A more volatile individual might have slipped into fury, threw out his waveform in the method most damaging to humans, and ideally stalked back to his room. Nigredo, however, was a more discerning individual and thus, saw all of the flaws to that plan, especially when he caught the glint from the objects each carried. They had weapons. He did not. Furthermore, his abilities proved themselves to be faulty at best, and although the hypnosis had worked admirably in past situations, the child had felt the limitations. Risk powers? Be shot in the arm. Run? ...Likely be shot in the arm. If only that girl didn't have that firearm, he could risk an escape. As Nigredo existed, not a chance.

And Albedo would never reach him in time, even if he had changed his mind about his brother's involvement.

He scowled, eyes narrowing in the perceived helplessness of the situation. Their demands were obvious--the setting gave everything away. You required at least three bodies to open the doors in the basement, which the child had discovered fairly recently in retrospection. The two were looking to obtain the useless sword and the equally useless shield, and they needed his presence. The fragile part of him remembered a trauma and scrambled to deaden reactions, but in the end, the advantage in this scenario was clear.

Nigredo relaxed to the point of apathy, the light in his eyes subsiding in the span of a single sigh. "Could have spent more of that effort getting my shoes," he muttered, pointedly staring down at his socked feet. "Tell me what I'm getting out of this, and maybe I'll consider it without dragging my feet," he added, louder this time. Hostage or no, promise or otherwise, the boy had no patience for making himself to be pleasant tonight.