment.
“The necklace I made for us,” she began softly, “I can charm it so you can use it to find me, if you think that would help.”
She didn’t reach for her own necklace, mostly because her fingers were still covered in seasoning, but she wondered if that would be enough for the immortal.
Sedona: Songs from open windows. That was how he imagined their thoughts. Not a book he could open and flip through, turning all the way back to the beginning to read the chapters he had missed. The question on his mind was whether or not she shared the same experience. She could see the death of his mother because he thought about it, relived it, but could she flip the pages herself? If so, how could there ever be misunderstandings between them?
For the first time, sitting on concrete in Manhattan, he desired a power beyond immortality.
"What, if you're unconscious? Can't I find you now?" It was almost irritating, the concern poking at his voice box with a fine-tip needle. How dare she put his heart back in his chest. It was uncomfortable, distracting, and a reminder of that which he intended to forget.
Echo: The third taco was lifted and held out toward Sedona; the paper plate carefully angled beneath it to catch any stray bits that might tumble free.
“Well… when I’m asleep and not with you, what does that feel like to you?” she asked. “Can you find me?”
She’d caught that inflection in his voice, and it had her staring at him a little more intently now.
She was Echo, the mighty mouse. She had fought dragons, beasts, and worse long before falling into this realm. He shouldn’t have to worry about her; she was a seasoned adventurer.
But... there was some merit to his concern.
This world and the two… maybe three years she’d spent in it was still a lot to navigate.
"How can I help?"
Sedona: Didn't matter what they were discussing, her quiet command was obeyed without hesitation. He considered the taco and angled himself, biting out a third of it.
His jaw froze mid-chew. He stared at the bridge above them, then to the floor. "Hmm. Earthy," he muttered.
"Maybe. I dunno." The now empty can of soda was crushed in his grip. "I know you're there. Like... like knowin' where the apartment is, or how to get to the club. It's knowin'. Ain't a feelin'. Maybe we test. Ya know, there's a lot we should test. Be mad scientists about. All that magic ya got over there, we should try it over here."
Echo: She watched him wide eyed, waiting to see what he thought of the food. It definitely tasted earthy, she’d agree with that, but there was a bit of a bite to it. Overall, she liked it.
“Do…you want me to?”
She polished off the last third of her taco and sat there chewing thoughtfully before finally nodding. The idea appealed to her, trying all the spells Niz had once done, and as a familiar, she should be capable of.
“Ok, I like that. But to make it challenging, you tell me what you want me to do, and I’ll see if I can do it.”
Sedona: "Ya wanna trust me with that shit?" He laughed, then licked his paper plate. "Gonna come up with some weird shit."
His eyes fell upon her tattoo again.
"After ya heal?"
Echo: “Why not? It’s fine,” she said with a smile before finally cracking open her soda and taking a sip. Her expression brightened at the sweet strawberry-and-cream flavor.
“Mmmm, alright.” She glanced back at him. “So… tomorrow?”
Sedona: "Gonna be all healed up tomorrow?"
Echo: “Yeah!”
She looked at her tattoo. Probably.
Sedona: "So, how 'bout that first. You can heal, right? Like... that? Or a papercut? Orrrrr you cut your toe off choppin' wood?"
Echo: “Yeah, Healing Word and Cure Wounds,” she said, counting the spells off on her fingers. “A toe would require a bit more magic, though.”
Sedona: "Wait... spells have names?" And everyone knew them? That hadn't crossed his mind once. Mind blown.
"Well, ya can take my toe, if ya can cast quick enough."
Echo: “Yeah, do they not here?”
Though, to be fair, he probably wouldn’t know that. Hm. Maybe she should consider talking to another magic user from this world.
“Ew… no.” She made a face. “I know you’re a gecko and it doesn’t hurt, but I still can’t help feeling like, in a way... it’s hurting you.”
She paused, a new and much more concerning thought occurring to her.
“What happens to the parts of you that fall off? Do they just… disappear, or does some unfortunate little grandma come across them and have a heart attack?”
Sedona: "I dunno! I ain't asked. Ain't thought they did. Why don't -" But, he needed to think about that before he said it. She would feel and hear him thinking about it, so didn't that defeat the point? Whatever. He should be introducing her to people who cast spells with names. He knew at least three. Vampires didn't count, or did they?
"They just... hang out. They rot, I guess? Some scientist dude took my thumb in... when the fuck... '96. Still there the next day."
Echo: “Well, we can meet your magic friends at some point and find out then.”
Before she could say anything more on that subject, however, they were back to discussing the fact that his lost limbs apparently persisted without him.
A very visible frown crossed her face as she imagined his thumb just... sitting somewhere. And other parts of him. Detached. Existing independently.
She looked up at the immortal and blinked.
“You would be the best organ donor.”
Sedona: "Ya think so? I think they're just fuckin' normal when they get lopped off. I guess I would, huh? Oh, wait, 'cept for the part where I heal instantly. They gotta go in like that dude from Indiana Jones, just "Kali ma" that shit outta me."
Echo: The reference was lost on his familiar as she stared at him.
"Kali ma?"
Sedona: "Sounnnds like we finally got a movie to watch! It's got magic in it. You tell me if it's like magic over there. Wanna watch tonight?"
Echo: "Sure, I haven't seen many movies!" And the idea of seeing magic on screen was exciting.
Sedona: "Not one? You're always on your phone!"
Echo: “I said not many. I watched TV when I stayed with my vampire friend.”
She pushed herself to her feet as she spoke. The flimsy paper plate was wrapped around the empty soda can, leaving one hand free as she reached toward Sedona.
“Let’s go.”
Sedona: Sedona looked back at the skaters. He was surprised she hadn't tried to go down there and join them, ask for lessons, or even steal one.
"What you watch with your vampire friend?" He chugged the last of his soda and tossed everything in the nearby garbage can, on the verge of overflowing.
She could have his hand without question.
Echo: She had considered getting closer, but not everyone was welcoming to an intrusive little mouse. Besides, the idea of watching a movie with the immortal was enticing, and that couldn’t happen if she was busy learning how to skateboard.
“Uh, well, I didn’t really watch anything with him,” she admitted. “I was free to do whatever I wanted, and I’d usually just let the TV play…”
Following his lead, she carefully set her trash into the bin before taking his hand and led the way home.
