Kuvarakh regained his composure, but the professor's words continued to goad responses from him.
"So if I was to pull a sword and strike you down for no reason but to extend my own life by a few years, I should not be held to have done wrong? Is that truly your view? Or does the fact that you're a wondrous Nuit, where I'm just a mortal suddenly make it a crime? What about you? Weren't you a grubby, unworthy mortal once yourself? What made you deserve to get ten times the life span the rest of us get? You make it sound like it's the willingness to kill without remorse that earns you this grace.
"What rot! Your self-glorifications are as shallow as your reasoning. If I had let my daughter wander the streets of Sunberth after the 24th bell, I would blame myself for her death. But we are talking about the University grounds in broad daylight! I had not heard that Sahova had claimed the campus as their personal snack bar. Tell me, please, do I owe it to one of your emaciated associates to dye my hair red before slaying myself for his convenience? Am I to be allowed my next name day, or did he stub his toe and needs my body now? I wouldn't something so insignificant as my mere life to interfere with his all-important whim!" The disdain in his voice abraded like sandpaper.
"And then you fall back on the scapegoat mentality of excusing yourself on the basis of our OWN moral flaws. 'Since we kill ourselves with loathsome abandon, we MAY NOT DENY you YOUR right to kill us to suit your agendas, as well? That, my wise old friend, is a CHILD'S logic! 'No fair Mom, Jimmy did it, so why can't I?" He paced the room, mimicking a wailing child throwing a tantrum.
"It is hardly fair to compare the deaths brought on by war or crime or passion to the justification of some kind of systematic farming of humans like cattle! Are you saying that even if I COULD make it possible for Nuit bodies to stay fresh forever, You would still kill humans? That's despicable! That reduces us to nothing more than wardrobe! Excuse me if I find that rather belittling."
A grim smirk crossed his face. "It IS ironic, though, how you speak of me blaming 'a nameless Nuit'. You ought to get your facts straight, sir. I met him, face to face, and he tried to pretend to be my daughter. Not the behavior of one who believes in some high moral ground for the justified terminating of lesser beings. Furthermore, if my aim was vengeance, as you seem to suggest, my work would be toward something to DESTROY them, not aid them!"
"But I WILL confess, that you are correct when you cite my intent to kill THAT Nuit, if I ever find him, unlikely as that is. I make no apology for that. But every indication is that a rival Nuit performed that service already. So are you going to go lecture him on his misguided dispatch of one of Mizahar's finest fiends? Or did he, as you say, have a reason? Well, it's sure to have been a gloriously altruistic and benevolent cause, whatever it was." his voice was sing-song with sarcasm.
He paused as he righted the table. "Well it's still functional, but there's a scratch. Perhaps we ought to go kill someone so we can take their table, what do you think?" He took a long breath and sighed heavily, "So what exactly did you bring me down here for, anyway?"