[ Triggering anger in Gaelio with his own handle on the development, with his near positive endorsement of it, does not come as a surprise. It was not intended, but does not surprise.
Refusing to show weakness, beyond the carnal and the physical, to the man intent upon his death would do the trick.
The acrimony in the word parroted back settles in him with an odd kind of heat, an oddly energetic spike of defensiveness. It must be the outward recovery that rattles Gaelio. He must remain, as he has always been and always will be, unaware of the internal mechanisms within McGillis. Although he calls himself Vidar, he is a dog of Gjallarhorn. The rotted version keeps the foulest sort of canine in its infantry.
However.
The haunt is already evolving. It sits at the back of his mind and whispers promises of later mental torment.
Gaelio takes steps to corner him again, and it flickers in McGillis again. A defensive spark. To compensate for feeling discomfited, because Gaelio has always been capable of the exact thing he thinks himself incapable of, he prompts himself to give over that peculiar, secretive smile in return, the one that deadens his eyes. He glues himself to the spot and refuses to step away further.
In truth, he does not know very much beyond his wolf. The allusion to mythology, to poetry and characters inserted as symbols into the reality of their situation, is surprisingly appealing to receive, smile twitching wider. ]
Or wings to fly.
[ When Gaelio is little more than arm's length away, that's when he seeks his first form: stronger to him than the newly named Fenrir, easier to control. His body compacts into another ball of light, shrinking up off the ground and into the air, and seconds later, a brown hawk flies over Gaelio's head.
He twirls up into the sky and settles on a low branch. Hopping to the outer edge, chirping a signal of his placement at the enemy below.
He may be hit with another illusion now. It might be safer to keep moving -- so he takes off again and returns to the ground, landing behind Gaelio, creating again that space between them. Achieved in an overly elaborate fashion, to be sure.
Returning to himself, to the man, he speaks once more. ]
This is all I know of it. You're the first I've seen here.
no subject
Refusing to show weakness, beyond the carnal and the physical, to the man intent upon his death would do the trick.
The acrimony in the word parroted back settles in him with an odd kind of heat, an oddly energetic spike of defensiveness. It must be the outward recovery that rattles Gaelio. He must remain, as he has always been and always will be, unaware of the internal mechanisms within McGillis. Although he calls himself Vidar, he is a dog of Gjallarhorn. The rotted version keeps the foulest sort of canine in its infantry.
However.
The haunt is already evolving. It sits at the back of his mind and whispers promises of later mental torment.
Gaelio takes steps to corner him again, and it flickers in McGillis again. A defensive spark. To compensate for feeling discomfited, because Gaelio has always been capable of the exact thing he thinks himself incapable of, he prompts himself to give over that peculiar, secretive smile in return, the one that deadens his eyes. He glues himself to the spot and refuses to step away further.
In truth, he does not know very much beyond his wolf. The allusion to mythology, to poetry and characters inserted as symbols into the reality of their situation, is surprisingly appealing to receive, smile twitching wider. ]
Or wings to fly.
[ When Gaelio is little more than arm's length away, that's when he seeks his first form: stronger to him than the newly named Fenrir, easier to control. His body compacts into another ball of light, shrinking up off the ground and into the air, and seconds later, a brown hawk flies over Gaelio's head.
He twirls up into the sky and settles on a low branch. Hopping to the outer edge, chirping a signal of his placement at the enemy below.
He may be hit with another illusion now. It might be safer to keep moving -- so he takes off again and returns to the ground, landing behind Gaelio, creating again that space between them. Achieved in an overly elaborate fashion, to be sure.
Returning to himself, to the man, he speaks once more. ]
This is all I know of it. You're the first I've seen here.
[ Fancy that. ]