[color=#1A1A3B][b][u][h1][sub][sub][sub]Farren[/sub][/sub][/sub][/h1][/u][/b][/color]		    brow slightly shifted down, eyes narrowing for a moment before the microexpression was gone almost faster than it had formed. He nodded and rose to his feet, understanding that the man perhaps didn’t want to be touched in that moment, even if it would’ve made it much easier for him to stand up. It was odd though…Torquil seemed…[i]different[/i] somehow and the nature of the change became slightly more apparent once Torquil spoke a second time, the sentence more well reasoned…and significantly longer than almost anything he’d heard come out of his companion since they’d met. Sure, it had only been hours, not exactly a huge length of time in which to judge someone, but Farren felt he was…rather canny and he [i]knew[/i] beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was more observant–vigilant really–than most. Of course, he didn’t exactly consider himself smarter–he was no scholar–but more realistic…practical? That was something he had going for him, so as he processed Torquil’s words a frown creased his brow.

However, the man was up…and then heading for the workshop before Farren could really say anything–not that he entirely knew what he even ought to say. With Gerlinde soon rushing off as well, it left him, Ophelia and their hosts as the only ones remaining outside.

Farren–still frowning–glanced to Ophelia and though he had heard their hosts’ explanation of the phenomena that now both he and Torquil had experienced, giving name to it, Farren found himself far more snagged upon what he’d just witnessed from Torquil’s conduct. The nature of things was important after a fashion, but sometimes the consequences of such were more important…and this seemed like one of those instances. [color=#1A1A3B][b]“Ophelia…did you…hear him just now?”[/b][/color]

In his gut, Farren knew something fundamental had just changed and while he wasn’t exactly sure what it would mean for them, he did know that it was almost certain to change the dynamic of their little group.

That worried him.

After all, change was an unknown and Farren didn’t much like variables he couldn’t predict. Uncertainty was the enemy.

Of course, worse even than that was perhaps what Ophelia had said, which only then struck him, causing Farren’s features to twist further. He stepped towards Ophelia, nearly crossing the entire distance between them before he caught himself and stopped short. He’d been about to grab at her clothes, but managed to curtail his rather visceral reaction to her words.

Farren swallowed, took a breath, closing his eyes for a prolonged blink before he focused his intense gaze on her once more. [color=#1A1A3B][b]“No,”[/b][/color] he denied, referring to her desire for communion with ‘Ego.’ The ‘Beast’ in the furnace of his stomach coiled and stirred, the rage that was its fuel flickering, sputtering, burning inside him. [color=#1A1A3B][b]“You don’t understand what it is you’re suggesting,”[/b][/color] he insisted, and there was something wild in his eyes, a wildness that she might recall seeing bared only when Farren himself had endured Frenzy previously, back at the clinic. Yet though it was present, he appeared to entirely remain in control…though there were stiff lines of tension in every muscle she could see as he held himself back from approaching her further.

[color=#1A1A3B][b]“It [i]ruined[/i] me, Ophelia,”[/b][/color] he said and shame came into his expression, shame and anger and…something else less easy to identify. [color=#1A1A3B][b]“...if it is ‘sympathetic’ as the Great Ones are said to be, its sympathy is more dangerous even than a madman’s ire,”[/b][/color] and as he said the last, something in Farren shifted faintly…for he knew it was more true even than he’d like to believe.

More true about [i]himself[/i] than he was likely to ever admit.

For who had been more filled with ire and woe than he…

…at least when it came to Ego and his insidious Gold.

For Farren the answer was self evident:

No one.