Children of a Lesser God

Chapter 141: He Seems To Think I Should Care

Chapter 141: He Seems To Think I Should Care

"You know what? Why not? This is just what the day needed..." Laz felt stoic about this sudden interruption. All things considered, he had a pretty decent day and a fun date with Leona. He should have realized that karma was going to show up with a shot to the nuts some point soon. Sadly, karma seemed to arrive in the form of a blonde haired pretty boy with the voice of a ten year old.

"Leona! Good, I found you. And you, get away from her right now!" Brian rushed over as though he was a knight in shining armor and immediately wanted to remove Leona from Laz's vicinity. Leona didn't just stand around numbly however and quickly moved to avoid Brian while sliding a bit behind Laz. Although she didn't normally like to rely on someone else, she felt comfortable enough around Laz and trusted in his abilities enough to do just that.

Seeing this development, Brian started to get a little angry and seemed like he wanted to blow up at her. Oddly enough, one of his boys decided to walk up at this moment and whisper into Brian's ear.

"Boss. You need to explain things to her first." The young man then took a step back while Brian took a moment to compose himself while staring daggers at Laz. He then briefly closed his eyes and began to talk.

"Leona, please listen for a moment. This person..." Just as he was going to continue, he opened his eyes, only to find that Laz and Leona had started walking away.

"YOU..." Brian quickly looked at his two goons who got the message right away. They rushed over to block the way of Laz and Leona.

"Can I help you with something?" Laz asked as he turned back to face Brian. The truth was that neither he nor Leona felt comfortable around Brian since being close to him made them want to either throw up or hit something. It could have gone both ways. The fact that Laz knew what Brian was combined with the instinctual feeling that appeared caused them to not want to have anything to do with him. It's not hatred or disgust, more like finding someone who is the complete and total negative to your negative. There was nothing but repelling force between the two.

"You can shut the hell up and get the fuck away from her!" Brian demanded as though ordering around a subordinate.

"Right. Well, tell me how that goes. For now, I'm walking the lady home and your two little peons should probably get out of the way before they find themselves unable to stand." Laz was normally a passive person. In the past, he had always maintained that viewpoint, the one where he didn't want to be noticed or to interact. But that didn't mean he didn't have a temper and a limit. Right at this moment, Brian was crossing both of those. He didn't know what the hell Brian was going to say, but he knew that it wouldn't make a bit of difference to Leona so he was just hoping he could skip this whole scene. Sadly, it looked like Brian wanted to ride this train to the end of the line.

"Heh. Thinks he could take us."

"He looks like a ghost with the body of a skeleton."

Neither goon took Laz seriously. It might be base on how he dressed, but without wearing skin tight clothes, it was hard to know just how strong Laz was. People always underestimated him.

"Wait..."

Just as Laz was about to take action against these two who were offering themselves up as punching bags, Leona stopped him. It wasn't as though she didn't want to watch what was going to happen. She just didn't want to bring Laz any trouble.

"What is it Brian?" Leona figured the best thing she could do was to hear him out and then get them to leave her and Laz alone. Had Laz know he thoughts, he would have stopped her and just went ahead with the ass kicking. He knew that guys like Brian wouldn't listen to reason.

"Leona. You need to step away from him..."

"Just talk already," Leona couldn't help rolling her eyes. Brian seemed to be obsessed with ordering her around. That wasn't something she would let someone do anyway.

"I don't know who that man is, but he is not your cousin. I checked the records and your aunt Mary never got married." Brian seemed like he was delivering a piece of world shattering news and felt proud of himself for discovering it. The smug look on his face said everything.

Laz, who had been watching Brian, turned to Leona and couldn't help but ask,

"You sure I can't just hit my way out of this? I mean, come on.... He's asking for it so bad..."

Leona rolled her eyes at Laz's suggestion but secretly thought that it least it would feel good. She just couldn't do it though. She was still stuck with the feeling of not wanting Laz to get in trouble because of her..

"Anything else Brian?" Leona asked.

"You don't believe me?"

"No. She believes you, but only because I was lying to you the last time we met," Laz didn't wait for Leona's response. Although he wasn't intentionally trying to stir up trouble, he already saw the signs that trouble was here whether they wanted it to be or not. As such, since the fire was already going, why not thought in a stick of dynamite?

"Just who the fuck do you think you are? Huh?" Brian's hands were clenched up tight as though he wanted to fight. He seemed to immediately forget his concern for Leona and instead was filled with rage for the bastard who had played him. This was what Laz was looking for.

Laz just shook his head though when it happened and didn't respond. Whatever he said would either set Brian off or would get twisted. There was no other option. So instead, Laz decided not to speak at all.

"What's wrong you little shit? Cat got your tongue? You will either tell me your god damned name or the only place you'll be going is to the hospital," Brian threatened. He had never been treated this disrespectfully before. He had always used fear to intimidate others, but sadly he chose the wrong target.

"He seems to think I should care?" Laz asked Leona who couldn't help but laugh despite trying not to. She knew better than anyone that Laz couldn't be threatened with physical violence as she had fought him many times before. Still though, there was a slight feeling of unease coming from Brian. Up until now, Laz had only talked to her and the others about people like them, the infected. He had never mentioned anything about the chosen ones like Brian. Did they get these awesome sorts of power too or was it something different. She snuck a quick look at Laz's face and saw that there wasn't a hint of tension on it. This helped her to settle down immensely.

Just as it seemed like they were going to fight, a group of children ran up, followed closely behind by their mothers. Since the confrontation had escalated, the group of five had been blocking the sidewalk. Seeing the other people come over, Brian and his boys were shocked for a moment and moved out of the way as the group of kids and aduts went past. Being distracted caused them to take their eyes off of Laz and Leona and as soon as they looked back, the two of them had disappeared.

"What?"

"Where did they go?"

"Split up and find them, they couldn't have gone far," Brian ordered. He didn't think they rushed past him so he assumed they got past his two friends. Therefore, he started to run past them while they hurried to catch up.

Up on the roof of the building, Laz and Leona were looking down on them as they ran off. Laz was pleasantly surprised by Leona's quick actions. As soon as there was an opening, she grabbed Laz's hand and jumped, yanking both of them up on to the roof without being seen. Laz knew that in a fight, she couldn't even touch him much less match his strength. But she was just as quick if not quicker than him when it came to speed. And it seemed like her a ability to jump had received an upgrade as well.

Realizing that they were still holding hands, Leona quickly let go with an embarrassed smile.

"I'm sorry. I'm sure you didn't want to run away but I just figured it was better than fighting in public," she apologized.

"Ha. It's fine. Actually, this is strangely more satisfying," Laz commented while looking over at the direction that Brian was running. They had turned down the first alleyway they saw and kept going, thinking that Laz and Leona must be just ahead of them.

"I just need to clearly lay things out to him, otherwise he is going to keep doing this," Leona lamented. She felt like the problem was that she hadn't been clear enough to Brian and may have somehow led him on. Even though she had always been cold to him in an effort to get him to take a hint, she had never clearly said she wants nothing to do with him. Laz disagreed.

"I don't think that's going to work, nor is it the problem," Laz said after thinking for a moment. He was remembering what he knew about Tommy. Tommy had obsessed over Kennedy in the beginning but do to the course of events, they didn't interact much. Of course, the situation was different at the time as well since they had all just recently became what they were. Thinking on it now though, Laz thought that maybe all of the chosen seemed to have some mental problem and got fixated on something. Had things drawn out longer, Laz could see how Tommy would have become more and more fixated on Kennedy, the same way Brian was fixating on Leona.

'Did that mean they would be obsessed with another person or could it pertain to a thing too...' Laz let his thoughts trail off since he didn't have enough information about it. Of course, even if his logic wasn't sound in regards to their ability, he knew that as a guy, Brian wasn't going to give up.

"Why do you think that?" Leona asked, wanting to draw out more of an answer.

"Let's just say it's intuition and leave it there."

"Then why did you go and tell him you aren't my cousin?" Leona couldn't figure out this part.

"Because then he will start to question our relationship and will go after me instead of coming to bother you," Laz explained. It was just a theory, but one that seemed sound.

"So you're getting him to target you?" Leona didn't understand why Laz would do that.

"Yep. And so he will leave you alone for a while now too until he deals with me. Guys like him aren't just going to give up, even if he thinks we are dating. If anything, he will move against me soon."

Leona didn't know if that was what was going to happen, but she did understand that Laz had basically shifted the target onto himself... and without even needing a use a rune.

...

Brian and gang had gone almost two blocks away and still didn't find a trace of Laz and Leona. He could only assume they had gotten away by now.

"GOD DAMN IT," Brian kicked the dumpster next to him and starting howling in pain. He clearly didn't know how to properly kick something.

"What should we do now boss?" The taller goon asked.

"Fuck. Fine. Alright. Let's go back home and I will call my dad. I'm sure there is something he can do." Fake tickets, false charges, or even planting evidence. Getting him out of the picture was a simply endeavor.

"And get me one of the girls ready. Clean her up this time. I don't want that dank basement smell to ruin my mood this time," Brian called out to the guys who were going to bring the car back to him.

"FUCK. If I can't have Leona, than no one can. I will kill that pasty ass bitch before bringing Leona home with me. She will make a great addition to one of my nice, comfy cages. MMMM." Just as Brian was savoring the thought in his head, a gentle glow of blue lines briefly appeared on his face before disappearing just as quickly.