He groaned and asked in return, "Why would I want to do that? What could I possibly gain from it?"
She replied, "You might have a misguided notion that making me jealous will help you win me over."
He stopped what he was doing to look at her. Then he asked, "Win you over for what?"
"Nothing. That's why I said it is misguided."
He looked at her in confusion. Then he shook his head and returned to perusing the list.
He did say something about her weird behavior, though. He said, "Something is going on with you. Is something wrong?"
She replied, "There is nothing wrong with me."
That was the truth. There is nothing wrong with her. But something is indeed going on with her, and it has something to do with the slave who has the ability to distinguish between truths and lies that Kelvin was looking at before she asked him if he was being chummy with the bot.
She is hiding some things from him that she would not like him to know. They are just minor things that he might not like to hear.
They are not truly important things, really. But Kelvin might consider the fact that trust goes both ways too much for him to bear.
The most important thing she is hiding is the fact that she will gain all of his abilities when he trusts her and opens the barrier between them.
She has never lied to him. She just hasn't revealed everything. What she said about him gaining her abilities is true. He will gain her perception ability, stealth ability, and immunity to mental influence ability. In exchange, she will gain all of his abilities, not only his ability to touch and interact with the world.
From what she knows about him, he would not like to hear that at all. It would reinforce the idea that she was created to hamper him and might hinder the progress they have been making.
She would rather he find out after he has trusted her. At that time, he will see it more as a boon rather than a mechanism meant to restrain him.
Then there is the tiny matter of her ability to shut down all of his abilities. She is sure she can do so for the second ability. As for the first ability he got on his own, she is not sure she can shut it down.
This ability was put in place by Icon to restrain him in case he wants to do something detrimental to Earth-11 that she doesn't agree with. While it might sound bad at first, it is not entirely bad because it goes both ways.
Kelvin will also be able to shut down her abilities. It is something that both of them can do to each other when they are in disagreement.
They can render each other powerless. That way, they will have to come to an agreement in order for them to be able to use their full power.
She is sure that Kelvin will not want to hear that. She is certain that it will still sting when he trusts her. But trust will be able to soften the blow.
At least, he will believe her when she tells him that she has only good intentions for both him and the people of Earth-11. But she expects that it will not be easy to accept.
It is a conversation that she is hoping to put off for as long as possible. However, if he gains an ability to discern truths and lies, he might begin to drill her, and she might have to spill the beans. So she cooked up an innocent distraction on the fly.
Apparently, it worked. She sighed in relief when she saw that he wasn't looking at the ability anymore.
Kelvin had searched for abilities for making oaths and contracts. He was looking for anything that could help him improve his relationship with Wrath.
He wants to be able to trust her. For that, he needs some sort of foundation that will put his fears to rest.
That is only the start, of course. He will still need to overcome his view on depending on others for anything.
He was raised to believe that those who depend on others are weak. He doesn't want to be weak since the weak die and get eaten by their starved brothers and siblings.
He can remember those times vividly. He was weak and tired after having not eaten for eight days. But he didn't show weakness, or his siblings would swarm him.
He couldn't even bear to sleep for too long. He was always jumping at the slightest noise. Not that his siblings were making much noise. They were all weak like him.
They were all thin and gaunt. Their ribs were showing through their chest. They looked about ready to fall over at the slightest wind.
They couldn't even stand. They were all crouching on the ground. Their weakness called to them like a lullaby. It beckoned to them to close their eyes and sleep forever.
But they listen to the call of sleep. They were not willing to give up on living yet. It showed in their eyes. Their eyes were bright and alert. They watched their environments like hawks. Or in this case, like vultures.
It was like their father had said, "Those who are weak get eaten."
He can still remember that experience and many others vividly. They have been drilled into his being from a very young age. It is not something he can just overcome in the span of a year or two.
But a foundation of trust will help a long way in helping him come to terms with a full and open partnership with Wrath. So he was looking for abilities that will help build that foundation.
Unfortunately, most of the abilities needed some sort of physical interaction with Wrath. At the very least, he has to know what type of connection they have before he can create a target plan to build that foundation.
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A/N/ Is Wrath trustworthy?