LOREN
Remi demonstrated one of his many new abilities, and Loren gave the other man a curious glance. If the Launceleyn had an iota of magic left in him, he would’ve replicated that little display; as it stood, Loren couldn’t lift his body much at the moment, let alone cast any spells. ”Neat trick. Although it reminds me that you never really told what sort of magic you had.” Try as he might, the summoner couldn’t keep a hint of jealousy from creeping into his voice. Still, it was hard, knowing Remi was not only loved, but also strong in all the ways that the librarian had once longed to be. While he might not want that power, anymore, it had been such a large part of him for so long that of course he couldn’t help but be a bit envious.Well, when the other man put it that way, Loren guessed it was a bit surprising after all. ”Fair enough. But the manticore is hardly the last of my little critters, so you all better get used to seeing them around.” Rexanna had been similarly impressed, now that the Launceleyn thought about it. He couldn’t help but blush at the thought that he, of all people, had something unique to offer: summoning was so common where he came from that he hadn’t realized how exciting it might be to others. Sure, it held a special place in his heart, but that was for personal reasons. Luckily Remi’s reminder about the other man’s eyes shifted the embarrassment from pleased to the exact opposite. ”Oh. Sorry. I’m not used to...sorry.” How the summoner could have forgotten the other man’s eyes, Loren didn’t know. But hopefully it wouldn’t happen again.
”I think you think the way I think about a lot of things needs shifting, and I don’t necessarily disagree with you.” Though the librarian could say the same about the other man, given their earlier discussion about politics. ”Point taken. Can you try to make your next one in a less dramatic fashion?” The teasing was getting easier: there was nothing like almost killing someone to create a shared bond, and that wasn’t even getting into the relationship they used to have.
Loren had known that the Ascended needed to bite him and drink his blood in order to access his abilities. However, the rest of it was new to him, and he couldn’t help but wonder whether Rexanna failed to mention this because she was trying to protect him or because she thought it was common enough knowledge that it hadn’t been worth bringing up. Although he tried his best to suppress it, a shiver of fear and revulsion made its way up his spine at the thought of such involuntary pleasure. ”Oh. I s-see.” Again, despite his best efforts, Loren knew his voice sounded pathetic in that moment. But even with this information, he knew he didn’t have a choice: allowing the Ascended to drink from him might be one of their best assets during LongNight.
However, the Launceleyn was definitely less eager to experiment with it than he was before.
A beggar's book
outworths
a noble's blood
