"Pardon?"
It was colder than usual, but he didn't feel anything; Denizens often didn't register subtle changes in temperature. It was one of the perks (downsides?) of being in such a body; the advantages of a human form, without the small limitations.
Yet he was, without a doubt, at least a little human, and he noted the way his breath condensed as soon as it left his mouth. Yes, it was cold.
He frowned. This weather wasn't very good for plants-
-ah, but he was getting sidetracked, as he often did when it came to things other than his garden. She repeated what she had asked of him, still standing there, a little girl in a worn dress.
"Who are you?"
He turned his head in a slightly jerky motion, a little surprised by the question. Still getting used to this other skin that was familiar, and yet wasn't. Long hair fell down over his face, and he brushed it away, tucked it behind his ear, with some annoyance.
"Nobody you need to remember," he said sharply, momentarily distracted with each puff of mist that curled like tendrils in the wintry air, disappearing into the night. "Run along, child."
The girl, instead of obeying orders - how irritating - stepped closer, staring up at him. He noted - again, with that absurdly human train of thought- that her eyes seemed far too big for her pale face. She was strange, and perhaps because of this strangeness she wasn't all that close to other mortals.
How did he even know this? He brushed it off as something that came from his other half, the one he -
-well, not despised, but disliked at the very least. Troubling sentimentality. His fondness for anything in particular besides his plants stemmed from that part; he would have liked to get rid of it, as being half and half of anything was bad enough, but two halves that weren't meant to be together were even worse, and yet it was part of him. Possibly for eternity - no amount of House sorcery could make it go away for long.
"What are you staring at?"
It was a question laced with obvious annoyance; yes, it was rude, and she was just a small girl, but he did need to get back. He had work to do - work that everyone else seemed to shirk, for some reason, which was just another irritation on top of everything - and-
-his train of thought suddenly screeched to an abrupt halt as she answered.
"You've got weird things on you."
"Like what?" He was going to hope that she just had an overactive imagination and was not seeing through the skin. He'd known it wasn't going to take well due to his nature, but it seemed to have fooled everyone so far and it had been going quite nicely today...
"You have stitches. And words. Around here," she said with interest, pointing to his face, and waving around his chest and part of his left side.
He had to resist the urge to turn around don't let her touch you- and walk away fast, but she could see him and it wasn't exactly the most comforting thought, having a girl running around with the ability to see through his illusion. She could call him out again, and even if she was just a child, people would occasionally listen to a child. It would be...
...inconvenient.
"Stop bothering the man, Nimue," someone called, and she nodded, still staring at him for a brief second before turning away and running off.
He stared back, watching her for a moment.
She was a special child; he had gathered that much from the brief moment they had talked. She would go on to do - not necessarily great things, but at the least she would influence things greatly in some way, whether for a given value of 'good' or 'evil'.
Despite himself, he couldn't help wondering if they would ever cross paths again.
It would certainly be an odd encounter.
A/N: It could have been one of many encounters; the Denizens had to get out there and learn at some point, and the Morrow Days are no exception.
As to who the girl was? The name should give you a hint, as well as why she could see through the 'illusion' he had on. |D
This was actually based on a throwaway line in Mister Monday, where it was mentioned that the two messengers at the beginning of the story had taken on human shapes 'because it was the fashion', and not because they were explicitly human-shaped in the first place. Which immediately brings to mind the question - what does a Denizen actually look like in their 'true' form, if they have one?