The girl seemed very excited to talk to them and Chéri touched the side of their head, smiling wide than they would otherwise have, almost giggling, one could have said “I am French and I have been here… some months. I do think quite a few people in town know me…” no mention of their family. It was better that way. Her brother didn’t want her to speak to them anyway. Chéri leaned back, on their elbows, for a moment. They shook their head.

“You are curious. I like that. And you have a nice name,” they did not introduced themselves. It was something they preferred not doing, in general. “Why move here?” They asked directly, in general. Chéri turned to Emilios. That one, in particular, didn’t make much sense here. The lady might have been there for school or for the air, but the gentleman… maybe he had some interests. Money, probably.

“She is nice. Why apologise. You want to take hr away?” They knew they were being defiant and quite possibly the man wouldn’t like it, but Chéri did not see why they shouldn’t amuse themselves. Their mood had been rather erratic since moving here, but not as much as it had been before. So if the man gave them the time of the day, why not play with him?

As for his sister, she had the genuine sort of energy Chéri liked in a companion. It was encouraging, really. Heartwarming to have around. But it always felt as if it belonged to somebody younger and Chéri had never really learnt how to be an older sibling.