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“I didn’t trust your acting skills,” Len says as he lets me pull him along. “You only know how to scowl, so I didn’t know if your scowling would be enough. I’m just disappointed it wasn’t Norn who opened that door. He knew better.”
“I bet he did,” I say as I urge him across the street and in the direction he’d pointed earlier. He’s quiet as we walk, and I don’t know what to say. This isn’t my expertise. Dealing with people and their emotions is one thing I’ve never claimed to be good at. Hell, Len has proven to me that I suck at it.
But I want to comfort him. Iwantto make him feel better. I… I don’t even care about the ache in my limbs, the pain in my side, the blood dried across my face. I just want him to feel better. I want to see that smile. I want to erase the absolute panic I witnessed coming from him in that room. The way his hands shook, the way his body felt. The gasps of breath like he wasdying.
I squeeze him tighter against me and he holds out a bloody knife. “You want a weapon?”
“Not in the slightest.”
“Oh. It works really well.”
“I saw.”
“Oh.” He hesitates before continuing, voice low. “I’m not as good of a person as you seem to think I am. I’m over here preaching about how you should be a better person and the funniest part is I’m a thousand times worse than you.”
“I don’t believe that in the slightest.”
“I killed your father.”
“That’s fine.”
“Is it?”
I shrug because I sure as fuck haven’t missed him. “One hundred percent. He was fucking dreadful.”
“I killed whoever Norn told me to.”
“I can’t imagine he was going out and finding sweet old ladies for you to kill.”
“Maybe he was.”
“I’d still consider you the best person I know,” I say.
“But I’m not.”
“Doesn’t matter what you think. The only thing that matters is what I think because I’m self-centered and believe the world revolves around me.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Well, it does, so if I say that you’re the best person I know then I guess you are.”
He’s quiet for a bit as I continue dragging him after me. “You don’t have to try to seduce me or pay me or whatever, I’m fully planning on killing Norn.”
“I’m not,” I say as I finally see his car. I turn to Len and grab both of his wrists. He’s still holding both weapons and staring at the ground. “Len, look at me.”
His eyes slowly drift up to mine and I find that there doesn’t seem to be much life in them. His entire face is expressionless so I give him a shake, hoping I can get him switched back. “Len, I’m a dick. I’ve been a dick my whole life and yet you come along and in a span of less than a week you make me face my own dickishness. So fine. Pretend you’re not kind or whatever you’re going on about, but then at least understand that you’re a damn wizard or magician or whatever to get me to change.”
“You must have wanted to change because it wasn’t that hard.”
“Wasn’t it?”
“It was a little hard.”
“See? Now come on.”
I take him over to the passenger door and stuff him inside. It’s not the easiest of endeavors but I get him in and come around to the driver’s side to get in myself. Then I start to drive.
Len pulls the rifle off his back but beyond that, he keeps the weapons in his hands like he’s prepared to kill the next thing that moves. I want to say something, but I’m not sure what, so we end up being silent the entire drive to the Menagerie.
