Chapter 4: A Fairytale Reversed
ORION’S POV
"Are you really going to use him?"
I’ve warned Niko about sitting on my desk and twirling his gun in my face like that. If that thing goes off and damages my face, I’ll relieve him of his organs.
"It’s not a question of if I’ll use him, it’s more about how useful he’d be to me...and I’m honestly doubting that now"
Niko sheathes his gun in favor of leaning over and draping himself across me like a cat— or a lover during pillow talk.
It says something about both of us that neither of us finds this weird enough to push the other away.
"If you didn’t think he’d be useful to you, why did you make him your fiancé?"
"Because of his eyes."
The moment my eyes landed on him, I felt seventeen again, when looking into duckling’s despair-filled eyes would send the sweetest thrill through me.
I want to drag him to his knees and lick those tears from his eyes, then dig my fingers into his—
"Your pupils are blown." Niko unhelpfully comments, right before sticking a finger in my eye. "And why his eyes?"
"Because his eyes are so normal, that everything I do makes me feel like the one who’s different."
"You didn’t bully this kid when you were younger did you?" He sticks his finger into my other eye.
There’s something fun about the way my eyelids quickly shut at the intrusion.
"Do I look like an insecure bigot to you?" I pull away from him. "I never bullied the duckling, I just had fun at his expense...a lot of fun."
Niko raises a brow. "Like placing a gun in his hand and forcing him to kill a person?"
Even I was surprised by my brilliance with that one. The feeling of forcing his trembling hands to grip the gun and pressing his finger down on the trigger was amazing.
And the look in his eyes after? Delicious.
"Not a person...a pawn that stepped out of line."
"True," he sits up thoughtfully, "we still haven’t found who gave her the drugs she sold, and who she sold them for."
A pawn that steps out of line doesn’t deserve to be on the board.
"Tell me Niko, am I really so hard to understand?"
"Not when you make your decisions clear for us poor folk to know." Is that supposed to be a jab at me?
At least flatter me a little, what right-hand man doesn’t flatter his boss?
Anyways. "When I said that we would no longer be dealing drugs, wasn’t my decision clear to you...poor folk?"
"Very, very clear," he nods thoughtfully, "you even shot Malik four times in the dick because he tried to question you."
"I didn’t shoot him in the dick because of that." I’m not that petty. "I did it because I felt like it. There’s nothing wrong with asking important questions, so don’t be a tyrant, Niko."
He gives me a long meaningful look that I refuse to decipher.
"Now, if only there were some opportunist fuck who I already know refused to obey my wonderful orders, and is now dating my girlfriend of ten years...."
"Leon...that sly piece of shit." Niko hisses.
My artistic side takes note of the way the light catches his amber eyes at the right moment, looking like molten gold.
It gives him the vibe of a lion crouching to pounce.
"Can I pluck out your eyes and add to my collection?"
He’s my right-hand man, so I’m not going to just take it, because that would be rude— I am not a rude man.
"No." He doesn’t even hesitate. "Keep your creepy aesthetics to yourself."
I’m a generous man, I won’t fault anyone for not understanding the complexity of my aesthetics— not him, nor duckling.
They can choose to embody mediocrity for all I care.
"Anyway, he’s definitely the one my pawns are peddling the drugs for, but he’s not the one they’re selling it to."
"And now, he’s dating that gold-digging witch." Niko sneers.
I’ve never really understood his problem with Louise, but it is entertaining to see them get riled up because of each other.
"Now Niko, that’s my girlfriend, you know?"
"I honestly don’t get it. Why the hell do you keep that woman close? She’s a fucking snake— "
"Because she’s honest with her desires." I can’t waste my time always looking behind my back because of a person who hides their desires.
Like duckling. That bird fucker always made me uneasy.
"She likes what she likes and hates what she hates. Why would I let go of someone so simple and useless?"
"So now...you want to use the kid she hates to get her back?" How he manages to say that while looking like he’s eating a pile of shit, I’ll never know.
"And figure out why she’d leave me for Leon who isn’t even as wealthy as you...also, he’s not a kid. He’s the same age as us."
"For real?" He asks, stunned.
"For real." I guess duckling does look a bit small. Like he shrank instead of growing.
"Okay," Niko sighs, "what are you going to do with the kid...him?"
"What do you mean? I’ve already done what I wanted to do with him. He’s my fiancé now."
"And after that? What are you going to do after that?" I think Niko might try to shoot me in the face. "Are you going to just lock him up here and do nothing?"
His eyes catch the light at all the right moments— I really want those golden eyes.
"You’re horrible, Niko." I almost shivered. "This isn’t Beauty and the Beast, I’m not going to lock him up here and ravage him."
"I...never said that."
Did Niko just speak? "Besides in this case, I’m definitely Beauty, and he’s like some...malnourished Beast."
I guess running away from poisoned luxury to poverty would do that to anyone— he was smallish even then.
"Look, Orion," he exhales irritatedly, "if you want Louise to know she’s been replaced, then you have to flaunt him outside."
"And what about Leon? How do I use the duckling to figure out what he’s hiding?"
"You’re asking me?" Niko scoffs in disbelief. "You’re the one who brought him here! Are you really saying that you don’t have any plans for Leon?"
"Of course I do, but since you felt like telling me things I already know, I just thought I’d ask this too."
Oh, the lion might actually pounce. "You already knew?" He rubs a hand down his face. "Of course, you already knew. I’m the idiot here, aren’t I?"
"Well, you said it, not me."
"So, what’s your plan?" He recovered too damn fast.
"I’m bringing him to Aunt’s birthday dinner."
"That is so fucking cruel." He recoils away from me. "That’s Leon’s mother for god’s sake! And everyone would be there; that snake, the sly bastard— "
"That’s why we’re going. It’s the best place to introduce him as my fiancé." Let’s just hope that Aunt isn’t homophobic.
If she is, I’ll shoot Leon in the leg. Or in both legs, depending on my mood.
"Do you know who else would even be there, Orion?" Niko asks, struggling to hold back laughter.
I want in on the joke. "Tell me."
"Leon’s right-hand man," he lets out a snort, "Malik with no dick."
