>>5223415>>5223420>>5223556>>5223577>>5223776>>5225158Much like the mater of the egg, you KNOW better than this... Your upbringing, your training, have deeply ingrained in you an aversion to sentimentality and emotionality. Decisive action, the chopping off of loose ends, the plugging of leaks, these are all of greatest importance—far, FAR greater than this frivolous dalliance, this humanly courtship. And if you WERE to pursue this, to make it a priority… Well, then surely the solution is obvious: Edwin cannot change his mind about what you do—what you ARE could present an issue, too, you imagine—and the easiest way to solve that problem is too change it FOR him with magic…
You reach out to him, placing a hand upon his back. Slowly, you slide your fingers up to rub his neck, his shoulders, comforting him and massaging the stress of this dilemma out of him even as your own anxiety continues to build and mount. Your hands are so close to his head, to his MIND. With a single touch, a pulse of mystical energy, and a few whispered he could be yours again. You cup his chin, gently guide his eyes to you, and you remember when they looks at you as they do now—with love—but without the undercurrent of sadness, even of fear. You imagine it again, and feel your heart warmed by it: uncomplicated, whole-hearted love, such as no Reptilian could ever truly provide, and without the parasitic motivations of Irinnile.
Just one little spark of magic to start that most wonderful flame, to burn away the bad memories and inconvenient truths, and he could be yours again. You could be HIS.
But you have never done such a thing to him. Not to Edwin. Even manipulating Mina’s mind made your feel uncomfortable in the end, and to do such a thing to Edwin… Well, it’s almost unthinkable.
You kiss him, embrace him, and indulge in one last moment of nocturnal fantasy with your one-time lover—the human male who, sadly, wonderfully, remains the love of your life—and you leave.
Your journey back is hurried, a harried flight chased by the dawn. You know you cannot remain disembodied and astrally-projected in this space when dawn comes, even if the exact nature of the risk this presents is not entirely clear. You know you will, at the evry elast, be vulnerable in thsis tate, and unable to use Irinnile’s gifted ability to return to your body even with her aid until the next night. You blink the tears from your eyes and press on, following your path back from mind to mind as the sleeping mammals serving as beacons begin to wake and sunlight begins to erase the clarity of the path ‘home’. A fog of light supplants the fog of darkness, and you are very nearly swallowed up by that iridescence as the farmhouse nears. It is with nary a moment to spare that you descend like a diving dragon into your cross-legged form, joining Irinnile within your physical form.
