flooded lungs

The other man had quite the firm handshake, and Loren felt his own grip tightening for just an instant in response. Then, it was over, and the librarian resisted rubbing the ache out of his hand, instead choosing to clasp them both behind his back. He offered the other man a tentative smile—though it didn’t reach his eyes—as the two of them regarded each other. Then Loren realized he was falling back into old, bad habits of posturing, and he let the smile slip away. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Deimos.” Even if the warrior still looked at the summoner like he wasn’t sure what to make of Loren. It wasn’t like he cut an especially imposing figure, skeletally thin as he was. Then again, he also knew what it was like to constantly be on the lookout for danger. All he could do was try to be as friendly and non threatening as possible. Given how volatile he’d been since his return, however, that would likely prove difficult. Thankfully, the unicorn bounded over, playfully skipping among the puddles, and Deimos followed. Loren let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding; unlike the other man and the unicorn, the Launceleyn stayed put. However, there were so many puddles that it was impossible to avoid them entirely. The next one that drew Loren in showed him a picture of himself—or maybe Neron, what with the identical twin thing—dressed as a jester, performing capers for a wide-eyed crowd. Unlike the other visions, that wasn’t too painful, just annoying. Deimos spoke, asking a question, and Loren welcomed the distraction, breaking off his stare at the water to gaze at the other man. “I don’t know. Most of the visions they’ve shown me have ranged from annoying to painful.” The Launceleyn ran a hand through his hair as he considered the puddles. “I wonder what causes them. It feels a little bit like illusion magic.” Casting his eyes at the much taller, broader man, Loren decided providing a little bit of information about himself might put the warrior at ease. “I don’t have any myself, but I’ve certainly been on the receiving end of it more times than I can count.” Of course, what might put Deimos at ease caused a spike of remembered terror to flash through the summoner. But he shoved it out of his mind: his family was almost all gone, and couldn’t hurt him any longer. That didn’t stop their ghosts from haunting him and his dreams. LOREN Not quite an open book