Distraction ⇢ A Dempsey (Patreon)

A only merely misses the punch Zeren throws their way.

The two of them have been at it for hours: striking, dodging, circling each other, and A’s used to all of that, but now something feels… different.

Zeren flicks the wisps of dark hair out of her face. “Is it just me?” Strike. “Or is Athena’s most prized descendant getting sloppy?”

They don’t even bother rolling their eyes. A knows Zeren’s tactics by now: get under her opponent’s skin and, ultimately, win. “Please. I wouldn’t know sloppy if it slapped me in the face.” A steps sideways and gets a jab into Zeren’s side. That’s a point for them. “Which you have failed to do, may I add.”

Zeren bounces on her toes. “Nah, something’s off, Dempsey.”

There’s an attack, and another, another. A’s perception is lacking, because the blows that are coming their way have them flat-footed and scrambling. A frustrated groan escapes them, and before they can even realise it, there’s a punch that connects with the side of their head.

Broken skin.

Zeren’s been the first to draw blood. A can feel a small bead of it trickling down their temple. And they’re pissed. Not at Zeren, she’s one of their closest friends and this is what they do.

A’s pissed at themself. If the Gods could see them now: a lost fight and them on their backside after a spar, it’d be more than an embarrassment. It’d be a disappointment. They would be a disappointment.

Zeren doesn’t bother sticking out a hand to help A up, she actually squats down and takes a seat next to them.

“Do you want me to clean that cut for you?” she asks sympathetically.

“Nope.”

“A…” Their name comes off Zeren’s tongue with slight slight amusement, but also concern. “Are you okay?”

Their brows furrow. “I don’t know. Am I?”

“You weren’t lying when you said that I’ve never landed a slap on you,” Zeren muses, “yet today you—”

“What?” A shoots back in a sharp tone. “Today you got to change that because I’ve been distracted?”

Zeren’s head tilts to the side, she eyes A for a brief moment and pauses. “Elaborate,” she counters.

A turns and snaps their head towards her. “What?”

“Dempsey. Distracted,” Zeren lists. “I want to know why.”

That’s the problem. A doesn’t really know why. They have an inkling, dare they say it, a feeling of what it could be. But that something is a someone. Someone who entered their life many months ago, and despite the challenges they’ve all faced, they haven’t left.

A knows what it’s like to be thrust into a world that doesn’t feel like their own. To have to meet people, form some kind of friendships, but for them, that’s all it’s ever been. There’s no breaking down of walls, not many have been brave (or stupid) enough to even get to know A beyond a certain point.

Granted, people being kept at a distant is much better for them. No emotional bonds to create, and for them, if there’s no emotional connection, no romanctic feelings can begin to bubble.

So, when Athena’s most prized descendant walks into the training rooms distracted, with you on their mind, it’s a bigger deal than most.

“It’s them, isn’t it?” Zeren asks, the smirk practically audible in her voice, A doesn’t even have to look at her.

“Stop.”

Zeren laughs and crosses her legs as she leans back. “New year, same shit, huh?” she asks rhetorically. “Would you look at that, A Dempsey does know how to feel.”

This one-sided conversation isn’t going to be one that A listens to. They quickly get to their feet and begin to stride across the room. Before they can take another step forwards, Zeren reaches over and gently grabs their wrist.

“Hey.”

“Zeren. I just—”

“Hey, seriously,” she says again, tugging on A’s arm to get their attention. They suck on a breath, debate whether to rip themself out of Zeren’s clutches and go home, or at least hear her out so they can at least leave on good terms. A goes with the latter.

A, with a clenched jaw, turns around. “Got something to say?”

Zeren Uzo, the chaotic, teasing, spar-loving part vampire, is standing in front of A looking soft. “You’re my best friend. I’m not going to watch you beat yourself up, or let you ruin something with someone you can’t stop thinking about because you feel like you don’t deserve it.”

Are tears something that ever prick A’s eyes? Yes, they’re half-human, just as weak as one, their Godly family would say—and now, they’re blinking back the stinging feeling behind their eyes.

“Don’t be a martyr this time, A,” Zeren murmurs.

A does pull out of Zeren’s grasp now. “Are you done?”

“No.” There are many things that Zeren Uzo hates, and one is walking away from her when she is most certainly not finished. “If someone has been on your mind that much, then you know that they don’t mean anything. Bonds, and links, and connections—look me in the eye and tell me you don’t feel any of that when you think of them?”

If you’re talking about Greek mythology, then you know the story of Medusa. Look her in the eye and you’ll turn to stone, that’s what A thinks will happen if they look Zeren in the eyes and bare all their naked truths.

“We don’t have to talk about this, Zeren,” A chokes out. “Even more importantly, I don’t want to talk about this at all.” They take another step forwards.

“Okay, fine,” Zeren mutters. “But I meant what I said. You deserve to feel good things without needing to put up a fight. You deserve to be happy. I know that mustering up and talking about feelings aren’t your thing, but I’m here, if you ever want to unload.”

A blinks. Then they nod and lean down to pick up their bag.

If feelings were A’s thing, they’d tell Zeren that they’re grateful for them. That the feelings bubbling within them when they think about you is mixed in with fear, and self-doubt, and struggle and guilt.

Words you’ll never hear. Words Zeren will never hear, either.

They’ll be written down in the pages of A’s journal.

But, if they were to daydream… to send you a text when they got home… maybe they could finally make sense of you being their pleasurable and irritating distraction.