Stefan was a close enough friend that Eitan didn't flinch when his hand came up as if to touch his face, though under Stefan's gloved hand, his ears felt different. He didn't notice the change without the active touch, but he immediately tucked his firearm under his arm to bring his hand up to his other ear, eyes widening as he realized they had returned to the shape that had been until Dr. Stechpalme had expertly reshaped them with her surgical skill and healed without much in the way of scarring with judicious use of state-sanctioned divine magic. His ears hadn't been whole since puberty began, and suddenly he felt all those adolescent insecurities flooding into his psyche as if they had never gone.
But he was just as confused as Stefan, and when his winged doppelgänger began to move of its own volition rather than mirroring Stefan himself, Eitan stared as well. The figure was strange and beatific, so familiar and yet so alien. He found himself distracted even from that apparition by how the air that whorled from its wings seemed shimmeringly alive, and how he could hear it singing. He shook his head, but nothing changed.
Eitan holstered his gun; it wasn't the appropriate weapon for this. He tried to get a sense for everything around him through his aura glass, ready to play fast and loose with his Negation if that proved necessary to get both Stefan and himself to safety. Of course, there was always his subtle knife. But even as he calculated exit strategies, Stefan and his copy began to merge. And then everything started getting well and truly strange...
"Stef..."
The Watcher didn't know whether he could trust his eyes as even the aura glass corroborated what he was seeing. Perhaps this entity or phenomenon was playing directly upon their minds.
But he was just as confused as Stefan, and when his winged doppelgänger began to move of its own volition rather than mirroring Stefan himself, Eitan stared as well. The figure was strange and beatific, so familiar and yet so alien. He found himself distracted even from that apparition by how the air that whorled from its wings seemed shimmeringly alive, and how he could hear it singing. He shook his head, but nothing changed.
Eitan holstered his gun; it wasn't the appropriate weapon for this. He tried to get a sense for everything around him through his aura glass, ready to play fast and loose with his Negation if that proved necessary to get both Stefan and himself to safety. Of course, there was always his subtle knife. But even as he calculated exit strategies, Stefan and his copy began to merge. And then everything started getting well and truly strange...
"Stef..."
The Watcher didn't know whether he could trust his eyes as even the aura glass corroborated what he was seeing. Perhaps this entity or phenomenon was playing directly upon their minds.