Something curled and twisted beneath Thor's visage, chased shadows in his eyes, dark and vile and wrong. Kaj shuddered to see it, even if the shivers never made it to the canvas of his body. There is a distant confusion curdling in his own head, wondering what he could have said to have prickled the beast and turned him sour and vindictive. He had weighed his words carefully, chosen them with as much grace and kindness as he could summon to his tongue. How was it that even when Kaj put forth the effort to never cause harm, it was always the nettled whip that met him in return?

The words that kissed his ears like a violent lover promising a night of vengeance were too vague, too aimless for Kaj to pin down. He gazed dumbly back at Thor, not sure whether the brute was merely sore about his loss or if there was some grand injustice the golden warrior had committed against him in the time between watching the battle and approaching him. Grumpily, the king noticed that he had been the only one to approach the Gentle Heart. Wasn't that testament to how he cared for the mighty stallion, that he would return to his side and offer quiet aid even when no others did?

Eyes drifted towards the evergreens, and Kaj followed his line of sight, not sure what it was that haunted his brother and why his aura was so sharp. Like a porcupine, Thor was bristled out against Kaj, and the pale brute was merely flailing about trying to sneak a peek at the sensitive underbelly of the defensive beast. If he could perhaps get past whatever was nettling the former king, then Kaj could see the truth behind his actions, and therefore figure out how best to treat and care for his brother in arms.

Any thought of helping him was severed brutally as Thor's word snapped out, completely uncalled for, grating against the kindly ruler's ears. Kaj's eyes narrowed, slow and deliberate, and his ears did so in return as they traversed towards his cranium with a meaningful lethargy. "Do not spit upon my kindness when no other has come to thank or help you," he growled softly, not quite emanating the anger that he stored deep within, attempting to be levelheaded. Thor getting a rise out of him would not help the situation, but it did not mean that Kaj had to take his blatant disrespect either. Former king or no, Kaj gave as good as he got, and Thor would be in for the rarely seen fury of the warrior if such ridiculousness progressed.

The possibility of discussion mildly smoothed Kaj's ruffled feathers, and he nodded sharply. Perhaps if Thor simply got it out of his system, he would no longer see the need for his brattish insolence and wayward tongue. If Kaj had to play babysitter through his tantrum, then at least it would not be one of his other innocent herdmates who suffered through the temper of the defeated stag.

Evangeline's name was a surprise, a variable unforeseen. Kaj blinked in silence at the weathered stallion for a few moments, not quite sure where that particular question took root, why it had been cast his way. With yet another barbed undertone, Kaj fitfully noted. Still, he frowned heavily, feeling as if his privacy and friendship with Evangeline was being investigated. "I was not aware that was any of your business," he said simply, a quiet warning. This does not have to go there, Thor.