Re: Cat & Reece, one of the front sections.
[It was a lie than men were less emotional than women. It turned out every human being was emotional, no matter their gender. Rationality was less successful than reaction when it came to survival, so here they were, humanity run rampant on melodrama. Ah, well. It wasn't like Reece begrudged Cat her quirks. Not usually. Maybe if he was feeling raw himself, but he wasn't. Maybe she would've changed herself, but it didn't occur to him to wish for the same thing. All Reece hoped was that, like, she was happy to see him and that maybe it'd be less bad for her. You know, life or whatever.
It took her a second to even notice him. He could hear the music spilling from earbuds, but he didn't recognize it. He wasn't focusing on it either, to be fair. Instead, Reece watched as Cat's eyes slowly opened in their still-new greenish. Whatever she was feeling, Reece wasn't privy to it. He said his hello, he tucked a wayward curl somewhere, even though it just sprung back, and then he leaned his own head back. He sighed a little, but before anything more could (or couldn't) be said, Cat was pushing an earbud into Reece's ear—and, God, whenever anyone else did that, it always hurt, didn't it? Like, they were little plastic spurs. But, Reece's hand came up quickly to resettle it more comfortably, just in time for Cat to push her arm under his, and the man was smart enough at least to drape his arm over thinner shoulders. It was like a half-hug and he let metal fingers fall into the dark tumble of curls at Cat's crown, elbow on her shoulder and his nose in her hair.
He was going to just listen to the music. Lana del Ray. He knew her voice-ish, even if he didn't listen to her. But, then Cat bit him, and it was like, just where it was real skin underneath, instead of the prosthetic.] Did you ever see Rocky Horror? [It probably seemed like a non-sequitur, but whatever. Reece moved his nose from curls, so he could look down at the boy beside him, mismatched gaze shifting curiously (and amusedly) over the sharper planes of Cat's face.]