Scalding Hot Coffee

Félix changed out of his gym clothes and left the stuff in his locker. He hardly broke a sweat, so there was no need to wash it for now. He changed back into his regular clothes, dull of colour and dull of imagination. He preferred it that way, in some respects. Félix would rather not show up overdressed like Konishi, not when it meant prying eyes. It seemed she didn't mind that, however.

“I'm ready,” Félix said, and just as quickly Konishi had an arm through his. He didn't fight it off, but it felt weird having her this close already. To think she was making it like Félix was the one who wanted more than coffee. Clearly she was up to something.

His thoughts seemed confirmed the moment she mentioned asking him a question. Of course, she didn't phrase it that way. She wasn't asking anything, Félix was just giving her answers. More and more answers.

Félix let her swing his arm around all the way to the cafeteria. He didn't really like it, but it felt weird asking her to stop when they were this close to reaching the cafeteria. Konishi didn't seem like the type to want to listen, anyway.

Once they were inside though, Félix decisively let go and searched for somewhere decent to sit. He wasn't really keen on having coffee in the cafeteria, but it was the only place to go on campus. Running all the way down into the city was a bit much.

“Would would you like in your coffee?” Félix asked, finding the dispensary close to the register.

Félix came back with a Café au Lait and a Black Eye for himself. As he set them on the table, he was surprised to see Konishi pass him some money. More surprising was that it was enough to cover both coffees. Félix wondered if Konishi thought him too poor to afford a couple cups of coffee.

“I can pay for my own at least,” Félix pushed some of the money back to Konishi, but upon her steadfast refusal he sighed and pocketed the rest. He hoped he didn't stumble on a particularly philanthropic rich girl. Not only would it make their friendship... or whatever it'd come out to be... awkward, he could practically hear his own grandfather sing in his head how a wonderful choice of breeding this Konishi would be.

“My family is... large. I have two sisters and... one brother.” It didn't really explain anything at all, but Félix was still busy trying to sift what was worth telling a practical stranger. She could be cute, attractive, maybe even seemingly nice and friendly, but it didn't make her trustworthy.

“We live near Montréal, Québec, hence my accent. My powers are hereditary, and have refined over generations.” Konishi was not the only good liar though. Félix was smart enough to know how to speak a half-truth or misleading statement without a single twitch of a micro-expression. The only thing he inherited was being vulnerable to demonic possession.

“They just didn't surface for a while. What is your family like?” Félix tried to skip over talking about his own.

“I think if you wanted to know more about them, you could ask them yourself.” Félix seemed exasperated for sure, even as he tried to sip his coffee. If she hadn't put it so condescendingly he probably would have told her. Now he was just belligerent.

In turn, she gave a detailed, but ultimately matter-of-fact description of her own life. From all Félix could gather, the only thing she explained more than himself was when she changed schools. He was interested to learn, however, that Konishi's parents also had powers. Maybe his sort of business wasn't all that unusual?

“It gets stronger, that's all,” Félix continued to be vague and opaque. “It's only passed down by the firstborn male though. That's me.” His grandfather and father both had their own versions of Félix's power, though it manifested itself drastically differently than his own. They all did.

“But it's not the same power either. Not exactly. It just... gets bigger.”

“Yes. More violent.”

Félix didn't cut to the chase then. It was probably just the cool way she asked it. To her, being violent wasn't even a bad thing. He wondered the darker depths of his mind whether she asked him because she didn't care, or because she knew Félix would care.

“I was bred to be more violent, more powerful. My father and grandfather wanted that from me.”

He quietly drank his coffee. Félix wasn't shaking. He didn't seem angry at all. But now he was tumbling down with what she wanted to know. “We don't have powers, not on our own. My family is possessed by monsters, and we slowly integrate ourselves with them.”

Maybe he was just looking for a more real reaction from Konishi. Something that didn't reflect her apparent lack of emotion.

“Well, I guess, not everything comes at once.” Félix meekly shrugged. He didn't have an answer for that. It wasn't like this demonic possession happened instantly. There was a fight for the body first, or so Félix understood. And then it took time for whatever monster to root itself into the person's being. Bigger creatures had bigger roots to bury, so Félix surmised.

He was probably fortunate she did not press him with thoughts of disappointment. Not just for the immediate stigma to come to mind, but the fact that she could very well twist his perception to think he was bad for not being a monster.

“Why do you say that?” Félix questioned. He did think that if he were in Konishi's place, he wouldn't believe it either. But he had his own past and that told a different tale than her own.

“Monsters come in all shapes and sizes. And even just because you're a human doesn't mean you can't be a monster.” Félix was referring to himself in that depressing tone, though maybe Konishi would take something else from it.

He did notice Konishi's change in tone. He wondered if he pressed the issue, whether he might inadvertently drive Konishi mad with paranoia. Of course, then she'd learn what kind of monster he could be. Some thoughtful food to go with his coffee.

"Do you want to bet against me that there are no monsters?"