Roll With It Short Stories

Day Eighteen

Word Count 13: 1750

Prompt 9: You've never been on a date with a human before

I'll be the first to admit that I have no idea what I'm doing, but I've been in stranger situations. I can't believe in all the time I've been alive that there isn't something I've experienced that can help me through this. As a Darkeeper I've had limited experience with romance, its not something that comes naturally to us. That doesn't mean I will go into this situation blindly, however. I've been preparing myself by consuming various human media and I think I am beginning to understand the various nuance.

I observe myself in the mirror, I am supposed to lament my physical shortcomings, but honestly I am perfection. The same hazy silhouette beneath a body length shawl of silk, my eyes the same undefined glow in my face. Dark and graceful in essence, I am uncertain what humans find appealing in this ritual, perhaps it is a test in humility or a strange masochistic malfunction in their biology. Either way it is another fascinating quandary I have about these fleshy mortals. I turn to my associate who sits in my favorite hovering place as it's the closest thing I have to a bed.

"Now you say something reassuring." I tell them.

"Why? Why would I do that?"

"You're my equivalent of a best friend, I need your blessing or advice before continuing with the evening. The material was very clear."

"You are not a adolescent human female. This is all unnecessary. You are a Darkeeper and we do not have friends."

"Do you spend an inordinate amount of time around me compared to other sentient beings?"

"I guess."

"Do you criticize my choices, suggesting a investment in my wellbeing? Have you done things you considered unpleasant such as watching and reading hours of media in the romantic genre, even though you find it abhorrent waste of energy?" He remained silent. "Then we are friends. Now say something."

"You're hair looks pretty."

"Thank you."

It is not entirely unknown for a Darkeeper to keep human companions. There are stories and histories were they have come to the others' aid, although humans mainly fear the Darkeepers. We remind them of being unable to see at night and the fear they have of being unable to protect their soft, squishy bodies from unseen threats. I know this seems ridiculous as Darkness is the natural state from which all things derive and will return to, but humans are very fragile things. It's endearing the way they cling to life, I enjoy watching them age and grow increasingly paranoid of their mortality and surroundings. They can't help obsessing over staying alive, even in the face of great suffering. They temper their essence this way, I think. Surviving whatever is thrown before them instead of fleeing their fate through death. That's how I met Clara in the first place. She was a feeble thing, on the verge of starving but she kept going. She had to warn her city, even though they had falsely imprisoned her, that war was coming to them. This is not something every human will do, allow me to say. They all fall on a scale of morality and even if they know something as wrong or right they may not act accordingly. The choose to do nothing, they choose to act only in their own self-interest, or to act in the interest of others. It's fascinating, Clara is fascinating. She was betrayed and faced with death, the thing they fear the most, but she returned to warn her the people of her country to run. She saw a greater evil coming and chose to forgive a lesser evil done to her. I watched her and thought she would die, she twice she fell and I thought she would not rise again.

Every since I was proven wrong I have been with her, aiding her, talking with her, fighting beside her. At first it was only selfish curiosity that kept me with her. I wanted to see how things turned out for her and to see if I could understand her actions that seemed so contradictory to everything I knew about humans. I think this is what happens to the Darkeepers who travel with humans, it is easy to live for so long and lose interest in the world. When you don't have to worry about time or age it can be easy to take the present for granted. I became invested in Clara and the fate of those around us. I want to know how we will make a difference, if any lasting change will be a result of our actions. I have changed, I think differently. I do not know if it will last or if once Clara passes I will still be interested in the affairs of humans, but I am living in the present. I am unsure if what I feel for Clara is romantic love as humans know it, but I have a greater affection for her than any human I have ever known. I find much of my thoughts preoccupied with her, all the things she has taught me, all the experiences we have shared. I think them special and the memory of them is clearer to me than it could ever be to any human.