Chapter Seven #2
“That’s not okay at all! How could a parent hate their child?!”
“The people in this world… are a lot nicer on average than the people from mine. Even in this world, rape doesn’t exist and murder is way rarer.
The hardest criminals here are typically just thieves.
You don’t have murderers and rapists breaking into homes to destroy lives.
You don’t have drug addicts holding people at gun point for money to afford their next fix.
You don’t have terrorists bombing civilians in the name of religion.
With a few exceptions, the cruelest criminal in this world is equal to a petty thief in mine.
Seth thought those things were too sad, but he did still add some messed up killers for quests, so… ”
“And he didn’t think a dragon killing millions and razing a continent was too sad?”
“Well, I guess he thought that was good worldbuilding.”
“And this is why I don’t worship any god.”
“That’s fair. Even if he’s made a world I love, I won’t say he’s perfect and act like he hasn’t made the world in such a way that is unfair and cruel in its own ways.
” Maybe I was a little wrong to immediately jump to the conclusion of him being a good person.
He might have been my personal savior, but that didn’t stop him from creating a world where countless lives had suffered because of him.
“Anyways… your parents. Seriously, what was with them?”
“I don’t know. All I remember is their hate. It wasn’t like they abused me or anything, and they always took me to the hospital when I needed to, but… well, they just didn’t want to get into legal trouble over neglecting me.”
Rosie clicked her tongue and looked like she seriously wanted to punch them. “I wish I could punish them.”
“We’ll get to that part. Anyways, despite my issues, I did go to school, but that wasn’t much better than home.
Kids thought I was gross and weird, teachers didn’t care since they were already underpaid and just wanted to go home without issue, and me being so weak meant that I was the perfect victim for bullies. ”
Rosie’s rage only intensified as she angrily tapped her feet against the floor. “I’m telling your god to send me to Earth so I can deliver justice to them.”
“I tried fighting back myself once. I had this one bully—Keith. He was great at hurting me without breaking my bones. One day, I finally had enough. I was tired of the bullying. So, I tried to fight back even though it was impossible. Everyone thought it was hilarious to see the cripple kid want to fight. Anyways, that negative luck stat I mentioned—we were near the top of some stairs, I went to punch him, missed, lost my balance, and fell down the stairs. It’s kind of funny in a messed-up way. ”
“There’s not a single damn thing funny about what you just said.”
“I guess that’s just a way of coping with it. But yeah. I broke a few dozen bones from that, but my spine got it the worst. I forget exactly how they explained it since it was so long ago but, basically, I became paralyzed from the waist down. I never walked again after that.”
“Those demon children got in trouble, right?”
“Nope. They all lied and said I tripped on my own, which wasn’t really that much of a lie.
But nobody said anything about the bullying.
The main bully, Keith, actually ended up becoming kind of famous.
I saw an article once about him being the rising star of football.
So, he ended up totally winning in life.
Rich, famous, successful, and married with children to a model. ”
“It’s not right. How could someone like that get rewarded?”
“Lots of people like to think that bullies and bad people in general will get what’s coming to them, but the truth is that most don’t.
Some of the most successful, happiest people in existence are the most cruel and hateful.
Oh, my parents kind of got punished, though.
I didn’t really get that many details of it but, when I was fourteen, they were part of some car accident during a blizzard that killed all of them.
So, there was that.” Even I had to admit that I probably said that too casually.
“I… is it alright if I say that’s good?” She was checking me for my reaction. Even if they hated me, she was still being cautious in case I liked them despite that.
So, I smiled and gave her a thumbs up and said, “Go for it. I was pretty happy about it myself, so you’re welcome to be happy about it.”
“A child should never have to be happy their family is dead…”
“It is what it is. After that, nothing much really happened. It was impossible for me to take care of myself and I no longer had any family the government could shove me onto, so the government put me in a nursing home mostly full of old people, and I spent the next fifteen years or so in a mostly empty room. I was forced to go outside with a wheelchair once a day with whichever nurse was on duty, but that was it for me ever going outside again. I eventually got a laptop, discovered gaming, then Custom Dungeon World came out, and you know the rest. All in all, I think I’m pretty well adjusted for being a total shut-in loser, right? ”
Rosie got up, marched over to my side of the booth, and wrapped her arms around me for a tight hug that planted my face right into her cleavage. “Don’t you dare call yourself a loser ever again. No wonder my parents were acting like that when I got home yesterday…”
I couldn’t really say anything since my face was firmly planted into her cleavage, but that was alright. I wasn’t going to complain about not being able to speak for that reason.
“A-ah! Sorry,” Rosie said, backing away and letting go of me. “I didn’t mean to—that was probably gross, right? Sorry. I did something like that to you right after you told me about everything you’ve been through…”
“Feel free to do that anytime you want.” I gave her another thumbs up. “I’ll never complain.”
“You really are a weirdo. Anyways… sorry, I shouldn’t even call you that. I don’t want to be like the people who tormented you.”
“Seriously, don’t worry about it. It’d make me feel worse if I couldn’t banter with you and get teased back whenever I tease you. Just be yourself.”
“I’ll try… but still. If I ever get a chance to go to Earth, I’m punishing everyone who ever wronged you. I refuse to let a world go without justice like that.”
“If you think that’s bad, you really don’t want to hear about what all the elites and leaders were getting up to in private on their islands.”
“I want to know as much as I don’t.”
“I’m going to spare your sanity by dropping the topic there. The important thing is that I’m fine now. I’ve got an awesome body, I can fight, and I’ve found caring people who make me feel loved for the first time in my life.” I couldn’t help but smile. “I’m happier now than I’ve ever been before.”
Rosie sighed and hung her head but then smiled back at me. “You know, I really like people who are honest with their feelings. You’re seriously going to make me fall for you at this rate.”
“What, you haven’t already fallen for me? I mean, we’re even living under the same roof now.”
Rosie rolled her eyes. “Don’t blame me if I end up getting clingy and sticking to you. You know, as a man, you should be more aware of the kinds of things you say. Us girls can be beasts who take things the wrong way and get our hopes up.”
“Then I’ll just have to be as blunt as possible to make sure you don’t misunderstand me.”
“Right? That’s why you should stop all this playful flirting and—”
“You look cute today, by the way. Sorry for not saying so sooner.”
Rosie’s cheeks turned red and her ears flapped up and down. “What—what did I just tell you?!”
“You told me you like honest people, so I’m being honest. Your ears are especially adorable when they flap like that. It makes me want to touch them. Maybe bite them.”
Rosie’s cheeks turned the most red I ever saw them. “Wha-wh—what are you—we’re—we’re in public! Don’t—don’t say things like that when others can hear!”
“Ah, sorry.” I locked my eyes onto her neck. “I won’t bother saying what I think whenever I look at your neck, then.”
Rosie gulped as she reached up to touch her neck. “What—what were… you… thinking? If—if you say it quietly, then…”
I leaned forward over the table while wearing a smug grin, reaching underneath it with my leg to touch my foot against her leg, before saying, “I was thinking about how good it would look covered in bites.” Then I opened my mouth a little to show off my teeth.
“I made my teeth a little extra sharp during creation. I’ve always thought sharp teeth look cool, you see. ”
Rosie’s entire body trembled at that point as she stared at my teeth, unable to look away.
“Aren’t you curious about how they’d feel around your neck?” I whispered to her.
“I—I can’t… I won’t… lie…” she replied. Then I slid my foot up along her leg as I got ready for the next bit of teasing, but Rosie ended up banging her knees against the table as she shot up in a hurry. “Ba-bathroom! I—I need the bathroom! Be right back!”
Rosie ran away after that, but that gave me a chance to see just how frantically her tail was swinging around.
She was too cute.
However.
That whole sequence made me realize something.
In a world with some reverse chastity tropes, I was the mysterious boy from another world who was teasing the kind, honest girl both romantically and sexually.
I showed off my body (my teeth) to her, I blatantly checked her out, I had a traumatic backstory, I wanted to teach her about how fun dangerous things (dungeons) were, I teased her while fully knowing it would send her into a flustered panic—
…
Was I a manic pixie dream boy?
I was also crossing into that smug, bratty, teasing type of character territory.
Neither of those personality types were fitting for a Reaper.
Hmm.
I reached up to hold my chin as I thought about what kind of person to act like.