"It'll be good for you-!"
The way Bäl's eyes snapped to glare in Mavain's direction should've been response enough, but since he didn't want to leave any room for doubt about where he stood in this line of reasoning, he added a clipped, "It is
not good for me. Nothing about this is good. I
hate this." Which he thought he'd made very clear in the limited conversations he'd had with his brother about 'powering up' and all this stupid 'magic' nonsense, but Bäl
obviously hadn't been clear enough. Because here he was, in a relatively deserted area. Just him and his
normal brother.
Mavain clapped his hands against Bäl's cheeks, tugging his face in so that they were barely an inch apart. "You. Are. Delusional. Stop acting like you don't know all the fantasy-sci-fi tropes that will get you through this. You said you've been 'feeling unwell,' and all of the magic wizard books I have ever read seem to [imply that it's because you're ignoring a significant, important part of you. The magic part! I'm pretty sure Harry Potter turned into a resentful demon or something if he didn't use magic, or whatever. I dunno. Specifics aren't important. The point is: Do you want to turn into a demon?"
"Well, no..." And Bäl hated that he'd mentioned a persistent, ill-feeling to Mavain, because there was no outcome besides this one, of course. "But I'm pretty sure it's just
anxiety, and not-"
"That's fantastic, Alaric, but let's not risk it, hm?" He hummed, freeing his older brother's face from his grasp. "And it's so easy to not risk it, because all you have to do is put on your Magic Clothes and flitter around looking for
danger that probably doesn't even exis-"
But the words were barely out of his brother's mouth before something unidentifiable prickled up his spine. He didn't know if it was good or bad- didn't even know
how he'd know. "Shut up-
Shut up," he snapped, whipping around to stare off into the evening darkness. "I think... Someone is here. I
do feel something." Something from that girl, apparently, the one seemingly wandering aimlessly a handful of places away. Bäl wouldn't have thought she seemed to strange at all, but he could feel her presence, which was more than he could say of Mavain.
So... So she had to be something, probably. He just didn't have the frame of reference to identify what it was with any specifics.
Mavain tipped toward him. "Should I call out to her?"
"No, I think it would be best if we didn't attract any attention, and I don't think anyone should see you and know that we have any relation-"
"I'm gonna, though."
"
Mavain-"
His warnings meant next to nothing, because Mav threw an arm up into the air and called, "Excuse me, Miss! You, yeah! You've got a weird feeling about you- Wanna talk about it?"
