If he had been larger, Aspen would have been more defensive. As it stood, she was simply annoyed. A fly. A gnat. Small, insignificant, and more than slightly annoying. A tiny man… a boy? Was this a child? Certainly, he could not be. No, this was different. This was much different, because he was fully formed. A midget? A little person? The creature didn’t want to be rude, but all the thoughts in her head said otherwise. No, she didn’t have anything nice to say, so she wouldn’t say nothing at all. She was better than that, but he was already annoying. Aspen fights it down.

He speaks, and she keeps her hackles down. It’s small talk. It’s trivial. She doesn’t like trivial, she doesn’t like things that are… boring. Frankly, she’s bored already. Aspen needs constant things. Constant motion. Constant engagement. Constant, ever changing, ever shifting lifetime. It’s fantastic. She loves that part of her life, she loves being high on life. That’s all.

“Why are you following me?” Ignoring what he’s already said, her question is frank. She pulls to circle the creature, barely slowing. Her movements are tight, polished, perfect. Aspen leaves no room for error. She’s a perfectionist, she’s a creature that needs to give one hundred percent, all the time. All the way, all the time, and she needs… she needs to put it all on the line. All the time. Aspen needs to know the motivation of this small man, of this undersized creature.

Right. No one ever taught her how to make friends.