Lloyd's words are like a smack to the face, and Kratos' ether abruptly runs cold. Shame overrules his anger (though other than Zelos, he doesn't see anyone ELSE here who's sister is in a cannon, but then he doesn't know it's Martel and again it's too early to get angry and--)
He makes himself breathe, slow and careful, biting back down his anger becuase Lloyd is right. He isn't helping anyone. And he-- he feels bad. Zelos definitely didn't deserve that anger, and Zelos is hurt, and even if Kratos has known the boy all of ten minutes, that's an Aegis, regardless of his origins.
"Sorry," he mumbles, head turning away. He's still agitated, anger boiling inside of him, and maybe it would be better if he left. Everyone here needs their rest and they won't be getting it if he's here causing a scene and sitting around yelling at people who don't even know him might make him feel better but it'll be a shallow catharsis and it's unfair to them besides.
(He wants Mithos because Mithos understands, though Mithos is more likely to enable some bad ideas in him right now but it's possible that Martel is in a cannon so aren't bad ideas a little warranted? He wants-- Anna, but she's unconscious, but she's here and she didn't even tell him she was alive and so maybe he doesn't want her even if she's always pretty good at dragging his head down from a bad mood--)
Architect.
"I'm sorry," he repeats, and he pushes off from the tree and walks off to give them some space.
(Kratos doesn't see it, but there's a second where Nia and Malos exchange somewhat worried expressions, and then silently decide who's going after him. Malos gets the short stick of the draw, but he knows Kratos slightly better than Nia does, so he figures that's fair. He just has to move Anna out of his lap, first.)
Kratos hasn't gotten far before Malos catches up to him.
"Hey, where you headin'?" Malos calls, and it's somewhat accusatory in nature, the lilt of it making Kratos bristle.
"...Sylvarant," Kratos answers, before he thinks about it. But no one wants him here, clearly, and it'd be a better use of his energy if he started directing it towards freeing Martel. (Even if it is not her, he cannot take the risk that it isn't. At the least, he should head to Mithos, because Mithos will know for certain, and that will ease his mind one way or another.) So he stands by his somewhat hasty answer, even though he just seconds before all he was really planning on doing was maybe finding some local wildlife to hassle to work out this aggression. Beginning the long trek towards Sylvarant is definitely the better choice.
"Alone?!"
Kratos raises his eyebrows at his wife's father, a man he thought certain was dead for good until about an hour ago. "Well, seeing as none of you are fit to travel, and every second I stand here is another second I waste, yes."
Malos does not look happy about this answer, but Kratos couldn't give less of a shit. "Come on, Kratos, you know it's gonna be easier to save her if you've got us with you," Malos begins, obviously trying to appeal to Kratos' preference for logically thought out plans, but it doesn't matter.
"I did it alone the first time," Kratos counters. "I'll do it again."
Malos definitely curses Kratos under his breath, but again, Kratos could not give less of a shit! He keeps walking, and Malos has to follow, and the best part is Malos is a kind enough blade that he won't try and physically stop Kratos.
"You can't just leave us, Kratos!" Malos says.
He almost sounds hurt that Kratos is trying, and that makes something ugly snap in Kratos' veins. "Why not? You seemed perfectly content to leave me," he spits.
"That's- Look." Malos fumbles for words, voice cracking and Kratos knows he's crossed a line but it doesn't matter. "That you can take up with Anna, alright?"
Knowing it was Anna's idea certainly does not make Kratos feel any better. Fed-up and too tired, too raw to do anything other than lean into this mess he started, he finally stops walking and rounds on Malos. "Why not you?" he demands. "It's not like you are bound by Anna's wishes. You could have come and told me you were alive just as well as she could have!"
Malos splutters, but he looks more guilty than anything else. "Kratos, please," he says, finally. "You can't- you can't leave us now. All of us need rest, and given the fact we were fuckin' ambushed, I'd bet Tethe'alla knows exactly where we are, and if we get ambushed again we'll be too tired to do shit about it!" It's a valid point, but Kratos does not want to give in, does not want to sit around here where he is not wanted, does not want to waste time when he could be saving Martel. Malos presses on. "If not for us, then-- for Zelos please. You wouldn't just hand him over to Tethe'alla, would you? You know exactly what they'd do with him, now."
...Architect damn you, Malos Irving, you're a manipulative piece of shit.
"...Let me clear my head," Kratos tells him instead of a proper answer, hoping to put off the inevitable (though against an argument like that he won't be able to). He continues on into the woods. Malos doesn't follow.
looks like the long tags just aren't going away--
He makes himself breathe, slow and careful, biting back down his anger becuase Lloyd is right. He isn't helping anyone. And he-- he feels bad. Zelos definitely didn't deserve that anger, and Zelos is hurt, and even if Kratos has known the boy all of ten minutes, that's an Aegis, regardless of his origins.
"Sorry," he mumbles, head turning away. He's still agitated, anger boiling inside of him, and maybe it would be better if he left. Everyone here needs their rest and they won't be getting it if he's here causing a scene and sitting around yelling at people who don't even know him might make him feel better but it'll be a shallow catharsis and it's unfair to them besides.
(He wants Mithos because Mithos understands, though Mithos is more likely to enable some bad ideas in him right now but it's possible that Martel is in a cannon so aren't bad ideas a little warranted? He wants-- Anna, but she's unconscious, but she's here and she didn't even tell him she was alive and so maybe he doesn't want her even if she's always pretty good at dragging his head down from a bad mood--)
Architect.
"I'm sorry," he repeats, and he pushes off from the tree and walks off to give them some space.
(Kratos doesn't see it, but there's a second where Nia and Malos exchange somewhat worried expressions, and then silently decide who's going after him. Malos gets the short stick of the draw, but he knows Kratos slightly better than Nia does, so he figures that's fair. He just has to move Anna out of his lap, first.)
Kratos hasn't gotten far before Malos catches up to him.
"Hey, where you headin'?" Malos calls, and it's somewhat accusatory in nature, the lilt of it making Kratos bristle.
"...Sylvarant," Kratos answers, before he thinks about it. But no one wants him here, clearly, and it'd be a better use of his energy if he started directing it towards freeing Martel. (Even if it is not her, he cannot take the risk that it isn't. At the least, he should head to Mithos, because Mithos will know for certain, and that will ease his mind one way or another.) So he stands by his somewhat hasty answer, even though he just seconds before all he was really planning on doing was maybe finding some local wildlife to hassle to work out this aggression. Beginning the long trek towards Sylvarant is definitely the better choice.
"Alone?!"
Kratos raises his eyebrows at his wife's father, a man he thought certain was dead for good until about an hour ago. "Well, seeing as none of you are fit to travel, and every second I stand here is another second I waste, yes."
Malos does not look happy about this answer, but Kratos couldn't give less of a shit. "Come on, Kratos, you know it's gonna be easier to save her if you've got us with you," Malos begins, obviously trying to appeal to Kratos' preference for logically thought out plans, but it doesn't matter.
"I did it alone the first time," Kratos counters. "I'll do it again."
Malos definitely curses Kratos under his breath, but again, Kratos could not give less of a shit! He keeps walking, and Malos has to follow, and the best part is Malos is a kind enough blade that he won't try and physically stop Kratos.
"You can't just leave us, Kratos!" Malos says.
He almost sounds hurt that Kratos is trying, and that makes something ugly snap in Kratos' veins. "Why not? You seemed perfectly content to leave me," he spits.
"That's- Look." Malos fumbles for words, voice cracking and Kratos knows he's crossed a line but it doesn't matter. "That you can take up with Anna, alright?"
Knowing it was Anna's idea certainly does not make Kratos feel any better. Fed-up and too tired, too raw to do anything other than lean into this mess he started, he finally stops walking and rounds on Malos. "Why not you?" he demands. "It's not like you are bound by Anna's wishes. You could have come and told me you were alive just as well as she could have!"
Malos splutters, but he looks more guilty than anything else. "Kratos, please," he says, finally. "You can't- you can't leave us now. All of us need rest, and given the fact we were fuckin' ambushed, I'd bet Tethe'alla knows exactly where we are, and if we get ambushed again we'll be too tired to do shit about it!" It's a valid point, but Kratos does not want to give in, does not want to sit around here where he is not wanted, does not want to waste time when he could be saving Martel. Malos presses on. "If not for us, then-- for Zelos please. You wouldn't just hand him over to Tethe'alla, would you? You know exactly what they'd do with him, now."
...Architect damn you, Malos Irving, you're a manipulative piece of shit.
"...Let me clear my head," Kratos tells him instead of a proper answer, hoping to put off the inevitable (though against an argument like that he won't be able to). He continues on into the woods. Malos doesn't follow.