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It was cold. The kind of cold that would make her sick, if she was different. But she’s not, so the most it does is flush her cheeks a bright pink that drips down onto her neck and spreads across her nose. It was nice.
Forcing down her temperature, she stuck her arms out, holding them out from under the cover of an iced over roof. She stayed like that until her arms weighed down with blankets of white and she was forced to drop them, carefully wiping away the snow. Pity humans couldn't feel like this, they’d get too cold.
A flash of Confusion flashes across her vision as a door opens behind her, she pushes it aside, along with the smaller Excitement and Awe hanging off of it.
“What are you doing out here?”
Speaking of humans.
She turns to the voice, already having registered it as Ella. Jessica’s daughter. Her sister. The young girl was covered in a white coat, an old gift from her absent father that she had to grow into, along with pink earmuffs and a scarf. Those were from her, made to replicate her exact color. Smiling at the child, she pat the step beside her, waiting until Ella was sitting to open her mouth.
“I could ask you the same thing. A bit cold, even for you, don’t you think.” A small smile still on her face, she glanced at the little girl, her body still facing the mass of white covering the road. She caught the Confusion start to wither away, still tucked in the corner where she pushed it, as a noncommittal hum floated into the air.
“It’s not so cold.” The child’s voice hesitated, trying to convince herself of what she said. But it was cold, she knew that.
“Sure.” She hummed back playfully, as she spiked her temperature, keeping an eye on the young girl’s levels to make sure she wouldn't get too cold.
They stayed silent for a while, watching excess crystals float down from trees above them, it stopped snowing.
“She’s getting something for you, you know.”
The sudden voice was like a bell, shocking her from the white expanse around them.
“You’re part of us now. Part of our family, and we didn’t want you to feel left out.” The girl continued.
And she truly didn’t feel left out. This small tidbit of information was enough to snuff fires of doubt, that had been months in the making. Doubt that stemmed from being herself, from being different.
They knew that she was different. Once you spent time with her it was easy to see that her “coding” wasn't coding at all. Just an elegantly crafted hoax meant to fool others into thinking she was a machine. That her emotions weren’t emotions at all.
But they were, and this little girl with raven locks and flushed cheeks saw that. She saw and she cared and didn’t want her to feel alone.
She would have cried. And maybe she did later.
But that’s when she took notice of the missing Confusion, replaced with a small Discomfort. She gave the girl a smile as she stood up.
“Thank you.” She paused, searching through her head for the right words. “Everyone here means so much to me.”
Helping the girl up, she pushed her heating component slightly higher, holding the girl to her side as she leaned into her. “What do you say we go inside?” She asked, looking through the window at the people mingling inside. “Maybe some hot cocoa to help warm your hands.”
She tapped the girl on the nose, letting out a laugh as she recoiled.
Maybe she was right.
Pulling her legs onto the chair, she looked around the room. She looked at the people enjoying each other’s company and she smiled into her mug.
It’s not so cold.