Jigano winced at the mention of Sam's injuries, imagining them all too easily and wishing he hadn't. "He told me that he'd fallen, but not that he'd been hurt so badly," he murmured, worry in his voice and the furrow in his brow for a moment. At least it was in the past and Sam had returned safely thanks to Remi's blood. He nodded agreement that a non-Ascended would have died, though, or at least been too injured to survive long without magical healing.
When it came back to Sam's problems with normality, Jigano only shrugged. "I think," he said slowly, "that for Sam, or any Ascended who regrets their state, that it might be better to have some options rather than none. He can always choose not to use such a thing, after all... but at the moment, none of them have any choices whatsoever." He exhaled slowly, noting a slight greening of some of the grass as the snow turned patchy beneath their feet. They must be nearing the center of the labyrinth now - the paths were narrower, as if fewer people ever made it this far, and the branches grew more easily overhead in a masking canopy that dappled the ground with shadows even as it kept the worst of the snowfall off.
Remi's musing had him quirking his lip slightly, and he glanced up from the ground to eye his companion with something more like his usual wry amusement. "If you lost your ability to turn parts of yourself into feathers or fur or paws, but could still turn fully from man to beast, would you still consider yourself Attuned, or would you say you were 'normal'?" He asked, genuinely curious. "What about if you lost the ability to shift fully to a hawk, but still had the talent for giving yourself feathers and claws?" Though he asked it sincerely, there was also a leading rhythm to it, encouraging Remi to think about what 'normal' meant when there was so much more to being Ascended than a lack of tactile feeling.
He paused, kneeling to examine a small plant as Remi continued, but this time it was Jigano who was surprised, tensing and then turning slowly to look up the young man with a solemn, thoughtful expression at hearing that the bite was 'pleasurable.' Sam had said that Remi had 'liked it' but this sounded less like masochism and more like chemistry. Perhaps the situation had not been as simple a rejection as Sam had made it sound? He would have to check with Isla, but if Vervain agreed... He took a breath, standing and walking a little further. The curves of the maze were tighter now, the junctions closer together, and he walked more softly and kept his senses tuned to the world around them. There were an awful lot of squirrels now, rustling through the hedges around them...
"Just be careful you don't bring divine wrath down on yourself," he cautioned, but quietly. Kneeling again he breathed a sigh of relief, flipping the pages in his journal to a sketch of a plant that closely resembled the one he'd just found. He began to trim the brown clusters into a waterproof bag he'd brought for the purpose, remembering to leave a few behind for the local creatures. "I admit, Remi, I'm not quite sure where we stand, you and I... but since we have a number of friends in common, I'd rather you not come to harm or worse, for their sakes' as much as for your own."
When it came back to Sam's problems with normality, Jigano only shrugged. "I think," he said slowly, "that for Sam, or any Ascended who regrets their state, that it might be better to have some options rather than none. He can always choose not to use such a thing, after all... but at the moment, none of them have any choices whatsoever." He exhaled slowly, noting a slight greening of some of the grass as the snow turned patchy beneath their feet. They must be nearing the center of the labyrinth now - the paths were narrower, as if fewer people ever made it this far, and the branches grew more easily overhead in a masking canopy that dappled the ground with shadows even as it kept the worst of the snowfall off.
Remi's musing had him quirking his lip slightly, and he glanced up from the ground to eye his companion with something more like his usual wry amusement. "If you lost your ability to turn parts of yourself into feathers or fur or paws, but could still turn fully from man to beast, would you still consider yourself Attuned, or would you say you were 'normal'?" He asked, genuinely curious. "What about if you lost the ability to shift fully to a hawk, but still had the talent for giving yourself feathers and claws?" Though he asked it sincerely, there was also a leading rhythm to it, encouraging Remi to think about what 'normal' meant when there was so much more to being Ascended than a lack of tactile feeling.
He paused, kneeling to examine a small plant as Remi continued, but this time it was Jigano who was surprised, tensing and then turning slowly to look up the young man with a solemn, thoughtful expression at hearing that the bite was 'pleasurable.' Sam had said that Remi had 'liked it' but this sounded less like masochism and more like chemistry. Perhaps the situation had not been as simple a rejection as Sam had made it sound? He would have to check with Isla, but if Vervain agreed... He took a breath, standing and walking a little further. The curves of the maze were tighter now, the junctions closer together, and he walked more softly and kept his senses tuned to the world around them. There were an awful lot of squirrels now, rustling through the hedges around them...
"Just be careful you don't bring divine wrath down on yourself," he cautioned, but quietly. Kneeling again he breathed a sigh of relief, flipping the pages in his journal to a sketch of a plant that closely resembled the one he'd just found. He began to trim the brown clusters into a waterproof bag he'd brought for the purpose, remembering to leave a few behind for the local creatures. "I admit, Remi, I'm not quite sure where we stand, you and I... but since we have a number of friends in common, I'd rather you not come to harm or worse, for their sakes' as much as for your own."
