Later that evening, Mars opened the door to her apartment having completely forgotten that Devi was staying there. Or rather, she didn’t expect Devi to be there when she returned.

In her mortal form now, she sat in her windowed alcove, not having moved at all through the day. The siren stared at her with wide eyes,  and while she wasn’t a bird anymore, her expression reminded Mars of the small bird she rescued the evening prior.

“Oh–h, hey!” Mars nervously eyed the paper bag in her hands that contained her dinner, she felt guilty that she didn’t think of grabbing something for Devi. 

The portions at Erik’s were large, so Mars could share, part of her hesitation stemmed from the oddity that was Mars’ order. The meat used for the dish wasn’t off-putting itself, rather the part of the animal it involved. She never thought too much about it, since it was a cultural thing. 

“How are you feeling?” She set her stuff down on the coffee table in the middle of the living room, then approached, partially guarded. 

Devi was equally guarded, “I’m fine thank you.” She sat uncomfortably, in a position that Mars’ would call painful looking.

“Are you—? Um, you can come sit on the couch you know? Or I um, there’s a spare bedroom… my old roommate left his bed behind.” Mars blinked probably too many times and hoped the girl didn’t notice. 

She shook her head slowly, pressing her lips then adding, “I’m fine here thank you.”

Mars looked a little taken aback,  “On the window bench? Al–alright. Erm… are you hungry?” 

She turned into the kitchen and fumbled with the dishwasher she never used for its intended purpose and instead used as a dish rack. She pulled two plates out. 

“Don’t worry about me, really,” answered Devi from her spot. Her voice was calm and collected, unlike Mars at the moment. 

How could I not? She wondered incredulously, after all, she had watched the girl get hit by a truck. 

“Alright, uh well I’ll leave this here in case you change your mind. If you don’t like this, I have other food in the fridge, not a ton, but help yourself to anything in there.” 

No response, and now Mars felt too awkward to make eye contact again. Stepping back, she turned on her television and considered perhaps eating her dinner in her room. Although, she didn’t want Devi to think that Mars was avoiding her. If she warmed up to her, then maybe she would eat or open up about her possible injuries. Mars doubted that anyone could get hit by a truck and be ‘fine’. 

Upon finishing her dinner, she switched over to a video game to help her unwind. A thoughtless music game that always made her sleepy, there was something pleasing about the notes drifting down the screen. Even if the control mechanics of the game were outdated and bulky, and the controller looked like a toy guitar from another decade. Minding Devi, she kept the volume on the television lowered and strummed away to the beat. 

She played two songs and was about to call it good when she noticed Devi standing off to the side, her eyes glued to the television. She wasn’t scared or frightened, she was intrigued and likely not aware she had even stepped away from the alcove. 

Mars cleared her throat, “Do you—do you want to try it?” 

“What is it?”

“It’s a game, you tap the buttons to the beat of the music.”

“But that’s not a real instrument,” she said, scrunching up her nose and squinting at the guitar in Mars’ hands.

“It’s not, it’s just for fun.”

Devi almost looked offended by the thought. “How does it work?”

Mars tapped back into the song selection menu, then held the controller out for her to take.

She shuffled over, her eyes never leaving the controller. Her weird shuffling brought Mars’ attention to the fact that she was avoiding putting weight on her ankle.

“Wait—do you need help?” Without waiting for an answer, she stood up and helped her over to the couch. “Is that why you haven’t moved from that spot? I’m sorry I should have noticed.”

“I should have said something. I’ve never healed this slowly before... I guess it comes with being mortal.”

That statement made Mars curious. She called herself a ‘mortal’, while Mars had never known a mortal that could turn into a bird at will. She didn’t press in fear of undoing their small progress.

The woman’s attention was elsewhere anyway, Devi picked up the controller and fidgeted with the strumming toggle, “How do I play this?”

“Press the green one to start a new game,” Mars explained. “See the notes coming down the path? You want to hold the color down and strum when they get to the bottom.”

As her focus deepened on the television, Devi’s nose scrunched again. “The notes are all wrong, shouldn’t each button correspond to a different note?” She wasn’t struggling too badly, she had a sense of rhythm for sure. 

“Normally yes, if it were a real guitar… but it’s not.”

“Why is it turning red? It’s flashing. That’s bad isn’t it?” As she said that, the in-game audience began to boo and a fail message appeared on the screen.

“Oh, I should’ve turned that off,” she went to press the menu button. To her surprise, Devi swatted her hand away.

“No, no shortcuts. I’ll figure it out.” She glared at the television, a silent vow flashed across her face.

Mars’ eyebrow shot up amused, “Alright.”

She stuck around for a few more of Devi’s attempts until she found herself too tired to continue.

“I should go to bed… if you want to take the spare room I can bring you some blankets—”

“Sirens don’t need sleep, they meditate every other night.” Devi didn’t take her eyes off the screen while she said this.

Mars did not know what to say to that. She declared herself a mortal, and she declared herself a siren in the same conversation.

“Oh… well don’t over do it.” She made her way to the hall and glanced back at the woman on her couch. Her investment in the game was… endearing. 

Mars couldn’t associate the term with a siren, even if she was ‘mortal’ now. She shrugged and turned back in the direction of her room, “Good night.”

“Good night.”