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"Kallen invited me over." The words tumbled out of Ivalin's mouth as soon as they had a moment. "To dinner, and shopping, I think."
Jaizya paused, and gave Ivalin a small smile. They nodded. "Go have fun."
Ivalin grimaced, her body tensed.
"Spit it out." Jaizya was back to sitting on the counter, their fingers tapping on the broken fake marble.
"The girls," Ivalin spoke slowly as if trying to put pieces of puzzle together that didn't fit, "At school, they aren't following the rules. Their skirts were too short?" Ivalin wonderned if she looked as stupid as she felt.
Smiling, Jaizya uncrossed her leg, they almost seemed proud, and Ivalin's stomach turned. "And?"
"They are rules for a reason." The metal cup in Ivalin's hand bent, and she dropped it on the counter, "I'm sorry." She stared at the mistake.
Jaizya shrugged. "Rules are someone else's opinion of how you should act and behave, so why follow them?"
Ivalin looked up, panic rushed through her throat. "That's anarchy."
"Is it?" Jaizya picked up the cup Ivalin dented, and placed it in the sink, "We all rule ourselves."
"Someone has to be giving orders. That's the way it works." Ivalin's voice was low, but her heart was beating out of her chest.
"And so you get punished by someone else." Jaizya leaned and sat their head on her fist.
Rage ignited in Ivalin's chest, red boiled in her mind, but her tone was even. "That's the way the world works."
"And what punishments are acceptable? How do you know who deserves what?" Jaizya's eyes narrowed, but their body language oozed relaxed.
"That's not my job." Ivalin's head hurt, her eyes burned.
"Your job isn't the executioner." Pity leaked through Jaizya's voice, and Ivalin wanted to scream.
Instead, she looked at the ground. "Well, it's not exactly justice, now is it."
Jaizya leaned back "That's not your job either."
Ivalin tried to keep her breath even, her back straight. She wanted to crawl out of her skin, grime seemed to crawl over her body.
"You're free from the Bleeding Hearts," Jaizya's eyes searched Ivalin's face, "And their rules, and temper. Their punishments damage a lot of people. Most people question rules, push their limits because the punishment isn't death. They make boundaries, and they're allowed the freedom of failure."
"That logic is faulty. It breeds chaos." Ivalin's body waned. The world was heavy and confusing, and her head spun.
Silence coated the air, and Ivalin bit her lip. She choked on nothing, but she didn't let her body move. She was frozen on fundamentals.
Jaizya melted. "Sometimes," they sighed, "rules can be good, okay? But the Bleeding Hearts took a good idea and corrupted the ideology."
"I'm not corrupted," Ivalin snapped, but the words died in her mouth as Jaizya reared back.
Jaizya's face twisted, and then it fell. They whispered, a false calm leaking through, "I never said that. Bleeding Hearts messed us all up, kid. All of us. We all got scars to prove it."
"Not a kid," Ivalin mumbled before her back straightened. "Besides, I don't have any scars. I can't get them"
Jaizya hopped off the counter and kissed Ivalin on the forehead. Ivalin froze at the motherly touch. "Not all scars show, yeah? We cover some up, bury the others." Ivalin's shoulders relaxed, and Jaizya paused before exiting the kitchen, "You know I am so proud of you, right?"
"What?" Ivalin's heart raced.
Jaizya's fingers tapped the doorframe, "I know you're out of your comfort zone, and you don't like any of this," She waved half-heartedly, "School, arguing," Something caught in Ivalin's throat, "But you keep on trying to understand and explore, and I am so glad you landed in my life."
Tears threatened to fall from Ivalin's eyes, and Jaizya's face softened into a smile. "Now, I'm sure you have a way to get to his house, so clean up, and get out."
Smiling, they ruffled Ivalin's hair and then turned and walked back into their room.
Ivalin sighed, staring at the cup of cooling liquid. "It never ends, does it?" She walked out of the kitchen. "Clean up. Got it." She carefully put the steaming cups of Ofides neatly away, the sweet chocolate liquid put into the half-working fridge.
Ivalin looked at the kitchen and smiled. It was an order.
YOU ARE READING
Target To Save
Science FictionNo one breathed. No one blinked. The only thing Ileia could hear was the sound of death. It was going to happen, There was nothing she could do except keep Kallen safe. -------- Feelings are useless, they get in the way of her job, in the way of the...
