First I want to thank every reviewer and reading for stopping by. The update times will stay undetermined, since I'm a university student. Thanks for the observation of the segment sentences. I also do it in French and tend to forget not to do it. I hope you'll like this chapter! Have a nice time reading!
I chose you – Chapter 2
The first things he noticed inside the motel were the pictures on the wall. He had never seen such things. And the only thing he could think about it was that it looked nice. Nice. Another word he wasn't too used to. He wondered how many more of them he was going to discover...
"How do you like chicken, Bradley?"
"Hmmm..."
He didn't remember ever been ask if he liked the food he was given back at the institute. He knew it was some healthy food, though it tasted awful sometime. He had learned to swallow down most anything. He knew what was poisonous and what wasn't. He remembered disliking chicken, because the chickens served at the institute were too small and then, he would remain hungry. Being hungry wasn't nice. He had learned to live with starvation too, but he hated it.
"Should I be picky when I'm invited?" he retorted, trying to sound arrogant even if he still doubted himself.
He had learned many things, but was he cut out for such a situation?
"A yes or a no could have done the trick, you know?" she retorted, looking over her shoulder.
Her braid danced on her back. At first, Wrath had thought it was stupid to keep hair growing so long, but suddenly, he realized why it was for. It made her pretty. It was still stupid. But there weren't many pretty things in his world. And none was pretty in the same way as this girl. His blade was sharp and efficient. A map held lots of adventures, unknown things, and strategies to defeat the enemy. But this woman... She looked so alive. He liked how her braid moved from one side to the other as she walked, how it followed her moving hips. He had never seen a guy walking like that. It felt different also. Was it because of her shoes?
Bradley was totally puzzled. And the souls in his mind remained quiet; surprised by the way he was discovering the world. He was like a child for such simple things! A few of them laughed, but Wrath contained his anger at them. He was focusing on the here and now. This was his first test and he wanted to know if he could pass as a real human being. After all, he'd been one for most of his life!
He followed the woman into the kitchen. He had been in a kitchen before and remembered it as a laboratory. But here, everything was different. There were colors on the walls. Good smells in the air, smells he'd never tasted before. His good eye widened in surprise. How was it he could still feel so many things, when he was invincible? How could everything around him reach him so easily if he was...
"Do you have a tendency to zone out, Bradley?"
"What... no, I..."
His souls told him to lie quickly, to hide the truth. He tried to quiet them down, but they insisted and gathered on the right side of his head, creating a sudden pain in his right eye. He raised one hand to cover the black patch. And the lie came to him just like that.
These souls are clever, he thought.
"I'm still having trouble to adapt seeing things with only one eye." He sighed.
He didn't like the feeling he had he was complaining, but it wasn't an entire lie. Though, as Amelia's face whitened, he wondered if he'd chosen the wrong lie. Was she going to faint or something? Were humans really that weak?
"Oh, I'm sorry." She replied. "I'm being quite rude..."
"No need to apologize, miss Amelia."
She gave him a weak smile at the way he said her name. From the pirate who had yelled at her out on the street, he was turning into quite a gentleman. She wondered what that could be hiding. Did he yell out of pain back then? He looked so confused when she slapped him.
They stood in silence for a moment, contemplating each other, their mind filled with different question, till she turned around to face her oven and get busy with the cauldrons already fuming.
"Remember you're supposed to help with the dinner, right?"
He nodded by reflex, though she couldn't see him and walked up to stand before the counter, right next to her.
"What can I do?" he asked.
And though his souls were laughing at him, since he was lowering his glorious superior self to obey a simple human, he didn't feel mad. This was merely a test. And he was going to pass. He couldn't have it any other way.
She had him cutting a few vegetables. It was quite easy, since he was a king had manipulating any sort of blade. She talked about the temperature and the motel's clients. She had one anecdote on every person. And on every weather. He laughed as she explained how her umbrella had "run away" from her once, when the rain was pouring like ropes from the sky and how the wind was blowing. She mentioned having one hell of a cold from that. And his laugh died down a little as she mentioned it. His mind was running so fast, his brain was going to burn. Could he still catch a cold after all that he'd been through?
Amelia kept on talking. She talked a lot. At first, he thought it was pretty irritating. But then, as his souls were chattering together, commenting her features, her cooking, his own skill at peeling carrots and potatoes –which wasn't as easy as just cutting them- he realized listening to her unstoppable blabber had one big advantage. It seemed to shut out all the noise in his head. So he focused on her voice. Such a nice ring to this voice.
"Alright then, everything's ready!" Amelia said suddenly, clapping her hand together one time.
Bradley jumped at the noise. He had tried setting up the table as she'd instructed him, but he had no idea why they needed something else than a fork and a knife. And he also knew he was certainly putting the glasses on the wrong side or stuff. The scientists were supposed to give him his etiquette class after that he became Fuehrer...
Nevertheless, they sat in front of each other after that Amelia served every part of the meal in the dishes.
"Bon appétit!" she cheerfully said.
Bradley just stared at her, unable to believe that someone so lively existed. He didn't know if she was a normal human anymore. Was it his lack of knowledge over women, or was she anything but your average woman?
"Go on, dig in!" she then said, realizing he was waiting to attack the meal.
He took the hint. As he ate, he slowly forgot to think over all the new aspects to his homunculus body. He could still feel hunger, well, right about now. Would it wear off one day? He shrugged off the thought. At least, the chicken tasted good. And for once in his life, the company was nice.
"Everything's to your taste?"
He nodded, chewing down more chicken and potatoes.
"So you're a soldier? You're looking quite young."
"Oh, so being soldier involves being old?" he retorted.
He didn't know it, but he almost sounded humoristic as he said that.
She shook her head, smiling slightly, until that her smile turned upside down.
"It's just hard to see people running to their own deaths."
She said that without looking at him, and for an instant, Wrath was angry to lose her attention. But he didn't ask her why she would say something like that. Her petty reasons didn't interest him. He was here to test himself, not to get involved with humans that he would rule over later.
He kept on eating, slowly savouring every tastes of her cooking. He wasn't used to spices. It burned his tongue, but he liked it. Gosh, he was starting to like a great deal of stuff.
"You're not really talkative, Brad, are you?"
She had quickly taken the liberty of calling him Brad. Was it to get a reaction from him, or just because this woman easily become friendly? How could everything she did be a hint to something else? Why was he trying to interpret anything that she did?
'Cause I need to understand her if I want to understand every other human... , he admitted to himself.
"I'm not a very... social guy." He said, looking terribly serious.
It was an understatement, but how else should he explain it? Was he supposed to talk? About what? What did human talked about usually?
"Ha ha ha!" she laughed. "Oh, I had understood that already. Ha ha ha ha!"
He frowned as she kept on laughing, because he couldn't understand what had been funny in his last sentence. Then, he realized her laughter wasn't looking as comfortable as before, and it turned into a cough. His souls stopped commenting the food and his dumb reactions to observe the scene. Her cough was getting persistent and seemed quite painful. She grabbed her throat and he looked down at the chicken in her plate, wondering...
Did a bone take the wrong turn? , he wondered.
"I... it...argh!"
She got up, looking for air now, clearly strangling herself. Her chair fell back on the floor with a loud thud, as if to get Wrath back to reality.
Tears were coming out from her eyes from the pain in her throat and Bradley jolted to his feet. He acted on instinct, almost jumping to the other side of the room, so that he could stand behind the woman. His arms quickly got around her body and he joined his hands, to do the right pressure on her stomach. His souls told him not to exert too much strength, so that it wouldn't kill her. He growled to himself, and swung his joined hands under her ribcage. Two or three shots were enough to get her to spit out the chicken bone stuck in her throat. But he kept his arms around her, because she wouldn't have been able to stand.
She breathed in and out, swallowing back her tears, shivering next to him. He realized to his own surprise that he was out of breathe too, and that his heart was beating fast in his chest. Something within him, not the souls this time, was telling him that she could have died from this. And this was a scary thought. Humans were so fragile a single and puny bone could mean their end? But even so, wasn't she alive now? He could felt her warmth through her clothes. She smelled like some flowers he'd never smelled. His mind froze an instant. Flowers? Had he ever seen flowers in something else then books? No, there had been another time. A vague memory reached out, but the souls started yelling together, as if it scared them. He shut them up mentally, wondering if there was a way to get rid of them. He focused on Amelia, still in his arms.
She was slowly coming back to her senses. Looked up, still breathing heavily. Her hands fell on his arms. He had never felt such a soft skin brushing against his. And despite the surprise and the nice feeling it gave him inside, he didn't like the impression of losing control over himself. She was too close. And at the same time, he couldn't see any good reason to let her go. She leaned onto him as she breathed in and out.
"Oh my gosh... I scared myself for an instant."
She looked up at him, bending her head and he was stunned to see her smile.
"Thanks for rescuing me like this!" she whispered.
Her cheeks were red and Bradley could bet he was blushing too, though he had no idea why. Men, those scientists were going to have a whole lot of questions to answer him. Did becoming a homunculus mean turning into an idiot? He had always been brilliant, so why... why was he so helpless in front of this woman?
"It... it was my fault if you strangled yourself." He observed, looking away, but keeping her in his arms.
"You shouldn't react like that." She retorted. "I'll thank you if I want, and when someone does, you just acknowledge it by saying welcome. Stop acting so serious and stuck up. Loosen up a little."
"I... Just... WHAT are you?" he asked her.
She ignored his questions.
"Well, it was really gallant to save me, but could you let go of me now?"
"Why?"
"Well, cause it's embarrassing." She said under her breath, looking down.
He let her go, trying to understand why it could be embarrassing. She took a few steps away from him, just to feel freer and then, looked at him from over her shoulder.
"Well, let's try this again."
She turned on herself, clasped her hand together and bowed down to him.
"Thanks, Bradley."
His first reaction was a mix of pride and panic. Had he made a mistake by saving her? Had he become responsible of her or something? How did this country work, how did those people work? What exactly was going in her mind.
She stood up straight, staring at him intently. She was expecting a reaction to her thanks.
"I... It was nothing." He retorted, looking sideways.
He was still persuaded she didn't have to thank him. And it was weird being thanked. It was his first time ever. He knew it stood to be polite, but it was different. It was... honest. And it scared him.
"Aww, it's already better, but we still got work."
"We...? What work?"
"You said you weren't a very social guy! We're gonna fix that. With my teachings, you'll be able to approach someone the proper way and make friends. Since you're a soldier, you'll need friends to look after you."
What... what is she going on about? Why does she care? He wondered, annoyance and excitement mixing together in his chest.
"You don't owe me anything..." he tried to say, so to be saved.
She looked like a stubborn woman and he wasn't sure if he wanted to remain in her company. She was maybe a little too lively for him. Or was that just his souls telling him to run for his life before that she got him in her trap. What trap, he wondered. The human who could trap King Bradley was certainly not born. He was the future ruler of the nation, a woman wasn't going to decide for him what to do or...
"I'll decide that. You're a weird guy, but you're kind. You were all lost when you arrived here. You're just back from the battlefield, right? You need to take some time for yourself, some time to heal up. You can stay here. You're a good cook. And you saved my life. That sure owed you one of our best room!"
At this point, he didn't know why he wanted to object anymore.
"So how about it, you help me in the kitchen, you keep me company and try to be a little more social and I'll feed you and give you a room for as long as you want to stay. How's that sound?"
Alright, she's crazy, he thought.
But he didn't mind. The souls had stopped whining, saying he was already lost beyond saving. And well, he was getting pretty good at being lost, so was that really something to worry about?
"If we skip the social part, I guess I could stay for a while."
Amelia smiled. And this time, Bradley smiled back without being surprised about it. Was it how it felt, being human? To be able to smile like that, without forcing it at all? To feel lighter inside? His souls remained silent.
"How about some dessert then?"
He refrained himself from asking it out loud, wondering once more: A dessert? What's that?
To be continued...
So now, it's time for reviews! ^^
