[Adrijana Evgeniya]

Adri was drunk. This was not an uncommon occurrence, especially on weekends. Adri liked being drunk. She liked the fuzz it put on the world, the way it made some things dull and some things sharp. It made the loud music played at the dance fall to a comfortable background buzz. It made her giggle, and when she was at the bar, it made her lean on the men and the woman and made her hands wonder to places they weren't always welcome. It also made her a bit of a nuisance for the other patrons, which was why she was currently being escorted outside by two large men.


“I like you,” she slurred. “You got big muscles. Too much of a belly but the muscles are good.” She tried to poke the belly in question with her finger, but as her arms were currently being held she failed to do so. For some reason she found this extremely funny and burst out laughing.


“Uh-huh,” said the escort to whose belly she been referring. The other one pushed the door open and the first pushed Adri out of it, letting go abruptly. She stumbled and fell in a heap of limbs, still laughing. “You sure know how to show a lady a good time! Heh heh heh BRAP!” The last sound was a burp.

“And stay out,” said the man who had held the door. “We don't want you. Okay? You come in here again and we'll call the cops. We don't care what you do or where you go. It just has to be somewhere else. Is that clear enough for you?”

“Bleeeeaaaaaaaaagh,” said Adri, sticking out her tongue. “I could show you,” she said. “Wanna see me tie a knot with my tongue?”

“No,” said the first man. “I'm married, and you're disgusting. Go lay in the gutter if you want, that's about where you belong.”

The door slammed shut.

“Huh.” Slowly, using the wall of the bar for support, Adri made her way to her feet. She looked around, squinting at the slowly moving sidewalk. Three bars in one night! Was that a new record? Nope, wait, record was five. Darn. She laughed. “Can't get two more now!” She couldn't get much of anywhere, actually. Leaning along the wall, she found a bench a short distance away and flopped down on it, draping herself across it and shaking her head back and forth. She was dressed for clubbing, showing off her share of skin, and she got some looks which she returned with pbbbbbbts and by yelling racial slurs and with catcalls towards both men and women. This last backfired on her when a man spun around and marched towards her with clenched fists. “Listen, you creepy lesbo b*tch, my daughter's sixteen and if you don't shut your f***ing mouth I'm about ready to call-”

Mention of the police scared her. She knew full well she had two strikes on her record and couldn't afford a third. At the man's words she jumped up with a eep and ran at random as fast she could.

She didn't know how long she ran. All she knew is that eventually she looked up, failed to recognize where she was, and decided she should head home. This proved to be a problem. She was banned from both Lyft and Uber and the walk would have taken far longer then she wanted. It was quite late now. She could call Yennifer, but she hated calling Yennifer for things like that. It made Yennifer think she was retarded, and Adri hated that feeling.

She opened her phone, not sure what to do when she saw his name. They hadn't talked in a while. Oh, but they'd had so much fun together! He'd be perfect!

She dialed. “Hi Adri, it's Brian, wanna pick me up?! No, wait, uh...”

You could tell from her voice she was still somewhat drunk.

Brian Harris

[Brian Harris]

Brian was six months sober.

He hadn’t exactly been keeping track, but something in his head alerted him that he hadn’t had a drop of alcohol in quite a while. He’d been forced to go off it cold turkey in the months he spent in the MNRU. That hadn’t been easy for him, but the specialists there had helped him through it and gave him tools to use to avoid alcohol in the future. He’d been able to use those tools, and while it hadn’t always been smooth sailing, he’d been able to avoid any mind altering substances save the ones he was prescribed. With the meds he was on, he doubted he could drink any alcohol anyway, not without severe risk to his mental and physical health.

Brian was sitting on his couch, scrolling through his phone, Lily’s large head laying on his leg, drool soaking into his sweatpants. He gently stroked the ridge between her ears. Her eyes were closed, and she was letting out a low, guttural hum. The couch was too small for both of them. Lily was a one hundred thirty pound Cane Corso mix and Brian was a muscular six foot four beef of a man. The couch barely fit someone of normal stature, not that it would be particularly comfortable for them either. The fabric was scratchy and there wasn’t much separating the creaky springs from the occupant. Brian had to stretch out his legs just so his bottom could touch the cushion and Lily’s right legs were hanging off the side. Still, Brian and his canine were comfortable in each others company.

He was content, taking a day off from any exposure therapy and other such attempts to integrate into society. He’d been hard at work and he figured he deserved a break. It had been nearly a week since he’d had a day to just sit in his apartment and not do anything. This hiatus was long overdue. He imagined Lily was grateful for the lazy day as well. Brian knew he wasn’t easy to take care of, and Lily had been shouldering his anxiety at every outing. She deserved to relax too.

Brian was making his way through a clickbait article, waiting for the promise of what this heroic dog did to save a litter of kittens when suddenly he got a call.

Who could be calling him?

Who knew his number?

He didn’t recognize the series of numbers that appeared on his screen. Panic was starting to infest his mind. Eyes widened, breathing quickened. Lily perked up her head and nuzzled into his chest. He calmed ever so slightly.

“It’s probably just some scammer.”

“Answer it, answer it, answer it, answer it!”

”Someone is calling you.”

Brian’s thumb hovered over the red button. Sasha was probably right. It was probably just a scammer. But the more he looked at the number, the more familiar it seemed. There was something nagging him in the back of his head. Before he could stop himself, he pressed the green button and put the phone up to his ear. He didn’t even have to say hello before the voice at the other end of the call spoke. Despite her confused greeting, he knew who it was immediately. It would be hard to forget that voice.

“Adri!” Clara yelled excitedly.

The details of their first meeting were a haze; still, some details stuck. Brian got embarrassed just thinking about it. He took a shit ton of drugs and then things...happened. Not the way he expected to lose his virginity. Not even close. But he did. He’d told his therapist about Adri, and she suggested he stay away from her. But Adri was his friend. Just because she was a bit different didn’t mean he should avoid her. She sounded drunk, and that made him worry, not about what people would do to her, but what she could do to herself.

”Where are you? I-I don’t have a car, but I can get a cab. I can come get you. Are you okay?” He asked, his voice quivering ever so slightly.

He didn’t want his only friend to get hurt.

Adrijana Evgeniya

[Adrijana Evgeniya]

“Yeah I'm super gay!” Adri yelled back into the phone when Brian asked if she was okay. “I'm bisexual! I need a ride cuz I'm drunk and I'm banned from uber and lyft!” She thought about his question. “Not sure where I am. Hrmmm...” She twisted her mouth into a funny shape. It felt nice. Then an idea struck her and she ran to the nearest street corner and read off the signs. “That's where I am! Pick me up!”

While she waited for Brian to arrive, Adri walked back and forth along the sidewalk, looking up at the sky and down at the cracks in the pavement and alternatively waving at other people and swearing at them. Her head was beginning to clear and bring with it the expectation of a terrible headache in the morning. But the morning was a long way off and the day of reckoning could be delayed if she drank more alcohol. She hoped that Brian had something good. She checked her purse. Perfect, she had some drugs there too. Brian would probably want to try those. It would be perfect!

A cab pulled up. Adri was running over before anyone even got out. “Brian!” She threw her arms around him.

It wasn't Brian. It was someone else who had no idea who Adri was and was rather put off by the sudden hug.

The real Brian arrived a few minutes later.

Brian Harris

[Brian Harris]

Gay? She wasn’t gay; he knew that first hand...Maybe she was using it as a blanket term. Was she into girls? Or maybe she was just really drunk. That seemed the more likely answer. Bisexual. He supposed that answered it too. He didn’t even question the fact that she was banned from Lyft and Uber. It was too in character to come as a surprise.

He nodded as Adri gave him the name of the street corner. ”Okay, I’ll-I’ll come get you. Just stay there. Don’t move. Please.” Reluctantly, he hung up. He looked down at Lily. She looked back up at him. He took a long, deep breath, again stroking the ridge between her ears. ”I can do this.” Lily licked his hand, and Brian gave a tight smile.

“Ooh, are we taking a cab!?”

Brian hadn’t ever used a cab before. He wasn’t quite sure what to do. After spending some time rehearsing what he was going to say, he looked up the number of the nearest taxi service and called. Nervously and with great difficulty he gave them the name of his apartment.

“They’re coming for you.”

”C’mon girl.” He said as he stood up and grabbed her vest and leash. She obediently got up and stood still as he put it on. He sat by the window and bounced his leg up and down, giving Lily a tight hug as he looked outside, watching, waiting. As soon as the cab pulled up by his apartment, he stood and walked slowly out the door, careful to control his breathing. Lily was pressed tight against his side.

He eventually made his way to the cab and pulled open the door. “No, no dogs.” The driver said.

”Oh, um, uh…” Brian pointed to Lily’s vest, hand shaking, the words “EMOTIONAL SUPPORT” displayed in large white letters. He didn’t like pulling the “Emotional Support” card, but unfortunately it seemed it was necessary. Lily licked Brian’s shaking hand.

The driver rolled his eyes and sighed. “Fine. Get in. But I don’t want him drooling in my cab, got it?”

Brian was too anxious to correct the driver on Lily’s gender or the fact that he couldn’t stop her from drooling. He simply nodded and slipped into the cab, Lily hopping in behind him, resting her behind on the seat in the middle and laying her front on Brian’s lap.

“Where too?”

Brian told him the street corner Adri had given him, and they were off. It was odd. Brian hadn’t been in a car since the last time he was with Adri. Unless an ambulance counted. He really didn’t want it to count. He watched the streets pass by, stroking Lily between the ears. She let out the same low moan. He had no idea how he’d survived thus far without Lily.

Finally, they arrived at the street corner. He saw Adri; even from that distance he could tell she was highly intoxicated. He reached over Lily to the other side of the car and opened the door. ”Hey, Adri, here!” He said as loud as his anxiety would allow. Lily sat up straight in the middle seat, looking toward Adri. ”This is Lily. She’s my dog. I, um, I have a dog now.” It really had been a while, hadn’t it.

Adrijana Evgeniya

[Adrijana Evgeniya]

This time she waited to make sure the person in the cab was really Brian. When she saw him, the first thing she thought was how good he looked. The shirt looked nice on him, and she could see muscles underneath it. Dang, she wanted to do more than just look! But her attention was distracted by the next thing she saw.

“Hi Brian!” She exclaimed happily as she got into the cab. “OH MY GOSH YOU HAVE A DOG SHE'S SO CUTE! I'm gonna hug her.” She, did, and as she did she accidentally burped in the dog's ear. “Sorry!” She giggled.

She was a little less drunk now that she'd had to wait a few minutes for Brian to arrive, but it still would have been a bad idea to put her behind the wheel of a vehicle. The alcohol made her lively and upbeat, the life of the party. She was humming to herself and singing slightly incoherent songs that were half-remembered, half-made up on the spot.

“So glad you came to pick me up,” said Adri. “If not for you, I-” She stopped, glanced around as if to check that nobody was watching, then lowered her voice to a whisper. “I would have had to ask my sister for help.”


Brian Harris

[Brian Harris]

Brian was surprised how happy he was to see Adri, even in her inebriated state. He didn’t really have anyone else. No friends, no family, all he had was Lily (and the voices in his head, but he didn’t particularly enjoy their company).

“Hey!” Clara protested.

He missed her, even if their last interaction was a little...odd. He did things he wasn’t proud of, but he wasn’t in a great state of mind back then. He was doing much better now, and looking forward to showing Adri his improvement.

He smiled as Adri hugged Lily. ”She can give you kisses too, if you want. You have to tell her first. She’s trained not to kiss people unless you tell her to.” Brian, however, was the exception to that rule. The first time they met, Lily showered him with kisses. It only solidified their bond. They were meant to be.

Lily was being a very good girl, wagging her stumpy little tail at Adri’s embrace, leaning into her a little bit, but not too much. Lily was large - one hundred and thirty pounds - and unlike other dogs around her size, she was well away of her weight, careful not to crush people or knock them over. It was a blessing that Brian was large enough to hold her weight in his lap. Lily looked at Brian over Adri’s shoulder, a big doggy smile on her face, tongue hanging out of her mouth. Brian smiled back. Neither minded Adri’s burp.

Brian got in the cab after Adri, pressing himself up against the door so she wouldn’t get squished between him and his giant dog. He gave the cab driver his address, as he wasn’t sure where else to take her. He smiled a little as she sang. It was nice to hear a familiar voice, even if it did reek of alcohol.

“Ugh, she’s so annoying,” Sasha complained.

"No she’s not,” Brian countered. Adri was far from annoying. She was fun, animated, lively. Her energy invigorated Brian. He felt he could be social for once, and actually succeed at doing so.

He furrowed his brow. “What’s wrong with your sister?” he asked, concern in his voice. He slightly remembered Adri mentioning her sister the last time they met (that entire day was really just a muddled haze), but he didn’t know much other than that she was fairly well off. He suddenly felt protective of Adri. Did she need someone to protect her from her sister?

Adrijana Evgeniya

[Adrijana Evgeniya]

Adri took up Brian's offer of a kiss from Lily immediately and enthusiastically. “KISS ME!” The dog complied, Adri making funny noises of pleasure as it did. For the moment, at least, she liked dogs.

Brian gave an address that Adri didn't recognize and didn't care about. She trusted Brian. They were both the down and out sort who knew to stay out of the eye of the authorities. She knew her behavior freaked a lot of people out but Brian was willing to tolerate it. Just like she was will to tolerate when Brian talked aloud to the voices in his head. She flattered herself that the two of them were much alike, though in reality they were much less alike then she supposed.

She glanced at Brian when he asked about Yen. “Nothing's wrong with her!” she said sharply. “She's perfect! And I'm... not...”

Her voice sort of drifted off. She stared at the ceiling for a moment. When she spoke again her voice was flat. “I just... she wouldn't like to see me like this... I don't want her too...”

She looked at Brian and grinned. “But it's okay! You did it! You saved me! You and your pretty dog... kiss me again!”

Lily complied.

Brian Harris

[Brian Harris]

Brian smiled as Lily slathered Adri in kisses. He sometimes felt sorry for Lily. The only company she had was him, and while it was obvious she loved him and he loved her, he sometimes felt bad for depriving her of interaction with anyone but himself. She didn’t seem to mind, but he still felt a little guilty. He was glad he found someone else that didn’t mind her wide tongue and drooly jowls. Who didn’t look at her giant body and imposing head with fear. He really did miss Adri. He never felt judged by her. It was nice.

He furrowed his brow when Adri talked about her sister. It was not a side of Adri he was used to. She seemed...melancholy. He didn’t like seeing her like that. He wanted to make her feel better, but he wasn’t sure how. He wasn’t used to comforting people. ”You don’t need to compare yourself. You’re great. You don’t...you...you’re good.”

“Nice one, idiot.”

Brian gave a tight smile. ”If your sister can’t handle you like this, then...then she doesn’t deserve you.” That was probably the best advice he’d ever given in his entire life. He metaphorically patted himself on the back. He could use all the social victories he could get.

“Good job, Brian!”

”Thanks,” he said. Typically, he’d feel awkward talking to his voices out loud in front of someone else, but for some reason he didn’t feel that way around Adri. He felt comfortable around her, a connection like he’d felt with no other. Birds of a feather flocked together, he supposed.

Brian matched Adri’s grin as she declared that he had saved her. It had been a long time since he’d saved anybody. His (one could tentatively call) vigilantism had been pushed to the side as Brian had focused on improving his mental health. He’d forgotten how nice it felt to actually help someone, even if it was something as minuscule as picking them up when they were drunk.

Eventually, the cab came to a stop in front of a rather run down apartment building. ”This is, uh...this is it,” he said, stepping out of the cab. Lily followed him. ”This is where I’ve been staying. It isn’t much, but...you know, it’s better than nothing.” He waited for Adri to get out of the cab in case she needed assistance walking in her inebriated state. He was a bit embarrassed taking her to his cramped, mortifyingly cheap apartment - especially after seeing her place - but he didn’t know where else to bring her.

”Do...do you need help?” he asked, holding out a hand for her to take in case she needed to steady herself.

Adrijana Evgeniya

[Adrijana Evgeniya]

The dog was great. It was warm and fuzzy and full of kisses and Adri sounds of pleasure as Lily licked her. Adri had had a dog once but she had become bored one day and so she had killed it. It had made a lot of noise as she had cut it and that had been fun but eventually the fun had ended. With Lily, she felt... not sad, exactly, but a realization of, oh, this is what she had given up. A sort of passing image of what might have been.

Maybe she could get another dog.

When Brian commented about her sister not deserving her Adri paused and glanced at Brian. She gave him a tight smile, and then she laughed. It was too loud and too long in the confines of the taxi but she couldn't help it. She knew she could never escape her sister's orbit. Yennefer would would keep her living like a queen but Adri would never be able to have anything she had gotten completely by herself. This was... not okay, exactly, but it seemed inevitable. She trusted Yennefer and knew her sister would always be there, but there was no question about who didn't deserve whom.

“You're sweet, Brian,” she said when she was done laughing. “I know you don't like girls but I wanna kiss you anyway.” She leaned close to him, eyes intent. She could see stubble on his chin and caught a whiff of his deodorant. Whatever she wanted to do next was cut off by the taxi coming to a stop. Brian got out first and Lily second. Brian offered Adri his hand and she took it, pulling herself out with her other hand.

“Lots better than jail,” she agreed, looking up at the place. Being run down didn't bother her, at least not in itself. Now if Brian's fridge was empty they might have a problem. “How'd you get it?”

They went inside, Adri leaning more than a little on Brian for support. “Were you talking to your voices?” she asked. “Having voices sounds fun. Like always having friends!”

Brian Harris

[Brian Harris]

Adri’s reaction to his comment about her sister was...odd. Sure, Adri was an odd person, but this was odd even for her. There was a discomfort, a vulnerability that she quickly covered with a strange laughter. This was confusing for Brian. Adri seemed invincible, larger than life, like nothing could bother her. Though it seemed there was someone even larger than Adri. Someone so large that they spooked even her. Brian decided that he would not want to meet Adri’s sister.

He laughed somewhat uncomfortably as she came onto him, memories of their last time together (what memories he had) flashing through his mind. There were some pleasant things. He liked the boy, the sex, the drugs. But something was odd about it, something was off. He didn’t know why, but there was something uncomfortable about that night, something shameful, something wrong. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it. After some deliberation, he decided he was overthinking it. What happened had happened. No need to dwell on the past.

”Watermelon.”

Brian squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, forcing away the memory of that woman, what he did, the image of her head splitting open like a-

He was wrenched out of those thoughts as the cab came to a stop. Despite his increased strength, he was gentle as he pulled Adri out of the car, helping her stay stable despite her inebriation. Brian knew very well what it was like to get drunk out of your mind. He used to do so on a nearly daily basis. He hadn’t touched alcohol since his stay at the EMBA. Not to say it hadn’t been difficult. Far from it. But he’d been able to stay sober for the longest time in his life. It was something he was proud of (and there were very few things that Brian was proud of). He gave Lily a pat on the head as she followed Adri out of the car.

”That’s a pretty low bar,” he said jokingly, a little smile on his face.

“Um...disability. I got on disability,” he replied. “EMBA helped me out. Disability doesn’t cover much, but it’s something,” he said. ”Lot better than living on the streets,” he muttered.

“The voices are not my friends,” he said plainly.

”Hey!”

“They can friendly, but they’re not my friends.”

“Meanie!”

“Rude.”

“I’d give anything for them to go away,” he said softly. Not just because they were often unkind and annoying (which they were), but he wanted to be normal. Just for once in his life, he wanted to be sane, to be like everybody else. It seemed so elusive, this holy grail of normalcy that he could never obtain. It was a nice fantasy, but a fantasy nonetheless.

Brian looked up at the night sky as the cab pulled away; an idea popped into his head. ”Do you want to see the stars?” he asked Adri.

Adrijana Evgeniya

[Adrijana Evgeniya]

She tilted her head slightly as Brian said the voices were not his friends, face adopting an expression like confusion, then one like sympathy. She reached up and touched his chin, stroking it fondly.

“Aw,” she said. “That's so sad.” There was a greedy, wistful look in her eyes. “I would take them away from you,” she said. “I would suck them away and pull them ooooouttttt...” She ended the word with a kind of croon, then stopped, smiled, and went back to walking inside. It was too bad that Brian didn't like his voices. She would enjoy having people in her head always telling her how great she was. Well, she could always tell herself. That would have to do.

When Brian mentioned looking at the stars she glanced at him and then nodded rapidly, a wide smile breaking out on her face. “Yes! Show me the stars!” She laughed. It seemed very funny just then. “Stars are made of fire,” she said. “Big nuclear fire. Enough to burn up the whoooollllleeee worrrlllddd.” She snickered. She was imagining the streets full of people screaming as the fire consumed them. How much fun would that be? Too bad she'd go to jail if they caught her setting anything on fire again. Stupid people. She hated judges and police. She wanted to kill all of them. Hurt them and burn them and laugh as they screamed and burned and burned...

She looked up at Brian again, admiring his tall, strong form. She imagined him shirtless, holding a hammer. Standing over someone tied up. Imagined him bringing the hammer up, up, then down, down. Imagined his muscles rippling as he hit, hit, made the blood come out until the tied up person stopped moving. In her imagination it was beautiful. Slowly she licked her upper lip.

She spoke almost without realizing it, voice so soft it took her a moment to realize she had. “Have you ever killed anyone, Brian?” Her tone was inviting. Seductive, almost. Her eyes were wide, gleeful, her smile showing all her teeth. She imagined him naked and swinging the hammer and it was a glorious thought. If they ever killed together, they'd have so much fun.

Brian Harris

[Brian Harris]

He very gently pushed her hand away from his chin. While her actions made him uncomfortable, he blamed her very forward flirtation on the booze. He knew very well that alcohol could greatly lower one’s inhibitions. In his mind, it was no fault of Adri’s; it was just the intoxication. He very purposefully did not acknowledge the finer, more uncomfortable details of their first encounter.

He gave Adri a sad smile. ”Thanks, but, you don’t want this. They’re...they’re not fun.”

“I am too fun!”

He almost wished he could transfer his voices into someone else’s head. A part of him so desperately wanted to take her offer (though perhaps without the weird phrasing), but even if he could, he would never subject someone to the torment of his auditory hallucinations. Especially not Adri. She was his friend.

“I much prefer your head over her’s,” Sasha said in her snotty voice.

His smile widened, almost showing teeth. The stars had been Brian’s one and only comfort for almost his entire life. They were his coping mechanism, his anchor to reality. They were the one thing in his world that remained consistent. Consistent in their placement, consistent in the sky, a consistent source of guidance, and of course, consistently tranquil, consistently beautiful. He would love to share them with Adri.

Her next words, though, froze him to his core. His blood went cold and his smile dropped immediately.

“She knows.”

”You have killed people.”

He balled up his fists, hands shaking.

“She fucking knows.”

Lily bumped her head against Brian’s fist.

”N...n…”

Brian had always been a terrible liar.

He unclenched his fists. ”Yes,” he said softly, looking at the ground. Lily nuzzled her head under his hand. He gave her a scratch behind her ear. ”But...it was an accident...I didn’t mean...I thought they were…” The images flashed through his mind. He violently shook his head, trying to chase away the bad memories. ”It was right after my powers...I was having an episode and…” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. ”It was in the past and...and I’d rather leave it there,” he said, lips tight.

He looked up into the night sky. ”The stars,” he said softly. He looked back down at Adri, trying to force a smile. ”Let’s see the stars,” he said.

He opened the door to his apartment. ”Lily, in!” The dog obediently trotted inside. He closed the door and turned back toward Adri. ”Um, let’s see here…” He clumsy approached her and, after some deliberation, picked her up in an awkward bridal carry. ”Sorry. Hope you’re okay with this.”

The muscles in his legs grew until they were nearly three times their original strength. He bent his knees, and sprang up as much as he could, landing a little unevenly on the roof of the apartment building. He put Adri down and looked up at the sky, a small but genuine smile appearing on his face. They had a clear, unencumbered view of the stars. ”They’re beautiful,” he said.

Adrijana Evgeniya

[Adrijana Evgeniya]

Adri was a murderer. She killed people because she enjoyed it. She made them scream and beg for mercy and dangled out hope in front of them and watched their expressions as she cut it off again. She didn't see anything wrong with what she was; what mattered was that she enjoyed it.

But she didn't think any less of Brian for not enjoying it as well. Murder was just a hobby, like rape or video games. Oh, she was disappointed that she and Brian would never be able to enjoy disemboweling someone together, but they still had other things they could do together. And she didn't really like seeing Brian sad. She wanted Brian happy so they could have happy times together. Her face twisted into a pouting expression when Brian described what had happened with the other person. “Aww,” she said, touching his chest. “That's okay. Not everyone likes killing people.” That was something she had been surprised to learn in jail, but she supposed it made sense. Some people liked drugs best, and that was why they were in prison. Some people liked taking nice things for themselves without paying and ended up in prison that way. And some people liked murder. Some people didn't like any of those things and didn't go to prison at all, which didn't seem fair. But when was The System ever fair?

She looked up at Brian and smiled. “Don't worry. If you ever need someone gotten rid of, I can do it for you! You won't have to do anything!”

Brian led her inside and she let out an interested gurgle when he picked her up in a bridal carry. “You're so warm!” she said. She watched with interest as the muscles in his legs grew and he jumped up to the roof. Another giggle escaped her. Brian laid her gently on the roof and she rolled onto her back, feeling gravel against the back of her legs.

She had never spent much time looking at the stars before. She had grown up in the city, full of light pollution, and then in prison, which had concrete ceilings that blocked the stars. Now she stared upward, and she felt an unexpected sense of wonder strike her. There was something majestic about those points of light, so distant, small, and twinkling. For a moment she was silent as she took it all in, something inside her mysteriously stilled by the sight.

She glanced over at Brian when he said they were beautiful. His face had an expression she'd never seen before. It was rapturous, caught up in something she couldn't quite understand. She glanced up at the sky again and frowned. They were just lights, weren't they? She looked at Brian again. Her next words were quiet.

“I dunno anything about stars,” she said. “I almost failed school.”

Brian Harris