#arthur calling him yellow?? COMPLETELY left field insanely ballsy choice from noel's pov.

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

actually i can't stop thinking about this now. like, from jarthur's pov, the convo with yellow in The Order is the emotional resolution of arthur acknowledging that yellow's only sin was being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and it's arthur's own fault things turned out the way they did. it's also him getting to be petty and annoy larson at the same time for a fun bonus but that's unrelated

from noel's pov though?? ten minutes ago he thought he was gonna be facing down with the outer god who tortured him for ten years nonstop. he was prepared to do Anything At All to avoid falling back into his clutches. and now this random anemic underfed brit he came in with is? shamelessly antagonizing him with zero fear? looking at the mainstay of his worst nightmares with pity? going "you're so far beneath me that i feel responsible for and sorry for you." and he's done this twice?? there's been two different fragments of The King Himself in his head and not only is he not dead, not only has he not been driven completely mad, he's playing this one like a goddamn cheap kazoo. earlier noel watched yellow take a man and drive him to bash his own brains out so he knows how far from toothless he is. arthur just called him a pet. he's calling him yellow for fuck's sake. he gave the KIY a stupid diminutive nickname and is absolutely unconcerned by how pissed off he's getting which is fair because no consequences are materializing for him. and this is the bad end, apparently. the other king fragment is just like, a guy now? he wants to be called john. larson is making fun of him for being sensitive. like, actually, what the fuck. how did he do that. why did he do that. noel didn't even think he knew the king. why did he not mention any of this at any point before just now.

like, this is all possible bc yellow and john are both just fragments, but the more relevant thing is that you kind of can't tell that because arthur carries himself like the idea of the king being any kind of a threat to him is laughable. honestly really impressive that noel just goes along with it. im dying to know his internal reaction to arthur's "your whole 'i'm a god' shtick is honestly so sad and pathetic and i'm sorry for how many times i kicked you while i had you trapped and collared" thing to yellow. then again he did also see how he dealt with collins earlier so maybe he's just realizing that arthur's completely incorrigible at all times constantly. what was i talking about again. anyway.