In Which the Overlord is Flat On His Face

[badassfreakingoverlord]

It's going to be one of those days.

In the hallway directly outside the mess hall lay a book. The bright red body and overall size clearly pointed to it being the Overlord, for those familiar with him, but his back cover was the one facing upwards. No sign of any minion around. None of the cursing, struggling, and flopping one would expect from Zetta in such an undignified posture.

Just a tome, lying flat on the ground, as if a crew member had simply discarded it thoughtlessly.

Comments

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Well, I don't get what the hell Lash sees in him. She's fun-loving and quick to laugh." Zetta stop talking up your girlfriend as awesome (which of course he is not doing, as she is not his girlfriend).

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"He's her leader, Zetta, and that is what she sees in him. Maybe you don't understand because you tend to stay alone. But if you have war comrades, you share a bond, right?"

And she smiled a little to herself. Oh RIIIIIGHT, Lash is just some girl. Please.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Damn straight, Kaya! Good to see you understand!

"Leader's a position you earn, it's not like you get automatic respect just for being in charge. At least, not unless the title needs the sort of ass-kicking that's worth respect automatically. Like 'Overlord'."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Kaya looked confused. "Wait, so you're saying that Hawke is a bad leader then, and doesn't deserve Lash's respect. But then whey would Lash give it to him then? That doesn't sound like her."

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"That's what I want to know!" Zetta seriously had no idea what Lash saw in Hawke at all.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"So why don't you ask Lash or, here's a crazy thought, talk with Hawke for a little bit? Because if you don't, and you just start spouting off abut him, someone might think you were intimidated, which is definitely something a demon overlord does not feel about a mere human, right?"

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Obviously I'm not intimidated," Zetta said patiently, as if explaining the obvious. "No one would think that."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"Right, but if you don't actually have a good reason for not liking him, other than him being serious or, in your opinion, boring, you could see how people would think otherwise, right?"

EVERYONE would think that.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Wait, you're saying 'boring' isn't a good reason for not liking someone?" Clearly, Lash had influenced the Overlord a certain amount in their time together...

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"No, that's a pretty shallow reason to not like somebody," Kaya said, as if everyone knew that. "Besides, if it weren't for boring people, then most people would be dead due to recklessness. You can't dislike someone just because they bore you."

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"I'm a demon, Kaya, remember? Being shallow and petty is part of being evil. ESPECIALLY when you've got the power to back it up. And just because you say I can't, sure doesn't stop me!" And if that wasn't good enough he'd find another reason to dislike Hawke!

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"The way you talk, its as if she choose to be shallow because its easier than the alternative. That doesn't sound demonic or evil, its just sounds lazy. Anyone can tell that. And I'm not going to stop you from feeling what you feel, but from an outsiders perspective, it sounds more like you're looking for a reason not to like him."

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"This is going to be one of those things where no matter how many reasons I have, they're not going to be good enough, isn't it?" Zetta said shrewdly. Though he had figured that out for ALL the wrong reasons.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"Considering you're all evil and you'll think up any reason to justify them even if they're unfair? Probably not," Kaya said shaking her head. "It might be easier if you just give Hawke a chance though. You might even find you have things in common, you know."

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Uh, we're both male." Zetta paused for effect. "Okay, everything we have in common has been revealed."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"That's dumb, but then, you did say you were both male, so I guess that goes hand in hand," she said, shaking her head. "Seriously, if he's a friend of Lash, who you obviously sort of care about, it might be in your best interest to treat him a little better."

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Why?" Zetta said, the subtle advice Kaya was giving him flying directly over his level 2000 head.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"Because he's Lash's friend. Because whether she shows it or not, it means a lot to her that someone from her army, let alone her commanding officer, is here. He obviously means a lot to her since they both left Black Hole together, so she respects him. More importantly, because it'll be better for you all if you got along. At least try."

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Why would it be better?"

Zetta honestly didn't understand. Lash wouldn't mind if Hawke and he hated each other! She'd probably just laugh! She was much too sensible a girl to think they would make her choose one or the other or something, right?

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Gosh, he was dense. It was actually wearing her out, trying to make him understand what most people would have pieced together right now. Overlord he might be, but severely lacking in brains in other ways too.

"Because you're a good friend of Lash's and so is Hawke. So wouldn't it make more sense to try and understand Hawke instead of just not liking him for bad reasoning?"

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Kaya understood the Overlord perfectly in that respect. Everything she was thinking was pretty much dead on.

"...Why? I mean, like I said, Lash is more likely to get a kick out of us not liking each other than be upset..."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"Are you really that sure? Let's double check first. Guys, demons or not, have this tendency to see only what they want to. So let's think about it. Do you openly insult Hawke, or talk bad about him, and lash just laugh and is cool with it? Or do you just THINK Lash is going to be doing that? It might be just a dumb human thing to you, but when we see someone who means something in our world arrive on the ship, it matters. Its not really likely we'll laugh and make jokes abut how dumb they are if we've been the only one here."

For Kaya, she still had people from her world, but it didn't make things any easier.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Zetta, believe it or not, actually took the time to think about this. Clearly it was one of those crazy human things that made no sense, but... well, Lash WAS a human girl. Even if not like most normal humans.

"So you're saying Lash would pretend it was okay, but be bothered by it on the inside? That doesn't sound like Lash. She's pretty up-front about her thoughts." Except for all the buried and secret ones.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"I'm sure she's up front about a lot of things," Kaya said, "she's like that. But you should also stop to think about the fact that she and Hawke served in the same unit. So when you say bad stuff about him, it might actually bug her a little bit. Dies she actually laugh when you make fun of him?"

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Uh, it was a complicated situation at the time," Zetta said. Which was understating matters seriously, really.