Reread God's interaction with Adam after they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, after God found out. Then read God's interaction with Cain after God calls him on killing his brother.
[An aside-Just for fun, both parts again and focus on the ground. The role that the ground/creation plays in both Adam's story and Cain's story is interesting.]
-It seems that Adam accepted the consequences of his actions "like a man" but Cain responds (I'd say he whines) "This is more than I can bear..." "This is too much God. This is too hard."
-After God confronts Adam and issues the consequences, God makes Adam and Eve clothes to cover them. God keeps caring for them. After God confronts Cain, He keeps caring for him. There are consequences for Cain, but if anyone does to Cain what Cain did to Abel the consequences will be even more severe than they are for Cain.
-Adam and Eve were banished from the garden. Cain also left the presence of God. Permanently? Or as in "conversation over"? I don't know. If God was going to deal with anyone who killed Cain, God would have to keep a close eye on him.
There was a time when you couldn't imagine a pre-teen doing something like this. Not so, today. Even here, Cain was old enough that God held him accountable for his actions. How old? We don't know. But notice that it wasn't Adam who issued consequences or punished his son. It was God.
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