The Punishment of Esau

[Sly Cooper]

Damon crawled under one of the church pews without looking up. "But- I erm-- Like I was saying-- it only seems right that I get punished for-- her right? Or with her-- I was the one that didn't stop her from being stupid. I know my judgment is a little impaired but-- I still knew that what we did was wrong-- and--” He continued to ramble incomprehensibly. He finally raised his head off the floor just to hit head off of the wooden seat. “Ow!” He rubbed the already soft spot, that had been hit and bounced off of things all day.

[esau12]

The quiet Esau heard Damon over under the pew. He lifted his head to see the injured boy. "What are you doing," Esau said in an exhausted voice. He was merely inquiring, in no way was he being harsh or rude. He was only curious, and his voice contained no malice, but instead friendliness.

[Sly Cooper]

"It--" Damon gazed up at Esau, "I wanted to see what was going on with Rebekah. I got her in a lot of trouble with Isaac. I felt bad cos I didn't get punished quite so bad." His eyes shifty around,"But then I walked in to see her--" Damon cupped his hand around his mouth and whispered one word,"naked." His cheeks tinted bright, glowing red. "So that's why I'm down here. So I can't see."

[esau12]

"Well, you are married to her," Esau spoke with the same tired tone. It was as if he had taken on the persona of an old wiseman who spoke slowly, clearly, and with, at times, wise advice.

[Sly Cooper]

"I know--" He sighed deeply, then let out a loud groan, "I really think it was dumb of me to marry her-- And I know Jacob is going to be so mad at me for it later. he never liked Rebekah much." Damon shook his head, then slid out from under the pew. "Those look pretty nasty," staring at Esau's wounds, he shivered just at the though of being whipped.

[esau12]

Esau smiled, you guessed it, a tired smile. "Yeah, I'll live. Anyway, why is it that you are having second thoughts about your marriage. Remember, everyone has doubts, you just have to work through them.

[Sly Cooper]

"Because, as a husband I'm supposed to keep things like the Hemingford heist from happening. I'm bad at standing up and putting my foot down. That's why I like Rebekah . She's so good at expressing herself." Damon slouched down and placed both his hands in his lap. "You know that should be me getting whipped." He rolled his eyes then tried to change subjects, "Say if you ever need help with wounds, I'm pretty good at that kind of thing."

[esau12]

"Please!" There was a noticeable change in Esau's voice. It was a slight perkiness, but only barely was noticed. Esau motioned over for Damon to come to his back. "Just because you helped her do something stupid doesn't mean that you should not be married. In fact, you were being good to her by sticking by her. Admittedly, you both could benefit from some common sense, but still." Esau paused, then remembered the additional note he wished to add, "And if you feel that bad about not being whipped, why don't you just ask solomon for a few lashings?"

[Sly Cooper]

"That's what I came in here for. I just got distracted--- by Rebekah's--- nakedness." It really bothered Damon that Rebekah was naked. He stood up and without looking up at the naked Rebekah, "Solomon, I think it would be only right that I am given just as many lashes as my--" he cleared his throat only for his voice to crack, "wife."

[Bunny]

Rebekah was weakened by the beating, to be sure. Her back was a collection of serpentine bloodstreams that seemed to be growing ever wider. Still, though, one of Rebekah's most exalted features was her seemingly never-ending supply of energy. So, she still was able to lift herself up unto shaky feet, and manage to contort her face into one of murderous hatred. Towards her husband. "You!" she snarled. "How dare you come into my presence!" She completely forgot about the fact that she had been begging Solomon to summon him just moments earlier. "It was you who left me upon the Road, and it was You who made me stand before Isaac alone to claim baby Noah! You --- you didn't speak up! You should've told Isaac that Noah was mine! Then this wouldn't have..." she choked for a moment before continuing, "then this wouldn't have happened!"

[Dot Dot Dot]

Solomon had been content to watch the drama unfold without any interference, but Damon's wild demands forced him to speak up. "Isaac ordered that Rebekah bear the punishment of both of you," he reminded the husband as gently as he could. "He was pleased with how you defended him against Malachai. Your punishment has already been endured," he nodded his head towards the bubbling injuries on Rebekah's back.

[Sly Cooper]

Rebekah’s words stung as they echoed in Damon’s head.

You! How dare you come into my presence! It was you who left me upon the Road, and it was You who made me stand before Isaac alone to claim baby Noah! You --- you didn't speak up!

Damon’s heart sank. His stomach grew a pain inside, that felt like some sort of beast trying to tear its way out. His head pounded. He grabbed at it trying to soothe the pain, but it only grew bigger.

The words that echoed the loudest—

You—it was you—it was you—

It was true, it was Damon, it was he who walked away and let Rebekah suffer. It’s also true that Damon was easy to guilt trip. It was he who didn’t speak up from the start. He knew going to Hemingford wasn’t a very good idea. Granted, he didn’t see just how bad an idea it would be till it actually happened. The problem is he never spoke up, never. And when he did—“I came to Isaac, and I told him the truth. I told him Noah wasn’t ours.” He hunched over.

He already figured that Solomon wouldn’t do what he asked, he wanted to try. “It just doesn’t seem fair for Rebekah to take the lashes when I helped her with the deed. But it’s already been decided--” Damon continued to ramble to himself, absentmindedly, like he always did. “May I at least tend to her wounds afterward? It’s the least I can do as her,” he choked on the word,” husband.” He rubbed his forehead, “Admittedly, I haven’t done a very good job at it so far—“

[Dot Dot Dot]

Solomon couldn't meet Damon's eyes. He had volunteered for the duty of punishment to please the Lord, but he had not expected it to be so painful: for himself. He never was one to take pleasure in suffering, and to him, it seemed as though Damon was suffering even more than his wife. "I'm not one to judge..." he said, regarding the boys' statement that he hadn't done a good job as a husband so far. Solomon himself had never even courted a young lady, let alone married one, but in his opinion Damon was doing a fairly good job. He wanted to help Rebekah, anyways. "And I guess you can tend to her wounds if you want. She's paid her debt. She deserves healing as much as any of us would... Uh..." he shifted uncomfortably. "I guess I'm not needed here, anymore?" He hoped he wasn't. He wanted to leave as quickly as possible.

[Sly Cooper]

Damon smiled uncomfortably, "Erm-- I guess you can go. I mean-- you did everything you were supposed to, right?" He watched his feet as he dragged them along the ground, over to Rebekah. No doubt she would continue to be, well, Rebekah. There really isn't any other way to describe her. But, Damon really wanted to help. He always really wanted to help. "Have you ever noticed, when you go to be nice to someone it blows up in your face," he mumbled to himself, then looked up at the naked girl. "Com'mon, Rebekah. Let me patch you up-- Please." He reached out to offer a hand to her.

[Bunny]

Damon reached his hand out to her, and Rebekah, in turn, recoiled away from it. "Don't you dare touch me!" she snarled -- or rather, gasped. In fact, it came out as 'Duhntuh ooo ouch me!" Already her vision was beginning to fade and her legs were growing more wobbly...but, most noticeably at all, her tongue was growing lazy and much less willing to perform entire coherent sentences for its audience.

Still, actions speak louder than words. So, after a stream of creative profanity (or what would have been creative profanity if anyone could understand just what she was saying) she tried to throw her husband a punch. A weak punch, backed with nothing but an enraged girl who had just had a whip tear across her back twenty consecutive times, but a punch nonetheless.