graveborn.

Scott McGregor as Mark Brennan and Eve Morey as Sonya Rebecchi NEIGHBOURS (1985 - ) Ep. 7036 (2015)

He had encountered enough people to recognize irritation the moment it surfaced. Some made it obvious. Others attempted to conceal it beneath politeness that rarely held for long. She, however, did not strike him as the type capable of remaining quiet simply for the sake of keeping peace. There was something sharp in the way she moved, in the cadence of her voice, that suggested she always needed to bite back eventually. The kind of person unwilling to let anyone else have the final word.

Seojun simply looked at her in return, composed and entirely unaffected. The faintest smirk touched the corner of his mouth before disappearing almost as quickly as it came, subtle enough to be missed if one was not paying attention. “Sounds like something you should resolve within yourself,” he replied smoothly.

The phone itself had never been the issue. Seojun could not have cared less about that. What interested him instead was the irritation beneath her reactions, the subtle way his mere presence seemed to agitate her. Interesting. And unfortunately for her, curiosity had always been one of his more persistent flaws.

Her comparison to a dog earned the faintest shift in his expression, something just shy of amusement lingering beneath the surface. “Mm. That comparison is slightly flawed,” he replied smoothly. “Dogs rarely move simply because they are told to.” His gaze drifted over her then, deliberate enough to make it obvious he was assessing her calmly and thoroughly. “One usually has to tug at the collar, or a gentle nudge.” A brief pause followed before his attention returned fully to her face, dark eyes unreadable as ever. “Though,” he continued lightly, “I do not seem to see one on you.”

And that only pisses her off more. That this... fucking weirdo even had the audacity to say something like that to her without even knowing her name. Though, Buffy shouldn't be shocked. It's always the good-looking ones that act like they have something shoved right up their ass. Such a waste, honestly.

"— What the fuck are you even talking about?" Letting out an irritated sigh and pairing it with a roll of her eyes, Buffy's annoyance is clear (not that it was hidden to begin with) because, again, how did they even get here?

"oh, that is the basics. I'm talking like opening their car and confetti pops out or it's filled with shaving cream everywhere. Throwing toilet paper is fun and all around Halloween." she chuckled. "Or having the shower rain blue and it stains the skin. That kind of thing." she didn't mind brainstorming with Buffy. she knew she wasn't going to judge.

Their deal is apparently sealed the second Lucia takes her hand and, honestly, Buffy wasn't planning on arguing the arrangement anyway. Ice cream and the opportunity to discuss their pettiness? She's sold.

"Oh, you know me. I've got a hunger for fame, so I went where everyone goes—L.A.," and saying it makes her realize how much she actually misses it. "Honestly, I'm surprised to see you still around. I would've thought we would've been neighbors or something, ya know? How've you been?"

"Ew—what is that?" Voice probably louder than it should be given where they were, but Buffy doesn't care.

"Actually, I won't. Move," Buffy steps forward, back of her hand to shove him aside to get to the cup sitting literally right behind him.

"Or maybe..." she trails off, leaning forward against both arms, "You might need to toughen up a little more. You don't have to get physical if you don't want to, but stop letting people think they can walk all over you. Stand up for yourself a lot more."

"Clearly you don't know me at all." his words were laced with a quiet bitterness at her accusation. Was she supposed to be the victim in all this? He huffed a humorless laugh. "You're so fucking thick-skulled, you know that? Always in fight mode...you can't even see that some people could mean well."

She's silent. Teeth gripping the inside of her cheek as she's, once again, being hit with a reality she'd rather not hear—knuckles probably growing white from how tight her hidden fists are. And much like herself, Buffy can't fathom that: "You don't know shit about me either, so stop acting like you do."

Thick-skulled? Always in fight mode? Right. Fuck him.

"You got me there," Buffy agrees, plopping into a free stool before resting her chin on her hand, "So, come on.. Spill. Tell me what you've been up to."

He was not entirely certain what amused him more—the offense people managed to take from a single sentence, or the way her attention immediately shifted in every direction afterward. Forward. To the side. Behind herself. As though she genuinely could not comprehend what had just happened. It was almost enough to pull something close to amusement from him. Almost. A quiet exhale left him then, subtle enough that most would have missed the exhaustion hidden beneath it. Long day. Longer patience. And he certainly had no intention of being delayed further because someone lacked basic spatial awareness.

“You are excused,” Seojun replied smoothly, gesturing lightly for her to continue on her way. Simple. Dismissive. Yet she remained exactly where she was, rooted in place as though waiting for something more from him. His gaze lowered briefly toward the phone still occupying her attention before returning to her face.

“Though most people attempt not to walk directly into people while staring at their screen,” he added calmly. A faint pause followed before he tilted his head slightly. “pay closer attention to where you are walking.”

"No, I wasn't asking to be—you know what? I just met you and you're already starting to piss me off," Buffy shoots back because his arrogance is so loud already, she genuinely doesn't know how else she's supposed to react to it.

"It's California. Literally everyone does that."

Does that make it right? Probably not, and she might've apologized if he hadn't immediately started talking down to her. "But, sure, I'll pay better attention the second you learn how to talk to people who accidentally stepped in front of you. I'm not a dog, and now I'm not going to move until you ask me nicely."