CHAPTER 209

  IN A CABIN ’NEATH A TREE (IV)

  Lino was currently rubbing his cheek tenderly with a frown on his face, eyes scrutinizing the masked woman standing in front of him . There was a faint trace of dissatisfaction in his eyes, almost pouting . Both had just left the lake’s water, translucent droplets slipping down their bodies and hair, still in their undergarments .

  " . . . now, tell me again, do you know what you did wrong?" Hannah asked with a halfway firm tone .

  " . . . I honestly don’t get it," Lino sighed . "It’s clear you’d like nothing more than to jump me and stab your nails into my skin . And not in the ’oh I’ll skin you alive with my nails’ sort of a way either . "

  "You’ve got some grand delusions there . "

  "Do I?" Lino glanced up, grinning . "Or am I hitting the sore spots?"

  " . . . you go in to talk to every woman with the expectation that she would just be unable to resist you, do you?" she asked .

  "Oh? Is that what this is?" Lino chuckled . "You’re thinking you might just be ’another’ woman?"

  "I’d always known you had quite a big ego," Hannah said after a short pause, sighing . "But this . . . this is taking things to a whole new level of insanity . "

  "You can try to dodge your way out of it as much as you want, won’t work . "

  "You don’t even know who I am . "

  "So?"

  "What do you mean ’so’? What’s with that sheepish expression?"

  " . . . what’s it matter if I know your name, or if I remember you or not?" Lino questioned with a serious gaze . "Shouldn’t it be more important that I’ve gotten to know you over the past week well enough that I’d go for it?"

  " . . . oh, wow . Well, that’s one way to weasel yourself out of this . "

  "Besides, I think the bar is way too high . "

  "What do you mean?" she asked .

  "I mean that I’m fairly certain I’ve never even kissed you in my life, let alone slept with you," Lino said . "How in the fuck am I supposed to remember who you are then? Do you know just how many people I’ve met?"

  " . . . "

  "I saw a twitch there," Lino said . "Wait, don’t tell me I actually failed to remember the softness of the woman’s lips?! Aaagh . . . yeah, you’re right . I don’t deserve this . I’m too much of a scumbag . I’m despicable . The worst . Atrocious . "

  "Listing out your character’s flaws won’t earn you any free points, you know?" she chuckled faintly, shaking her head .

  " . . . just be honest with me . " Lino suddenly said as he turned around and looked at her again . "I know you’re attracted to me . So . . . why?"

  " . . . are you sure you want to know?" Hannah tilted her head .

  "Ah! So you admit you’re attracted to me?"

  "Of course I am," she shrugged . "Any woman who doesn’t think ’oh, yeah, I’d like to bury my face in those abs’ probably streaks the other way . "

  " . . . heh . " Lino smirked in satisfaction .

  "But, it’s just a fleeting attraction . Nine out of ten times, it would practically collapse the moment they got to know you . You’re impulsive," she continued . "Indifferent, fake down to your bones, uninspired, arrogant, emotionally broken, self-centered, a compulsive liar, a womanizer, a drunkard, a battle-maniac, and though I can’t know for certain most-likely a casual thief who does it for shits and giggles . Tell me, then, does that sound like someone I’d be attracted to?"

  " . . . oh, wow . That actually hurt . " Lino said, taking a deep breath . "But, yeah, why not? I mean, I always tell people: I’m a complex young man with numerous layers that require deep inspection . "

  "No, you’re just a walking denial wrapped in a bubble of insecurities that’d wear down an entire freaking platoon of us, let alone just me . " she persisted .

  " . . . yeah, I suppose you’re right . " following a short silence, Lino spoke out with a faint, bitter chuckle . "I took a leap of faith . . . didn’t pay off . Can’t fault the guy for trying, right?"

  " . . . " after saying so, Lino turned around and picked up the clothes sitting on the ground, slowly putting them on with the clear intent of leaving . "Is that it?"

  "What?" he glanced at her, putting the shirt on .

  "No back-talk? No counter-psycho-analysis?"

  "Oh, sorry," Lino smirked . "I just wasn’t as obsessed with you as you were with me to the point of being able to completely analyze your character . "

  " . . . a charming tongue can only go so far . "

  "Further than you might think . " he winked .

  " . . . man the fuck up already . " she growled through her gritted teeth .

  "Hm?"

  "I said man the fuck up already!" she exclaimed, jolting over toward him and pushing him onto the ground . "Not everything is a goddamn joke!"

  " . . . if you keep sitting on me like that, a part of me will sit up too, one you’ve clearly rejected so you might get a bit uncomfortable . "

  " . . . heh," Hannah chuckled after a short silence, her lips curling up in a smile . "That’s how it is, huh? Forever a joker?"

  " . . . "

  " . . . you’re not a joker, Lino . You’re just a joke . " she got up, walking over and putting on her dress . "Nothing more and nothing less . "

  " . . . how’s Ally been doing?" Lino asked suddenly, causing Hannah to freeze in spot and turn on her heel, staring at him with eyes wide open .

  " . . . w-what . . . who’s Ally?" she managed to spit out, stuttering .

  "Oh, you know," Lino smiled, leaning back against the rock . "That cute little girl I helped you recruit that eventually took your position in the Sect . "

  " . . . I-I don’t know what you’re talking about . . . " she mumbled .

  " . . . I’d seen her from afar over ten years ago," he said . "It seemed like she’d come back for me . Has gotten quite strong, to be honest . Was already an Exalted back then . She killed all the nuns that you’ve banned me from doing back then . I, however, doubt you were smart enough to plan that far ahead . Must be a coincidence . "

  " . . . "

  " . . . though I can’t know what," Lino continued, ignoring her silence . "I imagine something must have happened to her . Knots in the heart are quite a deterrent for cultivators, and that visit probably made hers worse . What was it? Memory wipe? Emotional disconnect? Or did she really manage to overcome it on her own?"

  " . . . e-emotional disconnect . . . " Hannah gave up, crumbling onto the wet stones .

  "Heh, it’s the safest one, after all," Lino chuckled . "Though it’s a shame . She grew up to be quite a beautiful one, hasn’t she?"

  " . . . yeah . "

  "What about you?" Lino asked .

  " . . . what about me?" she asked back, glancing at him .

  "Well, geez, I don’t know," Lino laughed lowly, getting up and walking over to her and crouching next to her . "Are you still a beauty I remember you to be?"

  " . . . "

  " . . . you, too, are impulsive," he said as he put his fingers on her chin, lifting her face up and forcing her to look him in the eyes . "You’re too kind-hearted," he continued, tracing his finger over her lips . "Too defenseless, too naive," the tip of his finger met with the bottom of the mask . "Too invested . . . too caring . . . " he slowly pressed it and slowly lifted it off an inch . "Too stubborn . . . " he lifted it up further, exposing slightly flushed cheeks . "You’re a trickster who can’t play tricks, you’re just as insecure as I am if not more, you’ve once sexually assaulted a twelve-year-old boy," he grinned as her eyes popped from beneath the mask, ethereally emerald in their hue, piercing . "You’re too self-conscious, a walking paradox . . . " Lino put the mask down next to the two, the last barrier vanishing . The blood-crimson hair spilled wet over her forehead, creating a rather peculiar contrast to her somewhat pale skin . "But . . . " he mumbled, caressing her cheek gently with a smile . "You’re . . . Hannah . " he chuckled . "Even if you were a hundred times worse, you’d still be ten thousand times better than anyone else I’d ever met in my life . "

  " . . . when . . . when did you figure it out?" she asked timidly, her lips trembling .

  " . . . when we first met by that lake," he smiled . "Red hair . . . green eyes . . . the gaze that could disarm the Devils themselves . . . you did leave quite an impression on me back then, you know?"

  " . . . I . . . I didn’t recognize you, though . . . " she tried to avert his gaze yet he stubbornly followed .

  "Ha ha, of course you didn’t," Lino grinned . "Back then I used to be some scrawny, broody, listless, weak brat . Now I’m a handsome, brave, perfect stud . Quite an evolution, no?"

  " . . . the only evolutionary thing about you is your ego . " she smiled faintly, shaking her head . "But, yeah . . . you’ve changed . . . quite a lot . "

  " . . . I was right . "

  "About what?" she asked .

  "You’ve grown to be far more beautiful than her," he smiled . "Far, far more beautiful . "

  " . . . when did it become a competition?" she rolled her eyes at him, chuckling, seemingly having recovered from the initial shock .

  "You’re right," Lino said, pressing closer . "It never was . " he stopped a mere inch away from her lips, staring piercingly into her eyes .

  " . . . really?" she asked, grinning .

  "Hey, gotta pay your dues . " he replied, grinning back .

  "I am older than you, you remember that, right?"

  "Oh, yeah, you’re quite an old one . "

  "Hey!!"

  " . . . "

  " . . . ugh, fine . " she rolled her eyes yet again . "You’re still just a kid, I see . " she crossed the final inch and pressed her lips against his, her arms slowly wrapping themselves around his neck as his rested on her back . Like stone statues they remained embraced for a little while, shutting out the world around and beyond them, entirely wrapped in a small bubble surrounding the two .