The words of disappointment lanced through Khepri and he stared back at Mithras in silent shock. "Is there? Because I haven't found a better way," he snapped back. Why did the other man expect better from him? They did not know each other outside their professions and were hardly friends, or acquaintances even. It wasn't that he didn't want to give it up, but he didn't see a way out, another way to numb the pain and make it go away. He swallowed, his lips curling as he looked into the darkness of the alley around them. A darkness that mirrored the darkness inside him that he felt everyday, one he could not shake so easily.
A reason... he needed a reason to hold his tongue until the time was right, it seemed and Khepri bit the insides of his cheek, cursing himself for ever having been found out in the first place.
"You should hold your tongue because I'm not hurting anyone but myself. You know what will happen to me if you turn me in. Do you really want my blood on your hands?" he asked incredulously. He had never understood the laws around recreational drug use; in theory society would be pristine and purposeful he supposed but that was not how it always panned out. To expect all those to die for easing their pains was ridiculous.
If he were a different man perhaps he would intimidate Mithras into silence, even harm him, but he was simply Khepri and he was not a violent man. Still, he could not stop the anger building within him as he rose to his paws. "Why do you even care what I do? I don't get it." he grumbled.
"..."
