When Sjon woke up, his first instinct was to immediately go back to sleep. His whole body felt exhausted, and he was not looking forward to the next day.

It had been two weeks since his first training session. He still hadn't made any progress, which only seemed to entertain Pilar.

He shuddered.

What was her problem? Over the past two weeks she had continually gotten much too close with him. She didn't remember anything about her previous life either, so they didn't have much to talk about. Except— she kept pushing him. She wanted to know the things he liked, his favorite foods, colors. All he wanted to do was move those stupid pieces of metal.

Whenever he tried to practice, she always talked to him. She'd sit on the table, her body unnecessarily close to his. Then she would ask him questions. Her hand would reach up to his head, and she'd run her fingers through his newly grown hair. It wasn't longer than a couple inches, but that didn't stop her.

"I want you to grow your hair out" She'd say to him. "Just imagine how attractive you'll look with your hair down to your chest," She'd claim.

He hated it. His hair should be short, and he didn't care if she thought he was attractive. She was constantly in his personal space. Clothes that were much too short were constantly adorning her body. They were like underwear in contrast to his wardrobe of high collared fashion.

Sjon knew what she was doing. Pilar was obviously into him... but, she wasn't his type. He liked a different sort of person. Not her kind.

He sighed and finally got up, ready to face another day training with her.

As he shuffled to the wardrobe, he picked a maroon vest with a high collar and a pair of pants, similar to jeans. Under the vest he wore a white long sleeved shirt, complete with fake buttons.

As he sat down in the simple training room, waiting for Pillar, Sjon played with his fingernails. His fingers were very short compared to Pilars, and even tinier when contrasted with Cyrus. Pilar explained to him that longer fingers were a result of evolution, one of the few changes made in the human race. They were selectively bred into existence, hoping to make using mobile devices easier.

While Sjon played with a hangnail, the door suddenly opened, revealing Cyrus.

"Where is Pilar?" the old man asked.

Sjon absentmindedly answered, "I dunno."

Cyrus left, the door closing behind him. After a few seconds, Sjon realized what had happened, and apparently so did Cyrus, and he came running through the door.

"Is it working? Can you understand what I'm saying?" yelled Cyrus, holding onto Sjon.

Sjon stared in disbelief. He could. It was strange. He recognized that Cyrus was speaking Kameng, but the words made sense to him. He nodded.

"Say something to me," Cyrus demanded.

"Well, what do you want me to say?" asked Sjon.

Cyrus gasped. "It's working! Finally!" he exclaimed. "It took much longer than it did with Pilar," he grumbled.

Sjon looked confused. "How can I understand you... and how can you understand me?" asked Sjon, obviously very perplexed.

Cyrus looked grateful to explain. "It's a makiàn," he said, one word not getting through to Sjon, "I placed it in your serèbrro, after the shori" he babbled on, some words not making sense. "It accelerates the learning of a new language, how's it doing?"

Sjon was a little stunned. "I think it's working... some words aren't clear to me though," he confessed.

"You will learn them over time," Cyrus stated, "In the meantime, how does it feel to speak Kameng?" he inquired.

"I'm speaking Kameng...?" he trailed off, realizing the strange words coming out of his mouth. "Cool," he chuckled.

Cyrus smiled at him for a second, and then frowned at the still pieces of metal adorning the table. "Are you having trouble?" he asked softly.

Sjon smiled and nodded. The old man shuffled over to the table and sat down across from him.

"That Pilar isn't much help with this, is she?" he asked, while Sjon shook his head. Cyrus winced. "She can't help it, she's a naturally quick learner," he explained.

Sjon smiled weakly, and nodded. He looked up at Cyrus, realizing that they'd never had any direct interaction before, yet he was the one to bring him back to life.

"Do you think... you could help me?" Sjon inquired tentatively.

Cyrus smiled and nodded. "I don't have magic myself, but I've heard that it has a lot to do with your will," he spoke, holding a piece of metal in his hands. "If you believe that the object will move, then it will," he continued, "but if you have no belief, then nothing will happen," he finished, holding out the piece of metal to Sjon.

Sjon grasped onto the metal, and thought of Cyrus' advice. Believe, he thought. He closed his eyes, and imagined the rock floating out of his hand. He thought of how Cyrus would react, probably proud. The feeling of the rock would be absent from his hand. Sjon thought of all these small ideas, and imagined them until it was as if they were true. The weight of the metal lifted from his hand, and he heard a small gasp from Cyrus. When he opened his eyes, the piece of metal was floating right in front of his eyes. Although it immediately fell, he jumped up and yelled in victory.

Cyrus smiled and stood up, patting him on the back. "It'll only get easier from here," he smiled, and left the room to let Sjon practice.

Sjon sat alone for hours, but hardly felt the time pass. He could lift the shard of metal just past his head, and move it side to side. He attempted to pick up two pieces at once, but could only focus on one. Magic was very difficult. He had to know exactly how the object would move, otherwise it wasn't believable, and the piece of metal would fall to the table. He assumed that with more practice, he'd have more faith in his abilities, and it would become easier to him to control.

After a while, Pilar came in, excited about the news. "I can't believe it!" she exclaimed, hugging him until he was about to burst. "I was starting to think the results were a fluke," she laughed, letting go of him.

Sjon smiled at her, but felt very uncomfortable with how close she was to him. It seemed like at every opportunity she would get closer to him when it was completely unnecessary. He looked up at her as she pointed to the table.

"Do it again," she whispered, leaning over him.

He shut his eyes, and imagined the piece of metal floating up into the air. Pilar kept distracting him, but he had been practicing. He opened his eyes, and the metal was about halfway up to his eyes.

"Fantastic!" Pilar exclaimed as she applauded him. "Maybe I should give you some sort of reward?" she smirked at him.

Sjon quickly sat up from his seat, getting out from under her, and hurried to the opposite wall. "I'm fine, thanks though," he muttered.

Pilar walked over to him slowly. "What's wrong?" she questioned, keeping her distance.

Sjon looked up at her from the floor, and bit his lip. He didn't know how to put this nicely. "Pilar it's just— you've been getting really close to me lately... I mean physically, and I don't know how to feel about it," he blurted out, nervous.

"Sjon, are you oblivious?" she sighed. "I'm into you, I didn't think it was that hard to tell," she stated, exasperated.

He blinked, staring at the ginger woman. She was so outright, and forthcoming. It was kind of refreshing. "I don't know how to say this," he paused, wondering how she was going to take the next part. He took a deep breath. "Pilar, I'm gay," he stated.

This time it was Pilar's turn to be surprised. "Oh," she murmured. She turned away from him.

Sjon was worried. After two billion years, he'd kind of assumed people weren't as homophobic, but he could be wrong. He leaned against the wall, feeling fairly anxious.

Pilar finally turned around to look at him. "Sjon," she stated curtly, "I'm going to my room. Give me some time," she spoke, and with that she nearly ran out of the room.

Sjon groaned and walked out of the room, only to see Cyrus in the living room, reading from some sort of tablet. He walked into the area and sat down on another couch. Cyrus looked up, and upon seeing Sjon's face, immediately put away his device.

"What's wrong?" asked Cyrus, concerned. "Is everything alright with the magic?" he inquired.

"Yes, that's fine, it's something else," answered the dark skinned boy. "Um... Are people still homophobic here?"

"Ho-mo-fo-bik?" sounded out Cyrus, confused. He grabbed his tablet out and began typing, then the look of realization came onto his face. "Homotañ...You're gay?" he asked.

"Yeah..." mutter Sjon, worried that Cyrus would react the same was as Pilar did.

The old man laughed. "Sjon, it's ok. We aren't homophobic. Pilar grew up around 200 years after you, remember? During that time there was an upsurge in homophobia. I saw her storm upstairs; she's probably just trying to process it. It's hard for her," he explained. "And hey—don't worry, she's been through it before. I'm Pansexual," the old man smiled nervously.

Sjon looked at him in a new light. "Pansexual... that's where you like every gender, right?" he asked.

Cyrus nodded.

Sjon smiled. "Well, I'm glad that it's fine here, that makes me feel a lot better," he grinned. He thanked Cyrus, and walked back to the training room. Things were looking up. Now maybe, he could learn some practical uses for his magic.

imes New Rom?V?T6