While Lea was waiting for Mason to arrive, she had decided what to do about Dwyl. She would just tell it Mason would come to her room. That was the safest way to avoid any conflict. Otherwise, if Dwyl found out while she hadn't told him, the trust she is still trying to repair would have been ruined. And knowing Dwyl was capable of murder, losing the very fragile trust they had between them would possibly be very disadvantageous to her in the next couple of worlds. Who knows if Dwyl could even kill her for real? The quick transmigration novels she read didn't give out a lot of information about systems, especially not systems like Dwyl who could also play in the worlds. Anything was possible.
[Just a heads up, Dwyl, but later tonight Mason will come to my room.]
Dwyl was surprised. He hadn't thought Lea would tell him. Wasn't she trying to seduce Mason behind his back? Why would she notify him of that?
[Dwyl: And what are you meeting him for?]
Lea hadn't thought that far ahead. She didn't want to tell Dwyl. What if he convinced her to leave this world for what it was? It would make her seem way to influenceable. [Does it matter? We're not going to do anything you have to worry about.]
Dwyl scoffed. Did she really expect him to believe that? [Excuse me if I don't take your word for it. You don't have much credibility seeing what happened only this morning.]
[I am not going to have this discussion again. I already apologized for that. You can trust me now, I'm not under the influence of horniness. If I was planning to do something indecent with Mason I wouldn't have told you I was meeting with him.]
[Dwyl: If I can trust you, why won't you tell me why you're meeting him?]
'Because if I tell you, you'll convince me to leave this world,' Lea thought, forgetting Dwyl could read certain thoughts.
Dwyl raised an eyebrow in suspicion. [What are you planning to do? Is the only reason you want to stay in this world to torture me?] Otherwise, why would Lea fear he'd convince her to leave?
[What gave you such an absurd idea? Of course, I don't want to torture you! I want to help you.]
It alarmed Lea that Dwyl thought she wanted to torture him. If Dwyl thought she did that to him, wouldn't he retaliate by choosing an even worse world than this one? That was something she definitely didn't want.
[Dwyl: But your thoughts indicate that you want to leave this world…]
[Stop reading my mind! Don't I get privacy?] Lea said frustrated.
[Dwyl: Aha! So, you really do want to leave this world.] Dwyl would be damned if he stayed here any longer while neither him nor his host wanted to stay. [I'll start the countdown for world extraction… 3… 2…]
[Wait!] Lea interrupted. [It's true that I really don't like this world and that the most important reason for me wanting to stay here is you coming to terms with your feelings – like I already told you, but that's not all there is to it. I also want to improve myself. You made me realize I'm not that great of a person, and I need to work on myself.]
[Oh?] Dwyl said intrigued. [Tell me, what exactly do you need to work on?]
[Well, a lot of things. One of those things is trying not to meddle with people's feelings, respecting them more for who they are, trying to listen to other's wishes and not imposing my own opinion on them. You know, the things you said I need to work on.]
Dwyl was glad Lea had at least listened to him. That was a good start. If she actually achieves to become a better person, than maybe he would even start to like her. But at the moment that was far out of sight. [Let me just say, you're doing an awful job with forcing me to stay here. I want to leave!]
[I'm sorry, but I really think it is for the best. It's not like I'm forcing you to do anything except being in this world for a little while. I would like you to work on your emotions and all regarding Mason, but…]
[That's still meddling!] Dwyl yelled frustratedly. The last time he had let this ridiculous reason slide, because of two reasons. The first was that she had also said they would leave once the plot was finished, and the second was because he was talking to Mason. It was exhausting to pause his surroundings so he could focus on his telepathic communications. It took a lot of energy.
Lea finished her sentence as if Dwyl hadn't said anything. [But it is up to you to do it or not. You can decide to not do anything about it.]
[Dwyl: Tch… I really don't like you.]
[Well, I do like you.] Lea meant it. Despite their constant bickering, despite their completely different world views, Lea enjoyed talking to Dwyl. Even now, after Dwyl had killed someone, she still couldn't get herself to dislike him.
[You only like me in this world cause I'm a man who has a crush on a man. You don't like me for me.] Dwyl said bitterly.
[That's not true! I like you plenty.] She had liked Dwyl before she even knew it could take over bodies in the different worlds. They had spent three months together in the first world, after all. Yes, it was torturous, but Dwyl had made it bearable. Had her system forgotten that?
Dwyl's heart thawed a bit, catching bits of Lea's thoughts. Maybe he had made a wrong assumption, but what do you expect? He was still hurt by Lea's disrespectful behavior.
[Dwyl: Whatever, let's get back to why you want to stay here. You can also work on improving yourself in other worlds, why does it need to be here except for torturing me?]
[I can't just give up on this world! Leaving just because I don't like it here, would not make me a better person. After all, when something shitty happens in the real world I also can't run away. I need to make this world as good as possible! I need to help. Until now, I've only been the stupid damsel in distress, only interested in making BL couples – hurting you in the process. That needs to change! I need to take action, do something meaningful in this world. That's why I'm meeting Mason. I want to be a part of the Criminals.]
[Dwyl: Oh, that's good. I guess? But are you sure you want to help the Criminals to do something meaningful, or because you want to progress the plot so you can leave here faster?]
[…] This is why she didn't want to tell Dwyl. Her system is to smart!
Lying was something she apparently couldn't do with a mindreading system. [Both, I guess.]
Dwyl let out a sigh. [Fine, meet with Mason.]
[You're okay with this?] Lea asked skeptically.
[Dwyl: Of course, I'm not okay with this! But…]
[But?]
But Writer would be angry at Dwyl if they found out Dwyl had purposively discouraged Lea from interacting with them! [I'll trust you, for now.]
[Thank you, Dwyl!]