It occurs to Ned how strange it is to see Erik smiling like that. As if he really means it. As if there really is nothing he'd like more than to see what Ned can do. He doesn't think the other man is lying, it's just difficult for him to process that it's the truth. But then Erik is walking over to one of those tarps, and Ned realizes he's prepared for this.
He watches, heart hammering, as Erik folds back the tarp. The split second before he does Ned is convinced, irrationally, it is going to be a person. But then he lets out a tiny, relieved breath when he sees that it is a young deer and two rabbits: all dead, of course. With tiny steps, he approaches. Glancing over at Erik, he crouches down, fiddles with the device on his wrist. He'd found out that it could be used as a stopwatch on his first day here. He sets it to 60 seconds.
"It can only be for a minute," he warns. Stalling, now. Steeling himself up for it. The deer is lying stiffly on its side, its black eyes are open and still. The wound that killed it is small, the fur around it crusted with dried blood. Ned lets out a slow breath, bites the inside of his lip. "You should hold it. So it doesn't run away."
Once Erik complies Ned rubs a hand over his mouth, throat suddenly dry. His resolution isn't waning, but he's had so many years of precedent telling him to never, ever, ever let anyone see him doing this. He draws in a quick and deep breath. Then, moving quickly, he starts the timer, reaches out, and touches the deer's side lightly with the very tip of his index finger, flinching a little as he does so. The change is immediate, both audible and visible. Ned knows the signs very well, but they are strange to him, now, imagining how they must look through Erik's eyes. The animal's body glows faintly gold for a brief moment and there is the sound of a spark, the tiniest jolt that Ned and, he's sure, the deer can both feel.
The animal starts from its rigor mortis to life as if waking suddenly from sleep, its sides moving up and down with quick breath. The deer raises its head and blinks its eyes rapidly, trying to take in its situation. Alive, once more, instantly warm and alert and without pain. Ned moves back, no longer looking at the deer, but at Erik.
Saying he wanted to watch, that Ned's power is a beautiful gift, is one thing - maintaing that same position after witnessing it is quite another.
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He watches, heart hammering, as Erik folds back the tarp. The split second before he does Ned is convinced, irrationally, it is going to be a person. But then he lets out a tiny, relieved breath when he sees that it is a young deer and two rabbits: all dead, of course. With tiny steps, he approaches. Glancing over at Erik, he crouches down, fiddles with the device on his wrist. He'd found out that it could be used as a stopwatch on his first day here. He sets it to 60 seconds.
"It can only be for a minute," he warns. Stalling, now. Steeling himself up for it. The deer is lying stiffly on its side, its black eyes are open and still. The wound that killed it is small, the fur around it crusted with dried blood. Ned lets out a slow breath, bites the inside of his lip. "You should hold it. So it doesn't run away."
Once Erik complies Ned rubs a hand over his mouth, throat suddenly dry. His resolution isn't waning, but he's had so many years of precedent telling him to never, ever, ever let anyone see him doing this. He draws in a quick and deep breath. Then, moving quickly, he starts the timer, reaches out, and touches the deer's side lightly with the very tip of his index finger, flinching a little as he does so. The change is immediate, both audible and visible. Ned knows the signs very well, but they are strange to him, now, imagining how they must look through Erik's eyes. The animal's body glows faintly gold for a brief moment and there is the sound of a spark, the tiniest jolt that Ned and, he's sure, the deer can both feel.
The animal starts from its rigor mortis to life as if waking suddenly from sleep, its sides moving up and down with quick breath. The deer raises its head and blinks its eyes rapidly, trying to take in its situation. Alive, once more, instantly warm and alert and without pain. Ned moves back, no longer looking at the deer, but at Erik.
Saying he wanted to watch, that Ned's power is a beautiful gift, is one thing - maintaing that same position after witnessing it is quite another.