I made a mistake

Míngzé hummed in response, only followed by a sigh. “Yeah, there are some who— wait— you live outside?” As it turns out, that was only a smart piece of the puzzle that was to be revealed to him.

Míngzé stayed quiet as Lucina started her explanation. The first cup of coffee was done and he placed it on the counter close to her. “The marshes?” he repeated, clearly already confused. That was not a place you accidentally ended up. It was even quite far from here too. Míngzé grabbed sugar and milk in case she wanted some.  Nothing she said made any sense. He did not interrupt her again and found himself leaning against the counter with his arms crossed over his chest. This was not at all what he expected.

His yellow eyes were directed at her, but his expression was rather blank. Even with the light in his apartment it was impossible to notice any details. Claws and pointy ears for example. As she finished her story, Míngzé stayed quiet. Back then she told him she was fine, but then how did she lose her memory?

“Damn,” he muttered to break the silence. Quickly he reached for his coffee, giving him something else to look at as he tore his gaze away form her. Alright, first things first, as it was a lot to unpack. “And you remember nothing? Like absolutely nothing at all?” Míngzé questioned her. It sounded so unreal to not have any memories to your name. He was not even sure if it would explain the state he found her in that day. The coffee warmed his hands, the feeling rather calming.

When she mentioned that she had been living in a cardboard box he nearly dropped his cup. Fuck. A wave of guilt hit him like a brick. If he’d known then he would've done something, but that was the problem, he did not know. He had no way of knowing. Not that it helped against his guilt.

Míngzé really wanted to believe her, he truly did, but it was difficult. Not that she had any reason to lie to him. He blew at his coffee to buy himself more time. “You must realize this all sounds very weird, right? Like— it’s all very difficult to believe.” Míngzé felt like he was treading on thin ice. The fact that she was telling him this meant she trusted him in a way and he did not want to break this trust.

There was one option. Míngzé placed his own cup on the counter next to him. “Okay, this might sound weird, I get it, but—” He felt awkward even asking this and unknowingly he started fiddling with his fingers. “As I can’t exactly see any of the things you mentioned.” With his hand he gestured at his own ears to let her know what he was talking about, if he ever managed to get the words over his lips. Right now he was beating around the bush, making it only worse. “Can I— you know— feel if what you are saying is true?” This sounded so bad and he was ashamed to even ask. “If you don’t— it’s fine— I understand,” Míngzé quickly added, his hands raised in a defensive way. After their first meeting this felt even worse to ask.

No matter what, Míngzé could not simply take her word for it and be done with it. A few months ago he might have been even more skeptical about this whole ordeal, but not anymore. His own mind had been a mess, so it would not surprise him if something was able to remove your memories. Come to think of it, there was even a pokémon that could do just that.

To his surprise she agreed. Surely if she was lying she would not let him discover her secret that easily. When she gently grabbed his wrist, he could feel longer nails against his skin. They reminded him somewhat of Dai’s nails or even Wěi’s. He doubted it was some new fashion trend he was unaware of. Then the tips of his fingers brushed against her ear, causing him to frown deeply. He did not dare to overstep his boundaries, so he kept his touch featherlight as he traced her unusual ears. Thanks to the coffee from earlier his fingers were rather warm.

“They don’t feel fake,” Míngzé said to convince himself. They did not feel like plastic or what other materials people used for carnival and there was no crease that would tell him they were glued on. He retreated his hand and went to lean back against the counter. “And these symbols? What do they look like?” It was hard to wrap his mind around all this. People have been born looking different, but this was something he had never heard of.  

Right now it felt like he was again in some kind of strange dream. Even after confirming the truth, he still had a hard time believing this. It was even harder to realize that he did in fact believe her whole story. What more was wrong with this world if this was possible? It was a scary thought.

One corner of his mouth twitched in a small smile, but it quickly disappeared. Yet another sign that she was truly unaware of some basic things. “There are these movies about mythical creatures with pointy ears like yours. I can show you later, if you’d like to,” Míngzé explained with a soft sigh.

Míngzé drank some more from his coffee as he listened. How he wished he was able to see those symbols she was talking about. Maybe he would recognize them, although he doubted it. He had never heard of anything like it before. “Like a tattoo?” he asked her. This whole conversation there had been a soft frown on his head.

“And the marshes— have you really no idea how you ended up there?” It was such an odd place for a person to end up at. Even after a drunk night people would not go all the way there. It was too far from the city. All these questions, Míngzé really was only trying to figure out what had happened.

With this newly found information, Míngzé understood why she did not trust the cops. There was no saying what they would do if they saw her. Enough dangerous things already roamed the streets and in his eyes, affinities were one of them. He might not know what was going on, it was not too far-fetched to think it had something to do with affinities. They had a way of ruining someone’s life.

“The things you watch on tv, you know, a movie. I’ll just show you later today.” Míngzé couldn’t help but sigh softly. It was still too early for all this. “A tattoo is like a painting, but with ink under your skin so that it never leaves.” That was the best way he could explain it to her. He did not have any tattoos himself, otherwise he would’ve shown her those.

As it turns out, she was in deeper shit than he originally thought. “A lab? And you are sure it was a memory?” The thoughts that went through his mind were sickening. With her looks, it sounded wrong in so many ways. Again he drank from his coffee, only to come to realize his cup was completely empty. “I’ve worked at one for a short time, but I’ve never heard about someone like— you know— you.” Minzge gestured at her. Then again, they told him nothing and he was mostly left ignored. There was a reason he left that place.

Míngzé hummed softly, but did not say anything else. Things like elves were not real. They only existed in movies, stories and video games. While her ears might fit the description, it felt highly unlikely. Yet for now it might be better if she believed that was what she was. Any other alternative might be worse.

To get him through the day, Míngzé decided he needed a second cup of coffee, which he was already preparing. “Not that far away from here. You can take the bus that stops around the corner.” It was one of the reasons he chose this place to live. Now it no longer mattered, but back then it had been easy. Míngzé understood why she was interested in this place, the idea that she could find answers there. “I strongly advise against going there, given well, everything.” The people he knew that worked there were anything but kind. While he had never heard about human experiments, it would still be dangerous for someone like her to go there.

His coffee was ready and he immediately drank from it. “For now try to keep a low profile, don’t draw too much attention until we know more.” Any kind of attention might be bad. Having her appear at his doorstep might even be too much. “Do you have a way to like— conceal yourself?” Keeping her locked up inside was also a bad idea.

Míngzé couldn’t help but sigh softly when she once again asked for something she did not seem to know. These were all things that he assumed everyone knew. Only children asked these kinds of questions. “It’s like a car, but bigger and for the public.” That was the best explanation he could give her. “You need money for basically everything.” And let it just be that he did not have that kind of money right now. His life was an ever growing mess with no stop to it. Her appearing at his doorstep was proof of that.

He slightly narrowed his eyes when she went against his advice. Míngzé understood she wanted answers, but was it really worth all the danger that might come with it? The only memory she had was from a lab, so if he was her he would stay away from there. However he decided to keep it to himself and not make any further comment about it.

Whatever concerns he had about the lab disappeared immediately and he pushed himself away from the counter. “Why did you not say so?” he said a bit too sharply. A red color quickly found its way to his face. They had been talking for who knows how long, all while she had been naked. “You could’ve started with that.” Míngzé quickly went towards his bedroom, throwing open the closet and picking the first set of clothes he found to hurl at her. Why did this keep happening? She had waited at his doorstep while— fuck. Míngzé couldn’t help but wonder if anyone had seen her. And then when he’d asked about her ears. He really hated life right now.