Orion
Orion maintained a cool exterior, his face unreadable as Marcel launched into what might have been the most condescending speech he’d heard in a long time. Lechery? Desperate stares?
Seriously? Orion had a lot of things to say about himself, but that wasn’t one of them. He stayed quiet, listening intently—not because he was actually taking Marcel’s words to heart, but because he needed to figure out exactly what Pamela had told him.
Bit by bit, the picture became clear. She’d painted him as some sort of desperate creep, an opportunist who couldn’t keep his eyes in check. It was ridiculous—almost laughable, if it weren’t so inconvenient. His mind ticked over the implications: if she’d already gotten Marcel to buy into this nonsense, how many more people would she whisper to? Orion inwardly sighed, irritation simmering beneath the surface. This was supposed to be fun. A game. A way to establish himself. Instead, he was already dealing with
this.
Still, he kept his expression perfectly neutral, giving nothing away. By the time Marcel was done, Orion had figured out exactly how he wanted to handle this.
With a sigh, he shifted his weight, as if collecting his thoughts. Then, slipping into the role he needed to play, he looked Marcel in the eye and spoke with measured sincerity.
"Look, Marcel—I’m honestly not sure what Pamela told you, but I
really don’t mean any harm," he said, his voice calm, almost exasperated. "This is just the way I am. I’ve always been confident, maybe a little over-the-top, sure—but that’s not something that’s gonna change anytime soon." He let out a small chuckle, shaking his head. "If my personality rubs people the wrong way sometimes, I get it. But that’s just who I am."
His tone turned slightly firmer as he continued, making sure there was no room for doubt.
"One thing I
will say, though—I’m not a lecher. That’s just ridiculous. I’m interested in
everyone in class, getting to know them, seeing what makes them tick." He lied.
"And yeah, some of them are girls. That’s kind of unavoidable, isn’t it?" He gave Marcel a look, as if questioning why they were even having this conversation. He crossed his arms, tilting his head slightly.
"I don’t know why Pamela is so dead set on slapping labels on me when we just met. But if I didn’t know any better, I’d think she was playing some kind of angle—turning people against me before they even get a chance to know me. Not sure
why, exactly." He let the words linger in the air, their irony completely lost on him.
Then, with a good-natured chuckle, he added, "But hey, it’s water under the bridge, right? Just funny how quick you were to believe her over your own dormmate." He smiled, as if it didn’t actually bother him.
And then, something clicked.
Marcel had started out gentle, hadn’t he? There was patience in his words at first. It was only after Pamela—
Oh.
Of course!
How had he missed it before? Marcel’s wise, princely demeanor had only become forceful
after the ‘lechery’ accusation came into play. Orion took a mental step back, analyzing the situation with fresh eyes.
There were two possibilities. Either Marcel was some kind of overzealous knight-in-shining-armor type, personally offended by the idea of ‘improper conduct’ in his presence…
Or,
more interestingly…
Orion’s eyes gleamed with amusement as he broached the topic breezily, his tone light, his face unreadable.
"Say, there wouldn’t happen to be a girl in class you’ve got your eye on, would there?" he asked, as if it were just an idle curiosity. "If so, I
totally get why the whole ‘lechery’ thing would bother you. I mean, if I were in your shoes, I’d be wary of competition too." He grinned, hands in his pockets, voice playfully conspiratorial.
"Tell you what—if it makes you more comfortable, I’ll make a conscious effort to keep my interactions with them brief. Of course… if I’m
completely off the mark here, just forget I asked!"
With that, he leaned back slightly, as if the conversation was all in good fun.
But inwardly? Inwardly, he was done.
This had been amusing at first, but the scrutiny was getting old fast. He’d barely set foot in this school, and already he had people breathing down his neck. If Marcel wanted to throw his lot in with Pamela, then fine. Let them have each other. Orion had bigger things to do.
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