House Party

[Oriena]

Ori didn’t offer anything comforting. She doubted Nox expected it from her anyway. Though she did give him an inscrutable look. Nox knew her better than anyone else she could think of, but it didn’t mean she was an open book. When she was done with the drawing, she moved aside to let him look, watching to see if he showed any indication of pulling the power to him. It wasn’t alarm that made her observe as much as curiosity. A smirk tugged her lips, half in challenge, though she knew it wasn’t a game Nox would play. If he had, he would have found a conspirator in her.

Instead he was serious, devoid of all emotion. Which probably meant he was falling apart inside. In fact she knew he was by the way he looked at the broken prosthetic.

Oriena had never killed anyone. For all her attitude, it was a line she never crossed nor intended to. Even with Ryker, who certainly hadn’t been pulling his punches after she tinkered with the settings in his head. But what Nox was asking her wasn’t about violence, or entertainment. Ori knew she was capable, even as she knew if it ever came to it, it was an act that would cost her. She would do it exactly for the reasons he said, but because it was a truth that cut too close, she only shrugged in answer and half rolled her eyes. “Better pray to that bitch hope you never have to find out.”