Matthias stepped forward to offer his congratulations and then paused while staring at Darius.
That was no good. Hector knew exactly how little Darius wanted his identity as the son of Volithur to beco spread around. It was hard not to know when Darius explicitly described his frustrations that complete strangers would think they have so connection to him.
Hector moved past the stalled level eight owner of the building to clasp hands with Darius, whose expression of exultation had given way to grave concern when faced with the full attention of Matthias. “Congratulations, D! You made it!” Hector then waved to Matthias. “Hey, this is my good friend ‘D’ from the tournant on Tian. You t him in passing once, but I don’t think you were ever formally introduced.”
Matthias unfroze. “It’s a pleasure to et you, D. Sorry for my odd reaction. For a mont you looked like soone I used to know.”
Darius dipped his head. “No problem, Matthias. I like your building.”
Then Hector offered his hand to Mick. “Congratulations to you as well, Mick. You’re catching up to .”
Mick accepted the handshake, his smile growing wider. “If you say so, Hector. Everyone knows I’m just a hollow spear. It does feel good to advance, though.”
Hector then turned to introduce Matthias to Mick. The two already knew each other, but Matthias took the opportunity to offer congratulations. While that was happening, Darius managed to sneak away, offering a nod of thanks to Hector in parting.
He noticed as Riley queued up to congratulate Mick and felt a stab of guilt. Stepping into the affairs of other people felt inherently wrong to him, yet he had turned both Riley and Darius into personal projects. So far he’d managed to remain uninvolved in whatever drama was building. Yet he wondered how much of his non-interference stance was driven by motivated reasoning, his belief in self-determination emphasized as an excuse to avoid awkward social situations.
He honestly did not understand what was happening between Darius and Riley. The two of them might reluctantly coexist for his sake. They could just as plausibly have so sort of awkward romantic tension. Hector didn’t know. He preferred not speculating on such matters. If they did have so nascent affection brewing and neither was brave enough to act on it, what did it matter? Crushes ca and went. His own guilt over Jasmine may linger a bit, but he no longer felt any emotional attachnt to her. The crush never beca anything real. Similarly, his attraction to Esther might never turn into more. He was savvy enough to realize the woman had many admirers, of which he was only one. The odds were not stacked in his favor there.
But Darius was bothered by Mick. So Hector would make sure Riley knew as much.
“Hey, Riley? Can we talk real quick?”
She turned to him, all smiles. Within the new environnt of Tian Tower, she had blossod. Her path wasn’t one of power like his own, but rather seeking the normalcy she’d never known. A simple job that she could be good at, a solid circle of friends, and the ability to eat wherever she wanted. In so ways, his work with her could be considered complete. She’d been saved from the circumstances that held her back. In another way, he didn’t think he could walk away at this point.
“Darius is worried about Mick’s intentions with you,” Hector finally said.
Riley tilted her head in a curious expression like a dog. “Why?”
“I don’t know. He thinks Mick might have bad intentions.”
After a few seconds of confusion, Riley shrugged. “He wants to have sex with . Is that what Darius is worried about? I’m not worried, Hector. The girls used to say how every woman got paid for sex. So were honest about it and so had to be creative. I’m going to make Mick take to fancy restaurants. Two good dates before sex.” She nodded as if she’d made a solid point.
And now Hector was the one feeling concern for his young friend. “I don’t think there is anything wrong about thinking that way, Riley, but do you think you might be selling yourself a little short?”
“Why? How many dates do you think I could get out of him?”
He blinked. “Selling might have been the wrong word to use there. What I’m trying to say is that you might want to think about having a real relationship instead of sothing transactional. You’re a good woman, Riley, and a lot of n would be happy to have you.”
Riley rolled her eyes. “Why do you always act like I’m the naive one and then say things like that? When girls retired from the house, sotis they would get a boyfriend or get married or work out an arrangent. Always to old n or ugly n or bad n. Most guys don’t want prostitutes for more than a night or two, Hector.”
“You’re not that any more, Riley.”
Her too-bright smile faded, beca slightly sad. Sohow he knew that she wasn’t sad for herself, but that she had to disillusion so innocent soul. Like she was explaining to a child that Santa Klaus wasn’t real. “That’s not how it works, Hector.”
“Riley, you’re not damage goods because of your past.”
“That’s not how n think, Hector.”
“Not all n are like that,” he began.
“Hector, I couldn’t get you in bed with even though you were already paying for it. That’s how it is. The good ones don’t want a girl like .” She cupped his cheek with one hand. “I knew all this stuff a long ti ago, so I’m not sad about it. That’s just how things are. I’m really happy I get to live here with you and Darius. That’s enough for .”
Riley’s smile reappeared like it was never gone and she ran over to Mick like she was an innocent thing caught up in simple joy. For the first ti, Hector truly understood that she was nothing like the face she showed the world. His dear friend harbored a deep cynicism. Worse, Hector didn’t know that she was wrong to think the way she did. He’d eventually overco his concerns about being seen in a brothel, but he never seriously entertained the idea of being with any of the girls who worked there.
Because he was better than that. Hector wanted to believe that his objections were pure, that he didn’t want to sully an intimate act by paying for it. But he had to admit, even if only to himself, that he did regard those type of won less highly. Not out of so concern that they had too many partners and worried about how he might compare – he was too old to obsess over such paltry concerns. His objection, at its root, was exactly what Riley just demonstrated to him with her cavalier attitude to her situation. Being constantly deaned could cause a person to internalize attitudes. And Riley most definitely had problematic views on intimacy.
Riley was broken. It was a different way than how Darius was broken. Less self lethal. But it was no less real. Hector’s shoulders drooped as he realized he had no idea how to handle this latest revelation. He still didn’t have any idea about how to convince Darius not to embark upon his suicide mission and now he had another psychological puzzle to solve. Except people weren’t puzzles. They were individuals with the right to control their own lives. He wasn’t comfortable manipulating them even if he did so with their best intentions at heart.
“Don’t tell you’re sad you didn’t advance,” Esther said as she bumped shoulders with him. “You’re doing the smart thing by building your overall strength instead of rushing to the next level.”
“I’m not sad for myself,” Hector said.
Esther squinted at him. “Who is there to be sad for? Life is good in Tian Tower.”
He almost unloaded his burdens at that mont. But whether or not he carried them, those secrets were not his to share. “It’s not sothing I should talk about. I just wish I knew better how to help the people around .”
“Oh my, I did not take you for a martyr, Hector. A little bit of a white knight complex maybe, but not a martyr. Maybe I should explain what I an by white knight. Colloquialisms don’t always translate right.”
“We have the sa phrase where I’m from,” Hector said.
“Good. Then just accept that it’s not your responsibility to go around doing good and fighting evil. You’re just a guy. By all ans be nice and kind, but you have my permission to prioritize your advancent and your happiness. No one else is going to take care of you, after all.”
Hector rolled his eyes. “I have permission to be selfish, do I?”
“Co on, Hector. You don’t owe anything to the universe. It’s a harsh place that we make our way in. There is a nice community here with people you can call your friends, but otherwise your heroics are quite misguided.”
“You fight in the Aes Reconquest, don’t you?”
Esther shrugged. “It pays well and it isn’t that dangerous for our kind. Plus it is phenonal aura training to resist miasma clouds. Way better than getting squeezed by a domain in our basent. In half a year, I plan to return to Aes with others from the building. You should co with us. Just don’t expect any of us to have pure motivations. We’re rcenary about it.”
“Yeah. I’ll join you.” Hector nodded in acceptance. That would actually be great. He had begun feeling like the dungeon runs were nothing but cash grabs on his part. The truth was, even if he sought out monsters in the dungeon, his contributions would still be nothing more than a rounding error in the grand sche. Aes might be different. The world was fallen and humanity wanted it back. He could feel good about being a part of that effort.
“Good! Keep improving your aura and domain. And maybe buy more products from the cafe.”
Hector laughed. “There’s always an ulterior motive with you.”
“You’ll be so much happier after I corrupt you to be more like .” Esther playfully bumped shoulders with him again and sauntered off with a sway of her hips that he watched for longer than he thought socially appropriate.
Then he shook his head to reboot his brain and took an elevator back to his private floor. He settled in to cultivate in front of a window in a communal area and went to it. Hours flew by as he tad chaos into cosmic energy.
The sun had almost set when sothing unexpected happened.
UNIVERSAL ALERT
Ergency on Eden.
Massive monster invasion on the Alfar ho world.
See news for more information.
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