Akeidat opened their eyes with a start- Fiera had shaken them awake. They glared at her, indignantly, though she either ignored it or seemed not to notice. Fiera cocked her head out the door, wordlessly, before getting out herself.
Warily, Akeidat followed Fiera’s hoofsteps, groggily, still trying to focus on balancing their stride just enough to not fall. They kept their eyes down on the ground; the asphalt road turning into- cobblestone?
Akeidat paused, looking up. Fiera had stopped, as well, a few short hoofsteps away, waiting for them, her expression as unreadable as ever.
The building that stood before them was entirely alien. It was a tall apartment building, with concrete walls painted in a sunny, orange-ish yellow, accented with white.
What stood out to Akeidat the most was the sheer volume of plants. They looked out at the surrounding neighbourhood, and found that most other buildings were decorated the same way, as well. The entire street looked like a forest, the way all the trees, pots, and flowerbeds occupied so much space around the area.
Darius whistled, and Akeidat jolted. They'd honestly forgotten he was still there.
"Hoo, this place looks swanky!" the angel observed, a paw around his halo like he was adjusting the brim of a hat, "Looks right out of a painting, huh?"
Akeidat rolled their eyes, choosing not to dignify that with an answer, but they couldn't disagree. Everything looked so… serene. They sniffed the air, fresh. It was also quite stinky. Holy moly, did all the fertilizer smell.
“What’re you looking at?” Inquired Fiera.
Akeidat shook their head, “Nothing.”
They followed her to an incredibly wide elevator, carefully observing as she pressed the button for the tenth floor, and up the two went.
“So,” Fiera spoke up, first, “You’re going in first, right?”
Akeidat blinked.
“First for… what?” They asked, tilting their head in confusion.
Fiera regarded them with a strange look, “For… taking a shower?”
"Oh," Akeidat replied, blankly. A few seconds passed, before they answered, "Yes. I would like to shower first."
They didn't miss the look Darius was giving them. Fiera had gone back to looking at her phone. Meanwhile, the angel scratched his chin, curling and uncurling his tail, until he finally said, "I think you should tell Fiera the truth."
They stared at him.
"Not- not, like, everything. I mean about your 'amnesia'," Darius amended, making air-quotes with his fingers. When they kept staring, he continued, "You don't know this world, and I think it'll be easier on all of us if she doesn't expect you to."
Akeidat squinted, incredulously.
"I'm laying down a couple'a ground rules, Akeidat," Darius elaborated. The child's expression grew even more incredulous, "Possessing someone else's body or not, you're a kid. You shouldn't be doing all these grown-up things on your own. If I'm not gonna be here to look after you all the time, then someone should."
They scowled, making their annoyance visible. Who did Darius think he was? He barely even knew them. Who was he to decide whether they could take care of themself, or not? They could handle being alone in school just fine.
"Listen," the angel said, more sternly, hovering directly in front of Akeidat's snout, "If you want to explore, and ask questions, you can do that. But you shouldn't be trying to replace the adult you. Not because I don't think you can do a good job, but because it could be stressful."
Akeidat halted. Stressful? That was a new one. Certainly not any reason they've heard anyone else give, before. Regardless, Darius continued, "The other you's had years of practice and experience to do- whatever it is they do. You don't. I don't want you getting overwhelmed by everything, okay?"
Silence. Then Akeidat flicked their ear twice. They didn't look to see his annoying smile.
With a jingle, the elevator doors opened, and they followed Fiera down a corridor, one half a wall of windows and doors, and the other a fence to the world outside. Akeidat took in the view, and they couldn't help the little, "Wow," that escaped them.
The city still wasn't anything that matched their idea of what the future should've looked like; there were no flying vehicles, drones flittering about, or sprawling skyscrapers with holographic billboards. It just... looked like an ordinary town. But the scale of it, and being able to see all the buildings and- even mountains, beyond the horizon; the tenth floor wasn't so high that it made buildings look like toys; but it was impressive, nonetheless.
It was seconds later when they followed Fiera to her- their apartment's door. Without a word, Fiera unlocked it, and they followed her in.
The apartment that greeted them was... small. Quaint. Not claustrophobically so, but it was... cosy, for the lack of a better word. The living room was a square the size of their room in the present; a wide, remarkably thin flat-screen clung to the wall. Directly next to the room was what Akeidat could only assume was a wall-less kitchen. The only table they could see was the square in front of the- not couches, but bean bags, opposite the television. Nested humbly across the wall, right off the bat, were three doors; no corridors to separate them. The floor was tiled with wood, but the walls were just concrete, painted lime-green.
It was smaller than what they were used to; but it seemed nice enough.
Akeidat had never been to someone's else's house before. They didn't have any cousins, auncles, nor friends to visit- though they supposed it wasn't really someone else's house if their older self lived here. But if they ever had, they guessed this would be what it'd feel like.
They took off their crutches, letting them rest against the wall. Akeidat sucked in a breath, then, slowly, but carefully, threaded their hooves across the floor. It still felt odd, like their hooves weren't going exactly where they wanted them to go, but it was better than in the hospital. They were getting used to their new height.
Fiera was staring, because of course she was. Akeidat looked to Darius. Rather unhelpfully, Darius gave them an encouraging thumbs-up instead of actually saying anything.
Before they could talk themself out of it, Akeidat blurted, "There's actually something you should know."
"What?" Fiera asked, succinctly.
Akeidat closed their paws together, "I have amnesia."
Exactly twenty seconds passed.
"Err," was Fiera's eloquent reply, before she added, "Are you... joking?"
Well. That certainly wasn't what they were expecting.
"No. I am not joking," Akeidat answered, as honestly as they could, "I..." they paused, thinking. How could they word this? "I do not..." They were always taught that honesty was the best policy, but...
They decided to keep it simple, "I recognise you as my classmate from school. I don't know anything else."
With every word, Fiera’s eyes seemed to bore deeper and deeper into Akeidat’s own. They squirmed uncomfortably under her gaze. She still didn’t respond. What did she want? What was she waiting for? What were they doing wrong?
Try again but with proper manners, their mind supplied. Adults are generally impressed by exemplary English skills and fancy manners.
“Ahem,” Akeidat tried again, faux-clearing their throat, and putting on their best impress-the-teachers voice, “Ms.-” Backtrack. They didn’t know Fiera’s surname or whether or not she was married, "Fiera. Please look after my health for however long I may have amnesia.”
They hesitated for a moment, then stuck out their paw, offering a handshake.
Were it any other day in school, whatever adult they were speaking to right now would be wow-ing, impressed. Maybe a handful of compliments, if they were particularly chatty. But now, their performance only seemed to earn them more silence than answers. Fiera stood, dumbfounded, as did Darius.
"That’s, uh-" Darius’ wings fluttered quickly, “Eh-heh- wow. Looks like you’re gonna speed through English if you keep goin' around, talking like that.”
Yes, I know, shut up, Akeidat snuck a short glare in Darius’ direction. He shrunk away; looking- oddly troubled? Nevertheless, a part of them preened at the praise. Their posture straightened, confident.
That confidence was shattered by their would-be guardian's next words.
"Excuse me?" Fiera deadpanned. Her voice was still monotonous and her expression remained unchanged, but suddenly the house felt far less inviting.
In an instant, the feeling had gone from the cautious thrill of exploring someplace new, to that vague, uncomfortable feeling Akeidat had whenever their parents brought them to some crowded venue full of people they didn't know and grating noises and weird-sounding laughter and itchy clothing and bright lights.
Their ears felt like they were being pressed against, and their head felt like it was full of static. Akeidat steeled their expression into a blank, staring intensely at the wall behind Fiera's shoulder.
"You're not... serious, right?" she squinted, "You can't be expecting me to treat you like a baby, are you?"
"I'm not-" Akeidat shuddered. Everything was cold, like they'd been dunked head-first into the arctic ocean, "That is not what I'm requesting for-"
"Then... what do you want me to do?" questioned Fiera, who waved her paw dismissively, "I'm not a doctor. Why don't you go back to the hospital and handle this yourself?"
Involuntarily, Akeidat let out a whimper. They were a fool. Of course opening up about something didn't go well; it never went well. Akeidat wanted to run. They wanted to hide.
"-Eidat? Akeidat?" Distantly, they registered Darius fluttering between them and Fiera, "Akeidat, you okay?"
Breathing heavily, Akeidat swatted him away. Fiera was standing between them and the rest of the apartment, so they turned towards the front door; but the knob wouldn't budge. It was locked, and Akeidat didn't know if they had a key.
The ends of their fur stood up in fear as her shadow loomed closer. Unable to escape, Akeidat knelt, then sat on the ground, curling into a ball. They brought their tail and knees close to their chest, using their paws to cover their entire face. They didn't really know what Fiera was going to do to them- but all they wanted now was to be as small as possible.
They felt something brush against their tail. A hoof. Akeidat flinched away.
"I don't-" Fiera began, quietly, and slowly. She stood in front of them, fiddling with her paws, awkwardly. Akeidat peaked through their fingers. After a moment of her eyes flitting about their form like she was searching for something, she seemed to settle on, "It was not my intention to make you upset."
They breathed slower. Akeidat felt themself uncurling; not totally, but just the slightest bit. It was then that Akeidat realised how moist the fur on their paws had become, and how blurry their vision was through their tears. They hadn't started full-on wailing, just yet, but they were inching dangerously close to it.
Visibly swallowing saliva, Fiera continued.
"So... you're not joking, or lying, I think," her brow furrowed. Was she confused, or thinking? "I... If you don't want to stay at the hospital, then- I don't- I don't really know how to take care of- people like you. So... so..."
"What do you want me to do?" she asked, directly.
Akeidat eyed Darius, who hovered distantly behind Fiera's shoulder. They felt like they should've been more guilty about swatting him away, like a bug; but the closest thing they could muster for now was some mild anger at their inability to be responsible, and keep their paws to themself.
"...I would- I just want to sleep," they mumbled, tiredly. They rubbed their eyes, futilely trying to conceal their tears. They uncurled themself further, and asked, "Where's my room?"
Fiera halted.
"You really don't remember...?" she inquired, her voice tapering off at the end. Akeidat shook their head. After a moment's pause, she turned around and pointed towards the middle door, on the threshold between the living room and the kitchen, "It's that one. The one in the kitchen leads to the bathroom, and then the other door goes to my room."
Awkwardly, Akeidat stood, not accepting Fiera's offered paw, instead leaning against the wall for support. They didn't turn to look at Fiera's face as they slammed the door shut behind them.
Quickly drying their tears, wiping their paws on their shirt, Akeidat scanned the new room- and once they'd found it, quickly scrabbled onto and then collapsed into the bed. It was... surprisingly soft. They didn't know why they weren't expecting that. Perhaps the stiffness of the hospital bed had left a longer lasting impression on them than they'd realised.
Finally, they were alone. Everything was quiet, and they could hear themself think, again.
"So... made it through the first day, huh?"
Or maybe not.
Fury, burning and sun-hot, filled Akeidat from top to bottom. Perhaps a bit impulsively, they threw their pillow at him.
They immediately regretted doing so, when the pillow passed through Darius like a ghost, instead knocking over something Akeidat only caught a passing glimpse of, before it collapsed onto the ground with a concerning THWACK-!
“Oh, shi-eeekbones-!” Yelped Darius, looking behind him down at the broken object.
Their heart lurched in their throat. Akeidat shuffled closer; they’d knocked a ship-in-a-bottle from the drawer. The miniature boat sagged pitifully on the ground, surrounded by shards of dirty glass.
Now they were crying.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-“ They panicked, blindly. Who were they apologising to? Darius? Fiera? Their absent older self?
They reached out a paw, only to be pulled back by another’s. They stared up at Darius, now person-sized, rather than the size of a pixie. While the glow around him was warm, he himself was... surprisingly cold to the touch.
“Don’t touch broken glass, you could get cut,” he warned, before letting go of their paw. The simultaneous hot-and-cold sensation was gone. Akeidat rubbed their wrist, nervously. Now came the part where they’d get yelled at.
Instead, however, Darius stared down at the broken glass, grimacing, “Oh, boy. Hope the other you didn’t think that was anything important.”
Huh?
Not for the first time, Akeidat found themself puzzled by Darius’ reaction. Oblivious to this, the angel experimentally reached out his own paw- only for it to phase through the glass, just as the pillow had.
Darius sighed, then turned to look back at Akeidat. Did he blame them? What on Earth was he thinking about?
“Ah-hah, sorry to bother ya’, K- Akeidat,” he corrected at the last moment, looking around the room, “You think you could find a… dustpan? And a broom, around?”
“...Do they even have brooms in 2042?” They heard their own voice whisper, hoarsely. Darius’ shrug was less than eloquent.
"Well, I guess it doesn't have to be a broom," he acquiesced, scratching his chin, "Maybe we could use an umbrella, or just a bin, or-"
"Y'know what, nevermind," he shook his head, "We'll clean it up later. Or maybe not at all; It's future you's problem. Literally. Maybe."
Akeidat groaned, "Could you please go away?"
"Right!" Darius raised his paws in surrender, "Yeah! Uh- I'm- just gonna- bye!"
With a snap of his fingers, the angel vanished in a flash of golden light.
And then there was one. Akeidat clutched the sheets of their now pillow-less bed, lying miserably.