Who: Cal & Sookie Where: Out back of the complex When: Evening of the 15th What: Startling the psychic time! Warnings: Cal’s having some Auphe-thoughts, they’re kind of bloody, shouldn’t be anything worse.
After the headache and the bleeding from the face the last time he’d tried to control a gate, Cal was somewhat hesitant to try it again, but only somewhat. He was going to do this, learn to control it, never know when an instant exit would come in handy, especially with the way things seemed to be going around here. He also realized that bleeding on the roof was probably not the best idea he’d ever had, so he was trying it at ground level this time, intent on stepping from the carport to the patch of grass some fifty feet away, because that way when he fell over at least he’d have a soft place to land.
The gate was the same as they always were, silvery-gray at the edges fading into purple, it started about the size of a baseball at chest height, slowly swelling and roiling into something bigger, a tear in reality that he could actually step through, and step through he did, landing right where he’d expected to, the grass on the other side of the carport, the gateway folding in on itself behind him, evaporating once he landed. He could feel the nosebleed, sluggish and hot, he landed on his knees first before toppling over sideways with a half-cracked laugh. It had been easier that time, not by much, but he definitely had a better handle now on how to work the gates, it still wasn’t the fine control that the Auphe had, but it was better.
The pain helped with that, as much as he hated to own up to his heritage the Auphe were motivated by pain and so was he, to a certain extent. He’d thought ahead this time, bringing a washrag from his room which he pressed to his nose to help stay the flow of blood, still laughing, letting the darker thoughts wash over him for a moment; the desire to just chase something down and tear it to pieces with teeth and claws that he didn’t have, but should have had by all rights. The Auphe had hunted t-rexes for fun, and in that moment Cal could tell why and kind of wanted to try it himself, though he knew he’d prefer something warm-blooded as opposed to a reptile, no matter how much of a challenge the reptile would be.