as we fall ✤ octavian

five

"What were you thinking?!" Laoise hissed the moment the cell door closed, moving over to Octavian as she resisted the urge to hit him. He was just so...hitable, with his stupid face and his stupid existence, just looking at him sent anger boiling in her.

"I wasn't," he sighed in response, running a hand through his dirty blonde hair. "I wasn't thinking."

"Well that's fucking obvious!"

"You said a bad word!" Logan exclaimed from the opposite side of the cell, though neither of them paid the boy any mind, leaving him to play with his teddy bear while they continued to bicker.

"You got us arrested!" She continued, flames dancing in her eyes.

"Well, your part in the plan wasn't working, so I took matters into my own hands," Octavian shrugged, though judging by the color in his cheeks, Laoise could tell he was embarrassed by his actions.

"She had a gun! You could've been killed!

"I didn't know that! I thought she'd just...chase me."

"It didn't occur to you that the guards of one of the most temperamental borders in the world would have a gun? How stupid are you, Octavian? Seriously, I'm in awe of your sheer, utter incompetence-"

"Says the one who couldn't seduce one little patrol officer."

"She might not have been a lesbian."

"With that haircut?"

"Wow, way to stereotype," she folded her arms over her chest, continuing, "You're such a fucking asshole, Octavian, you know that, right? When we finish this stupid quest, rest assured, I will find a way to have Reyna kill you, if I can't do it myself-"

"If you hate me so much, Laoise," he cut in, tilting his head to the side, "Riddle me this; why'd you cry my name like a girl losing her lover, when you thought I was about to be shot?"

Her throat went dry, but she mustered a cocky grin, banishing any thought she had about why she could've sounded the way he implied she had. "Easy - I didn't want Logan to witness your brutal murder. That'd traumatize the kid. Besides, like you or hate you, we need you for the quest. It can't just be me and Logan - you're better with kids than me."

"Wow, Laoise Campbell, admitting to a flaw. Maybe you're not a complete narcissist after all."

She bared her teeth.

"What's a narcissist?" Logan asked, now sitting on the ground, moving his teddy bear around, pretending it was walking back and forth on its worn down legs. He didn't seem at all phased that they'd been arrested, and Octavian nearly killed.

"Someone who's obsessed with themselves," Octavian answered.

Logan raised his eyebrows. "Oh, like Lee-Lee?"

Octavian grinned, as Laoise's face flared red. "You're lucky you're cute, kid," she muttered, more to herself than to him, before moving towards the bench and sitting down. The iron sent a chill up her spine the moment her ass met the cold, but she kept herself planted firmly on the uncomfortable bench, as it was as far away from Octavian as she could get.

"Oh, quit giving me that look," he grumbled, "You know it's true. You're fucking obsessed with yourself, always staring at your reflection in anything you can get your hands on."

"Naughty word!" Logan scolded.

"Sounds like someone pays an awful lot of attention to me, if you notice such a small detail," she cocked her head to the side. "Are you sure you're not the one obsessed with me?"