Harker was relieved, but also felt guilty. He didn't mean to use such underhanded methods of threatening his friendship with Roland in order for him to help Princess Jinzhu. But he had no choice, as Roland would not budge unless he did something.
He felt like a terrible friend.
He had owed him so much, and he still wronged him this way. Just for a girl.
Really terrible. Harker couldn't even look Roland in the eye during their whole trip back to New York in a private jet.
Still, he had to settle this tension sooner or later.
He decided the best thing would be to show gratitude. "Uh… Thanks for this again—"
"Shut. It." Roland interrupted him, picking up a Men's Fitness magazine and flipping the pages open furiously.
Harker gulped, nervously drinking some iced tea. Meanwhile, Princess Jinzhu watched the two of them in curiosity inside that metal cylinder, drinking some iced tea too for the first time.
"Shut. It." She repeated the way Roland said it.
Roland closed the magazine and raised an eyebrow at her. "Is there a problem, 'Your Highness'?"
"Oh. Nothing." She looked away and pursed her lips. "I just thought your tone just now sounded really annoyed towards your best friend."
"I'm not annoyed. I just want some peace and quiet." Roland went back to reading, crossing his leg.
Princess Jinzhu shrugged. "Well, you seem annoyed to me and Harker sir and you're making him uncomfortable. I don't like seeing him uncomfortable like this."
Harker scratched the back of his head. "Princess Jinzhu, you really shouldn't say those things out loud—"
"WELL. I'm so sorry if my humble desire for some peace and quiet while I read my magazine was disturbing the two of you." Roland stood up in a huff. "I shall be moving further back on the jet then. Enjoy yourselves."
He moved further back, and took out his walkman. He plugged in some heavy rock music on his earphones that was so loud, Harker and Princess Jinzhu who had refined senses could still hear it. The lyrics being shouted by the singer goes something like:
'I WANT TO KILL EVERYONE
I WANT TO KILL MYSELF
TAKE ME AWAY FROM HERE
AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!'
Harker and Princess Jinzhu shared an awkward look at this.
Princess Jinzhu leaned closer to him. "Why is he so mad, Harker sir? I thought he said he was willing to do anything for you, and that he was fine with helping us."
Harker thought he should really teach this mermaid how to read the room. But then again, he can't blame her as the only people she interacted with for many years were mermaids like her, and she knows nothing about how landwalkers interact amicably with each other.
"Listen, Your Highness…. Don't be too blunt with Roland." Harker whispered. "He's just pissed off because he thinks I'm making a dumb decision, which I really am. Plus, I did a bad thing by using manipulation on him just so he would agree to help you."
"Manipulation?" Princess Jinzhu frowned. "But Harker sir is a gentleman, you can't be manipulative."
"Er, I'm not a perfect gentleman." Harker said. "I can be pretty shitty too, especially when I tell my friend I would cut ties with them if they don't give me what I want."
"But that's also because you want to keep him safe, right?" Princess Jinzhu turned to Roland again. "I think your friend is being unreasonable here. There must be another reason why he's so upset."
Harker sighed. "Just don't go and make him even more upset. He'll cool down eventually."
But Princess Jinzhu just never follows what Harker tells her to.
Moments passed, and Harker was getting tired so he took time to sleep. After a few hours, they were about to make their landing. Roland took off his headphones and set down his magazine.
He smacked Harker hard on the back of the head. "Get up. We're here."
Princess Jinzhu's claws appeared. "You don't have to hit him and order him around like a dog, Sir."
Her tone was still soft but it was dripping with venom. Roland was not perturbed by this scary mermaid's aggressive appearance.
"If I don't smack him, he won't wake up. He sleeps like a log. I know my best friend more than anyone else in this world." Roland said pointedly.
"You could have been more gentle about it. And just because you know him well, doesn't mean you can treat him like that." Princess Jinzhu argued.
Roland sneered. "Treat him like what? I don't see Harker making any complaints about the way I treat him. And isn't the fact that he and his fish girlfriend gets to stay in a luxurious jet a proof of how well I treat my friend?"
"I'm not a fish! I'm a jiaoren!" She hissed.
Roland scoffed. "Still doesn't change the fact that your lower half is that of a slimy fish."
Harker did not expect another argument to ensue between them just as he woke up.
He raised his hand. "Just chill, you guys…. Let's just get out of the jet now."
Roland and Harker left first since it was easier for them as people with feet to walk down the stairs. Harker then used his hair to lift Princess Jinzhu's cylinder with him. It was nighttime, and there was nowhere else at this private landing spot.
"So she gets to stay at your house while your father is not around. But what about the maids and servants?" Harker said.
"I dismissed them ever since my father left for Italy." Roland said. "Anyway, the princess didn't correct me when I said that she's your girlfriend. Did you seriously make a fish your lover just in the course of 2 weeks?"
Harker waved his hand. "Hahaha, she's not my girlfriend….."
Roland gave him a look, and so he was forced to add. ".... Yet. It's complicated. Like you said, we barely know each other and so many things happened right now."
"But you do like her. And want her to be your girlfriend eventually, since you said 'yet'." Roland scowled. "I understand."
He stomped off again.
Harker followed after him. "Now wait a minute! Is there really something wrong with that!? You even helped matchmake me with Xi Hua, what's the problem with Princess Jinzhu!?"
"Because she's a goddamn fish!" Roland said. "And I don't like her at all! Not one bit! She tries to mock me all the time!"
"I can hear you two, you know." Princess Jinzhu said with her arms crossed as well. "I don't like you that much either now, Roland sir."
Harker rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you two bicker even worse than siblings. In fact, you two look pretty similar so you could be siblings."
Roland scoffed. "Just because we have blond hair and blue eyes? Get your eyes checked, Hark."
Princess Jinzhu scoffed too. "Yes, and my siblings would have looked way better."
"At least my siblings would never smell like the whole seafood aisle at the market."
"Why you white ape walking on two feet—"
This started another argument all the way home to the Faust Residence in Scarsdale, and Harker doesn't know how to react. These two were very calm, collected and rational individuals. And yet all of that goes down the drain once they start going after each other's throats.
Harker would have never expected that two blondies would actually be a recipe for disaster.
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