It was Caiside, he realized belatedly. Hadn't the man told him that he had a stag form? One with smoldering antlers? Well, the fire might have been taken from him, but the reddish cast to the bone echoed the memory of fire when the dappled sunlight hit them just right. Embarrassed by his outburst the raven began to preen his ruffled feathers back into place, mind racing.
He flinched - visibly - when the other man's voice tore past his flimsy defenses and ripped into his mind again, and paused with one wing half-lifted as he settled mussed feathers. Slowly, shoulders hunched, he turned his head to face the stag again - and looked up. And up. Which did not help his flash of anger and resentment at having his mind invaded yet, even by one he counted friend.
But... Caiside was a friend, as Remi had not been. And unlike Remi, Caiside knew whose mind hid inside the pale animal's form. The realization didn't dull his paranoia completely, but it took some of the edge off of his instinctive anger and urge to lash out. He didn't reply to the apology immediately, but instead fluffed his feathers and fluttered his ungainly way up to a low branch so they could speak at more-or-less eye level.
I am... not comfortable, having others in my mind, he finally said, pulling up his feathered body to its full, dignified height. On my world I had the power to prevent it but here..." Here, Attuned had none of the powers of a mage capable of deflecting prying thoughts. Here, it was considered normal... which made Jigano all the more isolated for his outlander aloofness. Still... it is good to see you looking well, he managed with a ghost of his usual graciousness.
He flinched - visibly - when the other man's voice tore past his flimsy defenses and ripped into his mind again, and paused with one wing half-lifted as he settled mussed feathers. Slowly, shoulders hunched, he turned his head to face the stag again - and looked up. And up. Which did not help his flash of anger and resentment at having his mind invaded yet, even by one he counted friend.
But... Caiside was a friend, as Remi had not been. And unlike Remi, Caiside knew whose mind hid inside the pale animal's form. The realization didn't dull his paranoia completely, but it took some of the edge off of his instinctive anger and urge to lash out. He didn't reply to the apology immediately, but instead fluffed his feathers and fluttered his ungainly way up to a low branch so they could speak at more-or-less eye level.
I am... not comfortable, having others in my mind, he finally said, pulling up his feathered body to its full, dignified height. On my world I had the power to prevent it but here..." Here, Attuned had none of the powers of a mage capable of deflecting prying thoughts. Here, it was considered normal... which made Jigano all the more isolated for his outlander aloofness. Still... it is good to see you looking well, he managed with a ghost of his usual graciousness.
