Hope it's okay to add to this but I find this very interesting and I agree with almost everything. I think would be able to kill someone if he had to but he would break apart afterwards. If he has a choice, I think he would not do it. He will absolutely avoid hurting anyone.
That being said. I think Reth can fight. And not in the "going to self-defense class"- way but in the "fighting in the back of a dirty alley"- way.
I have had this scene in my head for the longest time where (for reasons I can not share right now because it probably will still be used for Fuel) Reth and Hassian do fight training together. Hassian is very clinical about it, very precise and focused on choosing the right moment, the right posture. He's a fighter in the more traditional sense, skilled with a weapon but slow and methodical. So he absolutely pesters Reth about it, like we all know he would because Hassian takes this seriously but Hassian has never really had to fight before. It's a sport to him, a training method.
"Your footwork is off."
"You need to widen your stance."
"Your blows are messy."
Until Reth finally snaps and just clocks him. Reth explodes under the pressure of everything happening, of being buried under the heavy cloak of responsabilities for years and years on end with no way out. The first hit is an absolute fight or flight response because he feels cornered. The second one is frustration that just pours out of him while he shouts at Hassian that he can stick all his methods up his arse if it ever comes to a real fight. Because out there, noone waits for you to adjust your stance. You either hit them before they hit you or you're gonna pay the price for being too slow.
It takes Hassian a moment to understand what's happening, that this outburst Reth shows is a needed outlet for him and he has the chance to show Reth that after all the bad blood between them, he is capable of listening and learning. That they have moved forward from being enemies into a territory that is somewhere along the lines of being friends.
So he studies Reth's movements, copies them, blocks him, pushes back and lets Reth put all his frustrations into the fight until he collapses into a heaving, fragile lump of a person and finally breathes for the first time in years. And that's when Hassian puts his hand on his shoulder, reassures him that he understands and tells him that he doesn't have to carry those burdens on his own anymore.
Uhm...yeah...idk...I have a lot of feelings about Reth. And a lot of thoughts of how a friendship between Hassian and him could look like apart from the obvious reality of Reth chewing his ear off all day long. I will stop lamenting now.
Sorry for hijacking your post <3
