Drained. There was no other word for it. It was more than just pain, that jarring, stabbing, penetrating, aching agony that he knew so well. This was an exhaustion beyond anything he'd known, even when he was initiated into Abrogation. He felt like his body was an engine and every dram of fuel had been leaked out of him. Like a bottle held upside down until only a smear of liquid left inside, a puff of wind still in the sails. It was all he could do just to keep on his feet. The noises... he could hear them again... beyond the rushing blood in his ears and ragged breath scratching gouges across his throat.
There was something new in him, now. Unwanted by his Old Spark, but grudgingly accepted. Slumbering now, as it was as exhausted in its way as its new host was. But he could feel it, hidden and nestled and getting comfortable within him. He rubbed his chest and... that's where it had hit him, wasn't it? It still tingled. Almost... writhed-
"Can you stand? I'll get you back to your room. You should rest for a while."
-and Kasoria was most definitely not too proud to fall into the younger man's arms when what last fumes of energy he had seemed to evaporate from his body. The older (but thankfully smaller and lighter) man groaned and for a moment it sounded like he would vomit. But he didn't. He swallowed heavily and... damn, that tingling... it was starting to really itch. With one hand on Mathias' shoulder, he pulled up his tunic so he could scratch-
"... fuck me... thas new."
It was not a brand. It was not a tattoo. But it was something, and it was alive. So it looked to Kasoria, anyway, when he looked down at his breastbone and saw the dancing, swirling, whirling, ever-changing colors across a fist-sized part of his chest. They were never the same thing for long, but seemed to follow the same basic shapes. The commonality was in their impermanence. They broke down, adjusted, altered, and were remade. Kasoria stared in surprise for a few moments, before letting out a dry chuckle that actually hurt his throat.
Fitting.
"S... S'go..."
He didn't try to say anymore. Anything not strictly necessary at that moment was almost physically painful to him. Supported by his initiator, Kasoria limped back into the shadow of the high walls. As they passed through the gate, he reached out without thinking to touch the wall to steady himself and-
The little man gasped. It felt like... like watching one of his cats, from back home. Languidly sleeping for hours and the sliding an eye open to observe some new smell or shape in his home. That same feeling of awakening, curious and guileless, touching that same surface through his fingers. A brief, muted pulse of ether, the merest expression of his New Spark, reaching out with infant curiosity to feel... and to know.
Kasoria's jaw clicked open, as he realized that now he knew, too.
The man kept his counsel and focused on staying on his feet. Hobbling back across the courtyard with his new mentor, attracting more than a few odd stares on their way. But the small, tight smile of satisfaction stayed there. Hidden under swaying curtains of hair. Rest. Yes, that was wise. Rest and fill the engine back up, as it were. When he was rested, when his Sparks were righted and not the tired or tumescent things they were, the lessons would begin.
There was something new in him, now. Unwanted by his Old Spark, but grudgingly accepted. Slumbering now, as it was as exhausted in its way as its new host was. But he could feel it, hidden and nestled and getting comfortable within him. He rubbed his chest and... that's where it had hit him, wasn't it? It still tingled. Almost... writhed-
"Can you stand? I'll get you back to your room. You should rest for a while."
-and Kasoria was most definitely not too proud to fall into the younger man's arms when what last fumes of energy he had seemed to evaporate from his body. The older (but thankfully smaller and lighter) man groaned and for a moment it sounded like he would vomit. But he didn't. He swallowed heavily and... damn, that tingling... it was starting to really itch. With one hand on Mathias' shoulder, he pulled up his tunic so he could scratch-
"... fuck me... thas new."
It was not a brand. It was not a tattoo. But it was something, and it was alive. So it looked to Kasoria, anyway, when he looked down at his breastbone and saw the dancing, swirling, whirling, ever-changing colors across a fist-sized part of his chest. They were never the same thing for long, but seemed to follow the same basic shapes. The commonality was in their impermanence. They broke down, adjusted, altered, and were remade. Kasoria stared in surprise for a few moments, before letting out a dry chuckle that actually hurt his throat.
Fitting.
"S... S'go..."
He didn't try to say anymore. Anything not strictly necessary at that moment was almost physically painful to him. Supported by his initiator, Kasoria limped back into the shadow of the high walls. As they passed through the gate, he reached out without thinking to touch the wall to steady himself and-
The little man gasped. It felt like... like watching one of his cats, from back home. Languidly sleeping for hours and the sliding an eye open to observe some new smell or shape in his home. That same feeling of awakening, curious and guileless, touching that same surface through his fingers. A brief, muted pulse of ether, the merest expression of his New Spark, reaching out with infant curiosity to feel... and to know.
Kasoria's jaw clicked open, as he realized that now he knew, too.
The man kept his counsel and focused on staying on his feet. Hobbling back across the courtyard with his new mentor, attracting more than a few odd stares on their way. But the small, tight smile of satisfaction stayed there. Hidden under swaying curtains of hair. Rest. Yes, that was wise. Rest and fill the engine back up, as it were. When he was rested, when his Sparks were righted and not the tired or tumescent things they were, the lessons would begin.
