Benevolence twisted back to threat between one heartbeat and the next, but Kel was no longer surprised by the swift shifts in expression and temper. Even so, the flicker of fangs sent a fresh pulse of adrenaline through him, heart racing once more as he held his ground against the purred threats. His bow remained between them and he raised it between them to remind Nate of the barrier he'd placed - however slender - as those sharp teeth came near again.
"Monsters like the Ascended?" he couldn't help but ask, his opinion of Nate's kind crystallizing under the barrage of bullying cruelty and silken threats. My, what big teeth you have, grandma... Jiao had made Safrin sound kind and patient and close enough to touch, though she had been of the Fair Ones and made it sound like they were more beloved by the gods than humans were. More than Nate's kind, he could guess easily enough given what he'd learned tonight. But no matter how distant the deities of this world were, they sounded closer than his own and he was far too new and too vulnerable to risk their wrath.
"But a god did touch you, didn't she? To... to make you like... like this?"
"Monsters like the Ascended?" he couldn't help but ask, his opinion of Nate's kind crystallizing under the barrage of bullying cruelty and silken threats. My, what big teeth you have, grandma... Jiao had made Safrin sound kind and patient and close enough to touch, though she had been of the Fair Ones and made it sound like they were more beloved by the gods than humans were. More than Nate's kind, he could guess easily enough given what he'd learned tonight. But no matter how distant the deities of this world were, they sounded closer than his own and he was far too new and too vulnerable to risk their wrath.
"But a god did touch you, didn't she? To... to make you like... like this?"
