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Hybrid’s face twisted into an awkward, incomprehensible expression. He did not know what Snake was trying to say with all of this. Was he being honest or trying to trick Hybrid? He didn’t know. He wanted to know and he wanted to know why Snake insisted on using this “pleasantry” and that sort of rubbish. Hybrid had never used them, and he had done pretty well, hadn’t he? Though, as Snake explained it, Hybrid began to understand it better.
“Submission,” he offered. His words were nonjudgmental, but rather, observing on a commonality that existed between Snake’s words and what Hybrid understood. Offering a superior niceties and “pleantries” was akin to submitting. To show that you were not a threat and that the other was superior or deserving of your respect. Or, simply, that you did not want to die. This, Hybrid could understand.
Snake continued and Hybrid frowned, nodding slightly. Somehow, the two ideas were linked: nice words and rank. Although the ranks in Inferni were dynamic and Hybrid and Snake were in theory equal, they both probably realized it was not so easy in practice. Perhaps it was the fact that Hybrid had been in the second incarnation of Inferni since day one. He was the only one left that had ventured over the mountain with Gabriel. Wherever the rest of them were, it didn’t matter anymore, because their disloyalty made them irrelevant.
Hybrid was about to reply that he worked alone, but then realized this was not necessarily the case. He had killed a wolf with Gabriel and another with Kaena and had terrorized a wolf with Corona and Samael. Although he typically worked alone, and those instances were the exceptions to the rule, he did not know if it would matter to Snake.
He coughed, and then frowned. He understood the intention, but had nothing to say.
“Yeah,” he replied, feeling his lip twitch slightly. “So what do you want?”
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