[ he waves a hand at the apology, still not really used to that no matter who it comes from. it's not something he considers necessary. izō complains for the sake of complaining most of the time; he never expects anyone to do anything about it. ]

Worked, didn't it? S'all that matters.

[ and it beats the alternatives, which seemed to be getting eaten or waiting around for another strange thing to happen and not being able to do anything about it. the powerlessness was probably the worst part about it.

or... well, he'd had a little bit of "power", didn't he? not that he's volunteering to mention it now. it wouldn't have helped and it's ridiculous.

izō stands and cracks his neck and rolls his shoulders, trying to look perfectly casual about this. he's not worried about the monster outside, but the posturing is for himself, if nothing else. it's fine! see? overconfident as usual; no doubt he could handle this with or without help, please believe him. ]

Hopefully, whatever seventh got copied is the part that knows how t'use a sword.

[ a copy. why was he making such a fuss about this anyway? at least he's not trying to avoid looking now — that would be obvious — but he supposes it's an alright imitation. ]