A Lewd Cultivator in Brockton Bay 27 (Patreon)

A Lewd Cultivator in Brockton Bay
Chapter 27

-VB-

I brought myself to a stop when I heard sobs, and then I found the source.

In one of my training runs around the city (because that’s something I did now as part of a more enhanced and intensified training regime), I found Vicky crying on the edge of Boat Graveyard’s defunct and ruined wooden pier. It was a wonder how this thing was still standing.

Unsure of what to do, I slowly walked across the pier.

On my fifth step and less than a hundred yards from her, the wood underneath my feet creaked.

Vicky jolted up and whirled around.

Her puffy eyes and snotty nose didn’t make her any prettier than her usual self but it made her look like a beautiful tragic figure.

Forgoing subtlety and stealth, I puffed up and walked right up to her and then sat down next to her.

“... Dean, right?”

Vicky’s sobs petered out and then burst back out to full strength almost immediately.

I wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

Gallant, otherwise known as Dean aka Vicky’s boyfriend, died during Leviathan’s attack. Though their relationship had always been rocky and passionate, she loved Dean. To hear his death and not even have his dead body …

She held out. She held hope that Dean was still alive and that he just needed to be rescued. She spent days in the rubbles, trying her damnedest along with me.

But she had to face the facts eventually.

Dean died.

It brought her down. She broke down hard when the news finally came.

Despite the fact that she kept up a cheerful appearance a month after his death, the truth of the fact was that she did love him. I saw this. Her parents saw this. Amy saw this.

Vicky still grieved as I suspected, but she did it far from friends, family, and home. Out here where no one ever came by, she could be a sobbing wreck no one needed to see. A hero who hid her sorrow from others because a hero wouldn’t cause sorrow in others.

… Or so I assumed why she was doing this. In truth, she may just feel shame at grieving like this, though no one would blame her for grieving.

I sat there with her as she worked her sorrow out of her system for today.

As her crying abated, we were left in a somewhat uncomfortable silence.

“... You probably think that I’m a wimp.”

I didn’t look at her as I answered. “No.”

“A cry baby.”

“Everyone cries for those they lost.”

She didn’t look at me, either.

“...Amy’s so much stronger than me.”

“How so?”

“When we heard that you died… well, you didn’t, but Dragon said you did-”

“How did she take it?”

“We didn’t find out about it until Amy came to help with the aftermath. Some of the capes began to offer condolences, you know.”

I grimaced.

“Amy refused to believe them. She just went right into healing people. It’s always possible that your wristband broke and it just reported you dead. So she healed and healed hoping to find you among the injured.”

“But I wasn’t there.”

“No. You were out and about reducing people without letting us know.”

“Eric punched me for that.”

“I heard that he came back with a swollen fist.”

“He punched me too hard.”

She snorted. “Yeah. Your body’s closer to that of a rock than a man,” she grumbled. “... How did you get so strong?”

“Me? Strong? What are you talking about?”

“Most people get vaporized after taking a punch from Leviathan.”

“I was underwater when it punched me.”

“That’s even worse. He’s stronger underwater.”

“Oh.”

If what she said was true, then … fuck, I really should be a red mist. Or a red stain in the flood. How did I survive that with only a hole in my chest?

“I don’t know.”

She laughed. “That’s so like you!”

“Hey, you’re making me sound dumb!” I protested half-heartedly.

“Well, ya! Amy was sticking to you for years and it took her jumping your bones to finally get the message!”

“She’s underage!”

“Barely now.”

“She was much underage years ago.”

“And?”

“... What do you mean and?”

“Did you forget that you’re living in Brockton Bay? We live hard and fast, whether we’re a cape or normie.”

I clicked my tongue at that.

“Besides, you love Amy, too. You certainly didn’t say no too hard, or all of us would have heard about it.” She paused. “No, we did hear about it, just that you’re great in bed.”

“Vicky…!” I moaned into my hands.

There was a difference from hearing that from your friends and your in-laws.

She sighed. “... It’s time I moved on, right?”

I looked up.

She had a wistful look on her.

I looked away, staring at the boat graveyard.

“Some people never can, Victoria. It’s not their or your fault if you can’t. No one would blame you.”

“Bah! I’m not going to become a goddamn cat lady!”

I chuckled. “I don’t see you as one. If anything, I think you might become that hot MILF everyone wants if you do last being single that long.”

She squawked and punched me in the shoulder.

And … I didn’t get hurt. I mean, sure, it stung, but -.

She gawked at me.

“HOW THE FUCK DO YOU KEEP GETTING STRONGER SO QUICKLY?!”

I ran for it and she chased after me.

It was better than seeing a depressed and sobbing wreck.

-VB-

A/N: Soon.... Soon...