☂ 𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 || 𝙵𝙸𝚅𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙶𝚁𝙴𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚂 𝚡 𝙾𝙲 || 𝐁𝐤. 𝟑 ☂

20. A DOTING FATHER

"Can you be any slower?" complained Ben for the umpteenth time, unwillingly stopping and waiting for the teen to catch up.

Elaina scoffed, her arm still wrapped around her sore sides. "Fuck you, you're lucky I'm even going," she responded, purposely dragging her feet to spite him.

Ben sucked his teeth and rolled his eyes before placing his hand on his hip.  He then proceeded to tap his foot impatiently like the dramatic princess he was. 

How could Elaina ever mistake this rejected clone for her brother?

The sun was completely gone now and the only light that led the path to the Sparrow Academy was the dim glow from the street lights. Ever since the unlikely pair exited the alley and began their walk, the air had been filled with nothing but tense silence, of course, this only happened when Ben wasn't nagging Elaina to pick up her speed. Perhaps it was because of the Kugelblitz evaporating people (or perhaps it was from the girl spazzing out in the alley), but the streets were currently pretty bare.

"I'm sorry, are you in a hurry? Does making Sir Reginald wait stress you out?" taunted the girl, running her hand through her messy hair with a mocking giggle. "God, you're so pathetic,"

He narrowed his eyes. "Says the dirty little psycho that was rubbing herself against the grime of a back alley," retorted Ben without missing a beat.

Elaina shrugged at the comment. "I rather take being covered in grime and getting called a psycho over degrading myself by doing Daddy's bidding any day," she muttered finally making it to where Ben was standing. "But that's just me," she snarked, flashing him a bullshit smile.

He scowled at her, facing forward again to resume the walk. "You sure do like to talk a lot of shit, don't you?"

"I do," Elaina nodded, unbothered. "It's actually a natural-born gift and it must be shared with the douchebags of the world. So that includes you, delivery boy,"

Ben grunted with displeasure. "I really can't stand you Umbrella assholes," 

"Tough tits. I can't stand you Bird shits either," muttered the girl, keeping up with Ben's pace this time. 

The Asian man rolled his eyes. "Well, at least we are in mutual understanding about something,"

"Yeah. Mutual hatred," she grumbled, frowning deeply when she caught sight of her wrecked fingers nails, and scraped hands; the clear result of her trying to use the alley's brick wall as a scratching post.

Although the walk was only a few blocks away from the destination, it seemed a whole lot longer than that, especially with the absolute joy this Ben was. Elaina could honestly say that she has seen coils way less wound up than this man. It could be part of the reason why she was unable to stop herself from pushing the self-appointed Number One's buttons. It was a nice and easy distraction.

But boy, Reggie surely did a number on this Ben in a way far different than he did her timid brother.

Fun, as it was, if Elaina could be totally candid with herself, messing with Ben was the only thing keeping her from falling apart right now. Her mentality was presently a delicate ecosystem that she was still trying to navigate without falling back into that place of woe. A difficult task, considering her mind continued to betray her, resentfully drifting back to a certain raven-haired boy no matter how hard she tried to stifle him from her thoughts. 

Maybe that's why she was so inclined to attend this damn meeting. It was just something else to do, something to keep her mind off of the obvious pain.

She shouldn't think right now, no. Thinking was a dangerous thing. What she needed to do was keep talking.