August thought his closest safehouse was surprisingly in good dition, sidering he’d been gone for a week of just killing and wandering around. He’d figured the safehouse would be a better pce for Lay instead of standing around waiting for the group of Taliban militia appearing. He remembered the way she looked at him wheurned after leaving a trail of bodies behind him.

  “Those weren’t the eyes of someone looking at a person. Those were the eyes of a child feeling like they were looking at an animal. An animal that could nuzzle into you one moment, then tear out your throat iher. I should fix that, but how?”, August thought as he sat Lay on the living room couch. He had to carry her on the way as she wouldn’t move herself like she was rooted to the ground.

  August moves to sit o Lay, which startles her. He looks around the room, the rely untouched except for residual dust that he never bothered with. August takes a deep breath, as he takes off his shades and starts to undo the s that cover his face. Lay watches with surprise as the s give way to an ued sight.

  “You said you were a man?”, she says.

  “...Yes?”

  “Why are you so…pretty?”

  “B-bwah, ha, ha, ha, ha!” August’s ughter is so ued it startles Lay. The ughter dies down as August begins to apologize to her.

  “Ha, ha! Heh! Sorry, sorry. It’s just…that’s the first time I’ve heard someone call me pretty. Thanks, I guess.”, he says with a mirthful smile.

  Lay is fused by his amusement. Normally, a man in these parts would take offeo being called pretty. Lay also notices that even his ugh doesn’t have the deep baritohat you would hear from a man. His voice, too soft and light to be mase, yet too deep a pitch to be feminine.

  “Strange.”, she thinks.

  “So, I’m going to go to the bathroom. You stay here and sleep if you want. Do whatever, actually. Just tell me if you’re hungry or thirsty, alright?”, August says as he gets up from the couch, taking off his robes. The robes fall onto the couch, revealing a slender, androgynous, athletic frame, covered in a slim fit bck turtleneck, bck pants, and yellow boots. He sets his sword in its scabbard leaning it against the side of the coud then walks down the hallway.

  August takes his shower with haste, as he knows the water won’t st forever. This safehouse wasn’t meant to be used for extended periods of time, and he guesses at three more days before living here is unsustainable. He finishes his shower and steps out of the old ceramic tub, using an old b as a makeshift towel to dry himself. He gazes at his form in the cracked, stained mirror, his androgynous face looking back.

  “A childhood spent hiding this from the world. The tless hours I’ve spent here in Afghanistan using it to my advantage. Woe is me, I guess.”, August thinks as he ceases drying himself and begins to put his clothes ba. Once done, he turns to the mirror to begin fixing his hair.

  “You would never accept me having hair this long, but I stopped g a long time ago. I love you too much tet you. This hairstyle was yours, now it’s mio remember you by”, He thinks to himself as he ties his hair into a mid ponytail that leaves hair framing his face. He reaches for the medie et, taking out a testosterone supplement. He swallows the pill with practiced ease, the habit ingrained in him since he was eight. He looks back at himself in the mirror, his features and hairstyles now making him resemble his deceased mother. “I love you, Mom.”, August’s st thought as he turns and leaves the bathroom, before the memory of her death return to haunt him for the rest of the day.

  August walks bato the living room, seeing Lay lying down on her ba the coud staring at the ceiling. He deliberately walks with more force, wanting to snap Lay out of her thoughts, to let her know he's still there. Lay turns her eyes towards him and widens her eyes, calming down as she reizes him. August then makes his way towards the kitette area, opening the ets for still edible food.

  “Would you like something to eat now? I’m go now.”, August says as he takes out a package of instant noodles. He activates the hot p the ter o him arieves a pot from the shelf above the hot pte.

  “...Yes.”, Lay says meekly, as hunger pangs run through her body.

  “Alright.”, he says as he takes another package as it by the first. A couple of minutes pass by in silence as he waits for the water i to start boiling. Once bubbling from ve, he opens the packaging and drops the instant noodles within the boiling water.

  “Maybe…just maybe it won’t be so bad trying to live anymore.”, Lay thinks as a bowl is set oable in front of her.