Chapter Text
“Who even are you?” Though it was a question, Norton felt like answering would earn him a broken nose.
“Norton Campbell. Don’t wear it out, hood.”
He was probably right, with the way the Nepalese man tightened his fist. Norton always trusted his gut. His face—what was visible, anyways—hardened.
Norton figured the other was too tired to deal with him at that moment. His boot buckles jingled as he simply turned around and left.
So much for a warm introduction.
Norton wasn’t a people person. He could be, he’s had to have been for a while. He doesn’t care, his preferences don’t matter if he can get what he wants. What he's been working towards his whole life. Luckily, most of the people around the Manor were easy. Sure, Freddy was an ass when he wanted to be, Kreacher just plain skittish—but the Mercenary? Naib Subedar? That was a whole other ball game.
A ball game that got on his last nerves.
Sure, the guy could rescue, make good game plans, keep the hunter just on his tail—but he was a sourpuss at best. Sure, maybe that would make Norton a hypocrite. But, Norton knows when to be nice. He was nice when he wanted to be—he knew it wasn’t that hard.
Well, thinking back to another member of their ensemble, sometimes they had reasons to be so distant. Naib, though, Norton knew he was just cruel.
“Stay put, I’m coming!”
Norton could imagine the mercenary’s bandaged hands hastily pinging it, starting off to their chaired teammate. Norton wouldn’t, if he was in the other’s position. She had messed up in the beginning of her kite, her panic slicing her usual time in half.
“Cipher machine decoding progress : 67%” He pinged in response. Vera Nair, the one on the chair, didn’t ping anything. She stayed silent. Maybe, after he finished this cipher, he would help harass. One thing he appreciated during matches was annoying the hunters. His magnets could make for some nasty stuns, and the moment he understood this, he grinned. Maybe, if he annoyed the monsters enough, they would tunnel him and give his team an easy win. It’s what he deserved in the grand scheme of things, so if he got at least a few lives out okay, he’d even his scale.
He wasn’t really afraid of sacrifice, and he was sure Naib didn’t either. Maybe, that was the one thing they had in common. Maybe that's why Norton always tries to catch a glimpse of him kiting. No, not really, though. Naib would rescue and rescue and rescue—even when he had taken a million hits. Norton wouldn’t. He’d kite and harass, though. Rescuing was never his favorite. Who knows what someone would think if he messed them up, preferring everyone to keep a neutral opinion on him—not just some lost man with too much regret to be considered well-off.
He wasn’t
that
bad at the matches. Well, he was in comparison to Naib, but who wasn’t? He was good at basically everything he did. Except people, Norton thought to himself, finishing the cipher under him. Naib Subedar was just a strangely self-sacrificial guy, with trust issues up the wazoo, hair-thin reflexes, and absolutely
no
understanding of the word
charisma
.