That seems to have hit its mark - so his earlier efforts weren't wasted. He's already cleared her mind enough that she'll listen to him. Maybe he can just talk his way out of this.

"The longer we bicker," he says reasonably, "fighting this stupid fight of ours, causing copious amounts of property damage, the weaker Yona becomes. Eventually she will not be able to shield you from your spirits. I am trying to aid you, would you please stop trying to stop me?"

"Aid me how?"

"If I wanted to unbind your bloodthirsty spirits from you, I could have just done that. I had my chance. I might have even been able to survive the ensuing chaos without departing the plane entirely. I think it would be unwise to unleash them on the world." It's his story for the sparrow, anyway. "I would rather fix the connection you have with them. Let you draw power from them without driving you to madness or death."

"Why."

"Is it so alien a concept, that someone might want to help you?" wonders Gann, mildly amused. "I would like a guide in this strange new plane, and you already know of me. I would not like to have to explain to the locals why there are three corpses, three maddened spirits, and however much property damage would result from the aforementioned chaos. I enjoy enacting elegant solutions to problems instead of applying murder liberally until they go away. I'm not certain I could win a direct confrontation with you, and this is in many ways easier."

"Next time lead with that, instead of waiting until I remember that I said I would rip your tongue out."

"Would you have believed me before I had summoned Yona to keep your spirits at bay, if I'd said that they were driving you mad?"

"I might not have attacked."

"Ah, so it falls upon me to manage your bouts of madness appropriately, absolving you of all responsibility. I see. In that case - do please hold still, I need to relieve a bear spirit of her burden before you return to frothing bloodthirst."

"I would think not recklessly provoking the wrath of powerful strangers by assaulting them with unfamiliar magic on no warning ought to be common sense."

"I'm sorry? Which one of us was threatening to rip the other's tongue out? Do please remind me, my memory seems to have lapsed..."

He stands, and steps forward, offering her his hand.

(Spirits in reserve if this is an act.)

"That's why I said before it came to that, sweet poet." She eyes his hand and hesitates a moment before taking it.

"Ah, yes, because I knew that if you recalled an idle threat, you would feel unstoppably compelled to follow through. Therefore I should lead not with explanations of who I am and how I got here, but how I have a trustworthy magical procedure to enact without much explanation. Forgive me for leading with respecting you enough to not begin by attempting to manage your problems. Instead I foolishly gave you precisely what you were asking for."

He closes his eyes and returns to work. Hello again, Yona. Excellent job on handling the spirits, time to make them no longer your problem.

"It is a nimble one, isn't it. I do not make idle threats."

"Not even in dreams?" he wonders idly, but he's a bit too busy for banter, now. He got most of the work done earlier, but he still needs to finalize everything so it will definitively not fall apart, even under the strain of more spirits. It's tricky work, and if he tugs too carelessly it could strain the whole thing to the breaking point.

"That would be fundamentally inconsistent with my character."

"My tongue will have to watch itself then, won't it."

One last finalization in place - this is much easier to do when he's not in the middle of a crisis - and he draws Yona back and drops the held hand. All her power is returned to her, with none of the troublesome voices.

"Have I earned it mercy for my efforts?"

She waits for the impulse to kill him reassert itself. It fails to manifest. She can feel the full depths of her power again, but with none of the extraneous noise she'd become almost accustomed to.

"Hm. Possibly. We'll have to wait and see if I suddenly feel an overpowering urge to murder you again."

"Certainly. How long are we to wait, and what shall we do in the interim?"

"Well, it took months for me to become so unhinged last time..."

He laughs.

"So, I am to trail after you, aiding you in whatever endeavors suit you, until either you are quite satisfied with my services, or you find that you want to kill me? That's hardly incentive."

"You do not find my company so charming, dear poet? I am wounded to the very quick."

"Your company has little to do with it, I chafe at all perceived indentured servitude, be it charming or no."

"What do you consider incentive, then?"

"Ah ah, asking me to give incentive to my travel with you for you is hardly going to get me an honest answer. You could simply parrot whatever I say to keep me around as long as it suits you. Though out of pity, I will advise positive incentives, not negative ones."