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Chapter 20: The Mind Of The Deathless
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"Why?" Ian asked confused, his left cheek was kind of red as if he had just been slapped.
Before him stood the seemingly angry Selina who seemed to be getting madder by the second, "Why you say?! I am the one who should be asking that question! So tell me why?"
Ian raised his brows, "Could it be that you're talking about what happened yesterday? I was just curious, so I did what I did,"
"Curiosity you say? Hahaha, how are you so clueless," Selina was fuming which made Ian confused until she added, "Was it also curiosity that made you jump to your death, or do you just wish to die?!"
"Oh? You were talking about that, yeah kind of. I just wanted to try the device and see what'll hap..." His casual response drove her mad to the point that she tried to slap him again.
He was however prepared as he jump backward barely evading the nimble cat's reach, "You're avoiding me now huh!?"
Her madness was certainly unexpected for him, 'What the fuck is happening? Is she mad because I might've died? Was it that big of a deal?'
She still tried to slap him again, and he started to see the worry, anger, and fear in her eyes, his common sense wasn't that broken after all.
He just approached her instead of moving backward which caught Selina by surprise, he pulled her to a hug, a tight one not allowing her to do much anymore.
"Calm down please, I'm sorry alright?" He hugged her tightly and started caressing her hair gently.
She tried to hit him again with her hand but his hold on her was simply too tight, so she just let it go and rested her head on his chest, "I'm sorry, I don't know what got over me,"
'Death is so scary to normal people? It appeared to be something she hates and fears.
I guess my numbness to death has gotten to such a degree that I never see it as a problem even if the people close to me die... I always knew that this isn't normal, so what am I? Where did my gift come from?'
He set aside his contemplation and just focused on her, "No, it's my fault. We've become so close yet I'm still so insensitive. I didn't think about how you'd feel at all... I guess I can tell you, you will figure it out sometime in the future anyway."
"Tell me what?" Selina softly asked.
Ian took her hand and started leading her somewhere, "Just follow me, I will show you."
He led her to his car while avoiding the prying eyes of people. He then started driving in a certain direction, all in silence.
He stopped right as Selina regained some of her calmness. His goal was the top of a building right next to the Gotham museum of antiques.
"W-what are we doing here?" She wondered, a bit confused though a possibility did surface in her mind.
Ian said nothing as he pulled her with him to the edge of the roof, 'Come to think of it, this is the first time I told anyone about my power.
Wait, what if I tell someone extremely dangerous and smart to find a way to kill me??? That sounds so entertaining, who should I hire? It'd have to be a villain,'
He tried his best to keep calmness on his face as he got lost in his thoughts, 'Darkseid should be able to do it right? What if I stay on a planet and he destroys it? What'll happen?'
It was like the opening of an entirely new universe to him as if he has opened his third, fourth, and fifth eye, so many possibilities and infinite years with little to no boredom just exploring the extent of his gift.
Talk about being insensitive, 'I am not really being insensitive right? I mean I can't die, so it doesn't really matter. Even if there is something that can kill me... I will just think about it then if I can after death.'
Ian convinced himself that he was actually not fucked in the head and turned his attention to Selina, "You must've noticed some irregularities around me by now, didn't you? Just assume that they weren't due to luck and you should understand,"
Selina frowned, noticing the seriousness in his eyes, and truly thought things through.
"Your plans are always dangerous and could lead to your death? Isn't that just because you get off in dangerous situations? Unless you're talking about how It felt when we kiss... Nevermind."
She thought about it so much that she almost slipped it out but Ian caught that anyway, he just ignored the apparent blush on her face and asked, "Oh? How did you feel when we kissed?"
Selina became even more embarrassed as she stuttered, "I-I said Nevermind! okay?"
"No, I really want to know, it's important. Did you feel weak? Like you're going to pass out?" Ian emphasized that quite a bit, his face still just as serious.
"Y-yeah, I felt weak... It was strange to the point I thought you drugged me or something, but I would've smelled it if you did, so I didn't think much about it,"
As she spoke, her embarrassment started fading as she had a clear picture of what he was insinuating, "I witnessed a few supernatural events, and even fought some with Batman long ago... Could it be?"
Ian's thought process was on another point, "You felt weak just from a kiss? It was nowhere near that bad before, so I've never worried about it, but now...
What if I was absorbing your life force? That would explain why you felt weak, but that doesn't explain why it happens only when I am in intimate situations..."
His unending mumbling got to Selina's nerves as she shook him out of his thoughts, "Please calm down and explain,"
She also stopped him because of embarrassment, she simply couldn't find it in herself to tell him that she felt that weak because of how good it felt, too good for it to be normal.
Ian was still frowning, the thought of him actually absorbing the lifeforce of women he's intimate with is certainly not appealing.
"I was never really trying to hide it, so I thought you would've figured out something by now.
You remember how I just ran out of this museum under the rain of bullets yet I was intact. Think back on how dangerous are the jobs we did were under my planning yet we always succeed."
Selina nodded, she indeed found those things strange but never gave them much thought. Luck was one of the most important factors for criminals, one they don't actively think of but wish for.
She also knew she wasn't much of a planner, so his plans always sounded good to her, and since they worked, she never really doubted them.
"Indeed, there seems to be a lot of people like me in the world, so it's not that strange, but my gift is a bit special.
My plans have always been under one rule, make a plan as dangerous as possible to the point of certain death for me, and my gift always does its job and reverse that to a certain extent... My gift simply allows me to resist death though I've come to understand that it's much more than that."
"I see, that's why things are always strange when you're under dangerous circumstances, and you brought me here to show me how it works by jumping off the building, right?" Selina stated with a frown.
"Exactly, can you imagine what'd happen if I jumped off the building? What miraculous thing will occur to resist death," Ian was amused just imagining that.
"Don't do it, and I don't want to imagine." She spoke, annoyance was apparent in her tone.
"Why? I just told you that I can't die." Ian was genuinely confused.
"What if someday your gift fails to work? What if you die? How do you think the people who care about you will feel?" Selina was understandably quite worked out.
Despite all he said, the possibility of death was her only focus, "If you wish to live your life like this, a step away from the gates of death, then why are you getting close to people?! why drive them to care for you thus fear your death??!"
She was almost shaking with emotions. This was certainly not how Ian pictured it'd go, "I... I need to calm down..." Then she just walked away.
Ian didn't stop her, he just took a seat on the edge of the roof, too much into the edge.
He could see very few cars coming and going even under the night sky as he murmured, "Except I never tried to get close to anyone from the start, things just happen because I can never act in a way that I am not..."
Ian closed his eyes as he rested on the edge, thinking of something actually serious.
'If I actually absorb the life force of those I come in contact with, then that'd be a problem, especially with how effective my gift has become after my arrival here, I should keep my distance and perhaps always have gloves on.'
He opened his eyes after a while, and eyed the massive distance from where he is to the ground, feeling not a sliver of fear, "I simply can't resist... Perhaps I am insane."
And then he simply moved just a tiny bit starting a free fall that'd certainly lead to certain death... For a normal person that is.