Make the Best of a Bad Person

Personally, Tier felt they were arrogant. Cocky, even. They believed that no matter what they put their mind to, they'd get it. But they hadn't yet learned to conform--they hadn't needed to.

One day, Tier suspected, they'd run into that very problem.

"The arena has three," Tier said. "And if you wanted to apprentice under them, you'd have to ask them. You'd need a high school diploma, however. Graduate first, then deal with this."

Did he feel bad about sort-of-kind-of-lying to them about their lifespan? No, not really. He didn't know. They didn't know. It was his own unproven speculation, and he'd never said it was the holy golden truth--just that it was what he believed.

And obviously it was working well for Kon, because they hadn't slowed down a bit since he told them.

Oh boy. He could tell when their eyes started drifting. They had something on their mind. They hadn't just invited them out for a nice coworker lunch. No no, there was something going on, and it was going to shove its ugly face in, wasn't it?

"Well, you might as well get into it," Tier said, considering almost everything they'd said to be an elaborate lead up. "I don't see the point in putting it off, since it's obviously going to come up before long. So you might as well say your piece, rather than trying to... what, spare my feelings?"

Truthfully, he didn't care that much. Or he'd convinced himself he didn't, anyway.

Tier didn't feel the need to beat around the bush. At least on this point, he had every intention of being very direct.

"I am a predator," Tier said simply. "I eat meat. Sapient meat. I consume flesh. In the narrow reality, if I do not kill, I die. You're a sheep getting close to a wolf, just because the wolf has a more readily available supply of food. So people doubt. People get worried. But more than that, people are hypocritical. They'll befriend a war god who has killed millions. They'll socialize with a former serial killer. but when it's someone who might have hurt them, things are different. People can't look past their own noses."

He paused as the waitress arrived, setting down their food in front of them.

"Even you," he said once she was away, picking up his food. "You were never in any danger from me, so it's easier for you."

Kon was bothered. Tier, on the other hand, was not. He looked distinctly nonplussed, cutting up his food before popping it into his mouth. But there was a slight pause--a little halt--when they said other nek0 might be warned about you, a little shift in his expression.

He was bothered by that.

"Then you'll never find a middle ground," Tier said. "If you're anything beyond terse business professional with me, they'll push you out. Hypocritical of them or not, you'd be sabotaging yourself by trying to be friendly with me at all."

He went back to eating.

Tier's happy mood was good and spoiled, but it wasn't as if it was obvious. He'd spent his entire life hiding, and he was a skilled and practiced liar. He could keep a straight face as he ate, and he could keep a straight face as he talked, and only an empath was going to be able to sense the frustration lurking beneath the surface.

"You won't be done with it," Tier pointed out. "You won't ever be. You're a nek0, and they're nek0, and to them that makes you family. Even normal conversations will bother them. All you're doing is choosing me over them, and that's how they'll feel about it. You're standing between two bridges on fire with a single bucket."

And Tier wouldn't blame them for a moment for making the obvious choice.