The pot calling the kettle black

"WHAT?!" I raised my voice in disbelief.

"You don't need to be so loud..." he said, flustered.

"Why would you even think of it? I don't even know you!"

"You can't say that after I introduced myself earlier." He was trying to be a smart ass, but he chose the wrong person to deal with.

"You know what I mean!" I said. "And I'm already saying no! You're not going with me!"

"Why won't you consider that?"

"I. Don't. Want. You. Capiche? I don't want you in my carriage, nor need anyone to be with me. I work alone and don't have a space for another person."

"Capiche? What?" he muttered, focusing on the least significant word to understand. "At least listen to me!"

"No, I'm done, period. Don't waste my time any longer."

"Like you have nothing better to do..."

"Pardon?"

"Nothing." he grinned. "Just speaking facts."

"This bastard..." I tried to resist the urge to beat his ass, but my blood boiled. "If we weren't in the public, you wouldn't be able to walk after I'd finish with you."

His eyes went wide open. He looked away, covering his mouth and pretending to blush. "Oh my..." He tried to mock me again.

"Stop insinuating I meant something different!"

"I thought you did? My bad then." And to think I was changing my mind about him for the better. "But you're adorable when you get angry."

"Huh?" I was losing my faith in everything because of him. "This fucking muppet, for the love of God, I will kill him. I'll fucking kill him."

"I can't describe it very well, but the way you grimace – it's adorable."

I was on the verge of keeping my composure. One more stupid word came from his foolish mouth, and I would snap. And him as well.

"To think you are such a tsu-"

And I snapped.

Without much thinking, I pushed him against the wall.

He didn't even flinch. It was pissing me off. It was pissing me off that he was so calm. Nothing has fazed him at all.

Horse reacted to my resonating anger, clearly looking at me, suggesting to calm down.

It looked like I was making a clown of myself in this situation.

"I'm done with you. Begone." I muttered angrily and moved to the tavern, leaving them outside.

I've heard him talking with Horse, but I couldn't make anything logical from the spoken words.

To think Horse would take his side too...

I did nothing wrong. He was provoking me, and no one could deny it. I had no idea how I didn't punch or curse him to the thirtieth generation behind him. I will do it next time but without any witnesses.

I woke up the next day with the first rays of the sun. If I could, I would have stayed longer in bed and didn't bother getting up as I felt today like an emotionless blob. It happens every so often, but it wasn’t a big deal. Alas, fruits won't sell themselves without my help, so I had to move my lazy ass to the stall.

I gathered myself and went to the carriage. Horse welcomed me with a half-hearted gaze. He wasn't happy with how I reacted yesterday.

"Please, don't look at me like that." This guy was too sensitive, seriously.

Shortly after, we went to the market, unpacked, and stood for God knows how long. It depended on how fast the stock would be gone. It could be a few hours or a whole damn day – never more. I was a bit-known merchant here, so people didn't avoid my stall, not knowing the quality of the product.

Judging by the number of people already there, it would be a long day.

But some time later, I noticed more people coming to my stall. I mean, I wasn't complaining, but it was unnatural.

Something was fishy, and I felt I'd get to know the reason sooner than later.

With the selling of the last two pounds of pears, a way too familiar face was approaching – unfortunately, toward me. I felt my inner kettle full of blood boiling. I thought he was gone after our fight yesterday, but here he was.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Just checking how you're doing." he responded with a light smile. "Guess my marketing campaign worked."

"Your marketing campaign?" I had no idea what he meant by that.

"Who do you think brought so many people to you? Hmmm?"

Was it really him? The sudden increase in clientele would cover his words, but I didn't want to believe that. Why would he do that in the first place?

"You did that?"

"Who else, if not me?"

"Why? What made you do that?"

"Why not talk about this matter over a calenade?"

"What am I doing?"

I kept asking myself that question while sipping a fresh calenade in the beer garden. I wasn't sure if it was because of his persistence or the questioning of my actions. Honestly, I was getting confused.

"So," he started, "you wonder why I did that. The answer is simple – because I wanted to."

"I was doing very well, and your help wasn't needed."

"Maybe not needed, but you can't deny it boosted your sales." He said confidently, taking a big sip. "You don't have to be so modest."

"I'm not. And never have been."

He looked eloquently at me. "I wouldn't say that."

He was ridiculous. My curiosity wanted to dig deeper into his mind, if he had any, to understand his outrageous self, but from the other side – did I want to? I didn't think it was worth my nerves as they were fucked up already because of his Lordship.

Was he expecting me to be grateful for his uncalled help? A bloody philanthropist from seven sorrows. Ptoo.

"Back to the topic," he said after clearing his throat, "there was something else-"

"I knew you had an ulterior motive!" I raised my voice while standing up and pointing a finger at him.

"Can you let me finish for once?"

"No. I already said I don't want anything from you nor have anything in common with you."

"Seriously, stop being a douche."

"I am one." I pointed it murderously calmly. "No need to remind me of that."

"Ok, Mr. Douche, will you let me finish what I want to say and then I'll take my leave?"

"You have a minute." I sat down, looking at him dismissively.

"God..." I overheard him whining; by the way, pretty ironic for a demon to call a God, "You're so stubborn I couldn't think of anything else to prove I may be useful."

I wanted to share my thoughts already, but he still had fifty seconds left. And it looked like he was going to use them all.

"I don't know what to do with myself. In the far south, where I come from, I'm expected to behave like a demon, even if I'm not exactly one. In the north, I'm not welcomed in most towns, except for a few, like Calena. But I can't stay here too long because of people's unpleasant stares."

As he spoke about it, I noticed some people staring at him. Some were intrigued by him, while some felt uncomfortable in his presence.

"Thus, I was thinking about having a job that would allow me to not be in one place all the time. The idea of asking you didn't cross my mind when we were going to Calena. Once I left my friend's house, I realized I didn't know what to do or where to go. Hence I went to you."

"And you think I'll pity you?"

"No. Look, you have an attitude which can be problematic while dealing with customers. I could be the one dissolving situations. Also, you'd be able to trade in the south without any issues."

I couldn't deny that it would be convenient for me. The South is a harsh territory for human merchants. Officially, there was no animosity between humans and non-humans, but everyone knew it was the opposite. Racism was always a problem, and nothing seems to change.

Higher prices for everything, problems with accommodation – just naming a few troubles caused by locals.

I avoided going to the south as I had no valuable contacts to help me there. Otherwise, I would go there as often as possible.

"Loved money comes back doubled" is a popular proverb of southern merchants. It means if you know how to handle the money – invest it or whatsoever – you'll become richer and richer. Hence almost the whole South's regions were wealthy as shit. They knew their stuff.

It was hard for me to admit it, but he could be helpful. He could be my bargaining chip and a ticket to the promised land.

"But, do I want him?"

He was a pest. Annoying and stubborn shit I've ever seen. His existence for me was like a red sheet for a bull – triggering. I couldn't comprehend what was happening in his head; he was unpredictable.

I didn't know why I was getting so emotional over him, either.

Regardless, I'd have to think about it more.

"I'll give you an answer tomorrow. Be here in the afternoon."

"Oh? Alright." weirdly, he sounded positively surprised.

"What's going on with me? Seriously..."