"Hey, dude." I turned my attention to the next Reaper in front of me, a surfer looking boy this time. Why do all these Reapers look so young? Banks and Aster were the only ones so far who looked like adults to be honest. It was weird. I would have to ask about it later.
"I'm Dylan." I shook his outstretched hand and was pleased when he squeezed it firmly. Man or woman, I always judged a person a little by the way they shook my hand.
Dylan was under six feet, with tanned skin and long fluffy blonde hair. He was wearing what looked like a bathrobe and had brown sandals on his feet. His eyes were pretty normal, bright yellow. Until he blinked that was. Then I realized his eyelids were on the side, so he looked kind of like a fish when he blinked.
What was the point in giving us all these weirdly unique eyes? There was no way it was totally random.
"How are you feeling?" He asked, backing away a little and crossing his arms. My eyes landed on his hands for a second, which I noticed were totally metal. He noticed me looking and held them up.
"I saved someone from the motor of a boat. It ended up pulling me in instead and breaking my neck and shredding my hands. Aster gave me better ones though." He grinned at Aster, who was still hovering behind me.
"You do good work, don't you?" I turned around to look at him, swatting at York when I did. He was picking at my hair. Yes, I got it. I needed a haircut.
"I try." I felt good at how happy he looked to be appreciated. He really did do a good job. I felt fine, and even though I never actually passed out, he did a really efficient job with the surgery. I couldn't believe how fast they all did what they did.
"So, what are we doing out here?" I asked, turning to look around a little. They shrugged.
"We were just kind of waiting for you to wake up, I guess."
"Oh." I scratched the back of my neck. "Well. What are we going to do now?" I raised a brow at their blank faces. "What do you normally do when you get a new Reaper?" I prodded.
"Oh!" York jumped off me then. "Do you remember when we ate all that food when you became a Reaper, Dylan?" He stalked over to Dylan.
"Yeah, that was a good way to start my new life, I'd say. And it was the last time I had an actual meal for the next three years after, I remember that too."
"Why so long?" I asked. Would I be so busy I had no time to eat?
He laughed a little. "When you don't actually get hungry, you kinda forget about eating sometimes. It's not like we have to, so unless I come across something really cool, I usually don't partake." I guess that made sense.
"Well. I guess I should make the most out of tonight then." I said, nodding firmly.
Because the next time I woke up, I would be starting my training to become a real Reaper.
"Just keep it longer in the front, so it hangs down kind of, you know? And the sides real short."
"You could just buzz cut it all off."
"What about a taper fade, and slick it back?"
"Ew, no. I am not slicking anyone's hair back."
I was sitting in one of the stone chairs, my new designated one, apparently.
Jaskier was standing behind me, on a chair himself so he can reach the top of my head. Now even when I'm sitting, I'm fucking giant. I felt kind of awkward in my new body. I had never thought I would have to learn how to use my parts again properly. But I was still feeling a bit awkward and out of place in my new parts. I hoped I would get used to them quickly. I didn't like feeling like an overgrown toddler.
I tensed a little when I felt Jaskier's fingers fluffing my hair up.
I couldn't lie; I still wasn't a big fan of being touched.
I'm not sure my parents have ever actually hugged me. Which sounded crazy, but the more I strained to remember, I couldn't think of a single time my mom wrapped me in her arms and made me feel safe and warm.
I'd never had an actual girlfriend either, and the male friends I have are all just coworkers I don't hate.
All in all, I didn't have a lot of experience getting hugged and being climbed on and poked. I was doing my best to not react every time someone brushed up against me, because again, I want nothing more than to get along with these guys.
But I couldn't help myself.
"What do you think?" I felt a finger poke me in the cheek, and I glanced up as much as I could to try and see Jaskier, who has now folded his arms on top of my head and is laying on them. Glad someone is comfortable, I guess.
I shrugged.
"I like Aster's idea." I nodded my head towards the man himself, who was holding one of his bone thin arms out and letting York swing on it like a monkey bar.
"Really?" Aster's face lit up. I have once again shocked him.
"Yeah. Longer in the front, clean up the sides." I nodded, shooting Aster an awkward thumbs up and a half smile. It made him laugh for some reason.
"Sounds good to me." Jaskier moved off me, and I let out a small breath.
"Are Ivan and Vito back yet?" York asked as he swung off Aster's arm one last time and landed on the ground in a crouching position. "And what about Dylan? I'm starving."
"No, but they should be soon." I glanced at Banks. He was sitting at the table, his chair facing the group of people chattering in front of him. He had a glass he was sipping from next to him, and I wondered what it was. His cheeks were red, and he had a permanent smile on his face. Was he drunk? I thought we couldn't do that anymore.
I watched him as Jaskier started spraying my hair with water and moving it around. I hoped he knew what he was doing. If he was the one who did Nico's hair, I would be fine.
"Banks." I called to him. His eyes drifted to me, and he grinned.
"How can I help you, young man?" I furrowed my brow. He was definitely acting weird.
"What are you drinking?" He grinned again and everyone got quiet, watching our interaction.
"Do you want a taste?" He asked, standing up and grabbing his large cup. It was made of dark blue plastic, so I had no hints about what it could be through color.
"I really just want to know what it is." I muttered as he approached.
"Banks maybe you shouldn't-" Aster started, but York quickly jumped up on him again and slapped his hand over his mouth.
"Come on, it'll be fun to see." I heard him mutter. I definitely wouldn't have been able to hear him like this before. Even while I was talking, my ears were picking up on tiny sounds; my hair falling to the floor as Jaskier cut it, York every time he made a whiney dissatisfied noise under his breath, and Nico playing with something metal in his pocket the entire time he'd been there so far.
"I wish you'd tell me what it is." I said one last time as Banks held the cup to my face. I tried to look at it, but he had it tilted in a way I can't really see. It smelled sweet though.
"Just drink some." He tilted the cup more and I leaned forward a little. Jaskier sighed but stopped cutting for a second.
"If this interferes too much with what I'm doing, I'm going to be upset." Jaskier grumbled.
I took a small sip, letting it linger on my taste buds.
It was thick, almost syrupy, and kind of tasted like melted honey and sugar. It was very sweet.
"What is this?" I asked when Banks moved the cup away.
"It's you!" He exclaimed.