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[ The answer to that is written all over his body. He fixes his hardened gaze on the Darkling's features. ]

I know what he was thinking and I don't care that Ren's sure that he could've tracked down the culprits. [ Ren would've torn through anyone that stood in his way. ] His way of protecting - or avenging someone, it just gets more people killed.

[ Their brood's mistakes have caused death in and outside the Nest before, and Steve made a promise that he wouldn't let it happen again. His determination runs deep. If he can't change the Darkling's mind that allowing Ren's rage to run the show was the wrong way to go, then they can each know where the other firmly stands. ]

[ Precisely his point. ]

You -- [ don't think that those people would have been deserving? Of course not. The question doesn't leave his mouth, because just looking at Steve - slight, short, and utterly indomitable despite his wounds - it's obvious where he stands. Between everyone and anyone, is it? He's too tired to revisit his own stance, regarding violence. Or diplomacy, for that matter. ]

I'm sorry you were hurt, as a result of my actions, Steve. [ He'd said as much to Ilde, now he'll do the same to Steve. ]

[ He doesn't want or need the apology. They're supposed to be working as a unit. A team. Ren may have acted with or without the Darkling's assistance, but that betrayal in the moment Steve reached out for help sits heavy within him, a deeper wound than the physical blows. The symbiote would have him trust everyone around him without question. He can't afford to do that.

This conversation might as well have been done through their minds, if Steve hadn't been so reluctant to connect with this guy again. He eyes the Darkling for a moment longer before letting his gaze drop, eyebrows knitting together. ]

The crying girl - that came from you? [ Wasn't Ren, and it wasn't him. ]

She did.

[ There's no denying it. It had only been his mind, Ren's and Steve's at that point - when he had sought to drown Steve's brass band in frigid Fjerdan waters. The only reason it had come to that point in particular, was the absurd similarity between the name of a dead man and a long-dead girl. Hilarious, in a dry, scathing sort of way. He finds it insufferable: his lack of control, in that moment.

Maybe it was Steve, who brought that out in him. That relentless drive. ] An old memory, dragged from the depths. That's all.

[ A grimace. The shared memory won't fade as easily as the Darkling would dismiss it.

Too bad the guy didn't turn out to be just another sports fan. ]

You have your own power, like him. [ The line cast between them, a thread to a natural source of power like Ren's Force or something that the symbiote had amplified - Steve isn't savvy enough to be able to tell the difference, except that whatever the Darkling was feeding through the connection was strong as hell. ]

[ Like -- oh, like Ren. He had gotten a taste of it, when he had offered his own ability to Ren for use. The brush of his senses across whatever it was that burned inside of Steve's own, and it had been quite an experience. No more than that, and maybe never more than that. They aren't brood, after all. Just nest. ]

Like, but unlike. I - [ Nobody here is Grisha, like he is. They don't understand the importance of what he tells Steve: ] Am an amplifier.

[ If it were anyone else, he wouldn't hold out his hand. It's half a taunt, half an offer. He doesn't think Steve would be so easily tempted. Not him. ]

That, among other things. However, that was what I offered him.

[ His gaze falls upon the offered hand, but Steve's not looking to buy what the Darkling's selling. Doesn't fully understand the nature of it, doesn't trust it. Ren did, though, in his grief-stricken state - would he do the same again? Would the others? Too much about their powers function like two way streets.

Eyes narrow, lifting to the Darkling's face again. ]

We're supposed to work together. [ Trust each other. ] But we've each got our choices to make.

[ Which is to say again that there's a line drawn, dividing them. ]

Edited 2016-08-15 05:23 (UTC)

[ Thought as much. Still, it hadn't hurt to make an offer. To extend the courtesy.

He was anything but impolite. Conniving, corrupting and utterly dedicated, yes. Impolite? Naaaaaaah. ]

I don't stand against the nest, Steve. [ Far from it. ] Ah, but it's not just choices.

[ There may be a line, but he will insist that it was not he who drew it. ]

It's whether or not we will accept one another for who they are, not who we wanted them to be. That's unity.

[ He believes that much, the promise that the Darkling wouldn't stand against the Nest willingly. It'd be like cutting your own arm off, their short battle alone did enough harm.

Problem comes when they've both got opposing ideas on what standing against the Nest means.

His jaw tightens as he shakes his head. ]

I don't believe that. Sometimes you have to do better, try harder.

[ Ren's like an angry toddler with the power to wreck a whole room with his tantrums. ]

I would never wish for you to be anything other than the better man, Steve. [ Ah, a clever turn in the conversation. A denial and an easy compliment.

Steve is bright. Steve is a man made of better angels and a sense of duty. He could very well be among the best of them, and where would he be, without - arguably - others to reflect that. The Darkling is too old, too honest about what he is, to change in his ways.

And Ren - is confused and violent, but must be allowed to be if he's ever going to find a way that was not forced upon him by another. ]

But, I want what is best for us all. My methods are not wrong, only different. Accept that, or do not. We already know where one another stands.

Edited (changed everything SORRY) 2016-08-18 23:28 (UTC)

[ The compliment doesn't do much to mollify him, his mouth twisting at one side. He'd say there's plenty wrong with any method that involves inciting someone already prone to murderous violence into more of the same, and it's hard for him to find any good intentions in that choice. He can't ever (won't ever) budge -

and it's only a small, foreign voice within him that protests, that craves simple agreement, that reminds him of the echo of blows turned back on broodmates, but it's enough to - maybe for the first time in his life, feel a crack of uncertainty on his stance.

He pushes it back with more force than necessary, his tone flattening. ]

I guess that's all there is to say.

[ The voice speaks to him as well, and it is a cool, rational voice. The best thing to do, for the betterment of the whole, would be to compromise with Steve. To lead by example, to put aside pride and find a common ground - they would be stronger for it, if he could do this. They would all be empowered by it, and it sings - wisely, to his sense of command. To control. To his prior role as a leader and general, to do this.

( Like hell. ) There are other ways, ones that do not require relinquishing his resolve. ]

I suppose it is. I admire you, Steve. You, and what you'll do for us all.

[ The polite way of saying "unstoppable vs. immovable" maybe. ]

[ If Steve could say the same, he would. As it stands - he gives the Darkling a measuring look before moving to step outside the room to head toward -

he doesn't know yet. Probably to hang around the living area until the Darkling leaves.

Awkward. ]

there are NO OTHERS like us.	i taught him that he had NO EQUAL
i understand the desire TO REMAIN FREE	peace, on my terms. (WITHOUT REMORSE) [or you] will cease to exist.

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lmk if I'm misinterpreting here!

this is perfect wtf

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