Human

"Do you ever miss being human?"

Tetra's hand, halfway to bringing a spoonful of cereal to her mouth, paused at Sin's abrupt start to the conversation. "What brought that on?"

Sin shrugged and sat down across from her companion at their kitchen table. "Do you?"

"Eh." Tetra opted to finish her breakfast rather than answer the question immediately. An unimposing silence stretched between them until she continued, "I don't see why I should."

"Why not?"

Tetra lifted her bowl, draining its remaining contents with a gulp. She grinned. "Couldn't do that as a human without some repercussions later."

Sin levelled an unimpressed look in the other girl's direction. "Really, that's all you have to say about it?"

A noncommittal grunt was the only response as Tetra stood and slipped her jacket on, the cool leather a familiar and comforting feeling against her bare arms. "Come on," she said, nodding toward the door. "Let's go get some real food."

---

"Where are we?" Sin could feel the wind cutting past her now that there was fresh blood in her system, bringing some warmth to her cheeks. Tetra had suggested going for a walk after they'd caught a meal, but she hadn't expected to be traveling so far from their usual stomping grounds.

Tetra chuckled. "So full of questions tonight. Relax. We're almost there."

Wherever they were, Sin couldn't guess their reason for coming. The wooded area they were speeding through seemed unremarkable; trees were trees, after all, even if their current base of operations didn't have many nearby due to the climate and soil. After the two made a few more turns, though, the foliage thinned to reveal a clearing. Tetra slowed to a walk and stepped into the glade.

"Well, we're here." The dark-haired vampire inhaled deeply and smiled, turning back to where Sin stood at the edge of the tree line. She opened her arms. "It's kinda nice here, isn't it? With the fireflies?"

And there were definitely fireflies in the space around them. Hundreds of tiny points of light appeared and disappeared randomly in a serene display, offering the barest illumination for the two despite neither of them needing the light to see. Sin moved to join her companion in the center of it all, both girls making themselves comfortable on the grass.

"Used to sneak out of my house in summer as a kid and catch these," Tetra murmured as she leaned back on her elbows. "There's a lot of stuff I miss about being young."

"Mm." Sin glanced down at her friend, then followed her gaze to take in the sight of the trees in the glow of the lights. She waited, knowing there would probably be more to be said.

"I guess maybe I do miss being human sometimes," Tetra began again after a long moment. "Well, to answer your question. Yes and no. I miss the sense of urgency that everything had back then, knowing there was only so much time that you had to do all the things you wanted to do. Every little thing was so important; every interaction mattered that much more because the consequences had weight, measured in minutes and days and years."

Sin considered the other girl's words and nodded. "And the rest?"

A small smile. "It ties together with that last part. When you're human you have all this stuff you want to do and say but there's only so much you can do to deal with everything that happens after, and sometimes it stops you from doing it at all. There were so many restrictions. You couldn't go off on someone who really deserved it because you'd get in trouble. We don't have that problem. Ever. Someone fucks with us we just kill them or eat them." Tetra crossed her arms behind her head and lay back, shifting her gaze to the stars overhead as she went on. "Besides, think of everything we've done now. Nothing stops us but our own thoughts and indecision."

"No authority figures... and no physical limitations." Sin chuckled a bit, recalling Tetra's initial response from earlier with a new understanding of what was meant by it, flippant as it was. "It is a pretty sweet deal."

"Yeah. And anyway, a lot of the things I miss from back then haven't changed. There are still fireflies to catch if I feel like it, and I can still have all the food I liked before I turned." Tetra turned slightly to regard the girl beside her, taking a moment to appreciate the profile of her face silhouetted against the firefly glow and the dim starlight. "Besides, I like what we have now. I wouldn't go back; I think there's way too much I'd rather look forward to."

Sin turned to meet the gaze she felt quietly appraising her, one corner of her lips turned up in a gentle half-smile. "Yeah. Me too."