[SM: Chapter 8] It's rude to stare

Jan was conjuring porcelain cups out of thin air and stacking them by the drink dispensers. It was normally just a practice for him or something he did for himself, since he didn't like paper cups, but the new chef seemed to adore them so much, that she gave him a chore to make a ton of those. He clearly didn't seem all that happy about it, but did a good job nevertheless - making a different pattern for each of them.

Enjoying the freedom after such a long time with restrictions felt good, and Laela planned to relish in every bit of it. Perhaps she'd investigate more of the area now that she didn't have to be near a white cumimi? Or maybe she'd spy on some of the humans. She was still convinced they were up to no good, after all. However, as she strolled down the halls, her ears picked up a peculiar noise in the distance. Peeking her head into the lounge, she soon discovered the source, and something intriguing as well. A cumimi who was making cups out of thin air. After a moment of debating whether to simply observe or approach, she decided it wouldn't hurt to investigate further. If it was a secret, it might come out to be in her favor later after all.

"What are you doing?" Laela inquired, a sly grin on her face.

Jan startled a bit from the voice, he hadn't heard her approach at all. "A chore--" he said and returned to making more of them, now one of them had a cat pattern with ears similar to Laela's. He was close to finishing them, though, having stacked a fair lot.

"A chore?" Laela repeated, leaning over to get a better view of what he was doing. How intriguing it was. As if they were phantasms, the cups appeared out of nowhere. She hadn't seen this particular power before, but it seemed rather useful. Her ears twitched a bit as she looked at all the designs on the cups. They were.... cute... she supposed.

"Why do you have to do this kind of thing?"

"The new chef asked me to make them," he said and soon enough put the last cup down. "I tend to make some when I wish to have a drink, she spotted me doing that and asked to make more." It never even crossed his mind to refuse, since in the past something like that could get him disposed of off; he had seen his peers meet that fate often enough. After finishing the cups, he conjured another one and put it under a drink dispenser, pressing to get a plain black coffee.  

Laela raised an eyebrow when she heard the reason and scoffed. "You're making cups for a human? That's ridiculous." She had a sudden urge to break all the cups, but seeing how he was a cumimi, she refrained from doing so. Instead, she crossed her arms indignantly. "If you do things like this, you're bound to get taken advantage of. Have you never learned any sense? Humans are all scoundrels!" She was practically hissing at this point, her hatred rather obvious in her tone.

"Obviously," Jan said. "And when they are done with you, they kill you." There didn't seem to be any anger in his voice as he said that, to him that was a fact about how humans were and he neither questioned it now, nor got angry over it. He was following orders, that was all there was to it. Not obeying human orders was out of question as in his experience too many had died over it already.

He agreed with her, but his attitude was far from satisfactory. "You know these things yet you still do what they want. Aren't you the 'good boy.' Listening to their whims and doing their bidding. You'll never be free from them with that mindset." She looked at the cups, an even stronger desire to smash them all to bits surging up within her. The stupid cumimi was like a dog on a leash. A tenderized steak even. What, had he taken a beaten and now just sat around taking it instead of doing anything about it? Someone like that. Was it even worth her time?

"For now I have no choice," Jan said simply and finished making his coffee, then took a sip. "Are you different?" Since if she was different, it puzzled him why she didn't just run away, instead of bothering with living in this house.

Laela burst out laughing at Jan's question. "Different? Of course I am! I'm using this place for my own means. What other opportunity would I have to become stronger? These 'soulmatch' things. I wouldn't be able to do them anywhere else, would I?"

Jan cast a sideways glance at her. "Then you aren't different, except you don't understand the concept of obeying authority to have an easier time, while being here," he said. He was, too, just bidding his time.  

Laela cast him a sour look. Not different, he said. "I will never obey a human again. Never let myself be subjected to their will and do their bidding like a pathetic dog. No, I'm sick and tired of that life. Believe me, they'll get their just desserts before that ever happens." Cursing, she exited the room, practically stomping her way out. The only thing stopping her from smashing all the cups he'd so carefully made was the faint voice deep down telling her that she really wasn't actually all that different from her, even though she was saying she was.

Jan didn't comment on any of that and let her go. For some reason this angry girl seemed easier to understand than most other kids he had met so far, despite their differences.

***

Some days later Jan was sitting in the study room like always and reading, but this time there were two differences in him - first one was that his eyes were brightly violet, second - he seemed slightly more relaxed and less stiff. When someone entered the room, he looked up to see it was Laela. He cast a very intense looking stare at all her body, like scanning or maybe even undressing her, but once he was done he didn't say anything and choose to return to reading.

Laela entered the study, planning on getting a drink, when she saw the cumimi who had gotten on her nerves before. The first thing she noticed about him were his eyes... then realizing he was staring at her... all over. She cast a long, irritated glare at Jan as he did this, having a strong urge to beat him up. This urge got even stronger when he went back to reading after the unpleasant staring. She promptly walked over to Jan and tore the book out of his hands, glaring down at him. "Didn't you know it's rude to stare?"

Jan looked up at her surprised. "Excuse me, then," he said after a brief pause, not looking very sorry about it.

Still persisting in her glare, Laela held the book aloft in a vice-like grip. The apology hadn't help lighten her mood in the least. "Care to explain why you were staring so intently?"

"To see if your life energy was fine. If there are injuries or wounds, it fluctuates, thus giving the fault away, but your body is fine," Jan explained.

Laela dropped the book unceremoniously in Jan's lap. Life energy? It seemed like everyone's abilities were outclassing her. How annoying! So irritating. Even someone like him was stronger than her. "Is that why your eyes are glowing like that?"

"Yes, it's a side effect," Jan said. It hurt a bit, when she dropped the book - it was heavy after all, but that didn't show on Jan's face and the pain was soon gone, when he looked down on his lap and took the pain away.

"I see..." So creators who could see life energy had eyes that glowed... well, good to know. But the fact he could see it at all bothered her. Likely some other abilities came with it as well. She frowned a bit, annoyed that he didn't react to the book she dropped on him. Actually, a lot of things about him bothered her. That demeanor for example. Like he didn't care about anything going on, or happening to him for that matter. Human tells him to make cups, and what does he do? He makes them! And for what? Tch, not like she cared why. She walked over to the drink machine, still practically pouting from her frustration.

Jan continued reading after that, thinking their conversation was over. He didn't pay much attention to the girl, it was not his business what she thought or did as long as it wasn't too harmful to him. At least she properly took in what he said, differently to some other cumimis and didn't bother him with persistent invitations to play, which was good, so his impression was on the favorable side.

Laela got her drink, getting even more annoyed at how slow the machine filled her cup. She grabbed her cup of tea and sat on one of the couches without smashing the machine, though. If anything, she'd had the urge to destroy things quite often lately. She sipped her tea, wondering if she should try sneaking into the pantry to steal some jerky like Neo did. On occasion, she glanced over at Jan, who was irritatingly still reading his book so casually.

Jan flipped the page and since a chapter was over, he choose to take a break and folded the corner of the page, putting the book down. He got up and stretched a bit, then headed towards the doors.

Laela briefly looked up to see Jan leaving, then casually took another sip of her tea. It really didn't concern her where he was going, so she just let him leave without even considering following him. Then, after a few moments, she got up and sneaked off to raid the pantry.