"I'll let you draw your own conclusions there," Ishmael allowed, quite certain she had already drawn up her lines and would be sticking to them, no matter what he said or she saw here or around the city tonight. No, he was not a part enough, in her eyes, however much he felt it.
But he was a part of some human lives enough, surely, Ishmael thought to himself, and started slightly when he caught himself thinking of just one, in particular. He had thought himself a little smug about it, integrating himself into his little gang of thieves, to some human's life, but - was it really something to be jubilant about? However much he liked Monty, it... well, it couldn't last. Nothing before it had.
And Galina would not, he predicted, understand that feeling.
"But I fancy we're a bit better at understanding them than they are us, at any rate," Ishmael added sagely, a little late to speak up again but trying to inject a little lightness into himself again, pretend this was just something else to laugh about. The both of them, see, had been human once. It was easy to forget what it had been like, as time went on - but it was still, undoubtedly, a damn sight easier for either of them than it was for a human to imagine what it would be like, this life.
(However close he fooled himself into thinking he was with Monty -
There was always that divide.)
"Do you ever miss it?" Ishmael asked abruptly. "Being human?"
But he was a part of some human lives enough, surely, Ishmael thought to himself, and started slightly when he caught himself thinking of just one, in particular. He had thought himself a little smug about it, integrating himself into his little gang of thieves, to some human's life, but - was it really something to be jubilant about? However much he liked Monty, it... well, it couldn't last. Nothing before it had.
And Galina would not, he predicted, understand that feeling.
"But I fancy we're a bit better at understanding them than they are us, at any rate," Ishmael added sagely, a little late to speak up again but trying to inject a little lightness into himself again, pretend this was just something else to laugh about. The both of them, see, had been human once. It was easy to forget what it had been like, as time went on - but it was still, undoubtedly, a damn sight easier for either of them than it was for a human to imagine what it would be like, this life.
(However close he fooled himself into thinking he was with Monty -
There was always that divide.)
"Do you ever miss it?" Ishmael asked abruptly. "Being human?"
