All "night" long Nannoc tossed and turned, debating every option he had. Nights and Days were exactly twelve hours long for the People. Night began when the torches that lit the tunnels were extinguished, Days began when they were relit, and neither was necessarily correlated to how time ran Outside. Twelve hours is a long time to toss and turn. By the time the first torches were being lit and everyone was getting up, he had made up his mind. There was no other way he could get the answers he needed; he had to go talk to Lily. He definitely wasn't looking forward to this.
"Hey, Nannoc, you're being really slow today." Aaron was one of Nannoc's roommates, as well as the second oldest Child.
"Is that a problem?"
Aaron grinned, "Not to me. The more you mess up, the more likely I'll be named the next Cutter. So go ahead, screw up all you want." Nannoc closed his eyes. Just the thought of the Initiation Ceremony was making him sick. All this new information and these damned questions!
Nannoc opened his eyes again and watched his other roommates, the three next oldest Children, getting ready with a fervor, excitedly jabbering about the Cutting, laughing at Aaron's comments to Nannoc. Three days ago, he would have been doing the same. There would have been no hesitation in what he was doing. There would not have even been the slightest doubt in his mind. There would have been no way he would do what he was going to. It's interesting, he thought, how much someone can be changed in so little time.
He was the last one to leave the shared room and the last to finish his morning chores. Aaron was right. The more Nannoc messed up, the more likely Aaron would be chosen. He almost wished he could just leave the whole thing to Aaron, but then he knew that Elliott would never so much as look at him again. In a place that discouraged companionship in all forms, Nannoc wanted as many friends, or at least allies, as he could get.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Lily woke up to someone shaking her back and forth. "Wake up! I need to talk to you." It sounded like her boy-captor. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. As her vision cleared, she saw that it was indeed her captor. "Good, you're awake now."
"What do you want now? And what happened to not being allowed to talk to me?"
"No one comes down here. They'll never know. And I have some questions for you." This was suspicious. After all that fuss of not being allowed, he suddenly decided to have a chat? What was he up to now?
"What makes you think I'm just going to answer your questions when you haven't answered any of mine?"
"Actually, I did answer several of your questions. You just want to obligate me in to something." Damn. He figured that out quickly.
"Well, fine. I'll answer your questions on one condition."
"What's your condition?" He squirmed impatiently. Whatever he wanted to ask her was certainly bothering him quite a bit.
"That you tell me your name and let me see your face." Ha. She grinned triumphantly. This would prove how much he really wanted to talk. Lily watched as he reached his hands up to his hood, probably to pull it farther over his face.
To her complete and utter surprise, he pulled his hood down. She felt her jaw drop. He showed his face?! Was he serious? Did her really just want to ask her questions? If so, what in the world did he need to ask her?
"It's not polite to stare." She shook her head.
"Yeah, sorry. You just surprised me." His deep blue eyes watched her intensely, studying her? His face was oval shaped and his dark hair was cut extremely short. Actually, he was kind of cute. "That's one part. Your name?"
"Nannoc." His voice had lost all the authority it had had the previous times he had spoken to her. He seemed much more a teenage boy than her mysterious captor. By her eyes, he was probably 17, maybe 16.
"I like that name." His eyes shifted back and forth, as if he still wasn't quite comfortable with doing what he was doing.
"I fulfilled your condition. Now it's your turn to answer my questions."
"Of course. What do you want to know?"
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