He shook his head in disbelief. "How can you forget your own birthday?"
She didn't have an answer, but she tried to give one anyway. "I don't think I ever knew it to begin with... but I might have. I never thought it was important."
Nell took the silence that followed as an opportunity to pry into Derek's life as he had pried into hers. She asked him, "What did you do for your birthdays when you were a kid?"
When his head swiveled to make direct eye contact with the girl, she immediately knew that a line had been crossed, that Derek would not stand for questions. His pupils were tiny, angry dots, his face tense. "Shut up," he growled.
In part, Nell was glad that he hadn't told her, because she could not imagine Derek as a younger man (he was already quite young) and could think of him even less as a child. She realized she had never thought of the villain that way, and that part of her had always assumed that The Afterdark had always been as he was currently--an adult, a giant, a monster.
On the television, a stream of beeping sounds meant that someone was swearing at someone else. Nell had heard a lot of swearing when she walked through the city, and was more or less used to it. She found the beeping sounds move offensive than the words themselves. From the way The Afterdark scrunched his face up, she thought he felt the same way.
"I'm still tired," she said mournfully. "After hours and hours of sleep I'm still tired."
"And the arm?"
It was still throbbing every time her heart beat, but the stitches had held together her flesh long enough for the wound to close. She had been holding her arm close to her body and not moving it whenever that was possible. "It hurts still."
"Gonna fucking slaughter that asshole," The Afterdark said, and some part of Nell was relieved that he was not censored by beeps like the people on the television.
She didn't have an answer, but she tried to give one anyway. "I don't think I ever knew it to begin with... but I might have. I never thought it was important."
Nell took the silence that followed as an opportunity to pry into Derek's life as he had pried into hers. She asked him, "What did you do for your birthdays when you were a kid?"
When his head swiveled to make direct eye contact with the girl, she immediately knew that a line had been crossed, that Derek would not stand for questions. His pupils were tiny, angry dots, his face tense. "Shut up," he growled.
In part, Nell was glad that he hadn't told her, because she could not imagine Derek as a younger man (he was already quite young) and could think of him even less as a child. She realized she had never thought of the villain that way, and that part of her had always assumed that The Afterdark had always been as he was currently--an adult, a giant, a monster.
On the television, a stream of beeping sounds meant that someone was swearing at someone else. Nell had heard a lot of swearing when she walked through the city, and was more or less used to it. She found the beeping sounds move offensive than the words themselves. From the way The Afterdark scrunched his face up, she thought he felt the same way.
"I'm still tired," she said mournfully. "After hours and hours of sleep I'm still tired."
"And the arm?"
It was still throbbing every time her heart beat, but the stitches had held together her flesh long enough for the wound to close. She had been holding her arm close to her body and not moving it whenever that was possible. "It hurts still."
"Gonna fucking slaughter that asshole," The Afterdark said, and some part of Nell was relieved that he was not censored by beeps like the people on the television.
