We made it to the bar Laila worked. I went straight to the bar table and grabbed a stool. Laila was attending to other patrons so I was left to talk to the headless woman for now. She explained to me how she was born, how she ate, how she perceives with her other senses as well, and how she had to speak. I noticed as we spoke that she tended to check her phone often. At first, I thought she was waiting for someone but then I realized that her phone was getting notifications, she just wasn't responding. It was a little annoying so I had to ask about it. "Do you have somewhere you need to be? I don't want to hold you up..." she quickly denied it however. She stretched out her hands and shook them, then typed on her phone and showed me "My family is just trying to contact me, we had a falling out..." I furrowed my brow. I could relate to disagreeing with the family and wanting to go your own path. It wasn't easy because everyone thinks that they are doing things in your best interest. Only you really know what will make you happy though...at least when it comes to the important things.
We finally got our drinks. Leila gave me a funny look. I wasn't drunk enough to shoot her one back so I simply told her thank you. As we drank more, she started telling me more about the situation she was in. She was the daughter of some important man. Her mother died when she was young, her brother was next in line to be the head and she was essentially a mascot. Only she was headless it sounded like. Her brother and father were Dulluhan...with heads of course. She was the anomaly and of course as an anomaly she was treated as a special case, outcasted yet she had a short leash. I could relate to that kind of treatment...so
"You know what? How about you come live with me? I mean at least until you can talk to your family again. You won't have to worry; I promise I'll take care of you with the best of my ability." She seemed to maybe be lost in thought? It was hard to tell with her not having a head. Still, I felt like she may have been smiling...Eventually she said she would consider it...probably wondering if I had ulterior motives. I can't say that I didn't. I started ordering us some more drinks and she asked about my circumstances. She used the "I told you about me so tell me about you" card so I sort of had no choice.
"Well I was born here under a very peculiar set of rules. I think my parents would have given me a sheltered life but I had different plans growing up. My parents are kind of racist against Altmans...I'm not personally, and honestly, I think you guys are pretty cool. It's kind of like you have super powers...but for some reason my parents didn't like me being associated with Altmans...so they sent me to an all non-Altman school. I would have stayed there too had I not been a trouble maker." Laila came around with the drinks and it was good to, since this story involved her.
"Laila, I was just about to tell her about how we met." Upon hearing that, Laila shot me a sly smile and would respond with. "Well then I suppose you'll be needing more drinks." Her comment made me laugh but I didn't want Fate to be worried. "Don't worry it's not that bad. Well, like I said, my parents sent me to a non-Altman school. It wasn't like the school discriminated against Altmans. It's just sometimes there are certain Altmans that have characteristics that non-Altmans can't really accommodate. At least that was the original purpose of those schools. Now looking back on it...it just doesn't seem right. The whole point of society changing is to get used to it right? Ah, I got side tracked. Anyway- oh thanks Laila." Laila had brought the drinks for us. I didn't really know what she gave up but I assume it was liquor and that was good enough for me.
I took a sip and decided to stop putting off my story. "I was in school and...I mean it's school right? It sucks, but it was manageable. At least up until some of the kids were talking badly about Altmans. Honestly I was used to the bad talking since my parents did it a lot. Still, for some reason, it seemed like the way my peers did it compared to how my parents did it were different. As I look back I can say now that they talked badly about them for the same reason...but my parents more pointed out potential flaws and dangers they would have for normal people. Few legitimate reasons and lots of bullshit reasons but reasons still. Anyway, as much as I didn't really like all the disrespectful words for Altmans, I couldn't just say something because then I'll be singled out and be the weird kid in the class. So I lied to fit in. Sadly I lied too well. After school that day, some of the kids decided to go to one of the Altman schools and pick on the other kids as they left the school...and I was invited. I probably could have said no but all I had to do is go and not say anything....right? It turned out I couldn't even do that. A certain Arachne was leaving school and one of the kids I was with threw a rock at her. The next thing I remember I was defending her and got into a big fight with all the kids. I was expelled and none of the other non-Altman schools would take me...probably because they knew I'd just get picked on and they didn't want any incidents in their school. So my parents decided to enroll me in the same school that the Arachne girl went to and it turns out that was Laila. That's how we met." I finished at Fate would clap as if I was putting on a performance. Laila even stayed nearby to listen. "So, now that I told you about me like you asked. Could you tell me about that falling out you had?" Fate seemed to not move for a moment after my question, then twirled her finger in air, asking for another round of drinks. I didn't even know mine was empty. Fate began communicating with me, telling me that in order to sort of get back at her families strict ways, she decided that she wanted to go to a party. She went to go have a good time and even found someone to show her a good time. After a night of passion with this guy he was gone the next morning and she had to go home to deal with her yelling parents. She told me they still bring it up even now and it's been a couple of months already. She then told me something that made me take her drink from her. She ended up getting pregnant. Her parents had supposedly had reached a level of anger that was far beyond the normal means...so she left home. She mentioned that she wanted to look for the father to see how he felt about the whole thing. I wanted to call her crazy for trying to find one guy in this huge city but given how lost and confused Fate must feel dealing with all of this, I instead wanted to support her. "Hey, don't think you're alone in this. You can ask me for help. I'll help you find that guy." Fate immediately raised her hands and waved them wildly probably telling me I didn't have to. "Hey, I want to help you. I promise I'll help you find the Dad alright?" I said trying to reassure her. A part of me called me crazy for promising such a thing but the liquor was making that part of me very very quiet. Laila's jaw had dropped when I said this in case you were wondering.