Talking

                                    

                                          

Disclaimer: NO LONGER PART OF THE HUMAN AU
"Talk about it"

"What?" Sophie asked. 

Keefe had come over earlier to hang out and help her with her homework, not that she needed much help, but both had ended up laying on the roof looking at the stars after the sun had set. They had been asking each other random simple questions just to think aloud and Sophie had found it comforting to confide in him because she knew he always understood what she was asking and how she felt about it.
"Talk about living with humans, being a human, and what life was like to feel mortal. Talk about the things you miss," he sounded like he was curious. She thought about it for a minute, most people who wanted to know about her life with humans wanted to know more about what humans were like. Not who she was or how hard it was to leave it all behind.

"I miss my family, that's a given, but I also miss the simplicity of things. I mean, sure, life was confusing since I was overly smart and all." She paused and Keefe smiled. "You could always depend on things, I understood everything and how everything worked. If you didn't know why something was happening you simply looked at the science and you would have your answer. Want to know why the sky is blue? Look at a research paper about color wavelengths and the reflections of light. Everything here makes no sense to me, there is no scientific process to explain why things are happening" She stopped and hoped Keefe wasn't bored with her answer.
"Keep going," he nudged her with his arm. 
She hesitated but kept going, "Elves seem to have it all figured out, right? But you still separate each other for literally no reason other than the fact that some people have 'special powers' while the ones who don't, which is out of their control, can provide just as important service. And sure, you guys don't let anyone live in poverty or anything because you're all willing to work and all that, but why stop someone from living their life over something they can't control, like manifesting and love"

"That's why you're against the matching scrolls right?" Keefe's eyes connected with hers for a moment and looked back at the sky, without all the light pollution the universe really did look like another world. Sophie had her hand under her head and crossed her feet at her ankles while Keefe had his hand folded across his stomach and his feet spread out to the point where they were almost touching Sophie's.

"Yeah, I guess I don't really like the whole process. Especially since you get cast out if you marry someone who isn't on it. Elves have such a long lifespan you'd think they wouldn't trouble themselves with this much pettiness, you'd think they would have figured this whole empathy thing out already." She paused for a moment, "Can I tell you something?" Her breathing was slow and she was watching Keefe almost as much as she watched the stars.
His voice came out quiet and breathy, "Anything". 
She let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding, "I don't think I'm even going to register. I just want my life to flow how it's going to flow without people telling me what I can and can't do. Is that weird?" She knew she didn't need his approval, she just wanted to know his opinion on the matter.

"No," he said simply. "And honestly? It seems like the best way to go, I might even have to take a page out of your book". He was close enough now that if she turned her head sideways their now innocent position would be compromised.

She looked over at him surprised, it was easier for her to say she wasn't going to register since she grew up with such a different set of beliefs, but Keefe? This was all he knew. This was his world, and he was willing to change his outlook on it on her words. She realized how weird it must have been to get to know her when she first came to Everglen, she had a hugely different take on how the world was run that from the outside she must have looked insane. Not in the sense that she was crazy, just that she believed in drastically different things. It made sense that the black swan wanted this point of view, but she wondered if she would still hold the same values had she grown up here with the rest of the elves. It scared her to think she might have ended up without the ability to care about other species lives like humans.
She looked back up at the stars
"Do you ever think that one day it will all make sense?"
"What? The world? Society?" He asked confused
"All of it, how everything works and how it's all intertwined"
"I sure hope not, that wouldn't be any fun would it"
Sophie chuckled, "Yeah, I guess not"
"Plus," Keefe added. "I like watching you figure it out"