“Look.” Cedric massaged his temples, not waiting for Andie to refute his previous statement before pushing further. “Do you even know what arrogance is?”

Andie’s shadow grinned. “It’s awesome, is what it is.” She pointed at her ego with her thumb. “Don’t know why she’s always throwing a hissy fit over it.”

“Thank you for your contribution.” Cedric clicked his tongue. “It wasn’t helpful.”

“Wasn’t supposed to be.”

“So.” Cedric turned his attention toward Andie’s ego. “What’s your answer?”

“…what’s my answer? What’s your friggin’ question!? That’s like asking someone what ‘red’ is! How do you expect me to answer that without just rattling off synonyms?”

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“I was under the impression context made that pretty clear.” Cedric arched an eyebrow in a deliberately grating manner. The more of a rise he got out of Andie, the more she’d open up. “I expect you to do it poorly, or perhaps just outright fail. And for the record, I can describe the word red without synonyms. Because I’ve actually thought about what ‘red’ is and what it means.”

“Well, then do it. Describe red. I’m wai-” Andie’s ego froze noting the eagerness in Cedric’s eyes. “Actually, don’t do that. I believe you now.” Cedric slumped a bit, almost disappointed. “Arrogance is… an excess of pride, thinking you’re better than everyone else.”

“And what does that look like?”

“Like just about every villain in every story ever?” Andie’s ego heaved an irritated sigh. “Any more dumb questions?”

“Just one.” Cedric grinned a toothy, predatory grin. A deliberate action to communicate in no uncertain terms he was playing the antagonist to Andie’s protagonist… and was confident that he was winning. “What does being ‘better than someone’ even mean?”