Deflecting

“You’ll just say anything to avoid actually flirting with me, won’t you?”

John blinked and slowly opened and then closed his mouth again. His brow furrowed as he and Otrov stared at one another. He took his time trying to actually register what it was that she had just said, but when he did eventually decide that he had in fact heard her correctly… it still didn’t make much sense to him.

“What?” he asked, and Otrov scoffed.

“You heard me.”

“I-I don’t want to flirt with you. I’m-I’m trying to-” he stammered, and then stopped when the rogue outright laughed at his response. Her giggling was almost sweet. It was melodic in a strangely familiar way, but in a way he found that he didn’t like. His first instinct upon hearing her laugh was to glare at the rogue and let out a silent huff.

For some reason, when she was relaxed she had the exact same laugh as Vanessa. It wasn’t like she was actually laughing at something funny or strange, and more like she was laughing at him or just to taunt him. Only… Vanessa said the stuff that she thought would cause the most pain. When Otrov actually taunted him, she made a statement based on the things she had seen happen to or around John over the past two weeks. In some ways, that was worse. When Vanessa did it, he was at least used to the things she did.

“Uggh. Don’t deny it. That’s boring... and weak. If you want something, then at least be upfront about it,” Otrov lectured, and John grimaced. Somehow, he had found another person to belittle him verbally. “Weakness isn’t going to help you.” He supposed she sounded kind of like an Orc, constantly preaching about strength and the way things must be done. At least in that regard, he could fall back into thinking like he was in the tribe again. If she respected strength, he could show her strength. He was learning a lot from Urga in that regard…

...then she sounded worse than the Orcs. “Weakness is what causes your friends to keep dying around you...”

He didn’t hear what she said next. The grimace on John’s face vanished beneath the burning anger that overtook his features, and as she continued to rattle off more and more remarks about John’s strength, that anger gradually hardened into a heavy glare. The hand he had let fall from her arm balled up into a fist at his side unconsciously as Otrov’s final statement on his weakness died off. It took a moment for John to finally **** himself to calm down before he struck at her and lost his soul. Thankfully, reining himself back in required all of his concentration. If he had been listening to Otrov and the last comment she aimed at Grace, he might have ended up even angrier.

In the state he was already in, though, he found himself mad enough to bite back with a remark of his own.

“I don’t know what your problem is, bitch, but if I decide that I have something I want to say to you, I’m not going to be too weak to say it,” he growled, and Otrov blinked for a second… and then scoffed at him again. He tensed when she made it clear that the conversation wasn’t going to end there, but didn’t try to do anything to stop her from saying her piece.

“Sorry, I know I’m the type to push buttons, but if we’re taking a moment to get real with each other, then you’re wrong.” John opened his mouth to speak, but Otrov held up a hand to stop him from interrupting her. “I’m not some random stranger making an uneducated guess about the personality of another ‘random stranger.’ I did my research on you too, John Newman. You’re a nerd, and not even a good one. You’re not a nerd who has invented anything or had some kind of crowning achievement. You’re the nerd who plays video games in his room all day and relies on daddy’s money to get by in life. Before you got your powers, the only thing you were was the local punching bag. You’re not brave. You’re not strong. You don’t even have the cojones to go visit dear old Gracie in the hospital after you got her shot! You can act tough, but the reality is that you couldn’t even bring yourself to do that until we got a few blocks closer to the hiding place you claimed for yourself balls deep in your slut-mom. Though, honestly? You probably won’t even get to keep that up for long because you’re too scared and weak to talk about it!” John blinked.

What did she just say?

The surprise must have been evident on his face because Otrov addressed it immediately.

“Oh, shake it off, nerd. I’ve seen a hell of a lot of surprising things in the Abyss. A mom with a mage-dick addiction so bad she dodges daddy’s phone calls just so she can keep screwing her son doesn’t even break the top one hundred!” Despite the fact that John had called her a bitch a moment ago, Otrov’s taunting mood didn’t even falter. She simply giggled at him, especially when he winced at the sound of her loud voice. Anyone could have heard her!

“Jesus Christ…” she swore and shook her head. “Get over it, Newman. No one cares! Look!” she exclaimed, and John’s blood ran cold as the illusionist stepped away again, into a nearby backyard, and directed his attention to a table a couple dozen feet away. It was occupied by a pair of elderly men and a plethora of breakfast options that they were digging into. The sounds of clinking glass filled his ears as he watched them pour cups of orange juice into short, clear cups and tear into strips of bacon and sausage respectively. His stomach let out a series of small rumbling noises at the sight, reminding him of the fact that he hadn’t eaten in a while since he had given all of his focus to fighting Dornwich for…

Hell, he still wasn’t sure how long he had been in the kingdom for. He had stayed long enough to experience one ambush, a meeting with the army of another kingdom, and the siege of a second, but time passed differently in barriers. He didn’t get the chance to try and consider how long it had been either. As soon as his thoughts began to go off track, Otrov yanked him back on course by walking away again, only this time she wasn’t leaving. Instead, the rogue slipped beneath an archway of trees and strolled right up to the elderly pair to interrupt their breakfast. Both men jumped up and cried out in alarm as John tried to follow after her, but he couldn’t exactly tackle her to the ground anymore to stop her from doing what she wanted. Fighting with her would be a breach of contract.

“They’re normies, Newman! If they don’t like the fact that mommy dearest is your brand new fucktoy, just smite them a little bit!” she snickered, and a shiver ran up John’s spine at the idea of it. She didn’t even bat an eye over the fact that she was talking about this right in front of the two men. She spoke about hurting them like it was nothing. “Remember to cover up your tracks, though, and take them to a barrier beforehand so you don’t have to worry about any kind of consequences.” She paused for a second to stick out her tongue mockingly, rolled her eyes, and said, “Gaia,” as if they had suddenly begun to talk about something ridiculous.

It was only after he opened his mouth to start yelling at her that he had realized that the outline of his hands were covered in a strange layer of light. It was hard to see, especially after they stepped out of the alleyway and into the brightly lit backyard, but once he spent a couple of seconds searching, he realized that both he and Otrov had that exact same glow around them.

“They didn’t hear any of that, did they?” he asked, and Otrov giggled. “Can they even see us?” Again, she giggled and then shook her head.

“No, but the lesson still holds. You’re not a normal person anymore, Newman. You’re a mage. A warlock, in the eyes of the Order. You don’t have to follow normal rules anymore. Once mommy-dearest figures that out, too, you really think she isn’t going to hold it against you? The only reason she doesn’t get to hold hands with you and go on dates now is because you are too scared of what other people might think if you take her out,” she lectured, and John’s brow furrowed.

“Dates? Flirting? What the fuck are you talking about? I was just trying to apologize to you!” he snapped, and Otrov shook her head.

“No, you were trying to repair something.” she corrected him, and his glare hardened. “Some kind of relationship that you imagined to have had with me.”

“Yeah, that’s a pretty normal thing to do!” Otrov didn’t wait for him to finish barking at her. She simply stepped up to him and shoved him back against one of the nearby trees.

“You are not normal! Nothing you do will ever be normal again!” she shot back. “I’m not your friend or your acquaintance! I’m not even your coworker! I am a mage and so are you! Act like one! If you want something…” She paused as John began to slowly push her hands off his torso, and then stepped forward before he could completely slip away.

“... then just take it,” she said and then, without batting an eye, she kissed him.