Again, Hector wasn’t sure what to say, so he just said, “O-okay. Uh. Good.”
<“You’re being careful, too, aren’t you?”> said Lynn. <“Maybe I’m not the best person to give a lecture on not taking risks, but... um...”>
Hector felt like he was supposed to say something here, but jack shit came to mind, and he looked to Garovel another time.
‘Tell her you’re being careful, you idiot.’
‘But I’m not really--’
‘SHUT UP AND LIE TO HER. DO IT NOW.’
“Uh--y-yeah,” Hector blurted, “I’m being cautious. I mean, I have to protect Garovel ‘n all, so...”
<“...Right.”>
He couldn’t tell if that meant she’d bought it or not. After a few more moments of unbearable silence, however, he decided to try and end this before he said some other stupid thing. “Well, uh... I should probably go now...”
<“Ah--alright. Talk to you later, then.”>
“Bye. Uh. Good to--er. Bye.” His expression twisted as he hung up. He took a deep breath and shook his head.
‘Hector.’ Garovel’s voice was perfectly flat. ‘What in the holiest of fucks was all that about?’
‘I don’t know... I always fuck things up. Agh...’
‘Hmm. You don’t even realize it, do you?’
He sighed. ‘Realize what?’
‘How WELL you just did. I mean. For you. That was pretty incredible.’
‘What? Garovel, I’m really not in the mood to be made fun of right now...’
Garovel just stared at him.
And Hector didn’t understand the reaper’s abrupt silence, but he was grateful for it, nonetheless. He sifted through his phone for Madame Carthrace’s number, and his feet wandered closer to the edge of the small ridge, allowing a better view of the road directly below. It wasn’t a long drop, and he noticed a few people with familiar faces standing at the base. One of those faces belonged to Ibai Blackburn.
As luck would have it, the aberration happened to be looking up at that same moment and so noticed Hector immediately. A swirl of brown shadow later, Ibai was standing right there next to him.
Hector decided to pocket his phone and call Amelia later.
Ibai was smiling, of course. “Hello again,” he said as his four bodyguards bounded up from behind him. They landed with one quick thud after another, but he paid them no mind. “Ah, is this your reaper? We were never properly introduced. I’m Ibai.”
‘Charmed,’ said Garovel.
A dark serial novel. Set in a modern fantasy world called Eleg. Mature language. Updates every night at midnight PST by ~400 words.
One of those faces belonged [to] Ibai Blackburn.
ReplyDeleteHow is 'Ibai' pronounced? I've been saying 'ebay', but I don't think that's right.
ReplyDeleteYou can pronounce it however you like, of course, but for me, it's EE-bye or IH-bye.
ReplyDeleteGot it, thanks.
ReplyDelete"A swirl of brown shadow later, Ibai was standing right there next to him" (missing period)
ReplyDeleteLMFAO so it's not what if the fuck..... it's what in the HOLIEST OF FUCKS!!!! my sides.... they huuuuurt.....
ReplyDeleteFixed, thank you.
ReplyDeleteLooks like Hector got an emergence... when it comes to speech!!
ReplyDeleteIbai is funny, and Garovel who says "charmed" to an abberation XD!!
My child grows so fast. He even said cute thing to girl sniff. Even abberation wants to be his friend. I mean it is kinda strange and rare right.
ReplyDeleteYou know these leaps came a little soon. Poor Papa was reduced to stunned silence as he tried to pretend he wasn't reaching for the tissues. ;)
ReplyDeleteRelevant question: how well-calibrated is Ibai's sarcasm detector, anyway? *glances in Garovel's general direction for some reason*
ReplyDeleteYeah I've been saying it as IH-bye
ReplyDeleteIt's set to "give no shits, because you can be a dick, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna be".
ReplyDeleteDoes Hector know that Ibai feeds on animal souls? I wish he did so he could pass that info on to Lynn. Due to the nature of aberrations, Lynn would have the highest growth speed among Hector's allies (at least from the first arcs). Just imagine Lynn being given any animal that was going to be killed for a feast. Lol she'd be OP in no time. On top of that, she might even be able to cook the animals lmao
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of names, how do you pronounce Desmond's last name? Gran-TEER or Gran-tee-AY?
ReplyDeleteFor me it's EE-bye.
ReplyDeleteGran-TEER is what I use.
ReplyDeleteIt would be kinda hard for Garovel to reach tissues. Remember when he was reading a book. Every minute turn a page please.
ReplyDeletefor me it was "Shut up and lie to her" that did it.
ReplyDeleteWell recall how many souls it took Geoffry to get to a point where he still got thrashed by a months-old servant who didn't even have enhancements at the time. Also, that animal souls are far less powerful than human. Still though, it would be a way to grow without evil, and you are right that the cooking would be nice.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Garovel might actually be nice to Ibai. I mean, he is probably a bit more pragmatic about the issue given that it wasn't his friends who were murdered by the last one they met, and he's funny. It would probably be good to have Garovel give an apology for Hector's treatment of him, given that it was at least kind of unfair.
ReplyDeleteOf course, that particular aberration does want to be everybody's friend to an almost golden retriever puppy degree, but yeah.
ReplyDeleteMe too! I don't even know why, but I'm too busy laughing to care!
ReplyDelete