Page 37 of Catching the Kot'oll Driver

He watches me with concern in his eyes. “Maybe that should be my question to you. Are you fine? Is anything off?”

I suck a breath and my voice chokes again. “I... Just hold me and we’ll enjoy the snow, okay?”

He lets out a breath. “Or would you prefer to be left alone completely?”

I can leave this room if I want to. I don’t think he will sneak around. He doesn’t like this place and isn’t the one who just wants to cause trouble.

I pat his arm. “If I wanted to leave, I’d do that already.”

“Okay... Just tell me when you want me to leave.”

He is going to leave, eventually.

We barely met each other and that won’t last.

I take a breath when Captain’s warning echoes in my head again, alongside Grihul’s comment when we just met not long ago.

Am I... Too sensitive to bigger beings? And... How did I even get hired as police in the first place?

Maybe I’m taking things a bit too seriously...

I’m not that important. No beings are out just to get me.

Maybe some used to do that, but those were way back in the past when everyone was just kids. It was... not that rare for bigger ones to be a bully at times, even though that’s still wrong. I suppose it’s just a thing that I would never climb a tree quicker or win when we fought for toys during break times.

Not just that, it had been a tough uphill fight when I was in training to be police. Not a lot of humans ever qualify. I understand they wanted the fittest beings to be at the job, but I just wanted to fight bad guys.

I excel at everything that doesn’t require physical attributes, but other than that, I just suck.

Grihul squeezes me with his arms. “Looks like you should sit.”

He picks me up before I can protest. He puts me onto the bed, still watching me with caring eyes.

I ask, “So... I’m pretty useless, right?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You seem to think that I can’t even stand on my own.”

He shrugs. “I got bored staring out of the window.”

“You could have left me there and gone to the bed yourself.”

He frowns at me, his gaze shouting how he made up an excuse just to move me here.

I fold my arms and roll around to face the wall instead of him. “You think that I’m dumb.”

“I think you’re hiding things from me. But you don’t have to tell me unless you want to. Maybe you’re the one thinking that I’m dumb and not good enough to understand what’s in your head.”

“Well, you don’t seem to think I’d make for good police.”

“I kind of like you, but I have to be honest. You may have a good heart, but pointing a gun at random beings isn’t going to work.”

I suck in a breath. If I could breathe fire, I’d do that to him and roast his smug ass.

He continues, “Maybe you’re smart, and that’s how you got hired. I’ve had beings your size or smaller telling me how it is terrifying to be in a room with me. I’m not a monster, and I’ve never set out to hurt anyone. I don’t even think that size matters.” He clears his throat. “Well, a lot of times, in normal conditions, size doesn’t matter that much. Beings robbing a bank aren’t doing that just because they are big beings. They are there armed with guns and stuff. Big or small, you can still get shot. Being under more stress than you need to is never good for your kind of job.”

“You mean... being police on the frontline.”

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