Running From My Shadow

“Hurts sometimes. But I’ve gotten used to it,” Sam said, shrugging. When he still in Hong Kong, there wasn’t any time to worry about it. Now it’s just became something that he had to get used to.

“It’s a pretty boring place here, yeah. I guess you could go back if you wanted?” he offered, then realised that she probably couldn’t. Most people here couldn’t go back home anymore. Jeez. “Actually, don’t answer that.”

He was a bit surprised at Rory’s offer, but nodded. “Yeah. Walking. That sounds okay.”

"Hey, it's okay. No need to keep checking on me. I can hear you just fine," Sam said. He could hear her heartbeat just as clearly as he could hear her voice. While he had learned that telling that to people often made them look at him strangely.

"I like the idyllic," he commented, after managing to remember what the word meant. He was getting better at this, but sometimes his brain still had trouble switching between languages. "Adrenaline is fun, sometimes. But I guess it's good to not have to worry about somebody stealing your shit every time you go to bed."

"Well, I guess they're both pretty different things," Sam said. He was still cautious about his background. Previously he had believed that people would hurt him. Now he was just worried that people would hate him. "At least you don't have to worry about that here?"

Truth to be told, he wasn't so sure. The Academy was a bit of a bubble on the island, and he had been so afraid of getting sent back that he hadn't stepped out of line for the last year.

"Have you got any ideas on what you want to do when you graduate?" he asked.

"Oh, that's really cool. I didn't know you could do that as a job. It sounds fun, though," Sam said. There were still so many undiscovered options that he could take, and he had plenty of time to discover them. Or so he hoped, at least.

He reached to brush back some hair from his head. He should really get it cut or shaved at some point.

"Me? I've got... well, really nothing. Maybe I'll go to vocational school. I'll see when we get there, I guess," Sam answered.

"Welding could be cool. Guess I could do something with my hands. But the whole thing with, well, not seeing is a bit of a problem in that field. Same with engineering," Sam said. He recognised his lack of vision as a liability, and though his senses made up for a lot of it, there were still things that it can't replace.

He took a while to consider his interests. There weren't many. "Not much, really. I guess I like to fight. It could become a job but that's not a really stable one. I'll figure it out when I get there."