It was only after seeing the rage and tension in Cloud's features that Kadaj realized that maybe, just maybe insulting his 'mother' hadn't been the best idea. Still, he deserved it-- how dare he compare Mother to some human anyway? Mother was better than that, and even a traitor should be aware of it. The very idea-- but those thoughts weren't helping him right now, and if Cloud did end up retaliating for his comments like he looked like he was going to, the best he could hope for was that he got a few good hits in himself before they were both sedated. Or he could set it up so that only Cloud was punished?
He stiffened once his big brother finally moved, leaning away from him automatically before he could stop himself. When no strike seemed forthcoming, though, his lifted his gaze to meet Cloud's and frowned at the... was that actual, genuine hurt in his voice? Why--?!
He flinched back a little at the "hug," raising his hand to hopefully break the grip if his brother decided to oh-so-conveniently act out his earlier idle thoughts (he was the one who was supposed to commit fratricide, not the other way around!), but Cloud's hold on him wasn't threatening in any sense of the word and was released before he could even process what had happened. What the hell was he doing?!
Staring at him unabashedly, Kadaj replied haltingly, "Protect me from what? And... why are you..." He held the stare for a few more seconds before finally looking away, making a face as if whatever he had been planning on saying had been distasteful somehow. If he hadn't been so thrown off by this behavior, he would have turned the tables and throttled him by now. What was he thinking? "Why are you acting like that?" he settled for asking instead, still not looking at him. Ask questions first, kill later. Not his usual procedure, but he could always revert to that if this didn't go as planned.
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He stiffened once his big brother finally moved, leaning away from him automatically before he could stop himself. When no strike seemed forthcoming, though, his lifted his gaze to meet Cloud's and frowned at the... was that actual, genuine hurt in his voice? Why--?!
He flinched back a little at the "hug," raising his hand to hopefully break the grip if his brother decided to oh-so-conveniently act out his earlier idle thoughts (he was the one who was supposed to commit fratricide, not the other way around!), but Cloud's hold on him wasn't threatening in any sense of the word and was released before he could even process what had happened. What the hell was he doing?!
Staring at him unabashedly, Kadaj replied haltingly, "Protect me from what? And... why are you..." He held the stare for a few more seconds before finally looking away, making a face as if whatever he had been planning on saying had been distasteful somehow. If he hadn't been so thrown off by this behavior, he would have turned the tables and throttled him by now. What was he thinking? "Why are you acting like that?" he settled for asking instead, still not looking at him. Ask questions first, kill later. Not his usual procedure, but he could always revert to that if this didn't go as planned.