Chapter 227

“I think she’s having a little too much fun bullying that poor guy around,” Jordan said wryly.

“It’s Natalie,” Sofia sniffed. “Of course she’s having fun showing off.”

The two of them had managed to disentangle themselves from the small group of Tenet admirers. Mostly because Natalie was occupying the majority of their attention as she sparred with Gareth, that [Lumberjack] boy. She and Sofia had wandered off to one of the further-away dirt sparring grounds with the excuse that they wanted to warm up. Which wasn’t a lie, but more than a spar, Jordan had wanted to separate herself from the crowd for a different reason. To speak with Sofia, alone.

“Show off? That’s rich, coming from you,” Jordan said amusedly.

Sofia tilted her head. “Huh? I don’t brag.”

“That’s not what I mean,” Jordan said. “Just, this morning, I remember a certain girl who was having way too much fun ‘showing off’. Don’t you?”

“Pardon?” It took Sofia a second longer to understand what Jordan was getting at. Jordan guessed the attempt at teasing was a bit of a stretch. But eventually, Sofia remembered the event in the train car. She started sputtering. “That was hardly me showing off. That was you doing so, on my behalf.”

“Doesn’t mean you weren’t having fun with it. Hence, you’re a hypocrite.”

Sofia gaped at Jordan.

Jordan laughed at her. “Nah, but really, you two are more alike than you think,” she said. “Natalie likes showing off her combat skills, and you like swinging your cock around for your friends. It’s basically the same thing, if you think about it.”

“S-Shut up,” Sofia hissed, looking around to see if anyone was within earshot. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Also,” Jordan said. “I’ve been meaning to ask. We didn’t go too far, did we? Or too fast?”

Sofia again oriented herself. She let out a long, exasperated sigh. “I refuse to do this a second time. Besides the fact that you already have, once before, Natalie also beat you to it.”

“Oh. She did?” Natalie had checked in with Sofia about the incident in the train car? That announcement brightened Jordan’s mood considerably. These two idiots really were making strides, weren’t they? However difficult they could be.

“Don’t grin at me like that,” Sofia huffed. “But yes. We spoke.” She crossed her arms. “And this is the last time that I’ll say it. If I have a problem with what’s happening, I can voice it myself. I promise you, my mouth is fully functional. It works perfectly fine.”

“More than ‘perfectly’, from what I’ve seen,” Jordan said, a mischievous smile pulling on her lips. “When do I get to try it out, anyway? Only Natalie’s been so lucky.”

Sofia’s face reddened at record speed. Her mouth opened and closed before she managed to get it working again. “How do you manage to twist everything into some innuendo?” she asked, strangled. “And what are you implying, when do you get to try it?”

Jordan smirked at her, since it was rather obvious, but she didn’t clarify. She looked over at Natalie, who was swinging that ridiculous hammer of hers around and gently—well, as gently as possible—battering Gareth from one end of their dirt sparring arena to the other for the amusement of their spectators.

“How are things going with you and her, anyway?” Jordan asked.

“Me and Natalie?”

“Yeah.”

“Fine,” Sofia said, sounding confused. “She’s as irritating as always.” She sniffed. “And certainly making good use of that stupid bet,” she muttered. “At least the collar is progressing handily. You know both the ‘minor Prowess’ and ‘minor Tenacity’ have moved into ‘moderate’?”

Jordan’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? On a single piece of gear?” That’d make it one of their best items yet, then. Though with some high requirements to have gotten to that point. So fair enough.

“There’s a reason I’ve been allowing Natalie to treat me like that,” Sofia huffed.

Jordan paused, then gave her a look.

“What?” Sofia demanded.

Jordan shook her head in exasperation. “No, but really,” she said. “How are things going with you two?”

“I haven’t the slightest idea what you mean.” Then, going on the offensive, Sofia asked, “What about you? What’s going on with you two?”

Which was an effective tactic, as Sofia had known it would be. Jordan shifted in place as she also grew flustered. She considered how to answer—before deciding on honesty.

“Well. We’re going on a date, soon. So good, I guess?”

Sofia blinked. Despite the question obviously being an attempt to disorient Jordan and deflect attention away, she reined herself in. “Oh. That’s ... exciting. Your first?”