[ Matt, likewise, is not about to talk about Liem because Merc doesn't know how their thread goes--though at Set's teasing, his cheeks flush pink. ]

None of you have been listening if you think I'm apathetic.

[ That, at least, is the right mortals have over gods, isn't it? The right to be heard? To send up their prayers and petitions? ]

It's not fighting that I'm opposed to. Just fighting amongst ourselves, as a first resort. As my first resort. There's still so much that hasn't been tried, as far as I know--from what I've been able to figure out, and what people have been willing to tell me. [ This doesn't have the bite it would if this conversation were taking place after Matt's Communion talk with Ruby. He even offers Set a nod of acknowledgement--a bit stiff, still, but an olive branch. Plucking a comb from the flotilla that surrounds him, Matt works the teeth of it gingerly into the heart of the knot he's been rubbing with oil. ] I can see what you're saying, Tezcatlipoca, about how it might just want to psych us out.

[ A sigh, a bit frustrated. ]

But I don't understand your strategies at all. How do you guys want to stop this thing?