Page 37 of The Explorer
“You don’t want to be a hero?”
Victor pushed out his breath forcefully. “Iama hero.”
“Yeah, yeah, you improved the formula and because of you Europe is getting cleaned much faster. We heard. It’s super impressive, so why are you always in such a foul mood?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m always smiling and happy.” He said it with dripping sarcasm and a stone face. “Anyway, I’ll forward you each a few messages that I’ve received for you from your friends and family.”
Indiana lit up while I asked, “Did you get them via Freya?”
Victor nodded and got up from the table.
“Did you apologize to her yet?”
“That’s none of your business.”
His dismissive attitude made me defensive. “Like hell it is. She’s my cousin and you treated her with disrespect. Don’t think I’ve forgotten.”
Victor’s jaw tightened as he took the last three steps and placed a hand in front of the electronic door opener. “Trust me, Aubri, your cousin doesn’t need your help to deal with me, she does fine on her own.”
“You’ve spoken to her?”
“Corresponded, yes.”
“And?”
“And my correspondence is private,” said Victor and stepped outside.
“Victor! Tell us you apologized,” My tone was firm but he still ignored me and looked past me to Indiana, who was fiddling with his Neuro Link. “It’s the other way around. The silver button goes up, not down.”
“Oh, okay.”
“Hey, dickwad, I’m talking to you! I demand that you apologize to Freya for being rude and disrespectful.”
Victor gave me one of his bored expressions. “It’s a little hard to take orders from someone who’s rude and disrespectful herself.”
“I’m not.”
“You called me dickwad.”
“Yeah, well, that’s sort of a pet name in the Northlands,” I lied.
“Great, in that case I’ll start using it more frequently. Since you think I was too harsh on Freya, I’ll make sure to use soft pet names in the future like dickwad.”
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t do that. It’s… ehmm… best used with males.”
“Right. Fine. Call me if you need anything.”
“See you, Victor,” Indiana called out from the living room.
“See you, dickwad,” Victor answered and shot me a smug smile, telling me he knew very well what the word meant.
When I closed the door, Indiana looked confused. “Wait, did that little shit on a stick just call me a dickwad?”
“Yup.” I sat down and reached for my new communication device. “He thinks it’s a pet name.”
“Huh. I can guess who gave him that impression.”
“He’s so annoying. It’s like he’s always a step ahead.”
