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Sampo scoffed at that, eyes betraying the lightness of the laughter that followed.
«Well, Geppie, your fancy little Aeon may answer every time you say your fancy little line to summon upon its protection, but not everyone’s that lucky, you know.»
Gepard didn’t know. After all, Qlipoth’s been all he knew for a very long time, used to the power hammered into his very being by countless hours of training and dire situations on the frontlines. It wasn’t like it had been an easy road up until now, but it was true that, whenever he called for protection in the name of Landau or Belobog, Qlipoth answered without fail.
But he would like to know. He desperately wanted to understand Sampo’s relationship with his Aeon.
By now he had caught glimpses of its might here and there, but he’d never been able to truly grasp the power bestowed upon Sampo. The way it worked, other than inappropriate laughter, jokes, the inability to express any other emotion than joy with all its faces.
Even now more than present in the way Sampo’s mouth twitched in a lazy grin, stark in contrast against the desperation seeping out from cold emerald eyes, the rigid, overly-tense posture, clenched white-knuckled fists peeking out from underneath arms crossed too tight.
The weight of elation.
«What happens if you call upon Aha, then? », Gepard asked, unsure how to approach a topic whose sensitivity wasn’t yet entirely known to him.
Again, Sampo laughed. A tad bit too shrill, a tad bit too loud, but joyous laughter nonetheless. And once again it was his eyes that told the real story of how he felt: frustrated, deprecated. Caged.
«He sends me straight to voicemail. »
Gepard scanned the face of the man he’d come to know better than he’d ever thought to, trying not to miss even the slightest hint of the possible inner turmoil the other didn’t show. Couldn’t really show.
He didn’t succeed, neither in that, nor in his attempts to make sense of what Sampo just said. There clearly was a kind of connection between this man and his Aeon, lest he wouldn’t be even nearly as affected as he obviously was. Plus, Gepard had heard Sampo ecstatically hold conversations when, to his eyes, the other seemed to be completely alone. Something he only recently had linked to Sampos bond to his Aeon. As Gepard had thought about it, then, it had made sense to assume that noone but a follower of the elation would be able to hear Aha’s response. Or it was a kind-of charm said to be granted access to certain powers, not unlike Gepards own silly line making way for shields and protection.
But now, he wasn’t sure anymore.
«I’m not sure I understand» he said, finally, forehead wrinkled and squinted eyes, still trying to process everything.
A laugh, a flick of a wrist as if to shoo away an annoying fly. Or a thought. Or an emotion.
«Well, I’m pretty sure you don’t», Sampo retorted, hand once again stored away crossed over his chest. «But you know, that’s okay. It’s a far call from anything you’re used to, after all. »
With a short chuckle Sampo pushed himself away from the slightly frostbitten wall, something strangely final inhabiting that very movement and the way he turned away from Gepard, facing the small alleyway onto the main street instead.
«And for what it’s worth», he added, voice almost a whisper, «I don’t understand, either. »
And with that, Sampo left. Not in a theatrical way, not flashy, not accompanied by smoke or smug remarks or laughter. He simply walked away, towards the city with steady steps, and vanished out of sight as he turned the corner.
And somehow, this left Gepard breathless and with wobbly knees more than any smoke bomb or spell escape every could.