Chapter 757: Killing the Mood with a Razor Tongue(2)
=So…you decided not to help the kaijin with their emotional shenanigans, because…=
∆Like any good parent/caretaker, it is necessary to allow their children to make their own mistakes and amendments.∆
=Uh huh…and not because you’re bored as hell and wanted to see what would happen if you left Hurricroak and Razorstella unattended for five minutes?=
∆…maybe.∆
=Ay caramba…=
________________________________________
[Why do I feel like someone is badmouthing us right now?]
[It’s probably Pathos, let’s be honest.]
[That’s…accurate.]
[But forget that noise for now. Snake boy at two o’clock.]
[I see him…why is he just standing there like an idiot?]
[Probably because he’s nervous.]
…
“Is your cousin normally this skittish?”
“No, this is…new.”
________________________________________
‘There she is…wait…what do I do now?!’
When Zhen Tai initially chased after the mysterious girl, he didn’t exactly have a plan in mind.
He did, however, enough of a mind to chase her all the way to one of the open air bar areas and see her settle at an open table like it was the most natural thing in the world. He was just about to bolt into the open and make it painfully obvious that he had been following her to someplace so he could to talk to her, but then he realized that was dumb and had the good sense to hide behind a wall. This way he could spy on her and not be a creep, despite this behavior actually being very creepy.
All he knew in that moment though was that he wanted to talk to her, thank her and maybe see if she was at all interested in him.
However, now that the object of his affection was about a dozen or so feet away from him, he was slowly realizing how stupid that lack of a plan was.
“Alright, we’ll head behind the wall and…never mind, it appears he is frozen stiff. Like a snake in an ice cave.”
“Oh boy.”
“Oh thank the gods! People smarter than me!”
Thankfully for his ass, his other cousins had finally caught up to him.
“I just came to the realization that I definitely can’t just walk up to her and say I fell in love with her at first sight. What the fuck do I do?!,” Zhen Tai asked his cousins in an uncharacteristically panicked tone of voice.
Zhen Xing, Zhen Feng and Zhen Guo were all relatively stunned at their cousin’s sudden change in demeanor.
They were more used to him acting significantly more…gruff.
“Wait, I’ve seen you threatened to headbutt a Dome Skulled Lizard bloodliner. Talking to one girl is getting you this wound up?,” Zhen Feng asked.
At this question, Zhen Tai shot his flashy cousin a look of genuine disbelief.
“Really? You do realize there is a massive difference between me talking to her and me threatening to cave a lizard bloodlines skull in.”
“I mean…both can kill you, one’s just out of embarrassment while the other would be due to smashing your head open.”
“…”
“I’m not wrong.”
Zhen Tai wanted to say more at this moment, but he had other things to focus on. For example, whether or not that girl might disappear again while he continues to hesitate like this.
A quick glance over his shoulder helped him to confirm that she was still sitting there, in fact, she was even nursing a cocktail at this time.
Zhen Tai, however, still couldn’t work the nerve to just go up and talk to her…until Zhen Guo instructed him to do exactly that. Well, he did it with more tact than simply telling him what to do.
For starters, he made sure Zhen Tai was some level of calm before giving him any instructions.
“Alright you giant bundle of nerves, get over here and stare at me in the eyes.”
“Huh? What the-?”
Before Zhen Tai could finish complaining, Zhen Guo grabbed him by his face with both of his hands and began to breathe in a more obvious manner. Influenced by the flow of events, Zhen Tai began to breathe with him.
This kept going until, for reasons Zhen Tai didn’t fully understand, he finally felt some semblance of calm inside himself. This change must’ve been visible on some level, because once he had settled down, Zhen Guo had released Zhen Tai’s face.
“Alright, I’m going to tell you what to do, but the rest is up to you. Got it?”
“Uh…yes.”
“Okay, first, you’re going to go over there and ask if that seat across from her is available. If she says yes, you can talk to her. Introduce yourself, see if she remembers you in the slightest. If she says no, just turn around and walk away.”
“Huh? Shouldn’t I ask her about who she’s saving that seat for?”
“No. No you shouldn’t. You’re just going to say that you’re sorry for bothering her and walk away if and when she says that that seat is taken.”
“I…okay…when do I tell her that I think she stole my heart the moment she saved me?”
“Not unless she shows the slightest inkling of interest in you.”
“That…yeah, okay.”
And with that incredibly simple yet stupid plan in mind, Zhen Tai walked off to meet his savior…and probably get shot down like a bird in flight.
“So… what do you think his chances are?,” Zhen Xing asked.
“Low enough that we should get him a bottle of whiskey or whatever the fuck vodka is.”
“And those cost how much?”
“Cheap enough to warrant buying two.”
________________________________________
[Oh, now he’s walking over here. Way to make a lady wait…]
[After having what appears to have been a pep talk from his cousin, well now that’s just adorable!]
________________________________________
Encouraged by his cousin’s plan of action, Zhen Tai walked over to where the mysterious girl was sitting and did his absolute best to not let his heart jump out of his throat.
Of course, by the time he managed to get close enough to her table to probably talk to the mysterious woman, he was overwhelmed by the urge to jump off the side of the ship.
Anxiety is a bitch, everybody.
Seeing as he made it this far though, he figured he might as well go for broke.
“Excuse me, miss. But is this seat taken?”
“Hmmm?”
Instead of answering Zhen Tai right away, the mysterious girl gave him an appraising look of sorts. For his part, he couldn’t help but notice how her eyes were incredibly reminiscent of that of a top tier predator.
‘Damn! I’ve heard of piercing blue eyes, but this is…damn!’
The girl proceeded to stare at Zhen Tai in absolute silence, for who knows how long, until she finally decided to break it.
“No. Nobody’s sitting there. Feel free to take it yourself.”
“Huh? Oh! Thanks,” Zhen Tai said verbally while mentally noting that she had a mysteriously beautiful accent that was captivatingly cold yet sharp like a blade made of ice.
Given the go-ahead though, Zhen Tai proceeded to take up the seat directly across the mysterious girl.
‘Wait a minute…oh shit!’
It was in this moment though that he realized he had no idea what this girl’s name was.
‘FUCK,FUCK,FUCK! Do I just ask her? Do I introduce myself first? What do I do?!’
Luckily for his dumbass, the mysterious girl decided to throw him a lifeline…sort of.
“This is the part where you introduce yourself,” the mysterious girl suddenly said, breaking Zhen Tai from his internal debate. “And that’s the point in which I’ll introduce myself.”
As if she was giving the man time to gather his nerve, the mysterious girl started sipping on her cocktail again.
“R-right. Nice to meet you, my name is Zhen Tai. What’s yours?”
“That’s better,” the mysterious girl nodded as she placed her drink back down before answering the question. “My name is Rachel.”
“Rachel…”
“Just Rachel will suffice. My surname or lack thereof is no importance to you or anyone for that matter.”
“That…okay.”
With introductions now out of the way, Zhen Tai and Rachel could now have a proper conversation as to why the former decided to contact the latter in such an obvious and public setting.
“With all that being said though, is there any particular reason why you decided to approach me, Mister Zhen Tai?,” Rachel said with a inquisitorial gaze.
…
[Mister Zhen Tai?]
[Shut up, it felt right.]
…
In response to this question, Zhen Tai couldn’t help but feel but a tad bit crestfallen. After all, this question seemed to imply that she didn’t really remember him despite having rescued him.
Little things like that tended to hurt the heart quite a bit, but that didn’t deter Zhen Tai from at least expressing his gratitude.
“Oh…uh, I guess you don’t remember this then…but a couple days ago, you saved me from getting drowned by an aether beast. A River Drowner? You sliced the beast’s tentacle before bisecting the poor bastard.”
“Did I?,” Rachel asked with a raised brow before a look of realization appeared. “Ah yes, I remember that. You flailed a bit like a drowned codfish.”
“That…yeah…that’s true.”
If this little exchange was anything to go off of, then this would-be romance was about to end before it even had a chance of starting.
