Page 977

Strangely, Hector knew exactly what Ibai was talking about. In his lonelier days, he’d often pondered the nature of companionship himself, and indeed, he’d reached a similar conclusion. There was something different about the approval of others, of strangers. It vindicated one’s existence, perhaps. That was what he’d come to believe, anyway.

But he certainly hadn’t expected to be reminded of that now of all times.

Hector still didn’t know how to respond, though. No one had ever been so direct about asking for his friendship before, but he wasn’t sure how he felt about becoming someone’s token black friend, let alone an aberration’s token black friend. His gut told him there wasn’t much harm in it, but even still...

Garovel spoke up in his stead. ‘We would love to be your friends.’

Hector gave the reaper a look.

Ibai’s eyes lit up. “Really?!”

‘Sure, why not?’ said Garovel. ‘You seem like a nice enough fellow--and not a bloodthirsty psychopath. People who aren’t bloodthirsty psychopaths are my favorite, you know.’

“Is that so?! Well, that’s just wonderful!”

‘Oh, and I’m sorry that my buddy here is so quiet,’ said Garovel. ‘It’s nothing against you. He’s like this with most people. He’s super shy, you see.’

“Oh! Shy! That explains it! Aha!” He gave Hector an even bigger smile, somehow. “I was afraid that you hated me! Wow! That is such a relief, then. Whew.”

Hector could only wonder where Garovel was going with this.

‘We heard all about you from Chergoa. She’s my sister, as it happens.’

“Wow, that’s amazing! I’d love to talk to her and Emiliana again! They were so nice!”

‘I’m sure they’d like that,’ said Garovel. ‘By the way, how old are you?’

“Oh, I’m thirty-five. Why?”

‘Ah, no reason. I’m curious to know how long aberrations have been around. I wasn’t familiar with your kind until very recently. It’s just that the last aberration we met was only about twenty years old or so.’

“Ooh, what was he like?”

‘Not nearly as pleasant as you, to be sure. He hurt a lot of innocent people.’

“Aww... I’m sorry to hear that. I suppose I should have guessed. What happened to him?”

‘My buddy here killed him.’

Ibai looked to Hector again. “Did you, now? Hmm. Was that difficult?”

Now there was a question that Hector wanted to answer. “Not so much so that I wouldn’t do it again.”

Ibai’s smile waned for a second, but then he broke into a laugh. “You’re kinda scary! I bet you’d get along with Uncle Mel!”

Page 976

Horatio was still among the bodyguards, Hector noticed. “Ibai, you have to stay with us,” the man said with bags under his eyes. “You cannot just teleport away whenever you like.”

“Eh, I’m pretty sure I can.”

“No,” Horatio growled. “What if you accidentally teleported inside of a person?”

“There’s no risk of that,” said Ibai. “I can see everyone’s soul when I do it. Here, let me show you.”

“Wait--”

Ibai grabbed his cousin’s arm, and they blinked away together. Hector couldn’t tell where they’d gone, but it didn’t matter, because they returned to the same spot a moment later. Horatio looked like he was about to puke.

“Oh, whoops,” said Ibai. “Sorry. I didn’t even think about your motion sickness. Did that actually trigger it? You weren’t really moving, you know.”

Horatio just held up a hand and stared at the ground. Everyone waited for him to speak, but he said nothing further.

Ibai shrugged and turned back to Hector. “Well, anyway! Would you believe you’re the first black person I’ve ever met?”

Hector did not respond.

“I’ve seen some of you on television and such, but I’ve never had the pleasure to speak with one personally. Isn’t that something?”

Hector had to refrain from telling him that he still did not have the pleasure of speaking with one.

“I know there’s a pretty profound age difference here,” Ibai went on, “but would you like to be my first black friend? I’ve always wanted one.”

Hector could only squint at the man. With the way Ibai spoke, it was somehow easy for Hector to forget that this person was quite clearly a middle-aged man.

“Or wait. Was that a racist thing to ask? If so, then I apologize. I’ve never had very many friends, you see. Well, I’ve had my family, of course. They’ve provided such fantastic companionship; I wouldn’t want to give the impression that they haven’t. I love them very much.” He slapped Horatio’s shoulder.

Horatio turned and barfed over the edge of the cliff.

“There you go, cousin,” said Ibai. “Feel better?”

Horatio just returned a deathly stare as he wiped his mouth.

“But yes,” Ibai continued to Hector, “they are my family. It’s a different sort of relationship. I feel there is something uniquely special about becoming friends with someone who is in no way obligated to you already. It’s a bit purer, in an odd way. Or perhaps I am just romanticizing it. What do you think?”

Page 975

Again, Hector wasn’t sure what to say, so he just said, “O-okay. Uh. Good.”

<“You’re being careful, too, aren’t you?”> said Lynn. <“Maybe I’m not the best person to give a lecture on not taking risks, but... um...”>

Hector felt like he was supposed to say something here, but jack shit came to mind, and he looked to Garovel another time.

‘Tell her you’re being careful, you idiot.’

‘But I’m not really--’

‘SHUT UP AND LIE TO HER. DO IT NOW.’

“Uh--y-yeah,” Hector blurted, “I’m being cautious. I mean, I have to protect Garovel ‘n all, so...”

<“...Right.”>

He couldn’t tell if that meant she’d bought it or not. After a few more moments of unbearable silence, however, he decided to try and end this before he said some other stupid thing. “Well, uh... I should probably go now...”

<“Ah--alright. Talk to you later, then.”>

“Bye. Uh. Good to--er. Bye.” His expression twisted as he hung up. He took a deep breath and shook his head.

‘Hector.’ Garovel’s voice was perfectly flat. ‘What in the holiest of fucks was all that about?’

‘I don’t know... I always fuck things up. Agh...’

‘Hmm. You don’t even realize it, do you?’

He sighed. ‘Realize what?’

‘How WELL you just did. I mean. For you. That was pretty incredible.’

‘What? Garovel, I’m really not in the mood to be made fun of right now...’

Garovel just stared at him.

And Hector didn’t understand the reaper’s abrupt silence, but he was grateful for it, nonetheless. He sifted through his phone for Madame Carthrace’s number, and his feet wandered closer to the edge of the small ridge, allowing a better view of the road directly below. It wasn’t a long drop, and he noticed a few people with familiar faces standing at the base. One of those faces belonged to Ibai Blackburn.

As luck would have it, the aberration happened to be looking up at that same moment and so noticed Hector immediately. A swirl of brown shadow later, Ibai was standing right there next to him.

Hector decided to pocket his phone and call Amelia later.

Ibai was smiling, of course. “Hello again,” he said as his four bodyguards bounded up from behind him. They landed with one quick thud after another, but he paid them no mind. “Ah, is this your reaper? We were never properly introduced. I’m Ibai.”

‘Charmed,’ said Garovel.