We didn't even end up getting too far with the assignment, since I was still a bit unfamiliar with runes despite Maria's help. Though it was a lot easier than I anticipated, especially since they are literally the same runes from normal Minecraft, which are copied straight from Commander Keen's Standard Galactic Alphabet. It was actually applying them in a real-world situation that proved to be difficult.

It kind of worked like coding in a way. I needed to use arrange the runes in a specific order into sections, all the specific variables needed names and to be assigned a function, and if you fuck up a single rune the entire thing would explode. I only tried activating it once, and it damn near exploded my face off. So for now, I'll wait until I'm home before trying anything.

After all was said and done, I left class with nothing but broken pride.

Which brings me to now.

"Remember class, this report is due this Friday! So please, make sure to take your books with you!"

Professor Evetta Plains was a strange woman. For one, she looked like a carbon copy of Maria, just with a slightly curvier form. For another, she was fucking tall. Like, as tall as I am. Combine that with her almost dead stare, and you get a woman who could chill the heart of anyone she saw. And unlike Maria, I wasn't sure of my chances to get down and dirty with her.

Agh! Bad thoughts! No seducing random young women! Why is my mind so horny?!

Placing the novel I needed for the paper this Friday into my bag, I turned to look towards Emery. "Well, that was something. So, you said we have crafting class together, right?"

"Y-Yeah."

Her eyes darted around the room, watching as everyone packed up their stuff and chatted amongst themselves. She looked uncomfortable being around so many people, shrinking in on herself as she subtly hid behind me.

I took a step to the side, placing a hand on her shoulder and looking her in the eye. The tension in her shoulders eased slightly, and a soft smile graced her lips. "T-Thanks. How did you do 'hat?"

Shrugging my shoulders, I followed her out the classroom and down the hallway, walking towards the staircase. "I have a special power that makes people around me feel comfortable."

A giggle escaped her lips as we walked down the stairs, her sweater covered hand over her mouth. "You're 'ind of – kind of – silly, Darius. People don't have magic."

I smirked, gently pulling her to the side as another student rushed by. "You're right. I don't have magic. At least, I don't think I do."

Stopping in front of room 207, I opened the door for Emery, letting her step inside first before following. The classroom was very different from the other two, with circular tables in the center of it and several shelves at the sides of the room filled with measuring equipment, goggles, and other odds and ends. At the back were an assortment of woodcutters and saws.

An older woman stood near one of the woodcutters, dirty blonde hair done up in a loose bun as she ran a piece of wood through the cutter with her gloved hands. Her red flannel shirt was rolled up to the sleeves, and her worn blue jeans covered what looked to be a pair of Tims. She turned back, heavy goggles over her earthy brown eyes as she grinned, speaking with a thick southern drawl. "Ah, there's mah favorite student! How ya doin'?"

Emery stiffened, her eyes frantically searching for a way out as she was put up under the spotlight. "I-I'm 'oing good."

Well. She was doing well. Though I bit my tongue back and just watched as the professor looked up to me, raising an eyebrow as she spoke. "Aah can see that. Finally gettin' out of yer shell, eh? He's a nice catch alright."

The meaning seemed to go right over Emery's head, though I caught it fairly easily. Smirking slightly, I I glanced back towards Emery before focusing on the professor. "I doubt she'd be all too appreciative of your insinuation, Miss…?"

She pulled off her thick gloves, offering a hand forward. "Mah name's Helen Glass, and you mud' be Darius Adiel. Yer sister was yappin' on about ya earlier. Hope ya don't disappoint!"

I grasped her hand, careful to be gentle with my abnormal strength. "I'd hate to disappoint such a charming woman such as yourself, Miss Glass. So, crafting class. What's that about?"

Helen chuckled, letting go of my hand and giving Emery a quick look. "Ya got yerself a heartbreaker there, kiddo."

This time, it seems that Helen's innuendo struck true, as Emery's face went red. "I-I… He… it's not like that."

Hm? I raised an eyebrow at her sudden use of Halorian, before shrugging it off and paying attention to Helen as she began to explain the class to me. "Craftin' class is 'bout design work mostly. It goes hand in hand with smithin' class, since ya design somethin' here, make a wood replica, and then go down to the forge later to actually make the darn thing."

Huh, makes sense. "Sounds wonderful then."

She bobbed her head, turning to look towards the center of the classroom. "Darn straight. Now then, why don't ya work with Miss Flora's group? Ya both seem familiar with each other, so no point in separatin' ya."

With that, she turned her attention back towards the woodcutters, leaving us to our own devices. Turning to Emery, I gestured for her to go on ahead, and followed her to one of the circle tables. There were four seats, and of those four, two were taken. It was another duo, a guy and a gal, who were seated right next to one another.

The guy was the one who had answered Citrine's question earlier today, Montague. His hair was a coppery brown, and his eyes were an innocent shade of sky blue. He exuded a sort of positive energy, smiling broadly once he saw us. "Ah! Flora-San!"

The woman to his side scowled openly, her long raven hair tied up in a tight ponytail. Her eyes were fucking purple of all things, and were narrowed in thinly veiled annoyance. Her features were strong, with a very slight femininity that gave her an almost Amazonian feel.

Emery gave them a shy wave, sitting across from the raven-haired woman, leaving me to sit next to both of them. Her eyes flicked between the three of us, and she gestured vaguely towards me. "T-This is 'Arius – Darius – a-and he's my new… friend."

Damn, she looked as if she were going to faint. Completely out of her depth. It was adorable.

I knocked on the table, giving the two of them a quick wave. "Hey, I'm Darius Adiel. Though I'm afraid that I'm not quite familiar with the two of you, disappointingly enough."

The woman's eyes seemed to soften for a moment, before her shoulders stiffened and she recoiled back. She seemed confused for a moment, not that anyone noticed, as Montague dominated their attention as he joyfully spoke. "Hiya! I'm Romeo Montague, and this cranky goober here is Juliet Capulet. Say hi Juliet, please."

Once again, Juliet seemed to relax. Though this time she didn't recoil from it, instead she simply turned to me and did as he asked. "Hello there, Adiel-San."

Something tingled in the back of my mind as I heard their names, but I just hummed and made a mental note of how Romeo used Juliet's first name. I leaned forward, hands on the table as I gave them an honest smile. "It is an absolute joy to make your acquaintance. You seem to be… interesting people."

My gaze was neutral, but my focus was entirely on Juliet. She sat right in the corner of my eye, flickering between leaning into my words and pulling herself away from me. It was… fascinating. And more than a little odd.

A sharp clap stirred my attention away from her and towards Romeo. His smile was beaming as he pulled out a large binder, opening it up and revealing the schematics of what looked to be a music box, and a tiny puppet man. "So, Adiel-San, our group is making a dancing puppet music box for The Festival of The New Sin next month. Uh, so why don't you help Juliet with building the frame and puppet?"

Oh? I raised an eyebrow at that, noting how quick he was to pawn me off on his friend. Or perhaps it was the other way around? Either way, I found it a bit odd. Still, I complied. "Whatever you say, Romeo. I'll be sure to keep Juliet from feeling lonely."

Juliet's cheeks went a slight pink at my casual use of her first name, before she glared down at her lap. Fucking weird.

I slid my chair over, getting to work as I quickly picked up what I needed. Compared to enchanting, this seemed almost childishly easy. Maybe it was just that I had a blueprint in front of me, or maybe I'm just good with this kind of thing. We worked in relative silence, measuring out wood eyeballing how they'd fit together.

Again, it was simple. Though Romeo's exuberance was kind of distracting. His arms were in the air, exaggerating whatever point he was making. It was certainly not about the project, as much as it seems Emery would prefer that. She looked borderline uncomfortable, simply nodding and sitting on the very edge of her seat, as far away from him as she could.

Not that the guy seemed to notice, as he continued to yammer on about nothing. I watched closely, body going autopilot as I paid close attention to his body language. He leaned in every now and again, eyes brimming with positivity as he looked at Emery. She would then shrink away from him, stammering something about their part of the project, whatever it was.

My eyes narrowed.

He dimmed slightly at her quiet rejection, a ghost of a frown on his face as he tapped his finger against the table. His eyes widened, and he began to animatedly discuss some new topic instead, hoping to get her attention.

I leaned back slightly, shaking my head and chuckling as I whispered quietly to myself. "Poor guy totally has it bad for her."

A pencil snapped.

I was suddenly reminded that I want alone, my hands stopping as I watched Juliet go through all five stages of grief before backtracking straight to anger. Her knuckles were white with rage, and she could barely contain her snarl as she stood up and spoke. "I need to cut some wood. Emery, why don't you- "

"I'll come with."

My hand was on the table, pressing into it as my presence drained some of the tension from the group. Emery gave me a thankful look, though it was probably for the wrong reasons. Juliet on the other hand, looked conflicted. She seemed intent on staying angry, but her face was softening up regardless of her own wants. Finally, she turned away, mustering up a scowl. "Fine, but don't get in the way."

She stormed off, her posture growing more and more frustrated the further she was from me. I turned back to Romeo and Emery, giving the guy a smirk. "Good luck on your… endeavor, Romeo."

His cheeks went pink, but he didn't deny it. Instead, he just laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his neck. "S-Sure thing. A-And hey, can you keep an eye on Juliet? She looked a little upset."

That is the understatement of the fucking century. "Sure thing man. I'll try and talk her down, if I can."

He snorted, crossing his arms and leaning back into his chair. "Good luck with that, Adiel-San."

Chuckling quietly, I gave Emery a wave and followed behind Juliet, grabbing a pair of goggles and finding her at the very back of the room. Her expression had gone back to a more neutral stare, though the jerkiness of her movement and occasional frown betrayed said neutrality.

She was paying attention at least, careful not to cut herself on the woodcutter despite a few close calls. Though that attention was limited, as her cuts were uneven and messy.

There's my opening.

I slid next to her quietly, softly laying my hand on the wood she was working with. She jumped slightly, before glancing over to me. With how close we were, it was easy to notice how tall she was, only an inch shorter than I was. Which meant she was definitely over the six-foot mark, adding to that Amazonian thing she had going on.

And yet, despite that passive strength about her, her eyes conveyed a slight hurt to them. Hurt, and confusion. Whatever it was, something about me set her off in a way, though I couldn't figure out what it was, yet.

Gently, I pushed the wood through the cutter along where we were actually supposed to. She shied away from me, but her hands never left the wood we were cutting.

Cutting off the last bit of wood, I shut the machine down and double checked our work. The block of wood was curved sharply, rough edges giving it a janky hourglass look. Which was fine, since the sander should smoothen that out significantly. A decent start to a female shaped puppet.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as Juliet grasped at the sleeves of her uniform, lips twitching. Gesturing to the wood, I stole her attention. "It's a good start, though we'll need to sand it down properly later."

She nodded stiffly, averting her gaze away from me. "Y-Yes, we will."

If I were a dumb teenager, I would assume her stuttering and shyness were because she liked me. But there was a tinge of uncertainty to her that made such a conclusion childish. She looked… afraid almost.

But why?

The sharp ringing of the bell prevented me from questioning her further, as she pushed past me to our table.

I stuck behind her, watching her rummage through her backpack. Looking away for a moment, I waved later to Emery and Romeo, watching as she tried to sneak away from the guy with little progress.

Pulling out the phone Daria gave me, I fumbled with it and managed to send her a quick text.

Me: I might be a bit late to class. Some girl seems to be reacting to my presence quite viscerally, and it's mildly worrying.

Pocketing the device, I watched Juliet push past everyone else, her backpack still unzipped as she slung it over her shoulder. From within it, a quick glimpse of a sharp silver caught my eye.

Well, that couldn't be good.

Mother's nonexistent ass, I think I lost her.

Tailing someone in a school is a lot harder than you'd think. Not only was Juliet avoiding me the best she could, but the hustle and bustle of the other students making their way through the building made it a lot harder to keep an eye on her. Even with her Amazonian build, there were enough people of similar height to obscure her somewhat.

Still, I tried my best to keep up with her, following Juliet into a dead-end hallway. At least, I fucking thought I did. She was nowhere to be seen, and all the doors here were locked. So either she managed to slip inside the one unlocked room here, she had a key to one of the rooms, or I just completely lost her.

Sighing quietly to myself, I leaned against the wall and pulled out my phone, tapping at the screen before remembering how to input my password. Entering the mess ending app, I read Daria's latest message.

Daria: So formal, UmU. No need to worry about little brother, I'll make sure you make it up to me. Preferably by getting up in me, OwO

Me: My eyes want to kill themselves. Fucking "UwU" bullshit.

Daria: so mean, .

That woman. Hot as hell, but damn she can be kind of annoying at times.

Pocketing the mobile device, I picked myself up off the wall and let my gaze wander around the empty dead end hallway. It was quiet, so much so that you could hear a fly sneeze. The doors had blinds on them, all of them open as a pair of purple eyes stared through the one on my left. No way I was going to-

Wait.

I looked back to the previous door, raising an eyebrow as the purple eyes pulled away and the blinds were closed shut. I walked up to the door, grasping the handle and jiggled it, frowning as I met resistance.

My gaze flicked back and forth, making sure no one was nearby as I tensed my arm. The handle snapped, allowing me to walk into the room. The door closed behind me, though there was no click.

"That was locked. How did you open that?"

Juliet stared at the door in muted shock, as if she couldn't believe what had just happened. So, I just shrugged. "I turned the handle."

Finally, she blinked. "But it was locked."

"That it was."

She struggled to say something for a few moments, before she just sighed and crossed her arms. "Fine. What are you doing here, Adiel-San?"

I tilted my head, dropping my bag next to the door. "Curiosity, mostly. Most people don't react so… viscerally to me. But you seemed quite… affected by my presence."

I stepped forward, watching as she backed away from me and into a desk. My lips twitched, and I spoke softly to her. "Tell me something, am I disturbing to you?"

Her head shook almost violently, almost disgusted with the idea and its very essence. "N-No, never. I… I don't understand you. I can't. I shouldn't."

Hmm, she's an interesting one. Full of conflicting feelings and ideals. And yet, oh so susceptible to my presence.

I took another step forward. "What is it about me that frightens you so?"

Her jaw clenched, knuckles going white from how tightly she was holding the desk. "I-I can't tell you."

One final step forward, and I was right in front of her. Calmly and carefully, I used the back of my hand to tilt her face toward mine, locking eyes with her. "You can trust me with any sin you bear, Juliet."

Her breathing grew heavy, her face twitching as she gripped her forearm and squeezed it. She winced, biting her lip in pain as she continued to tighten her grip.

My eyes narrowed.

I traced my finger down her arm, feeling the muscles in the limb loosen up as I went down it. Reaching her hand, I softly rubbed the back of her hand with my thumb, carefully removing her hand from her arm.

"P-Please… no."

Despite her plea, I began to lift her arm up and roll down the sleeve of her jacket, and grimaced. There were splotches of red all along the white sleeve of her shirt, and a coppery scent made its way to my nose.

I unbuttoned her sleeve, slowly rolling it down, careful to avoid agitating her wounds as I revealed her scarred arm. She was muscled, flesh firm with little give. A strong body, if it weren't for the several bleeding cuts all along it.

"What did you do, Juliet?"

Moving over to her side, I leaned on the desk and held her arm up by the hand. Her head hung low, her shoulders sagging with shame as she managed to let out a quiet whisper. "I had to. I'm… I'm dangerous if I don't."

My lips curled into a deep frown as I examined her arm. "You're a danger to yourself if you keep this up."

Her head shook again, though this time it was slower than before. "I am a danger to others if I don't direct my… emotions onto myself."

What? I mulled over her words in my head, trying to find out what exactly she meant by it all. No, that wasn't my main concern for now. Her wounds were. "Do you have any gauze, or other types of bandages?"

She nodded, pointing down with her free hand toward a backpack just below her. Letting go of her arm, I knelt down and rummaged through the bag, biting my lip as I saw a crimson stained knife. Ignoring it for now, I grabbed a roll of gauze and pulled it out of the bag.

Her eyes were locked onto a random floor tile, her injured arm extended away from her. A small gasp escaped her lips as I took hold of the arm again, before wincing as I began to bandage it up.

I stood there, bending down on one knee as I wrapped up her arm. She refused to speak, dutifully examining that floor tile with an almost enviable amount of focus. Deciding to take the initiative once more, I gently prodded her. "Would it be alright if I asked why your emotions are so dangerous?"

Her mouth spoke no words, and for a moment I worried that I had pushed her too far already. But then, I heard it. A small, nervous whisper that almost echoed throughout the empty room. "I-I get angry sometimes, irrationally so. I usually can control it, but whenever I'm around Romeo-Kim my heart flutters, and it's like I'm on cloud nine. And then, whenever some other girl starts to talk with him, laugh with him, be close to him, it makes me… it makes me angry."

She then looked up, lips set in a firm line as she stared at me with both frustration and confusion. "And you as well. But it's different with you. With him, I feel possessive and angry. With you… I feel like I can't hold myself back. Like I have to act on all my wants and desires. I can't… I don't understand it."

I hummed in response, tying up the bandage and motioning for her other arm. She shook her head, pulling back the sleeve and revealing her muscular pale arm, thin scars running across the limb, but nothing recent. Giving her a short nod, I put the bandages back in her bag and paused as I felt the knife. Keeping my eyes locked onto her own, I slowly extracted the blade from her bag, watching as shame filled her features.

No words were exchanged as I raised the knife up and examined it, frowning at the blood drying on the blade. Looking back at her, I began to push a bit more. "This isn't exactly a healthy coping method. Most should consider therapy first, and this never."

Her face winced at that, but this time she didn't look away. "I'm afraid that is not an option for me. A Capulet heiress cannot be seen as weak, and therapy would taint my image. My family knows of this and accepts it as long as no one ever finds out that it was self-inflicted."

That gave me pause. I was suddenly aware that I didn't know much of how the government of this place worked, and if she's an heiress, then either she belonged to a rich family or a royal one. Probably both. "You'll have to forgive me, but I don't follow. I'm not entirely familiar with The Capulet Family and these lands, so you'd have to enlighten me as to why they would prefer you to inflict such a thing on yourselves rather than therapy."

There was a mildly surprised look on her face, but she bobbed her head as she explained the situation. "There are many cities within the country, but there are sixteen major Territories in which these cities reside. The Capulets are the Sir Lords of one of them and are famed for their willpower and strength. Should it ever get out that I needed therapy, I could very well lose my title as heiress. Image is everything after all, and I cannot have mine be tarnished by such a thing."

That was… quite medieval. I mean, it might make some sense if what Daria told me was true. That they had fast tracked this world's development considerably. Though to what extent I wasn't sure. Regardless, at the very least I had some background knowledge on this now.

Twirling the knife in my hand, I caught it by the blade and gave it another look. "That may be, you still need a better outlet than this. All this does is postpone the inevitable and build unhealthy behavior."

Her expression showed just how much she knew that, her eyes searching through mine for an answer I didn't have. With that in mind, I held the knife by the blade and offered it to her, keeping an eye on the confused look on her face as she began to take it. I loosened my grip ever so slightly, keeling the blade bend under my strength as it was pulled across my palm. My hand tightened just as the knife was about to leave it, and I twisted my wrist slightly, bending the metal and leaving the blade a dull mess.

I opened my hand and showed her my palm, watching as her eyes widened at my unblemished flesh. Flexing my fingers, I tilted my head and let my arm rest at my side. "While I may not have a satisfying answer for you, I can offer my assistance. I'm pretty durable, so there's no need to ever hold back any of those nasty emotions of yours with me. If you ever want to talk, or even just vent, my heart is always open."

Juliet was still in shock over the whole knife thing, but she nodded slowly as her body began to relax. Before either of us could continue, the bell in the empty classroom rang. Giving her another glance, I smiled warmly. "Looks like we'll have to cut this short. Can't miss two whole classes on my first day after all. Wait, I have lunch next. I definitely need to go then, I am not gonna miss that sandwich bar. Don't be afraid to call."

I went to grab my bag, but a hand on my shoulder stopped me. Juliet stared at me with a raised brow, expression calm as she spoke. "To do that, I would need your phone number, Adiel-San."

Huh, I completely forgot about that. Pulling out my phone from my pocket, I gestured vaguely towards it. "Right, that makes sense. So, do I just put your number in or…?"

She squinted at my phone, mildly confused before she shrugged it off and pulled out what looked to be a long earring. Clipping it onto the bottom of her ear lobe, she tapped it once. The earring began to expand, covering the entirety of her ear and forming a thin metal plate that extended past her cheek. The end of it glowed, and a holographic blue screen formed in front of her eye. Looking back towards my phone, the screen began to glow slightly, several symbols appearing on it before an alert rang out from my device.

Juliet Capulet wishes to have your Phone Number. Do you consent to him/her having it?

YES NO

Tentatively tapping the "YES" button, I watched her screen flash one more time before returning to normal. Giving me one last nod, she grabbed her backpack and left the room, leaving me alone in the empty classroom. Looking back down at my phone, I blinked.

"What?"

The cafeteria was just as crowded and noisy as I assumed it would be, students of all years chatting and eating as they went about their day. Of course, I had made a beeline for the sandwich bar line, tapping my fingers against the glass as I watched the lunch ladies put the sandwiches together. When the one at the end of the line had asked me what I had wanted on my sandwich, I went with the safe option and told her yes.

Ignoring the way everyone else on the line stared at me, I watched one of the lunch ladies whisper a prayer to herself as she layered on some mayo, peanut butter, and mustard before throwing every topping they had on top of it. Taking the sandwich from the cashier lady, I put it on top of the metal lunch tray I had nabbed earlier and began to scour the cafeteria for Emery. She had said that we shared a lunch period, so she should be here.

Chewing on a piece of raspberry jam and peanut butter covered bacon, I frowned as I began to walk throughout the cafeteria. Finally, I found her sitting in the back corner of the cafeteria, head down as a group of girls ranging from "hot" to "holy fuck how" surrounding her. If my knowledge of American pop culture is right on this, then this was the act one bully scene to a high school romcom, where we get an understanding of where our main heroine stands amongst her peers and get a look at the antagonists of the story.

American pop culture is kind of shit.

Now, while this technically may not be any of my business and that I should probably stop making it a habit to interfere in the affairs of others, I also don't care. I mean, I'm literally a supernatural being who is only attending school because I'm woefully out of my depth when it comes to this world's culture. Shit, this is starting to sound a bit too much like Twilight now. Gross.

Damn it, I'm getting distracted again. Keeping my grip on my lunch tray soft, I twisted my way through the small gaggle of girls and placed my lunch right next to Emery's on the table. Uncaring if whatever conversation I just interrupted, I gave Emery a big smile as I looked between her and the other girls. "Sorry I'm a bit late Emery, took a while for the lady to finish with my sandwich. Is that sexist? Ah, whatever. Anyway, who are your lovely friends here?"

Her head whipped towards me, eyes blinking rapidly as she switched between confused and concerned like she was a light switch. The other ladies in the meanwhile simply turned to each other, whispering quietly before a brunette with blond highlights raised a hand silencing the other girls. Her eyes, brown to the point of looking red, glinted in a sort of mild amusement. "Well now, what do we have here? Emery, you never told me that you knew such an… exotically handsome man. Shame on you, keeping secrets from your bestie."

This girl was speaking some Halorian. I wouldn't have even pegged her for a Forestkin, especially with how absent her accent was, especially compared to Emery. Looking past the gaggle for a moment, I noticed that all eyes had locked onto our general area, or more specifically, onto the young woman who just spoke. It was a familiar stare, one that I could clearly remember. It was like when Daria had her Lustful Presence leaking, just way less potent.

To my side, Emery shifted awkwardly, refusing to look the other woman in the eye. "Um, Barbra-Chan, 'an you please not. H-He's Lus'craft-Sensei's youn'er brother, and I 'ust met him."

This Barbra lady just scoffed lightly, looking towards me as she narrowed her eyes, tongue darting out from between her lips. "Come now, I'm sure he'd love to spend some time with me. Wouldn't you?"

Uh, was I expected to have an answer? "I'm a bit lost here, you two know each other?"

They just stared at me like I had grown a second head.

Shifting awkwardly where I stood, I tried to question them further. "Did I do something wrong?"

Still, I didn't get any answer from the two of them, instead just more shocked stares as they gaped like fish.

"Sweetie, what's going on here?"

Someone new entered the fray, a fairly short dude who walked forward with a swagger in his step. He too had brown hair, though his eyes were somehow pink, and were entirely fixated on Barbra. The woman in question just tore her attention away from me and onto the new guy. "U-Uh, this is just – we were just… I was saying hi to the new guy in school?"

I'm suddenly aware of another reason as to why I should stop butting into other people's problems as the guy got all up in my face. He continued to talk to who was presumably his girlfriend, even as he gave me a glare. "Uh huh, and you decided to use your allure too, right?"

Damn, what's with my luck and finding a bunch of hot women who were either in a relationship or pining after someone else? Wait, allure?

Barbra scratched the back of her neck, biting her lip as a sheepish look crossed her face. "W-Well it's almost instinct at this point, you know? Please don't be too upset Jamie, you know I don't mean it."

Jamie? Wasn't that a girl's name? Regardless, Jamie continued to get up in my grill, even though his head only reached up to my chest. It'd be funny if it weren't so uncomfortable. His finger poked me in the chest, clearly trying to intimidate me and failing at it. "Look man, I get you're new around here, but Barbra-Chan is my girl, okay? You got no business trying and failing to get into her pants, no offense sweetie."

I mean, he sounds like an asshole, but he also definitely cares for this Barbra. If he weren't such a dick, I'd almost respect him. But there was one part of his statement that hit me the wrong way. "I get that you're a bit possessive and egotistical, and more power to you, but that does not mean you can just no sell how fucking hot I am. I could totally get into her pants if I wanted, and she consented."

Oh hey, there's my narcissism. Almost forgot that was there.

Jamie was obviously not happy with my response, as he began to pull back for a punch, only for another person I didn't know to start talking. "Calm your tits bro, no fighting. Not after last time."

It was another guy, same brown hair and pink eyes as Jamie, but with an older look. He was definitely taller, just about my height, with a more muscled frame. And hanging off his arm was a painfully familiar head of auburn hair.

Jolene stared at me, a single finger pressed against her lips as she silently told me to shut the fuck up and don't say shit to her. Or something like that anyway.

Jamie growled, refocusing my attention on the matter at hand as he walked away with a quiet "Whatever". Barbra scampered off alongside him, running her hands up and down his arm and whispering soothing words into his ear. Jolene and what was apparently her fucking boyfriend followed suit, the woman giving me one last wink as she sashayed her hips slightly.

Deciding that I've had enough of that for one day, I sat down next to Emery and picked up my sandwich, giving her a look as I shrugged helplessly. "I have no idea what just happened here, but I think I won."

She blinked, and then began to laugh.

It's been a while since we've last met on this specific story. You have my apologies for that, but I do have a few other projects that I work on, both fanfic and other. Either way, I hope you all enjoyed this installment of the "Darius Accidentally Bangs Some Dude's Girlfriend" series. I also hope you enjoy the way I've been writing Darius, and how he interacts with others. I honestly really like writing for him, since his good intentions and desires are often hurt by his own self confidence and narcissism. Plus the fact that he has options not available to normal people. It's very fun.

Now onto my favorite segment of these Endslates, Review of the Chapter. And here's a double bill, for funsies:

"DO

IT

ALL

SIR/MADAM"

I have a penis.

"Haha, noice! Honestly, I think it'd be pretty cool to have Darius learn about the stuff and eventually pull ahead of the competition, really show how being an aspect of destruction differentiates from a human. Him showing up Ben is just a plus. Also, Ben Dover? I just, I somehow guessed you would but I didn't actually believe. Also, it doesn't just have to be crafting. Really, any subject where his past memories can give him some insight or even with his destruction powers helping him would be really cool."

One of the perks of having the setting be in a modern fantasy world is that I get to have fun with both magic and technology, in different ways of course. Plus, Universal Aspects are very much a borderline super race in a sense, and I really can't wait to introduce how they fit into the world (or how they technically don't) and how they're perceived by the general populace. Very fun.

This has been A Decent Hoonter, and I do not support cheating. That's why I write about it on the internet, where no one will find it.