NT veRse 4 - Orcs vs - Group Dynamics (Patreon)

“Took long enough.” Mars whispered to Sebek as he returned from the bathroom. Fara had said that she would stealthily make her way out so that she could 'return' and reinforce her alibi with her son. The Son in question stared daggers at the Orc, but there was a faint glimmer of something mixed into his stare that gave Sebek the impression that the human was looking at him for just a bit too long for reasons Gary would never be willing to admit.

“Now that you're done destroying my bathroom you can... I dunno, follow along, I guess? Still not sure Why Mars took you on as a charity case.” Gary dragged his eyes from Sebek's body by rolling them dramatically. The boy that sat at the head of the room in the small living area crossed his arms, closing himself off even more. The layout was open with smaller couches formed into a loose 'U.' The appartment itself was decorated with modern sensibilities. Meaningless landscape artwork generated by some AI sat centered prominently on every bland white wall. Behind Gary the real landscape could by seen to some extent where not blocked by other massive buildings.

“Sorry? Follow?”

Garry repeated what Sebek said mockingly in a low, brutish tone that was meant to convey mental disability. “'Duh, sorry?'” He shrugged.
“Yeah, follow along. I guess we're supposed to be helping you with your MGS work or some shit?” He looked to Mars.

She chuckled nervously, obviously not expecting Gary to act up to such a degree. The others mostly seemed indifferent and also wondered what Sebek's purpose for being there was going to be. If anything, it was going to be a great way to undermine the bunny-girl if the reason was found lacking.
“Actually...” She began somewhat uncomfortably.
“Sebek here doesn't need help. He's in top rankings for the Academics listing, so...” She was a bit ashamed to admit.
“As I said, he was helping me out. Sorry, I guess you didn't hear me.” She offered as an out, addressing Gary.

He grumbled. “Right. We don't all got such big ears...”

Even if it was a bit derisive Mars giggled. “Too true! Got most of you beat.” Sebek lifted a brow, noting how the girl was a bit of a pushover when it came to the human.

Angel leaned forward. “Did you say YOU were 'Sebek?' I didn't know that the top placer in the AAP was an Orc.” The Seraph looked to be pondering the revelation.

“Y-yep. That's me.” Sebek offered nervously. The AAP was the acronym for the Academic Aptitude Placement. In Orr the MGS was, after all, a program designed to test individuals while enlisting them for various light government duties. Placements were assessments on various categories that provided preferred status to people entering relevant industries. This was so that the Mandatory Government Service was favorable to the participants who would not feel as though they were wasting years of their life for no purpose. Sebek happened to be first in the Academic category, though very few people would ever pick him out for it. Sebek was a name not many would immediately assume to be Orcish unless they were in the know. To begin with, Orcish names were not uncommon due to past conquests.

After more thought on the matter Angel smiled widely, her long black lashes fluttering. “This is big. No wonder Mars brought him. We could-”

“Not all of us are concerned with increasing our Academic placement status.” Bri leaned back into the couch she and Gary were sitting at comfortably and threw her hands up in disregard.
“But hey, you're all free to spend as much time with the Orc as possible. Gary and I can study more important stuff. Right?” The girl said slyly. When she did not hear and answer she looked over and saw the human boy had a beat-red face.
“Right?”

Mars shook her head lightly, causing her ears to wiggle back and forth. “It's okay, Gary. She doesn't know. You should give her a pass.” The girl offered in a sweet, yet obviously passive-aggressive tone.

“W-what? What'd I say?” Bri questioned, leaning into Gary who merely pushed her off of him before sliding over. Realization washed over her face.
“Oh, shit. Sorry I didn't mean-”

“Not in front of the Orc...” He muttered defensively.

“Okay okay.” The Jackal-woman slid back and huffed through her pretty little nose.

Eden glanced around awkwardly. As happy as she was to allow Bri to dig herself into a tough spot, she also seemed as though she genuinely wanted to cheer Gary up.

“Maybe we should unwind? Gary, did you wanna play a quick game of Leap of Legends?” He shrugged, looking down in a despondent fashion. Mars jabbed Sebek in the side as soon as she brought up the game.

Sebek sighed at the transparent request. She had no way of knowing if he even played, let alone played the game well. All she had to go on was that he seemed like a 'nerd' to her and therefore knew everything to do with computers and video games. She just got a little lucky.
“Leap? What Legends do you play?” Sebek asked cautiously.

Eden stared up at Sebek with the same look one would give a dangerous animal. She had nowhere to back away to, however, so she was forced to stand her ground.
“Uhm.... I play mostly support. Gary is the Carry. Haha...” She gave a little forced giggle at her rhyme.
“So, yeah. Legends like Giga, mostly.”

Sebek perked a brow. Without meaning to he blurted out a bit of inconvenient and subversive info he knew offhand.
“Giga is a half-carry. You'd usually see her played if you aren't sure the carry can pick up the slack. Good flex pick overall, though.”

Eden blushed and fully separated herself from the statement as Gary shot her a look. “D-depends on what build, mostly. Giga can be full support.” She offered while suddenly turning the tables on Sebek by giving the most aggressive look he had seen so far.

Sebek realized what he had Implied and that it was fairly accurate based on Gary's reaction. He offered as an olive branch.
“True. I've seen those builds on occasion...”

“You play? What rank are you?” Eden snapped back accusingly.

The orc pinched the bridge of his nose. “It's not important...”

She looked to Gary for reassurance and when she got it in the form of an amused smirk she pressed further.
“So.... You play in lower ranks, right? That'd be why you'd say Giga's a half-carry.”

“I haven't ranked in a long time so it's pretty possible I'm behind on a few patches. Just forget I said anything.”

“Give me your details. We'll play some time.” Eden demanded with a triumphant air about her. She felt like she had Sebek on the ropes by calling out his rank in the game. Since it was discreet Sebek had no issue shooting the elf girl his details. As they popped up on her phone her jaw dropped and she quickly hid it. Nervously she looked to Gary and said.
“Y-yeah. Just as I thought.”

Gary leaned forward. “Heh. What's his rank?”

“He literally just plays casual.”

The boy was satisfied with that answer. “So he doesn't play, basically.”

“Not a lot.” Sebek agreed. It was all a big half-truth. What his details showed to Eden was that his highest achieved rank placed the orc in the top 1% of players worldwide. However, in the past year as he had been focusing on his studies Sebek remained unranked and mostly played casual matches for fun.

'Fuck, this is so awkward. I almost can't take this.' Sebek thought to himself. As he assumed it could not get worse the front door opened behind him and Mars. Fara walked in and dropped a few things on the counter before walking into the living room where everyone was seated.

“Keep walking, mom.” Gary demanded.

“Hm? What? I don't get to talk to your friends?” She attempted to act nonchalant as she noticed Sebek.
“Oh! Who is this fellow?”

“Don't worry about it.” Gary stared daggers at Sebek, who turned and attempted to be polite and actually nonchalant.

“Name's Sebek, ma'am. I'm... A... Friend?” He offered his large hand for her to shake.

Fara dashed all attempts to be subtle. She leaned forward and embraced Sebek. “Oh nonsense. We hug in this house.”

“Since when!?” Gary Questioned, almost rising up out of his seat. Fara, unabated, continued to hug Sebek tightly as he awkwardly stood with his broad arms flat at his side.

“O-okay. That's nice. Nice to m-meet you.” As he said that she finally broke the hug and offered the Orc a little wink before turning to Gary.

“Show a bit more RESPECT to the guests we have in this household!” The woman demanded sternly. Her tone caused the boy to fall back into his seat.

Gary was floored. “W- Mom! What the hell are you talking about?”

“You haven't offered a seat, or anything to eat or drink? I thought your father and I taught you hospitality. Sebek here is a guest, even if he is a...” She lowered her tone.
“You know...”

“He's a fucking ORC mom.” Gary tilted his head and glared at the woman in disbelief.
“Want me to say it? What would dad say?”

“Is your father here or am I here?”

“You're here...” He relented, backing down from the argument.

“If we're going to invoke your father, what would your father say about your AAP rating? Is this a study group? Are these girls actually helping you improve your placement in the MGS?” Fara berated harshly.
“Prove to me that all of THIS.” She motioned around to the collection of characters in the room, save for Sebek.
“Isn't just a distraction for you, okay? Then maybe we can talk about opinions your dad would have on other topics.”

“O-okay mom.” Gary had sunk so far into his place on the couch that he was a full foot shorter than all the women around him.

“Okay!” She switched moods on a dime and smiled at Sebek after taking a deep breath.
“Would you like something to eat or drink?”

“I'm... I'm fine.” Sebek said nervously.

“Okay, let me know if you need anything.” She offered in a singsong tone.
“I'll be in my room doing a bit of work.” As she left Sebek received a notification on his phone. It was his most recent regret. Fara.

[Did you like that? A bit or Orc discipline in the house could probably do Gary and me a little Good.]

Sebek gritted his teeth and returned with. [No offense, Fara, but if you're serious you should stop embarrassing me with bullshit stereotypes and actually look into what my culture is and what my people do. Then maybe we can actually talk on the same level.]

[…]

[Yeah, I'll start looking into it, then. Sorry if I embarrassed you. You know I want follow through as your perfect little pig-slut...]

[Okay. Thanks. I know.] Sebek's heart was thumping from that. As offensive as Fara was, it was pretty hot to have the mother of his bully on his side. Sebek reasoned that if he could convince Fara to actually do some research and improve her opinion of Orcs genuinely, instead of just in a fetishistic sense it could be a net good. As he was thinking that, another notification popped up. It was Malik.

[Going to need you to make a good-faith effort to fuck these girls brains out, kid. No more Mr. Nice Orc. Alright?]

Sebek sighed and ignored the message. The meeting was coming to an end due to the sheer awkward force of the first encounter. Sebek willingly withdrew first so that he could recoup. As he exited out into the hall Eden caught him before he could fully escape.

“Hey...” The Elf greeted.

“Hi.” Sebek nodded in acknowledgment that the girl was in front of him. She did not look like she wanted to be, but in the same vein she looked like she had something she wanted to get off of her attractive chest.

“Sorry. I called you out and ended up being totally wrong.” She ended up just blurting out.

“It's fine.” Sebek did not particularly care. Video games were not his point of pride. He would have preferred an apology from Angel and Gary more than anything. She looked at Sebek curiously for a few full seconds, prompting him to ask.
“What?”

“You're different from how I'd expect.”

“Yeah? I get that a lot...” Sebek could not take much more so he began walking. Unfortunately Eden began walking beside him, keeping her gaze locked on him.

“I thought most orcs were, like... Extreme.”

“If most of us were 'extreme' it would be pretty hard to have such a stable Orc population, right?” Sebek reasoned.

“Well, that's what 'they' say.” Eden shrugged.

“Uh huh. My family and I are moderates.”

“How's that work? Do you do the-”

She did not get to finish speaking before Sebek snapped back. “The what? Rituals? Traditions? Some of it. Not all of it. Mother's an Elf, believe it or not. We're half Porish.”

She perked up and bounced a little with her latest step. “I'm fully Porish. Like... 98%. How's it work? In your house your mom calls herself an Elf or...” She let the question hang.

Sebek calmed himself, feeling it was a legitimate question. The two stepped into the building's elevator and waited for the door to close before it began it's long 100 floor descent.
“Moderate Orcs observe willing conversion. Culturally my Mom is an Orc because she wants to be referred as such.”

“My family always said willing conversion was a joke and that proximity to Orcs will naturally drive girls to identify as Orcs and so we should limit interaction.”

“Is that what you believe?” Sebek asked. It was a common enough sentiment in society that he had to already know it.

“Not sure. A little.”

“Then you either have way too little faith in your own kind or way too much in mine.” Sebek argued.

“Which is it?” It was a common and simple counterargument. Neither option was something that she should be able to cop to easily. The elf nationalist would obviously think her kind was strong, but they would also be very hesitant to call the Orcs a real 'threat' as that would damage their ego as well.

She looked down, her cheeks flushing. “A bit of both? Not sure. I'm mostly on the fence but yeah, both of those.”

Sebek stared at his phone, the pages of the most recent chapter fresh in his mind. A message from Malik appeared.

[Perfect opportunity.]

Sebek felt bad, but he could not exactly disagree. It was the perfectly applicable situation for incitement. Typically a Sociamancer would need to go to great lengths to determine such an effective weakness. Incitement was a double-edged sword. In essence it drove an individual to enhance the feelings and emotions they already had. If Sebek were not prepared and anger was the dominant feeling then he would have to contend with a berserker. Eden stated what she was feeling. The Orc concentrated on activating the skill through his own emotion and fought to avoid having it backfire as he manipulated his aura onto hers. He would not know if it worked until she began to act different.

Eden did act strange when she clutched herself a bit tighter. “Fuck...”

“What?”

“The more I think about it...” She began, biting her bottom lip nervously. She slid away from him in the elevator.

“Yeah?”

“Orcs... You guys are seriously strong and scary and my kin are seriously weak and stupid in comparison.” She uttered uncomfortably. Sebek felt victorious but he knew the effect was temporary of incite unless he performed some serious manipulation, so the moment she expressed that he quietly uttered 'Lock.' and arced electricity into her forehead, causing the girl to convulse a little and almost buckle.
“Th-the hell?” She looked to Sebek.

“M-must be static.” He shrugged.