Johan rolled her eyes at the entirety of the situation. A noodle shop would be just fine and sure to have some vegetarian options. They ended up in the corner of a mostly empty shop, perhaps thanks to the strange timing they picked to enter. Lunch time was mostly over and the air was growing heavy with mid-afternoon laziness.
While looking at the menu, she remained silent. She settled immediately on a simple kimchi and tofu soup with noodles, something like her mother might have made once. After that, her eyes glazed over a bit as her mind raced with questions. The man worked for Insolitus after all, so it was more likely that he wasnât human. But in that case, just what was he?
When the waiter came over she gave her order and asked for hot chocolate as well. She scowled when the man replied that they didnât have it, and requested hot tea instead, chilled by the early spring and her own overly imaginative thoughts.
After the waiter left, Johan leaned in closer to the man across from her.
âSoâŚwhatâs your deal exactly?â
God, Aoi was really wondering what heâd gotten himself into right about now. He was getting better about speaking of himself and what his true past was, starting to accept it a little bit more, but⌠It was still hard for him. Heâd been in denial for so long, drowning himself in alcohol any time heâd had to face reality, this whole facing the truth and talking about it thing was pretty new to him. Yet here he was, more or less willingly. He didnât like it.
At least the distraction of ordering food stalled the conversation a little bit, and he ordered black coffee and their basic pork ramen, less so because he was hungry and more so he could use it later when he was stalling having to talk. Though it seemed that for now he could stall the beginning of this no longer.
âMy deal⌠Thatâs a very vague question,â Aoi mused, leaning his chair back on its hind legs and drumming his fingers on the arm absently. âWell⌠I forget, how much exactly have I told you before? I hunt aliens. Specifically the Ixtab, Iâm trying to learn not to hate every Naum I meet because theyâre usually alright⌠But Iâm also part one, myself. Alien, that is. My mother was human, but turns out I had no human father, only alien DNA for that half of it. Iâm not sure yet whether itâs Ixtab or Naum, but Iâm going to be figuring that out soon, I hope. What else do you want to know?â
This was one of the first times he was ever admitting any of this out loud, if he was being perfectly honest. He still could barely admit it to himself, heâd been in denial so long; now here he was admitting it to someone else. It was real improvement, in his mind.
