Chapter 8: You are not human!

  Dan remembered the way to Seline’s apartment perfectly – the same path he’d walked her down two weeks ago. He walked slowly. Unhurriedly. As if trying to postpone the moment of their meeting.

  The last rays of the setting sun bathed the city, flooding the streets with warm orange light. Walking along the sidewalk beside the road, Dan observed the people passing by. Neither the strangely dressed young man, nor the man in a leather biker jacket with a mohawk, nor the long-legged girl chatting on her phone, nor the odd child spinning around as if about to take flight himself while clutching a toy helicopter – none of them sparked any interest in the Lord. Just people. The same as they’d been for the last four thousand years. Only the clothes changed.

  Dan kept walking, and a thought slipped into his mind:

  “Maybe she isn’t human…?”

  His eyebrows automatically lifted, expressing both doubt and surprise simultaneously.

  “Human. Definitely human. Then what’s wrong with her…? Or with me…”

  He could already see her building entrance. That iron door that had separated him from this peculiar creature two weeks ago. He stopped a short distance from the door. Slipped his hand into his coat pocket and pulled out his phone. The screen showed 7:45 PM.

  “I’ll wait 15 minutes. If she doesn’t come out, I’ll text,” the Lord decided, crossing his arms over his chest and shifting into waiting mode.

  After standing like that for a while, he pulled out his phone again:

  “7:46 PM”

  “Hmm… feels like more time has passed…” Dan thought, and a moment later noted: “Strange sensation…” Time had always been something abstract, imperceptible to him. But now… every second felt like an eternity.

  The last ray of the setting sun vanished, dusk thickening over the city. Birds fell silent. The stream of cars lessened. Children playing in the courtyard began heading home. Lights started flickering on in the windows.

  Dan observed the life of the city. Its systematic nature. Its monotony.

  Suddenly, he felt something touch his leg. He immediately glanced down.

  A small ginger ball of fur was rubbing against his trouser leg, emitting a quiet, vibrating purr that sounded like a tiny engine running.

  “A cat…” he murmured silently.

  Dan crouched down beside the animal. Slowly, so as not to startle it, he extended his palm. The cat sniffed his cold fingers, then nudged them with its small, damp nose, continuing to rub against him.

  “Sweet creatures,” Dan thought, stroking its back. “Funny little beasts, soft and harmless… I like cats.”

  Dan froze for a second. Thoughts about cats made his brain kick into gear.

  “Maybe… maybe Seline is a cat…?!” His brain, overheated by recent pondering, couldn’t come up with anything smarter. His eyes widened at his own stupidity, bewildered that his ancient mind could produce such a thought.

  “Hmm…” he drawled mysteriously, rising to his feet. The cat meowed a farewell and went about its business.

  Dan was already reaching for the phone in his pocket when the building door creaked. The sharp click of the magnetic lock, the metallic clang, echoed in the courtyard. And in the doorway appeared the figure of a girl. It was her. Seline stepped slowly out of the open door.

  She took a step out of the entranceway, and the spring breeze immediately played with strands of her golden hair – now clean and shining. She scanned the courtyard. Her eyes searched for the reason she’d found the strength to get ready and cross the threshold of her home. And when her gaze finally found him, standing in the shadow of a tree, a miracle happened. Seline’s eyes, filled with such pure, unrestrained relief and joy, fixed on him so intently that Dan felt an inexplicable tightness in his chest. A blush flared on her cheeks, and the corners of her lips trembled, lifting into the first genuine smile in two weeks.

  And in that moment, as she beamed and took a step towards him, her foot caught on an uneven patch of pavement near the entrance. The joy on her face instantly morphed into panic, her body lost its balance, and she pitched forward, heading straight for the asphalt.

  Watching the whole scene unfold, one perfectly sober thought flashed through Dan’s mind: “No. She’s not a cat…” and then he was instantly at the point of her intended impact, catching the falling girl.

  Seline felt Dan’s large, strong hands encircle her. Saved once again. The touch of his palms through her coat didn’t trigger the usual spasm of fear, didn’t make her flinch. On the contrary, a strange, warm wave spread through her body. She didn’t want him to let go. But immediately, she was engulfed by a wave of shame and embarrassment.

  “How did I manage that?! What a clumsy oaf I am… now he definitely thinks I’m weird…” Her face flooded crimson. She wanted to sink through the earth.

  Dan felt her tense up completely in his arms, felt the heat radiating from her cheeks despite the cool evening air. He carefully set her back on her feet, but his hands lingered briefly on her shoulders, as if checking her ability to stand steady. Something unreadable flickered in his black eyes: not irritation, not mockery, but rather… puzzlement? He felt the residual warmth of her body on his palms. “She’s… hot. And trembling. She’s strange…” he thought to himself, watching her avert her gaze, hiding her burning face. “And why does that… concern me?”

  “T-thank you,” Seline whispered, finally daring to look at him. Her blue eyes were wide with embarrassment. She added, “I’m usually not this clumsy..”

  “It’s fine,” Dan replied, attempting a smile. His voice, as usual, was calm. He took a step back, giving her space. “Shall we go?”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “Mhm…” she nodded, adjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder. She wanted to disappear, but even more, she didn’t want to miss the chance to get to know Dan.

  They started walking. Towards the city embankment. The evening air was cool, smelling of the river and spring blossoms. Under the glow of city lights and the headlights of passing cars, two figures walked. The Eternal Lord and a human.

  The silence, punctuated by the sounds of the city, didn’t feel awkward. It felt shy, natural. With one difference – Dan didn’t know what to say, and Seline was afraid of saying the wrong thing.

  Every step beside him warmed her from within. He seemed unreal to her. She could hardly believe he existed…

  “What is he thinking? Why isn’t he starting the conversation? Maybe I’m not very interesting to him… although… he was the one who invited me… or maybe… maybe he already regrets coming?” The joy of his presence mingled with shame over her clumsiness and anxiety.

  He felt her gaze sliding over his face like a light touch. Heard her uneven breathing. His thoughts, usually clear and cold, were slightly muddled. He tried to analyze her as a phenomenon, a puzzle: “Definitely human… and there’s not a hint of magic in her… more than that… her aura is too pure… untainted by hatred… that’s not typical for ordinary humans… never seen anything like it…” He subtly raised his eyebrows, surprised by the realization of her “inhuman purity”: “Maybe that’s what intrigued me about her… no… I would have noticed that immediately. Something else… that fear in her eyes, I’ll never forget it… but why didn’t hatred follow? Humans hate everything they fear… her heart is pure…? There’s no malice in her gaze, it’s too kind and…”

  “What are you thinking about?” Seline asked timidly, interrupting Dan’s deep analysis.

  The Lord, unaccustomed to being questioned, hesitated uncharacteristically, trying to formulate an answer far removed from his actual thoughts.

  “About your eyes,” escaped Dan’s lips, despite his attempt to shift the focus to something distant. He realized his mouth was no longer obeying his reason.

  Seline’s face flushed a deep crimson. She tried to suppress the wave of feelings surging within her and find an acceptable response for the situation.

  “A-and… what do you think about them…?” escaped her. She didn’t actually want to hear the answer, because whatever her companion said would surely bury her under layers of embarrassment.

  “They’re blue,” Dan said, attempting to smooth over the awkward moment.

  “Huh?” Dan’s words were like an ice-cold shower for her wildly racing thoughts. “Blue? And that’s it? I already knew that… well, okay, at least it’s something…”. Seline shifted her gaze back to the pavement and said quietly:

  “And yours are black…”

  Dan nodded and decided it was better not to respond. He already knew the color of his eyes. He exhaled a subtle sigh of relief that the situation was smoothed over. At least, it seemed that way to him. They had reached the street. Walking along the iron railing separating the embankment from the river, Dan spotted an ice cream kiosk. It was salvation. Salvation from the awkwardness that had settled in the air again. He raised his hand and pointed towards the kiosk, inviting Seline to check it out. He’d seen people do this in movies a few times. It seemed that after frozen milk, they were always happy.

  “Want some ice cream?” Dan asked.

  “Yes,” Seline agreed immediately, without thinking.

  She approached the stand. Under the glass lid of the freezer, rows of containers held colorful ice cream – strawberry, pistachio, vanilla, lemon… Seline leaned forward slightly, her eyes scanning the display, reflecting the faint gleam of the glass. Dan stood beside her, silently watching her choose.

  “Which one?” Dan asked, not understanding why the choice wasn’t made yet. In the movies, it was quick.

  “Mmm… pistachio, I think,” Seline said thoughtfully, as if waiting for approval of her choice.

  “One scoop of pistachio, please,” the Lord asked the vendor politely, nodding towards the container of greenish frozen milk.

  “And you… what kind will you have?” Seline asked timidly, hoping their choices would match.

  The Lord’s eyes widened slightly in bewilderment. “Me? Why is she asking…? Does she want me to eat too? Why would I? Fine, let it be…”

  “Pistachio,” Dan replied, not understanding what choice he’d made or if he’d actually chosen anything.

  “It’s a sign!” Seline cheered internally, delighted their tastes aligned.

  “Two pistachios, coming right up!” the vendor smiled, handing each of them a cone.

  “Thank you,” Seline said, taking the wafer cone. She added, “How much is it?”

  “I’ll pay,” Dan said calmly, pulling money from his pocket. “I offered.”

  Seline felt embarrassed; it felt awkward having someone pay for her, but also pleasant. She felt cared for, something she’d never experienced before. It was probably the first time in her life she’d felt like a real girl on a date.

  They walked on. He looked at the melting green ball in his cone and hesitated to take a bite, as if afraid of it.

  Seline slowly nibbled her scoop. A smile played on her lips. She walked happily beside Dan, who still hadn’t taken his first bite. Seline was almost down to her wafer cone when she noticed Dan still hadn’t touched his.

  “Why aren’t you eating yours?”

  Dan looked at Seline with mild surprise. He understood he needed to do something to avoid looking foolish.

  He bit into it.

  “Hm… tasty…” Dan said quietly, looking at the frozen milk in the cone. “This is tasty…” he added with a hint of uncharacteristic delight.

  “You say that like you’ve never had ice cream before!” Seline laughed, watching the Lord’s reaction.

  “Never…” Dan thought with a touch of sadness, taking another bite. He genuinely liked the taste. He even caught himself feeling a strange pang of regret: in all the time he’d lived on Earth, he’d so rarely tried anything new. “I wonder… what else tastes good, besides coffee and frozen milk?” This thought unexpectedly awakened something unfamiliar within him. As if he’d just realized he’d missed out on something important – a whole layer of the “human” that had always passed him by. So many years of existence, and so few moments where he did what came naturally to people: simply enjoyed something.

  “Or maybe it’s not about the taste…” flashed through his mind momentarily, “I eat many different things… but why do I only like it now? Maybe because the food I eat is a necessity, a requirement of this human body… I drink coffee not because I need to, but because it tastes good. Is it the same with ice cream…? Interesting… maybe it’s about the circumstances in which I consume things…”

  “Dan…?” Seline called his name, not having received an answer to her question, pulling him from his stream of thought.

  “Huh? Sorry… I… of course I’ve had it before!” the Lord said, hiding the lie behind a smile.

  “Phew! I almost thought you are not human!” Seline laughed and bit into her now ice-cream-free wafer cone. Only remnants of the ice cream dripped down the inner walls, giving the practically tasteless wafer a pistachio flavor.