JP - Getting to know Lola

“Not very talkative, huh?” Caneclone asked, putting the almond milk back in the fridge.

Lola opened her mouth and tried to speak, but nothing came out.

“She’s mute!” Fang called.

“Oh.” Caneclone blinked. “Well, you seem like a really nice girl.”

Lola nodded, the best way she could say thank you to him.

Fang got up and leaned into the room. “I’m gonna shower. You good?” He asked.

Nodding, Lola watched him head down the hall and looked at Caneclone.

“You can write?” Caneclone asked Lola.

Lola nodded and pulled out a notepad and pen.

“Great.” Caneclone smiled and gave thumbs up. “Anything you want to say?”

Lola shrugged and sipped her milk before writing. ‘It would work better if you asked a question or something.’

“Okay… what can you tell me about yourself?” Caneclone asked.

Lola had to think for a moment. ‘I’m a meta.’ She shook her head and scratched that out because it was obvious with her ram horns. ‘My name is Lola. Wait, you probably already heard that from Fang and Abe. I guess I just like to help people? I don’t know.’

“That’s nice.” Caneclone said. “How do you help people?”

‘We mostly help metas keep away from MegaCorp.’ She replied.

“That sounds great.” Caneclone said. “I don’t ever want to be in MegaCorp again.”

Lola nodded in agreement and drank the rest of her milk before writing. ‘What do you like to do?’

“I don’t know yet… I’m getting used to being free.” Caneclone said.

‘You’ll figure it out. Give it time.’ Lola wrote and gave him a small smile.

Caneclone smiled back. “I think you’re right.”

Lola nodded, suddenly feeling awkward and just sat there.

“Free people have hobbies, right? Do you have any hobbies?” Caneclone asked.

‘I like watching movies with Fang and reading books sometimes.’ Lola shrugged. ‘Stuff that keeps my mind busy, I guess.’

“That sounds like fun.” Canceclone said. “What kinds of movies and books?”

‘All kinds,’ Lola wrote. “I often try to give everything a chance.’

“Do you have any recommendations?” Caneclone asked.

Lola thought for a moment and wrote down a small list of books and their authors. Taking that piece of paper out of the little notebook, he slid it over to him.

Caneclone looked at the list and smiled at her. “Thank you. I wonder if I can get to a bookstore or a library…”

‘You can ask Abe when he gets back.’ Lola wrote and got up to clean her glass.

“Ok.” Caneclone said. He went into the living room to see what was on TV.

Fang looked at Caneclone as he walked in. “Yeah, there’s nothing on the TV…just dumb commercials today…and the news.” He was drying his hair with a towel, already dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

“Oh… I’m not used to having a TV.” Caneclone said.

“It’s nothing all that exciting, but if you like it, you’re welcome to watch it.” Fang shrugged and gestured to the remote.

Caneclone picked up the remote. He was clumsy with it but eventually had the TV on Animal Planet and some show about dogs. He smiled simply.

Fang would go to the kitchen and sit with Lola, both of them keeping an eye on Caneclone while they waited for Abe to return…

Caneclone was not very interesting to watch. All he did for hours was watch dogs on Animal Planet, occasionally making comments like “We don’t deserve dogs” and “They’re angels with fur instead of wings!”.

Fang just played around on his laptop, mostly enjoying video games while Lola took notes on Caneclone’s behavior.

“I love dogs.” Caneclone said happily to Lola and Fang during a commercial break.

“We noticed,” Fang said with a chuckle. “They are awesome animals. I just hate it when they get that nasty thing called rabies…that’s some scary shit.”

“Yeah… It’s terrible.” Caneclone said, frowning.

Fang nodded and looked at the time. “It’s getting late. We should probably get some sleep…” He said.

“Okay.” Caneclone said agreeably.

“Did Abe show you a room to sleep in?” Fang inquired.

“Yeah, it’s nice. Very clean.” Caneclone said.

“Cool,” Fang said. “Get some good sleep then, bud.” He headed for one of the bedrooms.