Laughter was an infectious thing. While he told her his little theory about what would happen if he had psychologically damaged the squirrel, he was laughing almost like a crazy person, and the joke though stupid was actually kind of funny. She turned her face aside as if she was glaring away from him when really she planned it so her thick waves would conceal the small smile that had sprouted over her lips.
Jia Li was actually kind of angry with herself about even cracking that smile, small as it was. This guy was a jerk, plain and simple. He wasn’t the sort of person who knew how to be nice to anyone. He was dangerous. Allowing herself even the smallest amusement from a joke he made and not at his expense wasn’t something she wanted. Her anger managed to wipe the smile from her face, and she turned her gaze back to him.
“You probably singed its fur or something. Those bolts looked pretty close. What if you actually did hurt it without knowing? It could be running around with burned skin, in pain, and you would be the reason why. Maybe it is chased by predators, but that’s not the same thing as having dangerous currents of energy tossed at it.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“Okay. If it wouldn’t have hit me, why didn’t it hit the squirrel? You seemed to have pretty good control over it then.” He was right. She wouldn’t admit to being lazy. The dryad worked damned hard to keep her way in school in both her studies and in her dancing. She also worked a part time job. Lazy wasn’t something she felt applied to her. She would bet it sure applied to him, though.
“Ah, but you’re still trying to make sure that all of the blame wouldn’t lie with you. Maybe the writers just ran into a similar situation where they tortured some small rodents and had them retaliate, or maybe they saw it happen to someone who had hurt a small animal? Maybe they took so much pleasure out of watching someone get what they deserved that they decided to share it with the world?
“It’s not their fault if they saw it happen and made some money off it. Maybe I should wait with a camera in hand for just the right moment when you’re attacked? Do you think I could make some money from that? At the very least, I’d probably get a million hits on YouTube. It wouldn’t be my fault. I’m just an innocent bystander.” Her sardonic smile had returned.
It stayed strong even when he took a step closer to her. She was going to stand her ground. This man probably wasn’t going to hurt her. He just wanted to scare her. It had worked once, but she wouldn’t let it visibly happen again. He could see or hear that her heart began pounding a little harder.
“I think you’re just looking for an excuse to harm small animals. Not all animals have fun at the expense of others, you know.” Jia Li wasn’t about to defend his actions.
Then he began spouting things that clung too closely to her. Was she that obvious? She could understand how that man she had met at night had known what she was based on her smell, but he hadn’t guessed anything more personal than that. This one guessed without a superior sense of smell, and he had guessed her deepest, most painful secret. The dryad tried hard to maintain her stoic reserve.