[human]

[nerdeology]

sorey is human.

there are countless differences between seraphim and humans

when we were still small, when we noticed it

"sorey's tummy keeps making noises."
"gramps, gramps, mikleo made water appear!"
"huh? i'm not tired yet."

we were taught that the world was split

{us} and {them}
{seraphim} and {human}

we struggled with it because "us" had always meant
{you and me}

"if you kids ever see a hellion, you run like hell!"
"if you kids ever see a human, don't get involved."

{their kind}

sorey is human.

{his kind}

it was easy to forget this
because he was nothing like the {them} we were warned about

"malevolent"

"selfish"

"nothing but trouble"

"disaster and ruin"

sorey is human.

he is none of these things.

he's always smiling
and he never protests
but he hears it, and he knows what it means.

"you're different from them"

he's still one of {them}
and not {us}

i was taught how to live in the human world, but not sorey
so i could support him
but also, maybe
so he wouldn't hear about {them} and think {us}

i didn't mind.
i didn't want his definition of {us} to change.

there are countless differences between seraphim and humans
when we were still small, when we noticed it

"sorey, do you know your true name?"
"huh? my what?"
"mikleo, a seraph's true name is their heart. it is the very core of what we are. do not ask for it. do not share it. to do so is to carve a piece of yourself loose and give it away."

i knew what he meant.

"don't even tell sorey"

what a stupid rule.
sorey is human.
he doesn't have a true name.
that's why

"luzrov rulay"

i gave him mine.

it's not just {me}
it's {us}
it's always been us.