Idiots Afoot

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His head was high, his eyes were closed, and each step was taken in sheer confidence. The grass around him reached higher than he stood, but the path he followed made sure he had an easy walk. His loud mouth could be heard for practical miles with how little he cared about being silent, "I promise you Em, you're gonna LOVE it here! It's WAAAAAY better than the library. It wasn't even that hard to get to."

The zorua opened his eyes to the world ahead of him, a few rolling hills in the distance caught his eye. A single tree stood upon it, but it looked as if the plant fell long ago. It was such a simple piece of nature, but the prospect of investigating it excited him. With an excited wiggle of his body, he leapt forward and dash towards it. The wind in his fur felt absolutely amazing; This was so much different from boring ol' Grassveil and Shadowhue!

He slowed briefly before he jumped up on top of the log of the elderly fallen tree. He looked on at the expansive flat lands before him as energy that rivaled the static charge that floated in the air around him coursed through his veins. Was this what his father felt like when he went into dungeons? Probably not considering he looked like an alcoholic deadbeat last time Chance saw him, but there had to be a reason why the glaceon became an explorer in the first place right?

"Wooooow, Em come look at this!" he encouraged his sister. He waited to hear the sound of her paws scratching against the bark to hop up alongside him, but he heard nothing. "Em?" His stupidly wide grin faded into curiosity as he turned around to look at his sister for the first time in literal hours. There was no sister in sight. A concerned shout escaped his mouth briefly before he started to look around more fervently, "Em? Emmelyn? Emmy?" he called out for his sister in vain as he turned in circles. He half expected her to simply materialize behind him and ask him to stop shouting, but nothing came.

"C'mon Em this isn't funny!" he shouted, his tone slightly offended that she dared to hide from him. He sprang towards one end of the log and peered into the inside of the hollow innards, effectively looking inside completely upside down. "Em?" She wasn't there. His heart sank. He lifted his head back up while his hind-legs failed to support him. He sat upon the log with lowered ears. "Where did you go?" he asked in a much quieter tone. Did...did she stay back at Grassveil?


Lost, hungry, and most of all desperate. He decided that it would have been fun to visit the one place that seemed friendly to electric types such as himself, but instead he simply became lost for days. The jolteon struggled to hunt in these parts, unable to familiarize himself with the prey and enact proper strategies on top of being unable to find any edible items to fill his stomach.

Fortunately, however, he was given a stroke of luck. As he trudged miserably through the tall grass of the electric field, the shrill sound of someone yelling caught his attention. His bitten ear twitched before his head swiveled in the direction of the source. Yes...it was definitely somebody. Somebody small from the sounds of it. His stomach growled. It was time for the circle of life to continue its cycle.

The electric type lowered his body to the ground and quickly-yet quietly skulked forwards. His yellow color blended in with the golden grass that rose out of the ground higher than he stood. He headed towards the sound of the voice, up a hill and closer until he came across a small clearing at the top of the hill that held the log and stump of a fallen tree. He could see the form of a small zorua at the top of the log who looked a little depressed about something.

Erebus smirked, food. Easy food. Finally, he could get his stomach to leave him alone. He took a step forward, however, hesitated. He could run forth and pounce on the fox the old fashion way...or he could use his new abilities as a Jolteon to his advantage. He had not tried hunting with his powers, but it could not have possibly been any different from average combat. With how weak the zorua looked, he could not imagine it would take more than a single Thunder to deal with it.

The Jolteon's body began to crackle with electricity as he steadily stepped out from the grass, his eyes focused on the dark type. He was behind the zorua, so it did not yet see him. There was no way it could smell him from there either. His plan was simple: get as close as he can to the Zorua. If the prey showed any sign of noticing him, then he could unleash the charge onto them and claim his dinner...

Did...did he space out on something important here or was something wrong with this skitty? His dad was a bully? When did any of this become a contest? It almost felt as if his paws finally touched the ground a little as the urge to act became stronger. The surreal feeling of it all didn't just vanish, but a bit of emotion was finally expressed as his ears turned back with a dissatisfied look.

"No-You can't just do that," he declared with an inch more passion, "You wanted him to do that, we all heard you." He was out of it for most of it, but that wouldn't stop him from defending Senya...Sova? Whatever his dad went by right now. "Nobody asked you to do that either, so you can't just v..." he paused. What was the word? He heard someone use it before he was pretty sure, but he couldn't quite figure it out. His mind struggled to tap into the memory and check whether it even meant what he wanted to say. "V...ill-if-nize? Vallanize?" This is what he gets for trying to be intelligent. Nice. He tried to remember it with a few mumbles before he eventually gave up to speak up once more, "Say he's mean."

"And he cares for people too..." the zorua assumed. Well, technically it was an assumption. His entire judgement of this situation was one great big assumption. As far as he understood, that was still Sova. The complexity of it all was just a bit too much for his developing mind to comprehend. "You're the one being a bit of a bully here..."

Just like any child in doubt, Dad is always right.

The skitty's response to all of this was... appropriate. More importantly, it was impressive. Her mocking and verbal battery, even in her dying state, only contributed to Senya's newfound respect for her. He even found himself agreeing to an extent: she was strong, in the only way he would truly respect in someone. She had a deceptive strength of spirit. She was pathetically weak, and yet she was enduring what the glaceon knew had to be a significant amount of pain, all just to prove a point to him. He didn't feel insulted in the slightest by her boasting and claims of being stronger than him; it was hard to take much offense from someone declaring to be the stronger party while bleeding out on the ground... but it was respectable nonetheless.

Darcy had done exactly what she'd wanted to, and she knew that, so of course she would be bragging about it. And it was true that Senya hadn't expected her to go through with any of this, so she had him there. Yes, he had expected her to chicken out and even run away from him... but she didn't. Even now, when it was impossible for her not to know how easily he could kill her, she was still running her mouth off at him. The more she talked, the more he felt... bad. This was new. He wasn't used to feeling bad about hurting someone, except maybe Sova at times.

So, when Chance began speaking in defense of him, lashing out at the skitty, he couldn't believe he found himself wanting to defend her. He rarely wanted to defend anyone, even himself... but he felt Darcy deserved acknowledgment for her resolve. Senya looked over to the zorua with a light chuckle, and shrugged. "Well, I wouldn't say I'm a bully... but she isn't either. Just someone trying to prove a point," he paused, his eyes jumping back to the skitty, "...And she has."

At least this was one nice thing about Sova. His friends were surprisngly appealing... and apparently so was Chance. Senya could actually tolerate these small squishy things, despite how innocent and childish they all seemed at a glance. They got it. They understood how things worked. A little. Maybe with some time, he could even tolerate their existence.

But for now, tolerating the existence of things would have to wait, because a certain someone was still bleeding out on the ground. Senya sighed absently as his attention focused back on the skitty. He raised his paw toward her, but remembered the last thing she'd said... That question. Was he done? Technically, yes, he was finished with what he had previously been trying to do. However, considering there didn't seem to be anyone awake right now who could do any kind of healing... this meant he would have to hurt her more. "And no, I'm not done," he spoke up again, focused more on Darcy's wounds than Darcy herself. He found himself not wanting to look at her face for some reason.

"This might hurt," he continued, his voice a bit quieter, as the air around him grew colder, "But I'm sure you can handle it..." He was mocking her out of spite for her mocking him prior, of course... but he actually did believe she could handle it.

Senya was no medic. He had no healing moves. The only medic he knew of was unconscious and probably wouldn't be in a very useful state if she were to be woken up. So, he was going to do what little he could to help make sure this interesting cat did not bleed to death. No matter how tough she thought she was, he knew from ample personal experience that blood loss would affect her all the same. Fortunately, Sova was a big nerd and had a lot of random knowledge of various things, and Senya had access to all of it. Vaguely. He knew how to help... but he was pretty sure it would hurt.

The temperature around his paw dropped especially low as he pressed it against the skitty again, starting in the same place as before and moving with the same eerie, meticulous calmness. This time, however, there were no claws or cutting involved. As he pressed his paw against the skitty's blood-soaked fur, frost began to coat the surrounding area. He intended to move his paw across the length of the wounds and chill them to help stop the bleeding and numb the pain. As long as he was careful not to freeze her flesh, he was pretty sure he wouldn't cause more damage. The cold would restrict blood flow and, while it might cause more immediate pain, it would hopefully numb the area as well.

For once, he wanted to entertain a conversation with someone, and he didn't intend to let her pass out before he could do that... let alone risk her dying.

Darcy could hear Chance's words... She was still lucid enough to understand what he was saying, although she was far too weakened to really formulate a proper response... She'd used up all her energy on attempting to resist the torture that had been inflicted on her, and now she wasn't sure what to do... She knew Chance was... well, he was small. She wished he didn't have to see this... Darcy attempted to reposition her head so as to block her chest from view for the Zorua. She knew she wasn't a bully, and she knew that he likely didn't want to think of his dad as a bad guy... Which to be fair, she now knew he wasn't. But the truth was complicated, and Senya certainly looked a lot like Sova...

But she didn't know what to say. She didn't want Chance seeing this... and a part of her was happy that her sister had passed out... She hadn't seen most of the little torture session... She hoped Alki would be ok... Darcy looked up weakly as the Glaceon seemed to defend her... He was wrong of course, about himself. He absolutely was a bully, but... She couldn't help but wonder why he was defending her. Even going so far as to say that she had successfully proven her point...

A small, pained smile managed to creep onto her face. That was all she had wanted... She'd learned that Senya wasn't Sova pretty quickly, and ever since then... She wanted to prove that you could stand up to people like Senya! Even if you weren't as strong... Nowhere near as strong... She'd wanted to prove a lot of things, honestly. And she felt like she had...

Her eyes were drawn instead to his paw, which he had begun to raise, and was now suspended mid-air. "...Oh..." She managed weakly, lowering her gaze yet again. She couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed with herself... She'd never done that much. She'd helped Alki, sure, and she'd tried to be nice to everyone... And she was proud of that! And that was important... But she felt like she had so much more potential... Who was going to help her mom now...?

She didn't want to die yet... But if this was how she was going to end... Well, there was very, precious little she could do to stop it now... The least she could do was face it with dignity...

And she was crying now... He informed her that he wasn't done, but she had been able to tell. He informed her that this might hurt, and that she was able to handle it. He was mocking her... And this only further cemented her thought that he really did intend to kill her...

Well, whatever... She couldn't do anything... She felt so light-headed... "J-Just d-don't hurt my sister..." She managed to mumble, before falling silent once more. Who was going to tell her parents...? Darcy shivered, fighting back against the darkness that seemed to seep slowly into her vision. She looked up at the Glaceon, making eye contact with him. But... It was too difficult to read him. He still seemed a bit guilty, but otherwise... She couldn't understand him. She supposed she never would understand people like him...

Darcy let out a soft cry of surprise as a new shot of adrenaline seemed to course through her. That wasn't a cut... She wasn't sure what she'd expected him to do. Another cut seemed most likely, maybe some weird sort of powerful move, something to assert his dominance against her, but... this...?  He was freezing her. And it hurt... It hurt so bad...


Darcy's ears quivered as she went back to her try-not-to-scream mode... It was freezing! She shivered, tears forming in her eyes all over again... Darcy had read some book on first aid, a while ago... And it had a section on something like this for Ice-types... If the bleeding was really bad... He was freezing the cut to stop the blood from pouring out so freely...

Was that so she could suffer more...? Die slower? Or... Or was he really... helping her?

The Skitty was more inclined to believe the former, given his previous track record, but what he'd been saying... About liking her, about her being able to handle it... Maybe he was helping her. She didn't really want his help... but she absolutely needed it too... Alki had forgotten her own healing move, and... and she didn't want her sister taking in this sight...

"W-Wha... W-W-Why... did you do that?" She asked through gritted teeth as he was almost done. Again, she had successfully managed to avoid screaming, but she had certainly cried quite a bit, all over again... Her ears were flat, and her expression was clearly quite pained, perhaps even more so than before... But she was alive... She was alive, and she wanted to stay alive... "A-a-are you going... g-going to kill me? Or... o-or are you trying t-to h-help, now... M-Make up y-your mind..." Darcy managed to stammer out. She really shouldn't be quipping much at all anymore... But it was too easy, and she still hated this Glaceon... No matter what he might do, after that day, she'd always hate him, as long as she lived...

~

Alki woke up, with no idea how much time had passed... She was terrified. Terrified a lot of things... Terrified that her sister might... Might have died... Ok, maybe just terrified of one thing of Darcy... Darcy dying, and that was it, that was all that worried her, all that consumed her, and the thought of her closest sibling dying, dying so near to her, with nothing she could do, the mere thought of it made her want to die too, die even more, and if it actually happened, then... then she didn't know. She didn't know what she'd do. It'd be like if the world had ended... The world had ended for her...

She gathered enough courage to look at the Skitty. She wasn't sure what she expected. But... the rise and fall of her body indicated that was still breathing... But she was also still bleeding... bleeding a lot... Her cream fur was now more red, sickly, dark red, and it was nauseating, and it was so much... It made her want to pass out again, but Alki managed to hold on to consciousness...

Just in time for her to hear the Zorua speak. And it was infuriating... What the fuck was he on...? Darcy. A bully? She was half dead. In fact, probably more than half... Alki stumbled over to the Zorua, glaring at him as he finished his little complaint...

"C-Chance... My sister is h-h-half d-dead... And t-that's your dad. Your dad that did it... Are y-you really going to c-call h-her the bully here...?" Without really thinking about it, she began to form her hidden power in her hand, unsure of what she might do with it... If he didn't shut up... Well, she knew she was going to be using it somehow, but... She had enough mental presence, at least at the moment, to not make the situation worse... She heard Darcy speak, which meant she was alive... The Glaceon was doing something to Darcy now, something involving ice but Alki was pissed at the Zorua... Too pissed to do anything to Sova... Or maybe that was a lie...? Just a facade... Maybe she was too afraid to step up to Sova... And Chance was the next best thing, considering he seemed to be on Sova's side...

"S-Shut the f-f-fuck up, C-Chance..." She said, looking the Zorua in the eyes, as menacingly as she possibly could with a stutter like hers...

He was...so confused. Sova-...Senya? ...Senva. Senva defended the skitty against the claim of being a bully. He wasn't appalled at the denial or headstrong in his decision-as Chance normally would be-but instead, curious. "Really...?" he muttered quietly as he continued his attempts to put the pieces of the scene back together through the thick haze in his thoughts. None of this really added up to him, since as far as he was concerned the skitty demanded to be cut, got hurt, then proceeded to insult Senva over it. Just as he was about ask about the whole situation, a different voice addressed Chance.

His sight was caught on the glaceon as the wound was frozen over. The pink orb in the corner of his vision attracted his attention. The jigglypuff drew closer to him, a dark energy gathering in her hands. It was difficult to be afraid of a pink puffball who could hardly get her words out, but this was only amplified by his current state of mind and the fact that he barely even registered that the fairy spoke to him specifically.

While he wasn't afraid, he could still see the threat presented before him. Ooooh no. He was not going through this again. His fur rose as he stood up. His head lowered with bared teeth, ready to meet the Jigglypuff's threat. He growled, though at his age it sounded more cute and pitched than low and dangerous. A shine to his eye glimmered briefly as he watched the jigglypuff's every move, on the look out for any further signs of hostility. If the fairy type were to strike, he wouldn't be hit as he stared right on back with a confidence he lacked when the Jolteon attacked.

Now that he established that he was not going to allow himself to be struck down again without a fight, he found it fit to speak. "No," he objected to the demand for him to silence himself, "She asked for it, so none of you can hate him for it." How many times did he have to repeat himself? His voice lacked the passion it had just a second ago, back to the stale and blank tone as before.

"And you can't hate me for anything either, 'cuz I'm saying what i'm seeing and I'm not being a jerk over being wrong."

The skitty said something about not hurting her sister, but Senya didn't care. He didn't care what she was talking about or what she thought he was going to do. He was far too preoccupied with practicing medicine to worry about her words. Fortunately, he was correct in thinking she would be tough enough to handle it; she was even staying conscious, which was nice because every word out of her mouth seemed to make her more... interesting.

It was for this reason that an unamused expression came over Senya's face when the two idiot children began bickering. How was he supposed to continue this riveting conversation with the half-dead skitty if he could hardly even focus on her over the sounds of Dumb and Dumber fighting? And when he turned to look at them, it seemed they were actually about to get into a fight, which would definitely be loud... and would probably cause Sova to come back out to protect his angry kid. Unacceptable. No, for once Senya wanted to stay out and... socialize. What an odd thought.

He turned back to the skitty for only a moment and held his bloodied paw up close to her face to gesture for her to hold on. He would have touched her mouth to further get the point across, but he figured that wouldn't be very appreciated considering his paw was a little soaked with her blood. "Hold that thought," he spoke very casually, still holding his same air of indifference. He then turned his attention back to the other two and took in a deep breath. He had to diffuse the tension... with words...

"Excuse me, but you're both interrupting a very important conversation. Now, both of you shut up and sit down. Or else?" he spoke, his voice loud and clear, but still with his dismissive demeanor. A threatening undertone crept into his words as he gave his demand, showing through the casual attitude that would otherwise have implied he wasn't serious.

He was very bad at peaceful conflict resolution. Oh well. They were now warned. Assuming neither of the two would dare to go against his orders, he promptly went back to trying to ignore them and stepped back over to Darcy, giving her his full attention. "Now, back to you..." he began, pausing to contemplate how to answer her question. Part of him wanted to see how much more he could confuse her... but upon further consideration, it began to seem less appealing for some reason. "I was never going to kill you, as flattered as I am that you would think that of me. I wanted to prove to you that I am not Sova," he explained, genuinely unoffended by the accusation, "I'll admit I wasn't planning to help you either... but then I changed my mind." He ended his statement with a shrug, showing he had no intention of elaborating.

It was true, though. Senya wasn't very interested in lying about anything in the first place, but he now respected this skitty far too much not to answer her honestly. He didn't kill without an excuse, and he certainly wasn't going to kill someone innocent and risk incurrent Sova's eternal spite. At the same time, he might not have cared too much about making sure she didn't die from blood loss after the fact... but then she had been so bold and... entertaining. He couldn't allow that to go unrewarded.

Darcy blinked weakly. The adrenaline that had been rushing through her blood was beginning to wear off, and she supposed that it helped dull the pain somewhat. Why else was it beginning to hurt more now that he had stopped? Darcy trembled, her eyes clenched shut in pain as she took deep breaths, trying to get herself under control. Fortunately (Or perhaps, unfortunately...? She felt so tired...), she felt the urge to pass out fading. She took more deep breaths, trying to pretend that the pain wasn't there... In her mind's eye, everything was normal! Her chest just hurt because... she'd trapped and fallen and bruised it a bit... There certainly wasn't a huge, gaping strip of blood running down it, no sir...

Darcy opened her eyes, and was just about to say something more when... A paw was held up to her face, and she heard the harsh, raspy voice tell her to hold that thought. What thought? All she could think about now was the blood, which... was that her imagination, or was it still dripping...? How much blood had she lost...? The Skitty coughed softly, quite unnerved by the unpleasant sight of her own blood on another Pokemon's paws... A lot of blood... She didn't have the stomach to look down at her injury. She already felt kind of sick...

Instead, she turned her attention towards the two children in the group, whom Senya seemed to be addressing... Again, the mere sight of them made her feel guilty... Chance had seemed upset with her earlier... She just wanted some sense of normalcy to return... Of course, that was a bit difficult, what with the two tortures within the span of a couple hours, but... Well, she could try...!

"C-Chance... Alki, d-don't... simmer down, ok?" She said, her voice calmer than it had any right to be... She just didn't want to risk the Glaceon turning his attention to those two instead... She could only imagine what that "Or else..." was implying. "There's no need to fight! And for the record, C-Chance, I'm... I'm sorry. Your dad... Sova's not a bully. I was wrong... Alright?" She nodded at the Zorua, before turning her head to Alki and giving her a small, pained smile and a wink. She wasn't lying, not at all! Sova certainly wasn't a bully...

Having said that, and satisfied with her attempt to defuse the situation, Darcy turned her attention back to the Glaceon. There was one more thing she had to do before she felt alright talking to him. It's not like she wanted to, but if this conversation was that important to him, then she was more than willing to use it to gain leverage in this situation... As he finished speaking, shrugging nonchalantly, without a care in the world, she let his words linger for a few moments, silent herself. She waited, her eyes thoughtful as she did so.

Finally, she decided to speak up herself. "So, t-this conversation is important, huh...? Very important..." Darcy paused, readjusting herself to try and get more comfortable. Which was difficult, considering the nature of the hard ground and her... current condition. "I-I'll talk to you, but only... Only if you give me your word that you won't... won't hurt those two." She gestured with her tail towards the duo a few metres away. Soon after, she fell silent. She had nothing more to say, at least, until Senya agreed...

~~


Alki was honestly a bit surprised to see the Zorua's reaction. Only a little while ago had he almost become food for the not-feral Jolteon... And now he was meeting her threat head on... Honestly she was a bit impressed with him, but mostly, really disappointed in herself. Was she really so un-menacing? His voice seemed to get flatter as he spoke, which was more than a bit strange to the jigglypuff. He'd seemed so passionate before...

The girl found herself growing a bit guilty herself. He'd almost died, and now... Well, she couldn't imagine it was easy to come to terms with his dad being such a monster... He was even younger than her, although not by much... Alki lowered her hand slightly, considering whether or not she should apologize... When she heard a loud, commanding voice telling the both of them to shut up and sit down. Alki meekly complied with the latter, almost without thinking. Impulsively, she added softly, her voice betraying the terror in her voice: "...But he started it!"

Soon after, she fell silent completely, only making eye contact and nodding back as Darcy seemed to address her. Was she really that much of a coward...? Her sister had just been tortured and was still smiling... And she was just... giving up. She was going to stand up for Darcy... Although certainly not going to stand up to Sova...

So that just left Chance.

Alki had dissipated her hidden power a long time ago, but now she was quietly building it back up behind her.  Was Chance looking...? She really didn't care... But it'd be nice if he wasn't. She didn't even hear Darcy's next words... Instead, she busied herself with slowly, subtly moving the tendril of Shadow back, behind the Zorua, poised just beside his Hind leg. Similarly to Sova earlier, she wrapped it around his hind leg and tugged. She didn't tug with all her might, considering she didn't want it to be too obvious, in case the Glaceon decided to turn back around. Her movements were as subtle as she could possibly make them whilst still accomplishing her goal.

She hoped she'd pulled hard enough to cause a fall. She hadn't pulled with all her might, since she had wanted to move subtly enough so as to hopefully not attract attention... She hoped that she'd caused a fall. She hoped the fall hurt too... She wanted retribution for what he'd said to her sister. She hoped the Glaceon didn't know... Alki said nothing, did nothing, aside from assume a natural, sitting stance. Her eyes were downcast, and no expression on her face was found that could betray her wrong doing. She didn't feel particularly good about it... She'd just felt it was necessary...

Senva wasn't happy. His growling was put to an immediate stop as soon the ice type cut in with a warning...or rather a threat. He wasn't a stranger to threats. It wasn't rare for his mom to deliver one every now and then in response to a particularly awful day, though more often than not they were empty...the serious ones at least. Another important thing to take note of this was that he agreed with Senva. This was an important conversation, one that he really struggled to understand yet wanted to. He was motivated to listen to his father beyond just not wanting to face the "or else" factor, especially with that new lesson he uttered to him by the jolteon just moments before.

The skitty spoke out to him. It was an apology. Still unaware that there was a distinct difference between Senya and Sova, he was satisfied with the apology. Senva might not have wanted it, but it just felt necessary to him. "...Okay," he responded to the skitty in that flat tone once more. His eyes failed to look at the skitty, as their attention snapped to the Jigglypuff. She did something.

"Hey!" He piped up with alarm. The Detect kicked in. The shadowy tendril wrapped around air as he bounced away from the spot in a mannerism similar to a startled cat. His legs failed him on the landing, causing a graceless fall before he struggled up. The aches and pains of the previous injuries managed to cut through the fog, but it still felt as if it wasn't really him getting hurt. He moved off to put the glaceon and skitty between him and the Jigglypuff with a blank stare focused on the jigglypuff. He didn't want to fight, he just didn't want to get even more hurt than he already was.

Senya ignored the skitty's attempt to help calm the situation. His own efforts were only out of a feeling of requirement, because he didn't want Sova to come back yet. He had a minimal real interest in protecting the zorua, and even less for the jiggypuff, but he did want to protect this little interaction he was having. That alone was enough to motivate him to put some small effort into stopping a fight he otherwise might have allowed to happen for sheer entertainment value, but it seemed Darcy disagreed.

Or rather, she disagreed with his idea of stopping it by force. In his defense, he had warned them that he would probably do something about it if they didn't stop willingly... but he wasn't sure he really wanted to in the first place. Right now he was much more interested in other things, and the fact that these two children were demanding any amount of his attention was frankly annoying. If Darcy didn't want him to maim them, and that was her only condition for playing along with this conversation, then it seemed like a good deal; he didn't want to maim them either. Fortunately, the two little idiots seemed to be listening somewhat, so he didn't have to worry about it anyway.

He caught the zorua moving in evasion of something out of the corner of his eye and didn't have to guess what was going on, but when he looked, he saw the jigglypuff still just... sitting there. She thought she was clever, probably trying to get a hit in without being noticed. Fortunately for her, Senya had just been given the condition not to maim her... plus she was technically doing what he had told her to. He had only told them to sit down and shut up, technically, so if they wanted to try to be petty then he supposed he didn't really care... as long as nothing extreme was going on. And Chance didn't seem interested in fighting anyway, as he was now distinctly putting the scene between Alki and himself.

Deciding they would be safe to ignore, Senya focused on the skitty before him once more. He was pretty sure he didn't actually need to listen to her since he had pretty much all the power here, but he decided to do so anyway out of respect. "If you insist... but don't blame me if they kill each other," he agreed and made it clear that he held no responsibility for what happened as a result. Now...

...What now? He had talked about how important this conversation was, but he actually didn't know where to go with it from here. He was mostly just responding to Darcy, and she had sort of given him the lead now. Talking was not among his skills. He looked for something to occupy his words with, but there wasn't much. He had already addressed the wound the skitty had been dealt, and the aggressive children. He had introduced himself as not-Sova and sufficiently proven it. What more was there to do? He felt like there should probably be more substance to a proper conversation, especially considering this was the first time he had ever been allowed to personally introduce himself to someone.

In the end, he gave up on trying to figure out something to say and decided to just let Darcy keep running the conversation. "So, anything else you have a burning desire to say to me? More witty quips? Maybe an actual question?" he offered, though he doubted she needed any direction from him. She clearly knew what she wanted and how to make that clear. "If there's anything you'd like to know, you may find that I'm more open than Sova... for better or worse," he assured, still carrying himself with a casual demeanor as he sat down and waited to hear from his conversation partner. It was also partly a warning; he had no interest in lying, even to "protect" someone... and he had just been given a free pass to be completely honest and open with someone other than Sova for the first time. Ever.

Darcy's attention was attracted to a commotion some distance away from her; The Zorua's voice let out a sharp Hey! , and Darcy didn't even want to look to see what was going on. Unfortunately, seeing as it likely involved her little sibling, she felt obligated to look. She noticed, just in time, Alki's hidden power retracting back, so as to presumably assume an innocent looking stance. She watched as the Zorua seemed to rise up and put her and Senya in between him and Alki. She supposed it was justified... Darcy sighed softly, looking at Alki again. She couldn't even bring herself to feel particularly disappointed in her sister... Or really, anyone but Senya. She couldn't imagine this experience had been particularly easy to process for either the jigglypuff or the zorua.

Instead, she simply managed another smile, making eye contact with her little sister. Was that a look of disappointment...? She wasn't sure. Either way, Alki had been in the wrong, and she wanted to address the problem before Senya did... "Alki, d-don't... Don't do that, ok? Chance didn't do anything, a-and... we don't need any more violence..." Now she turned to the Zorua, considering her next words, before turning back to Alki. Chance didn't seem to want to reciprocate the violence, just get away from it. "Go apologize to him, Alki. C-Can you do that for me...? J-Just... Keep your voice, down, and give me and... me and Sova a bit of space..."   Finally, she turned her head, once again, back to Chance, and smiling to him. "Please forgive her, w-won't ya? She's... not a bad kid..."

Then, she settled her gaze, slowly, painfully, on to Senya. She wished she could just ignore his presence, but if it meant securing safety for those two, then it was worth it... Darcy squirmed, the patch of cold on her chest incredibly uncomfortable. She felt the blood that had spilled down her chest beginning to dry, and it felt... It felt sickly.

"They won't. They're both good kids, y-you... You just traumatized them..." She said quietly, before taking a few seconds to steady herself yet again. That and... She didn't know what to say. She didn't want to quip anymore, or joke, or do anything that she usually did in a situation like this. It was far too... Far too serious for that kind of thing. As she was struggling to figure it out, the Glaceon gave her the lead back. Some conversation...

"N-No, I don't... I don't really want to do that anymore. The quips, I mean, it's just..." She had an idea, she just didn't know how to frame it as a question... as a legitimate, non-leading question... She wanted to understand someone like him. As much as she hated him, she did want to understand him. "Don't... Why do you do that kind of thing? With the Jolteon and... and me... I mean, I asked for it, sure, but... You didn't really hesitate. What made you willing to do that kind of thing in the first place...? I can't imagine it was your first time..." Darcy had a hard time disagreeing with him about being more open than Sova. He'd been nothing but straightforward so far... She supposed everyone had a silver lining to them, no matter how bad they actually were...

Her ears flattened as she looked down at her paws. If this was a nightmare, she was taking an awfully long time to wake up... She just wanted to go home. But that didn't seem to be an option... At least, not yet... Hopefully soon...

~

Alki blinked as Darcy spoke to her. She was... defending him...? She couldn't possibly understand why... He'd been siding with her torturer... She was just trying to defend her... Well... Not really... That was just an excuse, wasn't it...? She was right, Chance had had nothing to do with that, and if she really wanted to defend Darcy, she would've stepped up to Sova himself. But she wasn't brave... Nowhere near as brave as Darcy... She was just... What was she...?

"S-Sorry..." She said, addressing the Skitty first. Her poor, bleeding sister... Alki wished she knew Heal Pulse still, but she'd been such a failure the last time... What if she ruined Darcy the way she ruined Sova...? It was probably better for her to do nothing, lest she mess everything up even more... Instead, she shuffled off to the opposite side of the clearing, giving a half hearted wave at Chance to follow her. Her anger had passed, for the most part now, and she was going to apologize, and explain herself... She felt horrible... She felt horrible for so many reasons now... The least she could do was oblige Darcy, and apologize to the person she'd been trying to bully...

Her... A bully... Imagine that? Darcy let out a half-laugh, half-sob bitterly, before rubbing at her eyes. She wasn't going to cry as she was apologizing... That'd just be her trying to get pity from her victim. She was going to look him in the eyes and apologize and do it sincerely, whether or not he was willing to forgive her...

They won't? Darcy seemed very confident in the two delinquent children who had done nothing but display bad behavior so far. Of course, she was pretty much guilt tripping them into behaving, which... coupled with his own more threatening approach, would probably be effective. He was no expert, but that seemed like a good combination for the purpose of convincing someone to fall in line. "Good cop, bad cop," it was called. Still, he was pretty sure they were not good kids, based on what he had to go off of. He had no personal problem with this, but they had both proven it to be true, and he was pretty sure it wasn't because of him. Wasn't he here in the first place because Chance had run off somewhere he wasn't supposed to be and almost gotten himself killed? Actually, the whole situation was kind of their fault at least as much as his; they were the ones who had caused the conflict in the first place, not him.

Why did Senya have to be blamed for fights when he rarely started them? He had not gone out and looked for a jolteon to maim; Chance and Alki were the ones who had gotten into trouble with the guy. Even his maiming of Darcy was because she had requested it, and it turned out to be something he didn't even enjoy! This was beginning to seem incredibly unfair in hindsight... but no one really knew that, given they lacked his unique perspective.

Then the kitten asked the perfect question to remedy this. Senya's face remained dull and expressionless, but his body suddenly lit up... figuratively as well as literally. Red marks flared out all over him as his ears perked. She wanted to know why he did what he did. Nobody had ever asked him this... even Sova. And maybe his reason wouldn't be received as a good one, but it was everything to him... "You're right. I do that a lot. It's practically the only thing I do," he responded, raising his bloodied paw up in front of him.

In an instant, icy claws flash-froze around his paw once more, demonstrating that he had previously done it slower intentionally. He wasn't trying to enjoy himself this time, so he had no reason to draw out the preparation. He wrapped the leg around his chest as well as he could and placed the claws against his own shoulder in much the same way as he had done to Darcy, staring blankly at her all the while. Then, without the slightest bit of hesitation... he began dragging the sharp spikes across his own chest. Unflinching, unfazed, he continued, "It's what I was made to do... all I was made to do..." He continued cutting into himself as he spoke, making sure to go just as deep as he had gone into Darcy.

"It makes no difference who I hurt or how," his voice lowered and a darkly tone came over him as he continued with his display, partly due to the emotion driving his actions and partly because it really did hurt. Did he have to wound himself like this to explain? No, but he felt it helped articulate his point. Plus, if he did it to himself too, then at least Darcy would have to acknowledge that he was no coward and would just as soon treat himself the same as anyone else. It wasn't just that he generally enjoyed it... This was what he was; it was second nature to him.

As he reached the point where his leg could no longer bend to keep cutting across his chest, he dug the claws in deeper. The pain did nothing to faze him, and he ignored the blood soaking through his fur and running down his chest and legs. He leaned in slightly as his tone shifted further to something almost like a growl, the only indication of the amount of pain he was putting himself in.

"I don't hesitate."

The skitty made some comment to the jigglypuff, but he hardly paid it any attention. He could see the jigglypuff step away from the group and wave for him to go join her. His reaction was to give a simple blank stare from between the Glaceon and the semi-dying skitty. His gaze stared straight at the pink puffball, but it didn't really focus on her. It seemed to go through her more than anything.

His mind spaced out once again, only to be dragged back by movement on the glaceon's part. He could hear voices, but he couldn't make out what they were saying despite being right next to them. Senva drew his own blood. Fear began to creep back into his state of mind. Not of the glaceon particularly, but more of his inability to understand. The cloud in his head returned with a vengeance as he watched the damage.

It felt as if his head suddenly grew lighter at the sight of it, to the point where it almost felt like he was going to float away. The pain he felt faded as the zorua sat there and stared, not doing much else...at all.

Darcy flinched as the Glaceon's body seemed to be covered by red marks, quite suddenly too... She didn't know where they had come from, or why they were so... well, why they were there in the first place.  They were unmistakably there, but at the same time... She had no idea what prompted them to appear in the first place... Those things weren't natural, not at all... Her ears perked back up as he responded, stating that he did do that a lot, that it was the only thing he did... Why? What made him be like this... Why did he exist in the first place...? He was a person inside of Sova, but... Well, Sova came first, right...? And Senya came after... She couldn't imagine someone like this would join the guild...

Her thoughts were interrupted by a large, sharp sound nearby. Darcy flinched yet again, as she looked up to the source. The glaceon's paw, again. Still coated in her own blood... And with fresh spikes, formed anew.

Oh no...

Darcy's ears flattened yet again as she struggled back to her feet. She wasn't going to take it lying down... If he was going to do it again, she'd fight... Whatever that might cost her... Of course, he'd just said he had no intention of killing her, and she was fairly sure that if repeated his previous actions, she would die, but... His words weren't exactly trusted. There was no way she'd ever trust someone like this with anything... Let alone her own life!

So it came as quite a surprise when the Glaceon put the claws around his own shoulder, staring at her all the while. Staring emptily, with no emotion... She was trembling as she stood, unsure of how to react to this development... Was he going to hurt himself...? But why? What possible purpose was there to such an action?

Darcy flinched and hopped back in shock and disgust and fear as he did began cutting into himself. And he wasn't even crying... He didn't even flinch as blood spurted out of his own body... Of Sova's body, dripping, pouring down. She gulped, her own wound beginning to hurt once again as she watched him inflict what seemed to be the exact same injury onto himself...

"It's what I was made to do... All I was made to do..."

...Made? Darcy made a mental note of the word choice before filing it away for future use. She instead watched, incredibly uncomfortable at the incredibly stupid display of... Bravado? Masochism? Before her. She sniffed, placing a ginger paw onto her own wound.

"It makes no difference who I hurt or how..."

Darcy shivered, unsure of how to respond. This was unreasonable... Was this kind of thing really so routine for him...? She opened her mouth to say something, but couldn't find the appropriate words to express her emotions right that second. As she was racking her brain to think, trying to ignore the new, fresh pool of red that was forming and growing so close to her own, the Glaceon suddenly stopped. The blood still falling, he leaned in closer, taking a step before saying in a low growl: "I don't hesitate."

No... He certainly did not. Darcy stared in shock at the fresh blood that had fallen to the ground, unable to bring herself to see what the Glaceon's wound (And thus, what her own wound), looked like. Still staring at the ground, she spoke, her eyes wide.

"Y-You really should... T-That was... dumb of you..." Darcy blinked, forcing back something that was rising in her throat. This was horrible... "W-Why... Y-You didn't... Have to do that..." Darcy's eyes now scanned the clearing, hoping that the children were far enough away to have not seen this, but... Of course, both of them had...

"D-Don't... Ergh..." Darcy tilted her head away, unsure of what to say. Honestly, that wasn't her chief concern... Mostly, she was just struggling to keep her stomach under control... This was disgusting... She could smell the blood, now from three different bodies... And one of them was her own...

She took a few seconds to do this, silent all the while, before managing to steel herself to turn back and look at the Glaceon in the eye. "Y-You said you were made to do this, so... someone... s-someone made you... D-Do you know w-who...? Was it Sova...? Or... Do you not know...?" She paused, before adding. "N-No matter who made y-you, and for what, or if you just... exist... Y-You can reinvent yourself, y'know... M-Make yourself d-do... s-something else... something better... "

~~

Alki blinked as the Zorua didn't seem to be willing to come talk with her. She hadn't even hit him! She'd tried, sure, but it hadn't worked... Come to think of it, he didn't even seem to acknowledge her presence... It was as if she wasn't there. Alki harrumphed, wondering what to do now. She didn't want to go back, but that was where everyone was... She'd spent so much time moping earlier, that she didn't really feel much need to do so again... All her emotions had gotten out, and she wasn't brave enough to act on any of them anyways...

The jigglypuff, then, walked back to the group, just in time to witness the Glaceon cutting himself. She positioned herself on the opposite wing as where Chance was, and took in the sight. She didn't really focus on anything else, just... just the blood. The blood coming out of a body, but of Sova's body. She had no clue why he'd be so much of a dumbass to do it to himself... But she wasn't about to complain.

He'd cut her sister. A small, sadistic smile crept onto her face as she watched him do the same to himself... She watched the blood drip down, falling, falling onto the ground, forming a small, but noticeable pool. She wasn't usually prone to violence, in fact, under most any other circumstance, the sight would've made her sick...

Truthfully, it still somewhat did. But it also gave her a sick pleasure... Sova had cut her sister... Watching him go through that same pain, no matter how confusing... It was pleasant, watching his blood fall to the ground. Her smile grew, bit by bit, the further he cut.

He shouldn't have cut Darcy... Was this Karma for that? She certainly hoped so...

Senya couldn't help but chuckle at the skitty's remark, calling him stupid for maiming himself. She wasn't exactly wrong... but he certainly didn't intend to let himself bleed. He was no more immune to blood loss than she was, no matter how well he could ignore the pain. Still, yes, he had to acknowledge that doing this to himself wasn't the smartest decision; not that he cared if something was "smart." He was made to be violent, not smart. Sova was smart. Ish. Senya didn't have to be.

He pulled the claws out of himself and allowed the blood to flow more freely as the skitty finished speaking. Then, while he contemplated how to respond, an orange glow began to collect over his wound. He couldn't do the same thing he had done for Darcy since he was built to handle cold... which meant he would have to use heat to stop his own bleeding. Fortunately, he had Hidden Power for just that. The sensation was... unpleasant, but he ignored it as he cauterized his own wound, again not so much as flinching. "In a way, Sova made me," he started up, relaxing the tension in his body. The glow faded to reveal his wound once more, now burned shut.

"He didn't mean to, but he couldn't handle his life on his own. He needed someone strong... violent... mean," he continued, being as open as he possibly could. His understanding of the situation was perhaps better than Sova's. The skitty was fortunate to have him explaining it, he felt. "His mind made me to do what he couldn't and do it with a smile, and I'm not going to change, so you can give up on that idea," he elaborated, speaking rhythmically and without shame or hesitation. A slight smile crept onto his face as he spoke, emphasizing his words. It wasn't that he wanted to use this as an excuse necessarily, but he was trying to be honest with Darcy, and it was the truth.

There was one thing bothering him, though. Darcy didn't exactly react with happiness to seeing him maim himself, despite fussing so much about him maiming her upon request. Wasn't this what she wanted? Payback? He was giving that to her so she wouldn't have room to complain... and now she was instead calling him stupid for it. He tried to ignore it, but not understanding was really eating at him. Now he had something he wanted to ask. "So, my turn: I did this for you," he spoke once more, looking down at his wound then back to the skitty. The smile faded from his face, his volatile feelings shifting once more to annoyance.

"You made such a big deal about me hurting you, even though you wanted me to. I was trying to show you I would do the same to anyone, including myself... and it only seemed fair to give myself the same treatment as you," he elaborated, giving the dull, neutral look again. He was confused. He was trying his best to do this social interaction thing, but it didn't seem to be working well. Wasn't it a nice gesture? If what he had done bothered her so much, then she obviously would have liked to do the same back to him, and he was doing that for her. Now they were even, right?

He fell silent for a moment as genuine confusion painted his face... but only for a moment. "An eye for an eye? The big scary monster being punished? Does that not make you happy?" he questioned with sincerity, searching for an explanation for why she wouldn't be happy. He didn't exactly expect her to be overjoyed since he understood not everyone was sadistic and psychotic like himself, but... she almost seemed disgusted.

Normally, he wouldn't have been bothered by what someone else thought or felt, but this was the first time he had tried to do something... nice? The results were very discouraging, to say the least. He had tried to make up for a perceived wrong against someone else as well as give a clearer answer to an inquiry, all at the expense of himself, without the slightest bit of hesitation. Why was there no appreciation? Why was he apparently still wrong? He knew it wasn't just because Darcy was a coward, because she clearly wasn't, so why? Before allowing her to ask any more questions, he wanted to know what he had done so wrong here. Besides, she was the one who had asked why... If she didn't understand, he was going to make sure to fix that.

Maybe that was the only reason. Maybe he was just doing this to spite her for not reacting how he'd wanted.

Darcy could now smell flesh burning. The metallic smell of blood combined with fire and flesh was nauseating, and Darcy, once more, turned her head away, coughing softly. Her wound had been frozen shut, but he'd burnt his shut... She couldn't help but wonder, morbidly, which one hurt more... But she soon did her best to shake those thoughts from her mind. She didn't need those kinds of thoughts. She didn't want them. They probably both hurt real bad, and that was the end of it...

Instead, she focused on understanding the Glaceon's words, because... to her, they were difficult to understand. Sure, he was speaking really clearly, and there was little room for doubt as to what he meant, but it was still so unbelievable to her. So Sova made this guy, on accident, but because... because he subconsciously needed someone like this? Violent? Sadistic?

Darcy's ears drooped at the thought. That couldn't be right... Why would anyone ever have any need of somebody like this? Consciously or unconsciously... Violence like this just wasn't necessary... There was always another option, if everyone was willing to work towards it. If everyone was just reasonable, there'd always be peaceful methods... The Glaceon was unnecessary! All he'd done since she'd met him was make everything worse...

She wanted to tell him this. She wanted to say that he was unnecessary, and that his method of violence was unreasonable for any problem. Sure, to solve immediate threats, but the cruelty he was so willing to inflict on everyone and anyone, even himself? Not needed at all... But just as she was about to open her mouth, the Glaceon spoke first, causing her to fall silent. If she still had the same doubts, she'd ask later, but this seemed like it'd be interesting... and considering who it was coming from, probably incredibly stupid as well. The Skitty frowned, but nodded as he began. She'd at least hear him out...

And, of course, it was just as stupid as she'd feared. Darcy's frown deepened the more and more he spoke. So he thought she'd like it if he did it to himself...? Was that his idea of kindness...? "N-No, I... What? " Darcy stammered as he finished. She'd been thinking about her response ever since she'd realized where he was going with his question, but she was still at a loss for worse. "I... I wanted you to... d-do that to me, cause I needed to know if... if Sova was lying or if you really existed..." She paused, staring at the puddle of blood on the ground, both groups having begun to merge. She sighed, before dipping a paw into the puddles, gingerly, mixing them together. She was silent for a few moments, simply observing the thick, red liquid swirl around gently. The blood was cold. It felt... unnerving. Suddenly she stopped, and raised her paw slightly, watching as the liquid dripped from her own paw now.

She looked up to meet the Jolteon's gaze, her voice calm, but resolved. "...I don't want to see anyone suffer. Not my siblings... Not outlaws, not even people like you... I don't like violence. I don't think there's a need for it unless it's absolutely necessary... I don't like to watch people suffer. In the end, everyone's blood looks the same, doesn't it...? What need is there for it to be spilled?" Darcy looked down at her own paw again. The blood had stopped dripping. Now her paw was just red, and oddly cold... She thought about her own rhetorical question for a moment. What need was there... So many people seemed to glorify fighting and battling and the inherent bloodshed that came with it... Heck, the school Alki had been going to recently even had a battling class... And apparently, that one was the most popular... Were people really that eager to learn how to beat each other up...?

"I d-didn't ask you to torture yourself for me. It was unnecessary. I-If you felt that bad, a simple apology would've been better. If you want to make up for causing someone else to suffer, don't... don't make yourself suffer too. That just adds to the total suffering y'know... d-didn't you go to school...?" She finished her explanation with a smirk. Even though her chest still hurt like heck, she couldn't help herself, that one was way too easy...

Her eyes returned to her own, blood coated paw now as she began to think of another question to ask him. Honestly, she didn't want to talk to him that much, but... Well, it kept her mind off her chest. And she had to bide the time somehow until Sova came back, didn't she...? Speaking of Sova...

"So, y-you're like... S-Sova's second half h-huh... A-And it's like... y-you're roommates, s-sharing the same body... w-what... w-what's the relationship between you two like...?"

~~

Alki frowned as the glaceon finished. She wanted him to keep going. Cutting. Deeper... Harder, and bloodier. He'd almost killed Darcy. She wanted him to suffer, but she knew she wasn't strong enough to make him suffer. If he was so stupid to do it to himself, though, she wasn't going to savour it any less. She'd watch. She'd enjoy it. It was only marginally less pleasurable.

But he stopped. Alki frowned, still ignoring the words the pair were actually exchanging. She just wanted Sova to start again. Maybe he'd repeat the process, but this time with the other paw? Form an X across his chest, and then more blood would gush out. Alki simply stared with a blank expression, as if in a trance. She just wanted someone else to suffer, for once... It was always her. And she could handle that. She'd done a fine job of handling her own suffering, her whole life, but now it was Darcy who was suffering, and it seemed as though the Glaceon was getting instant karma for what he'd done, but now... now he'd stopped.

Fire appeared, for a time, on his chest. Alki's hopes were raised. Then dashed. He'd changed his mind. There was no doubt about it, but... but as he stopped, Alki blinked. It hadn't lasted long... But she felt her own mind begin to clear... she heard snippets of conversation, but she wasn't concerned. A look of worry crossed her face. Her head became clearer and clearer, and the earlier, dark thoughts were replaced with a singular, much simpler one.

What the fuck had she been thinking...?

The skitty's logic confused and annoyed Senya. She wasn't happy about his display on principle because she was just that good-hearted or something. Her argument made no sense; sure, he was overzealous, but that didn't mean violence was never necessary. She was naive and oversensitive... He didn't know how to deal with any kind of social interaction, let alone with someone like this. He knew such childish mindsets existed, but he certainly wasn't equipped to deal with one firsthand.

And she was blatantly wrong, too. Yes, blood was usually red, but Senya was pretty sure there was some variance in the color depending on species. And why the distinction between "outlaws" and himself? Was that supposed to imply he was somehow worse than a criminal? Why? There were plenty of outlaws far worse than he was; at least he had standards. She claimed his actions were unnecessary, but how else was he supposed to prove to her that he was fair? And why was she upset about him hurting her but not happy about him hurting himself in response?? Her words explained none of this to the glaceon, but he doubted he would get much more clarity even if he were to request for her to elaborate further.

Besides, it seemed it was her turn again. She had another question... Of course she did. Frankly, Senya was surprised he hadn't been more... bombarded. Now she wanted to know about his relationship with Sova, and that one was admittedly a bit complicated because it wasn't like he could read Sova's thoughts... all the time. Sometimes, maybe. He mulled the question over for a moment before speaking up, "He hates me." It turned out this question was easy.

...But the more he thought about it, the more he felt compelled to elaborate, because apparently it wasn't so easy after all. "Or he did. We had a talk recently. Now he tolerates me, just like I do him. I don't think I could honestly say we like each other, but there's... somewhat of an understanding," he began a much more in-depth response, "I have a unique appreciation of his situation, his life... because I'm a part of it in a more direct way than anyone else. He, meanwhile, knows I try to have my uses; and not just for my own sake. I'm not entirely selfish... just mostly."

Why did she even care? The only reason Senya could think of was that she was looking for more ways to validate Sova's innocence. Her whole reason for wanting to prove he wasn't Sova was just that: so she could verify that Sova wasn't the evil one. She had already decided who was the victim here, and Senya knew where he stood. This was the point of his existence, after all. He was created to be the "bad guy" so Sova didn't have to. He wasn't bothered by playing his role... although he wondered if his answer was what Darcy was looking for.