Slow and Speedy Win the Fight

67. Different

Haresa

"What the heck was that?"

Sheldon ignored my remark as he continued to trudge forward in front of me. He was fiddling with his watch while cursing fervently under his breath.

I attempted to catch up with him but I either found myself accidentally ten paces in front of him before going back a few steps behind for the past ten minutes. I do a better job at controlling my super speed but my anxiety was causing me to lose focus. Every time I sped past him, his forcefield would activate momentarily so the harsh wind wouldn't get to him.

"Sheldon," I called out. "Sheldon. Sheldon!"

He seemed to notice my last call for him as he scowled. "What is it, hare? Are you going to accuse me of setting that all up?"

"No, I'm not but I saw your reaction to the whole thing and thought you knew something more."

His pace slowed down and he stood on the sidewalk with his heel bouncing up and down as he continued to tinker with his watch. He wouldn't meet my eyes but he was clearly bothered by the events of whatever happened today.

"I was just shocked. Don't look into it too much."

"I mean I would understand that if you had that reaction when the ceiling busted open but your whole demeanour just changed when you heard that announcement."

He froze. I carefully watched him to see if he would give anything away but after a few seconds, he went back to bouncing his leg.

"I didn't expect the offenders to be so young sounding. That's all."

"Liar, I know you know something."

"So, what if I do?" He snapped his watch shut and he slammed his foot against the pavement. "Why would I tell you anything? I don't get anything from you playing hero and going to save the day."

"You're living in my home. You could at least do this small favour."

"I'm living there because you fucked up and your dad is way too nice and forced me to stay! He didn't even have to take me to the doctor and do all that shit but he did!" He took a step towards me but I stood my place with my jaw locked. "So really, I owe him way more than I owe you."

I gaped at him silently and he began talking again when he realized I had nothing to say.

"Don't you forget, you dragged me into the show off. If I wanted to be on that stage, I would've dressed in drag and used my old stage name 'Shelly' again before taking off for the night but I didn't. And I can tell you were just as enthused about this event as I was so don't even try and argue it was that bad. So, if you want my help, even if it's just wanting me to stand right next to you, you'll have to give me something in return."

He turned to walk away and flipped open his watch to tinker with it again and I winced to myself.

"Sorry."

This time he didn't freeze but spun around to look at me. "What?"

"I'm sorry." I gave an awkward pause. "I just get too into my work sometimes, I guess. I always want everything to return to normal as soon as possible. I don't like it when chaos lingers around for so long."

His finger tapped his watch and his eyes darted from my feet to his own a few times. "I suppose I can understand that. Getting too fixated on certain tasks."

"What? Are you going to give the 'we're not so different you and I' speech?" I asked bitterly.

"Why the hell would I throw that at you?" Sheldon didn't say it with any hostility but he didn't sound that irritated either. He just sounded tired.

"Villains like getting into heroes' minds that way. Makes them think that they're actually doing the wrong thing or—"

"I wanted you to shut up for a moment and let me walk back to your house in peace, not tell you how to do your job."

"I thought you wanted to have the last word. Maybe even the last laugh."

"What would I be laughing about? You have nearly everything. A real dad, a house, adoring fans, and probably more while I—" His voice trailed off at the end and my mouth dried up. "It doesn't matter."

I felt my phone buzz and I pulled it out to see Rudra's frantic messages. I sent him a quick text saying that I was fine and that he should head home.