Marcus
someone wise told me once
to keep my chin held high
to keep my chin held high
Marcus stayed where he was, close enough that her sparkling energy seemed to hum in the space between them. He didn’t retreat from her barrage of questions; instead, he turned his body slightly toward her on the stool.
”No, it’s not all emotions.” It worked on the heavy things like fear, anger, grief, or panic, the emotions that twisted tight and made it hard to breathe. He couldn’t amplify joy or still excitement for those were bright fires that didn’t need smoothing. What he could do was take the edge off the storms, help them settle enough that a person could think again. And even then, it didn’t last. It was a moment of quiet, not a permanent fix, and the stronger the feeling, the more effort it took to hold that calm in place. ”I first discovered I could use it after my mom died. I was trying to comfort my twin sister and I just willed her to feel at least a little better. It worked, for a short time.” The easing magic wasn’t something he could cast from a distance or with a thought alone. It lived in contact, in skin against skin, in the grounding reality of being there with someone. ”Its not a telepathic ability, I don’t think. So far I have to be touching the person. I used it on the cattle drive, to settle one of the hands who had been spooked by some snakes in our camp.”
Then, as her question about similarity settled between them, he looked back up, meeting her bright blue eyes. He cleared his throat some, heat rising to his ears and cheeks and filling them with color. “When I said it was nice to meet someone like me, I didn’t mean our magic works the same way. Yours is incredible.” He breathed out, still in awe and amazement at what she could do. ”Mine’s different.” A faint huff of a smile. “What I meant is that we’re both both.” He shifted on the stool, shoulders rolling a little. ”We’re hybrids. Not just magic-users, but shapeshifters too. We don’t fit neatly in one box.”
His eyes softened. “So I guess what I meant was… it’s nice to sit across from someone who understands what it’s like to carry both.”
”No, it’s not all emotions.” It worked on the heavy things like fear, anger, grief, or panic, the emotions that twisted tight and made it hard to breathe. He couldn’t amplify joy or still excitement for those were bright fires that didn’t need smoothing. What he could do was take the edge off the storms, help them settle enough that a person could think again. And even then, it didn’t last. It was a moment of quiet, not a permanent fix, and the stronger the feeling, the more effort it took to hold that calm in place. ”I first discovered I could use it after my mom died. I was trying to comfort my twin sister and I just willed her to feel at least a little better. It worked, for a short time.” The easing magic wasn’t something he could cast from a distance or with a thought alone. It lived in contact, in skin against skin, in the grounding reality of being there with someone. ”Its not a telepathic ability, I don’t think. So far I have to be touching the person. I used it on the cattle drive, to settle one of the hands who had been spooked by some snakes in our camp.”
Then, as her question about similarity settled between them, he looked back up, meeting her bright blue eyes. He cleared his throat some, heat rising to his ears and cheeks and filling them with color. “When I said it was nice to meet someone like me, I didn’t mean our magic works the same way. Yours is incredible.” He breathed out, still in awe and amazement at what she could do. ”Mine’s different.” A faint huff of a smile. “What I meant is that we’re both both.” He shifted on the stool, shoulders rolling a little. ”We’re hybrids. Not just magic-users, but shapeshifters too. We don’t fit neatly in one box.”
His eyes softened. “So I guess what I meant was… it’s nice to sit across from someone who understands what it’s like to carry both.”
and be brave
