Techie relaxes into the mattress, looking up from the pillow as if something she’d said drained the tension from his body. “Nao,” he whispers to her like it’s a secret, a smile in his voice. “In case you d-didn’t get the memo… I’M a big stupid loser.” He meant it, actually. Techie’s self-esteem lay so far underground that it could hit the planet’s core. And yet, though somewhat misguided, Nao was praising him.
If being a “big stupid loser” meant he hadn’t let this cruel world make him unfeeling or hardened… that was alright by Techie. “I’ve never b-been normal, and if ‘normal’ is treating oth-thers like garbage, I’d rather be weird.”
Something about this felt like a teaching moment, as though in some alternate universe he’d been her father and had the responsibility of guiding Nao through life. It was a pleasant idea. Heaven knows Techie hardly felt useful or needed. Maybe he was here, a little bit.
TechieHux 