Page 89 of Falling in Love with A Tiny Bat

“I know what Wattpad is, and I vaguely recall bits and pieces of some stories.”

I snort. “Um. Yeah. Wattpad qualifies as generational trauma for everyone. That makes perfect sense. For some of us, it’s practically a core memory.”

We beat the round, and I snuggle up a little closer, using my legs to reel Alexios in a fraction.

He glances sidelong at me and smiles.

“Can you pass the chip bag?” I offer a grabby hand.

He fills it with my requested snackage, then takes a moment to watch me stuff my face.

“What?” I mumble around a giant chip, that I must fit entirely in my mouth. All at once. For no reason.

Shaking his head, he selects his characters for the next round. “It’s remarkable how much you enjoy food. It makes it easier, for my brain.”

“What do you mean?” I select my characters, and the first boss battle starts.

“Some of my problem is mental. I wasn’t always as bad as I am now with food. When I first emerged, I forced myself to eat, because what else are you supposed to do, right? Eating is natural. Necessary. The consistent negative sensory experiences created something like a trauma response to the idea of eating in my head. It’s hard to trust anything will be tolerable. The pressure surrounding food is overwhelming, and not just because people need it to live. It’s social. Most events coincide with something edible. People invite you over or out for lunches and dinners. Struggling to join in the community activity is…isolating.” He smiles, faintly, as he decimates the boss, heralding in the next cutscene. “Since I know that food is precious and important, I hesitate to waste it. It’s comforting to know I can try to participate, and you’ll save me if I can’t force myself through it.”

Something flutters inside me as years beneath my mother’s toxic food rules crumble at the base.

Food is precious and important.

And…all the shame I’ve experienced because I like to eat has an equal opposite shame in Alexios.

In this moment, I see it. How Alexios fits my soul.

It’s healing to see an alternative perspective associated with something that has hurt me. It’s healing to see that, all along, enjoying food was morally neutral. Even if my body sits at a weight some people don’t considerhealthy enough for them, it’s not wrong to let myself appreciate the simple things in life—especially the ones that perpetuate survival.

Alexios, by all accounts, appears the pinnacle of health.

No one would ever think he was practically starving himself.

Which reminds me.

“I’m sorry about that time I told you to starve,” I murmur.

“Hm?” He glances my way as another cutscene starts. We’re closer now than when we started, by a significant margin, and—wouldn’t you know it—I am kind of on top of him. Or. At least my legs are. Which probably doesn’t count.

I swallow my pride, select my characters, and start the next part of the story. “That time, at Costco, when you were being annoying and not picking out what you wanted to eat, because you don’t exactlywantto eat anything, so I told you to starve. I’m sorry. In hindsight, it was a cruel choice of words.”

“It’s okay. You didn’t know my…condition…was more severe than picky eating.”

“Just because I didn’t know doesn’t mean what I said was kind. I should have been kind regardless of what I knew.”

He chuckles. “You thought I was being difficult, and I wasn’t clearly communicating anything to make you think otherwise. I don’t blame you for being frustrated, and I don’t expect anyone to live afraid that they might accidentally offend someone. If you say something that bothers me, I’ll just tell you.”

I arch a brow. “That must be a faerie thing. Humans aren’t so forgiving.”

“Some humans aren’t, I’m sure.”

“Oh, come on.” My character flings off the screen while Alexios’s gets the final blows and ushers in the next cutscene. “You’re not supposed to be good at this. Have you been practicing while I’m at work?”

“Nope. I’m actually quite confused. Is there a plot to this story mode? All these characters have vastly different art styles and seem to lack all connective tissue. This…gorilla thing…isliving in his own universe, chasing a truck full of bananas. For why?”

“Donkey Kong is iconic.”

“Oh.”

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