Chapter 6, the gathering — L's POV (Patreon)

“Worried about me then?”

Laz’s thoughts freeze. They stare at [Oracle] in dumbfounded silence. It’s a simple question with a simple answer. But there’s nothing simple about it for Laz.

[Oracle] has seen through them. Even if Laz denies it, they aren’t sure they can make their answer sound believable right now. Not when their whole conversation started because Laz wanted to keep [Oracle] from danger.

Why did Laz intervene? If they allowed curiosity to lead [Oracle] somewhere dangerous, Laz could come and save them from trouble, earning a point or two of their trust. Laz knows by now that [Oracle] won’t blindly believe them if Laz does something for them. They have to fight to earn [Oracle]’s trust bit by bit. This could have worked in Laz’s best interests, and yet they didn’t even consider it before speaking, though they usually would.

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