After All I've Done For You...

The moment Kaino turned to face him with steely eyes and blush-filled cheeks, Rogue knew he’d had his intended response on his mate. She snapped at him that she was trying to be angry, but Rogue could see that flame of anger flicker and waver in her expression and he knew he was breaking through that wall of anger to her. "Yeah I know, that's why I'm trying to distract you by being an idiot," he remarked, his grin never faltering from his face. He knew Kai was hurting and that hurt was manifesting as rage, so he was doing the only thing he knew how to help her. Her expression began to gradually soften some, her paws carrying her closer until their chests pressed together, letting her smaller, svelte body lean into his for as much support as she needed. His bushy tail gave a slow wag behind him when she buried her face into his neck with a groan, appreciative of the physical affection even in the context it was.

"There we go. It's gonna be all right, Kai," he tried to gently reassure her, lifting one giant paw to wrap around her and rub slowly up and down her back. Kaino began to speak, telling him of all the time she and Nila had spent together, how she had protected her as her Sidi. Rogue was still unclear on all the Saxe laws and customs, but he'd come to understand that Sidi were basically free use slaves to everyone in the pack. Nila had been Kai's personal toy. Kai shook her head and spat out that Nila had never truly loved her for this betrayal. "Or maybe she loved you too much," Rogue countered, offering an alternative perspective. "She knew you'd have to find a partner, and maybe in her deluded mind she thought she could be that, despite the obvious... incompatibilities with that fantasy. It's no excuse, but she didn't strike me as the spiteful type." Rogue wasn't offering excuses for Nila's behavior; there was no excusing a slave's direct disobedience and insubordination. But it was one possibility to consider that he had been the cause of Nila's outbursts.

Kaino declared Nila to be a kill on sight enemy and Rogue's lips pursed into a fine line. He was still very new to the Saxe's ways of life, so maybe dereliction and insolence warranted death around here, but to him that seemed a mite excessive. Or maybe Kaino was just a vicious and vindictive woman when scorned. Hopefully he never found out firsthand. Giving Kai's back a more vigorous rub, Rogue slowly pulled away from her and stepped a couple paces away, putting some space between them before turning to face his lovely lavender and smoke fae with an enticing grin. "Well it sounds to me like you need to let some violence out then. So let's do it. We can go find something to kill together, or you could try your luck venting some of that aggression on me." Rogue's grin widened and he winked at Kai. "I'll warn you, I won't go easy on you just because you're pretty." It was up to Kai whatever she wanted to do. If she wanted to go hunt a predator or fight him here in the summer forest, whatever would help her in the here and now.

"Rogue Klein"