Roasting (3)

...

"Sigh! Okay, now that we're done with this. How about I continue your explanation from earlier on how I got you to talk to me?"

Upon hearing this, Echidna's frustration subsides a little and she quickly focuses on Icarus' words as she thinks: 'Well, I think now that we've come to that, it must be practically impossible for me to be even more frustrated... right?'

Icarus takes the silence of the other party as a sign of agreement and clears his throat. Then with the most dignified face he can do, he resumes his explanation

"Ahem... Anyway, as I said before. Even though I am not able to understand the reason for your silence, still my curiosity was quite aroused!

Obviously, I was very curious about the reason for your silence. Besides that, there were several other things that didn't get out of my head: Who or what were you? Why did I hear your voice in my head? Why couldn't I see you? Is the reason I came to this world related to you?

Among many other things, I wanted to ask you!

Unfortunately, I didn't know how to get you to talk to me!

So, having no idea how to do this, I decided to start leaving several very subtle clues, that I knew of your existence and that I really wanted to talk to you..."

Echidna feels a quite strange, hearing the way Icarus describes her actions

'Subtle? Was that subtle? Are you stupid by any chance? I don't know in what world your actions were subtle! Damn, you literally talked to me every chance you got! In my view, these actions are far from being... subtle clues!'

Not being aware of his listener's thoughts, Icarus calmly continues his explanation

"... In the end, despite all my efforts it was all useless, since you ignored me!

Sigh! You know, it hurt me a lot and I started to believe that I would never be able to make my words really reach you!

I was pretty sad about it, but that's when it happened! When I was coming here to Icarus Falls a brilliant idea cross my mind! Since my subtle cues weren't working, I should change my approach, and instead of doing that I should do the most obvious thing, that's... roast you!"

[...]

"You know, there are a number of ways to get someone to talk to you. From interesting topics, similar hobbies, or even praise and sweet-talk!

However, that doesn't always work! Since, people can ignore you completely!

Besides that, even if they pay attention to you, if you're not careful enough with the amount of compliments that you give, people may end up being afraid of you!

Sigh! This sucks! I remember several times that it happened to me, especially the first few times I was trying to deceive- Ahem... I mean, trying to using my honesty to convince people to give me their money!"

[Hahaha... Yeah, from what I saw, it took you a while to be able to easily convince people using just your "honesty"!]

Icarus calmly continues, as if he hadn't even heard Echidna's sarcasm-filled voice

"Anyway, the conclusion of this is that compliments don't always work to get people's attention.

However, there is something that works very well for that!

And when used correctly, it makes people respond to you almost instantly! Do you know what this is, my dear?"

[No, I don't know! What is?]

Seeing that Echidna doesn't seem to be that angry anymore, and instead she even seems a little curious. A victorious smile appears on Icarus' face, but he quickly suppresses it and with a calm expression, he continues patiently with his explanation.

"It's simple! People always respond to... criticism!"

[C-Criticism?]

"Yeah, criticism! After all, no one feels comfortable being criticized and cursed! Of course, depending on who the person is and how close their relationship with us is, we are even able to put up with and just listen in silence!

However, this only happens when it comes to someone close to you. However… what if we are talking about a stranger?

If suddenly a person you don't know starts to criticize you, can you say with certainty that you is able to remain calm?"

[I-I...]

Echidna tries to answer but in the end, she chooses to remain silent. For, she realizes that Icarus 'words really make sense: 'Yeah, it's just like he said... I'm not able to be silent if I am forced to face this kind of situation!'

As if he knows exactly what she's thinking, Icarus complements

"It's not just you, but most people are not able to do it too! Thanks to that fact, most of the time, when we come across situations like this, we usually get angry and curse back! What can I say? It is just a natural thing to try to defend yourself, when feeling threatened, right?!"

Echidna then sighs as she thinks of something somewhat alarming:

'Sigh! Therefore, it wasn't just a coincidence and he really did it all on purpose!

Before, with the exception of those two times that I let my guard down, no matter what he said, I was still able to keep it steady and remain silent! However, it was only when he started to blame me for his problems. That I was furious and this anger ended up clouding my mind causing me to answer him! And this time it was not just a few words, but an entire speech!'

At this moment, a terrifying thought crosses her mind

'Wait a minute... now that I think about it, he said that he thought in this plan, just a few minutes ago, when he was coming to the lake.

However, this may not necessarily be true! Be it his memories or the last conversations we had, both of which show me clearly that I cannot easily believe his words!

Besides that, the fact that I was irritated by his actions for a while, made it easier for me to lose my cool!

All of these factors together, indicates only one thing... he is lying!

He probably should have been planning this since the first time he heard me talking, and all that happened afterwards were just arrangements he made to make me fall into his trap!'

Having reached this conclusion, Echidna is once again impressed by the intelligence and patience that the young man in front of her possesses.

'Sigh! I really underestimated him! I should be more careful with him going forward!'

If Icarus knew Echidna's thoughts, his reaction would probably be: Wow, not even me, knew that I was so amazing!

Truth be told, Echidna is just being paranoid! Surprisingly, this time Icarus is really telling the truth!

He really thought of the plan to try to piss her off until she spoke, just a few minutes ago.

As for the supposed arrangements that Icarus had made in advance, they are actually just bunch of coincidences. Coincidences that happened because of the Icarus' strange personality and the unusual way he acted when faced with an unknown environment!

All these facts, led her to erroneously believe that Icarus planned all this from the beginning.

...