thoth
we spend all our time running for our lives, going nowhere

In the past few hours, Thoth had been through a lot. He’d been reunited with his sister for the first time since becoming an outlaw, had gleaned an insight into Cypress’s horrific working conditions, set fire to a god’s office, travelled to Earth for the first time, seen his mother’s house, been unexpectedly kidnapped via hop loop, and flooded the Auran Church’s headquarters.

Experiencing his first kiss by total accident really took the cake, though.

Thoth had long since given up hoping anyone might reciprocate romantic feelings. He hadn’t even really thought about kissing anyone for over a year. If he had, he certainly wouldn’t have imagined it happening by being tripped on and having someone else’s lips inadvertently connect with his.

It happened so quickly that he didn’t have much of an opportunity to react at first. There was a brief moment of silence after he threw water over everyone, possibly as they adjusted to the surprise, before Danny burst out laughing. Thoth just had time to throw him an odd look (this really didn’t seem like the time for mirth) before Cypress burst into tears just as suddenly and ran towards him. Maybe she slipped on the water, or tripped on some debris… it was unclear. The next thing he knew, her lips were pressed against his and he was staring into her wide, hazel eyes. Time seemed to stand still for a second. Thoth had never really had the opportunity to look closely at Cypress’s eyes before: they began as a medium brown close to the pupil, lightening to a more golden-brown, then light green, and finally finished with a ring of dark green around the outer edge of the iris. The smooth transition was partly broken by bold streaks of colour.

She broke away and backed off, stammering an apology with flushed cheeks. Thoth stood frozen, uncertain how to respond, feeling a little heat in his own cheeks. While Cypress cuddled up to his side, taking hold of the hem of his shirt, Thoth wrapped one arm around her waist in what he hoped was a reassuring way, being sure to keep the other free in case he needed to start fighting again. Emilia was watching them both with an expression Thoth couldn’t place but didn’t like. He glanced sideways at Danny as if checking for confirmation that something wasn’t quite right.

“Well.” Emilia smiled. “Shall we?”

She turned and led the way back down the corridor. Thoth glanced at Danny again, then back at the agents still hovering in the room with a more calculating expression. Cypress’s accident had at least had the impact of cooling his temper; with a clearer mind, it was rapidly becoming apparent how little freedom he had in this situation. Only moments before, Thoth could have thrown boiling water at anyone in this dratted building and hang the consequences, since nothing good could come of this situation anyway. Now, it wasn’t just him at risk, it was his friends too. The Auran Church wouldn’t hurt Thoth, but it probably wouldn’t have any qualms about hurting Danny or Cypress. After only a brief hesitation, he released Cy and sloped after Emilia at a deliberately slower pace, shoving his hands deep into his pockets.

Emilia led them outside onto a smart decking where several trays of triangular-cut sandwiches and dainty teacakes had been carefully arranged onto a circular, glass-topped table. Four chairs were arranged around it; she indicated for them to sit and took the fourth for herself, before reaching over to pour them all tea. The ridiculousness of the situation was exacerbated by the fact that they were all still soaking. A trickle of blood had run through Cypress’s medium brown hair and Thoth was sporting a gash across one cheek. The left sleeve of his shirt had been torn off too; blisters were starting to form on the lower part of the arm. Maintaining his silence, Thoth threw himself down on one of the chairs, stuck his elbow on the table and his chin in his hand, and drummed lightly at the table with his free hand.

“Help yourselves,” Emilia invited them. “I imagine a square meal is difficult to come across when you’re on the run from the law.”

Thoth ignored her, staring through the glass table at the wooden decking below.

“I understand that you like science?” She enquired. When he continued ignoring her, she carried on talking. “I was something of a scientist myself, back in the day. A chemist. I helped to develop plastics.” There was a brief silence while she gave Thoth the opportunity to express an interest in her work, which he didn’t. “Do you prefer medical science?”

“Cut it out.” Thoth growled. Emilia raised an eyebrow.

“Cut what out?” She asked politely, taking another sip of tea. Thoth shot her a filthy look.

“In 1987,” he muttered, continuing to drum on the table, “Bicart confirmed, through his infamous study, that even weak hypnosis can have a much more powerful effect on the subject if the subject has developed a bond with the psychic first. Participants in Bicart’s study who completed trust-building exercises with the psychic were significantly more susceptible to hypnotic suggestion than the control group. In his principles of psychic magic, Bicart highlights the relationship between the subject and the psychic as being of paramount importance to hypnotic suggestion.”

There was silence for a moment as Emilia stared at him, her eyebrows knitting together slightly. After a moment she stood and went back into the house. Thoth glanced at Danny and Cypress questioningly, but Emilia returned after only a second or so, a book in her hand. She flipped through it briefly, settling on a page.

“In 1987,” she read, “Bicart confirmed, through his infamous study, that even weak hypnosis can have a much more powerful effect on the subject…” Quirking an eyebrow, she turned the book around to show the three teenagers the front cover and then the bookmarked page which had a transcription of Thoth’s lecture written into it, word for word. Emilia was watching him with another expression he didn’t like. “You’ve read this book before? When?”

Thoth folded his arms and slumped back in the chair. “I researched hypnosis when your stupid Church first started trying to use it on me.” He muttered defensively.

“That was five years ago.” Emilia mused quietly, her eyebrows creeping a little higher. “You can recall, word for word, a passage from a book which you read once five years ago?”

Thoth didn’t answer, but he could feel the heat rising on his cheeks again. Emilia returned to her seat, gently setting the book down on the table. She studied Thoth for a moment before turning her attention to Danny and Cypress.

“Why don’t you two tell me about yourselves?” She asked, reaching for her cup of tea again. “I’m sure you must be very special young people too.”