Iago raises an eyebrow, looking between Ozymandias and his hand. His last comment makes them frown, more than they usually would in the presence of Ozymandias.
Just to spite his demand, they take their time. They hum a low note like they’re thinking, then look off into the distance, squinting. Crossing their arms, they tap their fingers and tilt their head. Taking their time. Drawing it out. Glancing over to make sure their bit isn’t going to make him lash out and gut them like a fish. Making him wait for juuuust a minute longer until they’re definitely sure he’s about to string them from the rafters with their own intestines or something-
“I didn’t except such a curiosity concerning courting from you, Ozymandias. How sweet,” They say, flashing him a grin dripping with insincerity for half a blinding second before it falls back to their neutral glare again. They don’t like Ozymandias. They’re scared of him. He reeks of blood and they remember his success in the Bhaal Temple all too well. Although it’s easier said than done, they at least try not to hold that part against him - his fractured memories leave him with much less context than Iago is burdened with.
It’s something they know shouldn’t be said aloud but they guiltily feel nonetheless: in a way, their brother and Ozymandias were the ones who got lucky. They have a clean slate. Well, not clean( often still bloody and gore-riddled, actually) , but it could still be framed as a second chance if you’re as desperate as Iago is. Iago rather likes that this Ozymandias doesn’t immediately try to spear them for existing. The gaps in his memory are surely tormenting him, as they do Puck, but there’s a sick relief to be had that so much of what made him so terrifying is only in Iago’s mind now, for the most part. It haunts Iago to see the lack of recognition in Puck’s eyes sometimes, Gods, it feels like they’re being gutted. But they’d happily take on every last horrific memory themselves if it means Puck gets a new life.
But there’s one, simple difference between the cases of Ozymandias and Puck: Iago doesn’t know Ozymandias like they know Puck. They know Puck’s heart like it’s their own ( better than their own, probably). They know their brother is built on goodness and hope despite it all, of course they know that. They knew him before he ever had a taste for blood, when they were still sweet, when they would pick flowers and sit on their father’s lap to listen to their mother’s stories. It was an innocence that couldn’t last and Iago watched that goodness painfully ripped away from him, beaten out of him in all those years at the Bhaal Temple. There isn’t a day that goes by that they aren’t sick with the guilt that comes along with having watched it happen, too weak to do a thing about it.
But now they’ve gotten their brother back, in a twisted way.
Ozymandias could be the same, for all Iago knows. Yes, he’s unsettling. Yes, he’s still very violent. Yes, Iago feels the urge to hold their breath or play dead every time he comes near. But the same could all be said about Puck. If Puck gets the benefit of the doubt, Iago could spare… maybe an ounce for Ozymandias.
As much as they desire to wipe the Bhaal Temple from existence, to forsake anyone who ever stepped a foot in that bloodied prison that they rotted away in for a decade, it’ll get too convoluted to try to reason why Iago and Puck would be the only ones allowed clemency. If they don’t let someone like Ozymandias get a chance at becoming a new person, how could they ever hope to change themselves?
They look him up and down while these thoughts race through their mind in an instant. Or, he just doesn’t care. They’re probably just projecting. Overthinking, as they are wont to do. Ozymandias might not find a single thing about himself he would like to change and could be perfectly content with cruelty and the latent Bhaalist doctrine in his bones. Admittedly, Iago hasn’t asked.
Holding their arms around themselves a fraction tighter, they sigh, “What do you mean by mating? Are you asking me advice on romantic matters or, for some godsforaken reason, have you come to me for tips to a quick fuck?”
Fearful of what the answer might actually be, they carry on quickly, making hopeful assumptions that it’s the former,“I’m not the best person to ask about courting, but I do know my brother well enough to point you in the right direction. If you answer my questions first. What is it about Puck that you appreciate? Do you… care about him? He’s my brother, after all, so I’d like to know just what your intentions are with him, if you’ll forgive the awfully cheesy phrasing. Clearly, you’ve been thinking about this,”they nod towards his hand. Their crossed arms hide the ways their hands shake. This might be the most they’ve spoken to Ozymandias. Bold and cold as they hope to appear, they really are still quite scared of him. “If you’re going to come crawling for me to help, I want a better explanation than a list of demands.”
