Application; Santi, Devil's Backbone

[ahogarse]

There’s something in the sorting room. Something, the sort of thing that goes bump in the night

Comments

[i_am_an_hero]

A finds Santi disturbing, but he can sympathize as well.

"And you... did you study very hard?"

[ahogarse]

He nods, emphatically, and the blood weaves strangely in the air.

[i_am_an_hero]

"That's important. It's important to learn. It's not useless," he stresses, remembering Santi's emphatic reaction to the Hufflepuff question.

The blood makes him shudder, but Santi is so small.

[ahogarse]

Santi nods again, and looks up and whoever this reassuring is with gratification.

"My name is Santi, what's yours?"

[i_am_an_hero]

"I'm A. I'm trying not to be useless." And, very cautiously, he smiles. "And you can be dead and still have things. Have marbles."

His smile widens. "Even kittens."

[ahogarse]

He gasps, and it sounds naive and hopeful, and it also echoes strangely like they're in a dark, dripping room, like it's particularly laboured.

Kittens? That's almost as exciting as magic. The only things Santi had were chickens, and those were occasionally killed and put in soup, so all you did to chickens was chase them sometimes.

"Really?"

[i_am_an_hero]

"I have kittens. A white and a black one. They are Schrodinger and Einstein and they are for me to look after."

A kneels to put his face level with Santi's, and lowers his voice to a whisper. "And I'm dead. Or maybe I was and I'm not anymore. I'm not really sure," he confides.

[ahogarse]

Santi is seldom allowed to talk to anyone without them running off screaming. This is all a little overwhelming.

He shuffles shyly closer to A and nods.

"I'll keep it a secret. Because you look okay."

[i_am_an_hero]

"There are people who know. Not very many. And most of them, most, are good."

He bites his lip.

"But it still bothers me sometimes."

[ahogarse]

"Secret."

He reaches out clammy, translucent, drowned hands to A. It's meant to be comforting... it probably misses.

[i_am_an_hero]

The blood swirling around Santi disturbs A, but Santi himself, not so much. A raises his hands to press against Santi's, palms flat; they end up overlapping somewhat.

[ahogarse]

The little boy giggles, and tries to move his hands so they're flat against each other.

It's still a bit funny, to be able to walk through things.

[i_am_an_hero]

"That must be nice," A murmurs. "To be able to be so people can't touch you."

[ahogarse]

He shakes his head, no, and doesn't say anything but the loneliness is palpable.

He couldn't even play marbles well any more, if there were even anyone who wanted to play with him.

[i_am_an_hero]

"Sometimes," A says very slowly. "Sometimes I would like it if no one could touch me."

He's not going to get any more specific, of course.

"But maybe, maybe not all the time."

[ahogarse]

"Then you could not take care of your kittens, if you could not touch them properly."

And that'd be bad. That'd be very unfortunate.