Zerxus just stares, for a moment, before he growls a curse that would make mortal ears bleed. (His own throat doesn't appreciate it much at the moment, either.)
"He certainly tried. The mortal Glee Shoth hit harder and hotter."
The mortal Glee Shoth had more than half divine parentage and was channeling nearly the full power of Itempas Skyfather's white solar light of all order at the time, but still.
"But he got in the way enough - I couldn't bring more power to getting through him without risking damaging the whole ship."
And while Kahl is not 100% opposed to dragging everyone on board down to oblivion with the both of them, it would mean, in that particular moment, that Asmodeus succeeded in preventing Kahl from saving Zerxus either way. So he hadn't. And Asmodeus still succeeded, and Kahl is angry. But more than angry, bitter, angry at himself, disappointed in the turns of fate. Horribly unsurprised.
"I don't," Kahl growls, hotly. "Don't sit up, you're resting," he adds, flickering a foot closer, ungently pushing Zerxus back down against Tempus's flank with a hand on his shoulder.
"I would kill everyone here and pull us all thrashing down into the dark together before I yielded to him, and he's a coward who'll sit in this box being catspaw to a low thief who won't even pretend to release him rather than face death. I just didn't do it today."
There's no resistance; there are very few situations where there would be, really, to Kahl reaching out and touching him.
Besides, he really shouldn't be upright at the moment. Still, gazing up intently from his pillow of stars and feathers, "But you didn't. That matters."
"Only because it didn't get me what I want," he explains, viciously and slightly slow, exasperated, as though Zerxus is a child who needs it laid out clearly.
"And I don't see why I shouldn't eat that leech right back."
"It is right now," Kahl mutters, flicking Zerxus in the forehead with a mean fingernail, hard enough to hurt a little. "And since you care about all of us little monsters more than yourself, maybe it would teach you to call me before opening your throat to any sad hungry teeth that wander by."
He's angry at Ashton, and Asmodeus, and himself, but he's very sincerely angry at Zerxus, too.
It's enough to make him grimace, but he accepts it without complaint.
"I wasn't - I didn't think that was where it was going." Even as he finishes, though, he's shaking his head. "But I knew I was taking a risk, meeting them alone. I'm sorry for not telling you."
Kahl humphs, emphatically, and then slumps down against Tempus next to him, a heavy warm sulky weight pressed against his side.
"I was watching," he grumbles again, more quietly. "But if you'd called and waited for me, to actually show, it would have been harder for Asmodeus to interfere. And she might have been more cautious in the first place."
Zerxus shifts a little, to welcome that weight and keep looking at Kahl. Tempus's wing lowers, blanketing them in stars.
"She seemed - very skittish, the first time we met. Which was obviously on purpose." There's a wry twist to his voice, but no true resentment. "...I should have realised you would be watching. I should have been more careful."
He considers everyone on the Barge, especially inmates, his responsibility - but his obligation to Kahl is a tier above.
Even as he winces at a jab that should not affect him that much, "Because...I think death would hurt her more than it hurts me."
Tempus huffs in exasperation, so he elaborates, "I have you, and other people, that I can rely on until the death toll passes. She'll just - feel even more terrified and helpless. And I know that caring about the progress of other inmates isn't your job, but it is mine."
"...I'd say it's my job not to regress it, if I can help it."
But Kahl isn't wrong, and the sheepish acknowledgement is there in his voice, in his expression. He clings so desperately to compassion in Hell, even knowing he can't do much with it. Even in Avalir, there were constraints.
What he treasures most about the Barge is how much their purpose aligns, and now -
"Their death - their true, final death - was weeks ago. They have no idea what being an inmate should be like."
"What? No." His grimace is downright indignant. "I'm saying - this is a rough start for a new inmate and that matters. It doesn't erase or excuse anything, but it matters. And I hate the idea of compounding that with a death toll."
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Would you like to guess who, Zerxus?
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"Did he hurt you?"
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"He certainly tried. The mortal Glee Shoth hit harder and hotter."
The mortal Glee Shoth had more than half divine parentage and was channeling nearly the full power of Itempas Skyfather's white solar light of all order at the time, but still.
"But he got in the way enough - I couldn't bring more power to getting through him without risking damaging the whole ship."
And while Kahl is not 100% opposed to dragging everyone on board down to oblivion with the both of them, it would mean, in that particular moment, that Asmodeus succeeded in preventing Kahl from saving Zerxus either way. So he hadn't. And Asmodeus still succeeded, and Kahl is angry. But more than angry, bitter, angry at himself, disappointed in the turns of fate. Horribly unsurprised.
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"Thank you, for not doing that. For having more perspective and discipline than he does."
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"I would kill everyone here and pull us all thrashing down into the dark together before I yielded to him, and he's a coward who'll sit in this box being catspaw to a low thief who won't even pretend to release him rather than face death. I just didn't do it today."
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Besides, he really shouldn't be upright at the moment. Still, gazing up intently from his pillow of stars and feathers, "But you didn't. That matters."
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"And I don't see why I shouldn't eat that leech right back."
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"Does it matter that I don't want to be avenged?" It's not a trap; it's an earnest question.
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Not to if. He'd need a much better reason to stay his hand that that.
"You're mine; she's wronged me, not just you."
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"Fair."
He doesn't have another reason, which means a lack of retribution is off the table. Okay, he can work with that.
"I'd rather you didn't exchange death for death."
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He's angry at Ashton, and Asmodeus, and himself, but he's very sincerely angry at Zerxus, too.
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"I wasn't - I didn't think that was where it was going." Even as he finishes, though, he's shaking his head. "But I knew I was taking a risk, meeting them alone. I'm sorry for not telling you."
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"I was watching," he grumbles again, more quietly. "But if you'd called and waited for me, to actually show, it would have been harder for Asmodeus to interfere. And she might have been more cautious in the first place."
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"She seemed - very skittish, the first time we met. Which was obviously on purpose." There's a wry twist to his voice, but no true resentment. "...I should have realised you would be watching. I should have been more careful."
He considers everyone on the Barge, especially inmates, his responsibility - but his obligation to Kahl is a tier above.
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"Why don't you want a death for a death? If I don't just wash it even I'll have to figure out something that'll really hurt."
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Tempus huffs in exasperation, so he elaborates, "I have you, and other people, that I can rely on until the death toll passes. She'll just - feel even more terrified and helpless. And I know that caring about the progress of other inmates isn't your job, but it is mine."
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He wonders if Zerxus has forgotten.
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But Kahl isn't wrong, and the sheepish acknowledgement is there in his voice, in his expression. He clings so desperately to compassion in Hell, even knowing he can't do much with it. Even in Avalir, there were constraints.
What he treasures most about the Barge is how much their purpose aligns, and now -
"Their death - their true, final death - was weeks ago. They have no idea what being an inmate should be like."
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"I will see what they have to say for themselves before I act "