The Worth of a Coin (BxB)

Chapter 12

-Quan Leung-

"You are insufferable," I said towards Ruarc as I pinched the bridge of my nose. Instead of doing as he usually did, by walking behind me and keeping an eye out for any danger, he had decided to walk beside me. "You know, Fewesi and Cappi aren't the only observant ones in the street."

Ruarc's shoulders shrugged. He had a teasing grin on his face. "I don't really care what anyone thinks." He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, causing me to tense. "We are just two colleagues going to work."

I slapped his hand away with a scowl. "Please don't touch me, even if it is my coat." I held up a glove-clad hand to stop him from the argument which was bubbling around in his head. "I don't like being touched without permission. It's been a thing since I was young."

He sighed dramatically. "Should I even ask?" The question didn't need answering, as the fact he asked in the first place, suggested that he knew the answer. He removed his arm from my shoulder and stuffed his hand in the pocket of his jacket. "What are we doing at work today?"

I shrugged, as I genuinely didn't know.

"I thought that you were the psychic one?" he teased. "You don't even know what we're doing at work? The office which you've been to for the past however many years?"

I huffed. Should I even start trying to explain my magic to him? I'd probably be a fruitless act. It wasn't that I thought he was stupid, but I had worked on my psychic abilities for the past twenty-three years.

"I'm pretty sure we discussed this," I said in an attempt to finish the conversation. I didn't really want to tell him the methods which my father used in order to develop my powers. Ruarc couldn't become a witch, or practice magic. So, I didn't know exactly what I was worried about. I suppose I didn't want him to feel sorry for me, or to judge me like many others had. You couldn't become a witch if you weren't born one. You might be able to practise magic, but you weren't a witch. Witches' powers are inherited from one or two parents, two in my case, but you don't always have to study the same area of magic as your parents, my mother was a love witch and my father was a fire witch.

"Did we? I've forgotten." He gave an exaggerated sigh. "Explain it again?"

It was my turn to sigh. He wasn't playing fair at all. When we first met up, I wondered if he had snuck out and redeemed all of his blood tokens already. I still hadn't completely scratched out the idea, but he seemed a little saner than he had the other night.

"I can't see the future, not without effort." I kicked a stone out of my way. "I wouldn't waste my magic on something trivial such as what work we have today."

He hummed. "What would you waste your magic on?" I couldn't tell if his voice was mocking or not. "There must be something. Ever tried winning the lottery?"

I snorted and shook my head. "No, I don't need the money. Besides, I feel like the angels would find some way to stop me from winning."

He nodded. We had reached the office by now and were just heading through the front doors. "True, it's a shame that angels run the thing, yet there are still ungrateful gits winning."

"That's a personal subject!" Jade called from down the hall. Her blonde head of hair poked around the corner. "The lottery was meant to be a gift to humanity and those who needed it. Then the darn demons got involved."

"You don't dislike demons," I pointed out. "You don't dislike anyone."

"It doesn't mean their actions don't annoy me."

I didn't wait for Ruarc to enter the office before I shut the door. Jade would probably talk his ear off, which would make communicating difficult, but better him than me.