Apep hadn't warned him about this. Why hadn't he warned him about this? How could he not have known that waiting at the doorstep would be [i]the[/i] most detestable thing in the world? He knew there would be a presence, it was the school of natural law, after all, but for some reason he hadn't expected this, or anything like this. To stand at the foot of law itself. 

He didn't notice the shrine maiden until the darkness had fallen around them, and if he wasn't so shaken he'd have cursed his inattentiveness. The pounding in his head obscured his hearing for a moment, as the girl -Mai, he thought?- spoke to him. Normally his reaction would have been toxic, perhaps a jab at her "inferiority", or a simple "don't stand near me". He could feel all of these possibilities int he back of his mind, but they didn't matter right then. The darkness, while still not as complete as a the void, was a welcome defense against the light, and he was quick to slink back further into it, 

All he could do was pray the law god couldn't see him, or wouldn't pay him any mind beneath the eerie umbrella. Ashil just stood, shaking hands staying with him while his mind calmed back down. He sucked in breaths through lips parted in a grimace, and his eyes at last went to Mai. It wouldn't be hard to see the confusion in his eyes, even if it was beneath a layer or two of panic. It wasn't her fault yet, in the same way it wasn't Evera's before. They didn't know who he was, what he'd be, and do. As with before, he found himself unable to muster up anything vile to say, no venom to snap at her with. Instead, he just bowed his head to her, -unwilling or unable to voice an actual thank-you- and kept his gaze at the ground. He couldn't bare to look back at the god then.