Starlight and Shadows

Chapter 16: Headphones

As Saffre took a sip of water, something bounced off her bottom lip.

Pulling the cup away from her face, Saffre looked inside to find a single red eyeball staring back at her. She hadn't put an eyeball in her drink...

With a tilt of her head, Saffre carefully inspected the eye. It was a familiar bright pink. She could even see the individual blood vessels in it pulse gently, as if it were still alive. Looking around, she spotted a familiar girl in a white and pink jacket casually tapping away at her scroll.

Shrugging, Saffre took a gulp from the drink, placed the eye between her teeth, and bit down.

The illusion shattered like glass, crunching inside her mouth for a few moments before fading away. Looking back at Neo, she saw the other girl smirking at her. Saffre gave her a wave.

It had been a week since her collapse; a week since Neo asked her to do something for her. Instead, Neo had been trying out more and more creative ways to get a reaction out of Saffre. It hadn't worked yet.

The past week had also been the slowest week Saffre had experienced since she got here. Roman had mentioned something about 'getting more muscle', but beyond that, things had been quiet.

Walking over to her, Neo typed out a message.

I'm bored. What do you want to do?

Saffre looked down at the question. Something else Neo had been doing for the past week was ask Saffre what she wanted. Saffre had tried explaining to Neo that she didn't want anything, that it was important for her to not make independent decisions...

Neo shoved her.

Jumping in her seat, Saffre looked up at her. She had typed out another message.

Fine. Consider it an order. What do you want to do?

Saffre squirmed in her seat. "That's unfair," she muttered, as if that would make Neo change her order.

'What do I want to do?'

At that moment, she heard a loud car engine roaring past outside. The sound of the engine was loud enough that Saffre could feel the vibrations pass through her. She had an idea.

"Do... do you want to watch a movie?" Saffre asked, voice quiet as she looked up at Neo.

Neo shrugged.

----

Neo had never heard of this movie before, but she loved it!

The first scene had started with an incredible car chase in a city she had never seen before. Actually, the more she thought about it, the entire world the movie took place in was brand new to her. Saffre had mentioned that her dad had been a late 20th, early 21st century cultural scholar, whatever that meant, and had plugged in a white and black tablet into the TV.

The movie had everything! From car chases to gun fights, to someone falling onto a burning car! As the credits rolled, Neo couldn't help but grin at a smiling Saffre.

"I guess you liked it?" Saffre asked.

Neo enthusiastically nodded her head, taking out her scroll to type out a message.

Liked it? I loved it! That was amazing! And the music... I've never heard those songs before.

Saffre nodded her head. "Yeah. That movie is pretty ancient, but it is definitely one of my favorites too."

Neo couldn't understand why Saffre would call a movie with some of the best practical effects she had ever seen 'ancient'.

She couldn't stay seated, she had way too much energy.