draftware

unlikely friends

unlikely friends

Isaias was on my mind the next morning. I don't know why he was, but he was. I mean, a lot was on my mind, like the fact that Scriff was doing that little scratchy thing again, and it was distracting me an awful lot. That was, like, 90 percent of what was on my mind at the time, but Isaias... I don't know, it was getting harder to think by the second... "Um..." I whispered.

"Oh, are you getting up?" Scriff asked.

"Yeah, um..."

"Goin' somewhere today?" she said.

Her scratchy scratch was so gentle now, I started slipping back under. "Oh, I guess not," she replied as she adjusted herself to hold me tight.

"No, I was... just... just it's..."

"Feels good?" she asked.

"Mhm..."

"I thought it would, Shim said this had melted pretty much any human she had met, and it's definitely worked!"

"Mmm..."

"But you said you were going on a little bit of an adventure? How about I come along? There will be more of this!"

I found it really hard to say no to that. Was I getting addicted to cuddles? Is that a thing that can happen? Scriff helped me up, got me a spare set of clothing (she went out and bought me some comfy jeans and a green hoodie that was just a little too big while I was at the library), and once I got dressed and she made a quick breakfast out of some snacks , we were out the door.

"So where are ya headed?" she asked.

"Hmm, just trying to figure things out, honestly, a lot's been on my mind, and both Bit and Memmi don't really have answers for me at the moment."

"So you're just wandering?"

"Yeah, kind of. Do you know where I could learn more, of anything?"

"I know a place!"

"You do?"

"Yeah! The librar--"

"I was already there, though."

"...O—oh! Well, there's lots to learn at the library, though!"

"Yeah, I guess."

We headed back over there, straight for the Afterward Wing, and once we got there I found a chair, and grabbed a stack of books about the place's history. Scriff also took a couple other books and pulled up a chair next to me. I found a book about the rough past of the Afterward... but it was hard to focus to the words when Scriff was giving me the gentle scratches again. I tried to lean back in the chair to put it to a stop, but I couldn't really move, for whatever reason. Just it was too nice, I guess... and it was so soothing, so relaxing, it made me feel a little squishy...

"So cute..." she whispered.

"who, me?" I replied, something felt a little weird.

"Yeah, you! Humans, just... you all want to be so serious and work-minded but a little bit of affection and you'e just so ready to melt... don't take it the wrong way, but it's so easy to manipulate you. No effort and I can make you so sleepy... I love it."

"oh, mmm..."

"What were you even readin'?"

"nothin', isaias."

she stopped.

"Wait, I'm sorry... who? You've gone all rambly on me!"

"...Huh? Oh, um... don't worry about that, part of a bad dream I had the other night, about these guys, The Watchers. Uh, this is about the past of the Afterward. Maybe this would have..." she started doing her scratchy thing again, "...have what we're looking for."