#tfihe

“Why do people behave so erratically?” Sarai asks suddenly, her voice monotonous and calm, as if she was asking what time it was.

Chris turned to her, eyebrows raised as they both sat on the bench. “Erratically?” He repeats, her question leaving him at a loss.

Sarai doesn’t look at him, merely overlooking the people passing by, her face stoic, her back straight, hands neatly folded in her lap. Chris feels the itch to ask who she is again...where he came from. “Hu-...individuals...They say they will do one thing...and then do another.” she lets out a small scoff: “Sometimes the exact opposite”.

Chris knows better than to take her rather snobbish, stoic demeanor to heart. In fact, he chuckles at her apparent confusion about humans. He then quietly reflects back to a time he hasn’t thought about in...forever. He then looks back at his companion as she patiently waits for his answer while watching passer-bys, some catching her intense gaze and moving a little quicker.

“Well, people are...weird” Chris remarks slowly, careful to keep his tone light “There’s always a desire to… be something”.

“Be something?” The female sorcerer’s eyebrow raises and she turns her attention him.

He tries not to be intimidated, but it always catches him off guard the way she looks at him so intensely. Instead of flinching, he gives her an easy-going smile “Like-... Like how I want to be friendly and kind to others, and want to be generous and loved”.

The Indian woman’s amber eyes narrow, as if suspicious, but Chris knows her well enough to know this is her thinking face; “But you… are those things” she points out slowly like it was an obvious concept.

Chris can’t ignore the heat that rises onto his face. He laughs nervously, and habitually rubs the back of his neck “Well-! I’m glad! Thanks!” he can tell that Sarai doesn’t comprehend why he’s thanking her but quickly brushes it off as Chris being Chris.

Chris sits back, deciding to take it a little further “But...I’m not always those things”.

This definitely catches Sarai’s interest, her eyebrow cocking so she looks both skeptical and curious. Chris swallows to and calms his beating heart “Well- like sometimes…” his face clouds with memories “I don’t always…. Share” it came out darker than he meant, and he can see Sarai noticed by the way her striking gold eyes flicker over his face. He encourages himself to continue after a faint pause, “Sometimes I don’t want to be friendly… Sometimes I can be mean, and….possessive, and as much as I don’t like it… that’s part of who I am” The thaumaturge grows somber, hand reaching over to his breast bone. “Get what I mean?” he smiles unsurely.

Sarai is silent, and sits back on her rump, previously leaning in to give him her full attention. He can see the cogs turning in her head; she was like a statue but he knew the way her fingers ever so slightly drummed against her leg, and the way she would forget to blink when in deep thought. Slowly, she says “So some people… want to be a certain thing but do not...take the necessary steps to become that thing” she confirms slowly.

Chris never thought of it like that but grins and nods fervently, “Yeah!” he agrees. Sarai merely looks at him, as if reflecting on something before abruptly turning her head back to the crowd.