Chapter Text
Tch. Chasing down these minotaurs had already stopped being fun, and now it was just a damn pain. The hell were they heading so far up? And it didn't help that he kept having to herd them away from the trash swarming the top floors. Couldn't have them getting in his way after all.
That dumbass amazon! They could have been back by now if she hadn't spooked them! Bete grunted, as his boot cleaved straight through the tough hide of the minotaur fleeing from him. Had to be nearly done now, right?
His train of thought was cut off by a scream from up ahead. Shit. He took off, with the speed only Vanagandr could manage, bounding down the corridors towards the source of the sound. There! Some useless ass adventurer had himself cornered, he’d-
There was a flash, an explosion, a torrent of blood, and her . Aiz, standing over the kid like a fairy.
“Are you okay? Can you stand?” He didn’t deserve it, her, worrying over trash like him, but… The hell was he just sat there for? He- Did- Did he just- He- He-
Bete couldn’t hold it in, and howled with laughter, as the blood soaked adventurer ran off screaming. Aiz just stood there blankly.
“That’s the lamest thing I’ve ever seen! He actually fucking ran!”
“Did I… scare him?”
“Aiz, you don't need to give a shit what an ungrateful little bitch like that thinks.”
“But I…” Tch. She was too nice for her own good.
“Look, you saved him, didn't ya? Just leave it at that and let's get the hell outta here.”
She was quiet on the way back, but wasn't she always? If it was still bugging her, Bete couldn't tell. Reading Aiz was a high level skill, and only Finn and the hag seemed to have it on their Falna. Should he… say something? Aiz was about as good with feelings as he was with people so… Yeah, either he wouldn't help or he'd end up making her feel shitty. Best just to leave it. Besides, she'd get over it quickly enough. He was just some weakling, how long could he even bother her for?
“...Bete?”
Shit. It must be bad if she was actually talking about it. What the hell did he do? This wasn't his thing-
“I'm hungry.” Oh. She was fine.
“Why the hell would I have food on me? We took off straight after the damn things!” Damn it, making him worry like that. “Don’t you have some of those damn potato things?”
“I already ate them.”
Great. Just when the day couldn't get any worse, she had to turn up.
“Miss Aiz, you're back-” She stopped dead. “Miss Aiz? Is something wrong?” Lefiya's eyes narrowed, as she rounded on Bete. “You! What did you do to her? If you even laid a finger on her I'll-”
“What, get your ass kicked?” He snorted. “I didn't fucking do anything, she's just being an idiot.” He'd thought she was okay now, but the elf had seen something had happened right away… Was she still down about it? He tried to play back the scene in his head, and had to choke back a laugh as Lefiya glared daggers at him. Shit, that was still hilarious. He'd have to tell it properly later. “Just some kid turned her down. Gotta go talk to Finn.” There. That'd set her blood boiling.
Damn that scream was worth it.
The old hag chewed him out a little for provoking her, but he didn't care. If she couldn't keep her cool over a joke like that she'd be useless in a fight. Besides, they were basically out already. Even dragging all the dead weight it barely took them two hours to get out. He could have done it in ten minutes. Less if he was trying. Probably would have been the best workout he’d have gotten this entire expedition. Damn it, the whole thing had been a wash. Turned back before they got to the good bit by some fucking bugs he couldn’t even fight properly. Finn kept saying it had been good experience for the lower level members, but he didn’t give a shit about them! They could level up on any old shit, they didn't need to waste his chance!
And so he might have still been pissed when he decided to get pissed. But it wasn’t like it was all his fault! That damn Loki kept getting drinks for Aiz, which was a fucking stupid idea, and everyone kept passing them to him for some reason! And sure, he vaguely, very vaguely, remembered telling everyone something about the tomato kid. But he had no clue what was going on the next day, with his head pounding, and a weird bruise on his wrists, and the dumbass amazons glaring daggers at him. That he wasn’t bothered about. Lefiya being worse than normal when she hadn’t even been there was kind of weird, but Aiz looking at him like he’d kicked her favourite puppy?
“Hey hag, the hell happened last night?”
Riveria sighed at him. “You don’t remember? Should I start with the part where you made a complete stranger run off crying, or the part where you cornered Aiz and tried to make her pick between you and the boy?”
“I- what?” Why the hell would he do that? That didn’t sound like him! Okay, maybe the making someone cry sounded pretty plausible, but they usually had to do something first, and there was no way in hell he would have made a move on Aiz! It was a dumb crush on a blockhead who wouldn’t know feelings if they kicked her in the face.
“Something about a boy who ran away screaming after Aiz saved him from a problem we caused. You mentioned tomatoes a lot.”
He shouldn’t have laughed, but he couldn’t help it. That shit was still fucking hilarious. He tried to turn it into a cough under the hag’s glare.
“He was sat behind you.”
-oh.”
“Oh? Is that all you can say?”
“What the hell do you want me to say? You ain't the kid, and I probably didn't say anything that wasn't true!” He'd have happily said all of that to his face, but doing it behind his back like that did make him feel a bit scummy- wait, why should he care what someone like that thought? If the kid got cold feet and quit, he'd done him a favour. Probably saved his life.
“Guilt is a rare look on you.”
“What? Shut the hell up! Why should I care?”
“If you say so, but you're not as complex as you think. Besides, I'm merely disappointed in you. It's Aiz who's upset.”
His face paled. Did… did she think it was her fault? Hell no!
“Talk to her, or don't. I can't make decisions for you.”
His hand hovered over her door. The hell was he doing here? He'd probably just make it worse trying to tell her it wasn't her fault or something. Tch, this was all that damn kid's fault.
“Mister Bete? What are you doing here?”
“Nothing. The hag said something was up with her is all,” he added quietly, as he stalked past. Lefiya'd do a better job anyway. Last thing Aiz needed right now was him making things worse.
He vented his frustrations down on the 24th floor.