Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree

"Fucker." Aleth clawed at Tarr's forearms, sinking his fingernails as deep as he could.

Tarr bore the pain without complaint, slamming Aleth's head down again and then rolling him over so he could deliver a hard knee to his crotch.
"You want more, you say?" he barked. "Take more, then!"

Aleth howled, slamming his palm into Tarr's abdomen as his other hand grabbed at himself, writhing in pain. That hadn't been necessary. What was Ash going to do? Strip him down to check every inch of him?

Ky blinked, slowly realizing how painfully apparent it was that Aleth didn't have any chance at all of winning this one. She'd never -- never-- heard Aleth cry out before. He'd grunted when she'd landed that singular good blow on his face that she'd regretted for months after the fact. But he never cried out in pain.

He wasn't in control of this situation.

And Ky hadn't thought it was possible for there to be a situation Aleth wasn't in control of.

Tarr grunted slightly, having steeling his stomach against the attack. He delivered a crunching blow to Aleth's nose next and slapped him sharply on the cheek.

It felt like his skull had cracked open. Aleth turned his head to the side, snorting as crimson blood sprayed across the snow. He threw his forearm over his face in a desperate attempt to protect his head from any further abuse.

Aleth was bleeding.

Ky's brain didn't seem capable of comprehending it. Of course, it made sense, but it hadn't occurred to her that he was capable of bleeding, too. He always made people bleed. Never the reverse. Never.

Ky felt her shoulders relax ever so slightly. Maybe he was only human afterall. And maybe other men were stronger than him. And maybe, just maybe, it wasn't too good to hope for that someone would be able to stand between her and Aleth. She glanced up at Loquitur, trying to see if he understood what was happening more than she did. She still felt so bewildered by it all.

Tarr got to his feet and kicked Aleth savagely several times. "Cunt," he spat.
"Tarr," Tomhas said sharply. "Physical only, I said." He would have called Aleth worse than that if it were up to him, but this was for business, not pleasure.

(ahaha yisssss)

Ky felt more of the tension release from her shoulders. Tarr was insulting Aleth and getting away with it. Well, kind of. Loquitur was chiding him, but Aleth wasn't murdering him. She'd felt bold to call Aleth a fucker behind his back -- and then promptly demonstrated how shallow that confidence was.

And here Tarr was, calling Aleth even worse, to his face.

Ky didn't think she'd ever admire Tarr for anything, ever. But in that moment she felt a strange sense of overwhelming appreciation.

Aleth clutched his side, weakly pushing himself upright. His gaze landed on Ky for the briefest moment. He hurt far, far too badly to even think of what he could do to her to make himself feel better. But her eyes went wide and then snapped to the ground the instant she saw him looking towards her, body tensing so much that he could see it even though she wasn't particularly close. And that spared his ego, the slightest bit. At least someone was smart enough to fear him still.

Aleth stumbled to his feet, turning his glare back on Tarr.

Tarr swung a hefty punch at Aleth again, swinging his other hand to Aleth's stomach as the first went toward his face a third time.

Aleth had had enough. But he knew better than to say that. Tarr had been wanting to thrash him since the moment he'd arrived, and this was his opportunity -- with the blessing of Loquitur and Constance. Saying he wanted to quit would only bring on more taunting.

So Aleth stumbled backward in a desperate attempt to get away from Tarr.

Tarr followed, grinning broadly as he grabbed Aleth by the shoulders and kneed him again, fingernails digging hard into his skin. Then he headbutted him hard.
Tomhas winced; that looked like it had hurt. There was a part of him that was enjoying this, certainly, but most of him was simply remembering all the indignities he and his brother had suffered at the hands of Michael.

Ky watched with wide eyes, slowly regaining her confidence. Tarr was actually enjoying being this near to Aleth. Enjoying fighting... and, actually winning.

It'd been a long time since Aleth had been in this much pain. He always had Tadaaki to defend him if someone tried to attack him. But, now, Tadaaki stood obediently by Loquitur. He briefly wondered if Tadaaki would be able to beat Tarr if he ordered him to.

But, then, that wasn't the point, now was it? Aleth had consented to this. So he could un-consent, too.

"That's enough," Aleth snapped, clutching his head as he turned away from Tarr.

"Not enough," Tomhas corrected, holding up a hand. Tarr paused. "Aleth, we need these injuries to last two weeks and a few days. You have an entire journey ahead of you in which they'll heal. If Gaius is going to be convinced, we need to make it real."

"Fuck Gaius," Aleth snarled, still clutching his head, knowing fully well this hell wasn't going to end any time soon.

"He's my brother," Tomhas said, pressing a hand to his breast in mock-scandal. "You'll get the ten thousand I added on if you quit, but the other sixty thousand is forfeit. You're certainly not going to Gaius Ash half-baked, my friend."

This was an impossible situation. He'd already been beaten and starved for this stupid fucking job. He should have just quit the moment it'd been suggested. To head back to the South and find a petty squabble to involve himself in. He didn't usually go to this much trouble for a job. But, then, what was the point in going through all that if he was going to walk away now?

At this point, he'd be satisfied with a single good blow on Tarr.

He whirled around, deciding now was probably the only opportunity he was going to get, and swung his fist as hard as he could towards Tarr's face.