Cassiel looks amused for a moment. "I don't read minds. I read souls. And it's not something I can control, or even do consciously." He stares at Cormac, eyes roaming over him. Cormac twitched a bit at the touch. The look on his face is odd. Sad...but almost pleased. It's quite conflicting. Cassiel notices. "Ah...that dream, again. Well, maybe he'll wake up in time..."

Serena glared at Cassiel "perhaps" she commented. She didn't look at Cormac, nor did she look at Cassiel. If she had her way, no words would be said before Cormac woke up... then they could talk. She didn't want to look at Cormac for fear that she wouldn't be able to look away... for fear that she would fall in love with him... deeper than she already seemed to be. SHe was in denial, and she knew it. But she figured that if she was in denial, then it'd be easier to forget... or it would make her fall even harder.

Cassiel watches Cormac worriedly. He stays silent, however, not sure whether waking him would be a good thing. Cormac shifted a bit, his body...seeming to vibrate. Cassiel frowned. That didn't seems good. He didn't speak that, though. He just stood there, waiting.

Serena's head and eyes snapped to Cormac when she felt him vibrate "is... is he alright? What's happening to him?" she asked Cassiel, fear in her voice. As much as she was stressed with the sudden change, she was worried about her new friend. She had to call him that, at least.

Serena let out a mangled cry and faced Cassiel "isn't there something we can do? Should we wake him up or something?! I can't just sit here and watch him go through this! It... it looks so... so agonizing!" she cried, tears welling up in her eyes. She turned her gaze back to Cormac, trying desperately to think of something that would wake him up.

Serena stood up and moved away fromt he two. She walked a few feet away and sat against a wooden post, she stared at her knees, afraid to view the scene. She was worried, a fact which she hated. She wasn't sure what she was in denial over more... the fact that she was in love with Cormac, or that Cassiel was kind of growing on her... in that love/hate way.

Cassiel opened his mouth, but no sound came out. But he kept his mouth open. After a moment, Cormac flew up and winced. He then sighed. "Thanks... That dream fails...so much."

Serena looked up at the sound of Cormac's voice. She smiled slightly when she saw that he was sitting up, and thought she would never admit it, her heart fluttered. I'm glad he's alright, she thought as she quietly stood up and went back to Cormac. She stood next to the wagon, looking down at the ground, not making a sound. She suddenly felt reallyl bad and stupid for running away, as though she was responsible for him going through so much agony.

"It isn't your fault. How could anyone expect you control it when you were five?" Cassiel's voice is soft and consoling. "It's not even that. And it was, but that's not my issue. My issue is, some part of me enjoyed it. And I don't understand why...." he sighs again.

Serena looked up at the two, wondering if she should say anything. She felt tears well up in her eyes, she didn't know what to do. She wanted to help, but at the same time she knew she probably couldn't. What could she possibly do to help? She was torn between speaking up and just running away again. She was basically useless, she couldn't help her friend. She was torn between accepting reality, and living in denial. "Cormac?" she heard herself say quietly.

"Hm?" He tilts his head as he asked, looking like a parrot. It was an adorable look. Cassiel patted Cormac's head, making him swat at him. He giggled softly, sounding waaay too much like a girl.

Somehow... acting all cute and alright like that... just made Serena feel even worse. "I'm... sorry... I'm sorry for stressing you out so much that you had this horrible dream, I'm sorry for running away... I'm sorry that I ruined your life" she told him. She meant it, too. She felt responsible for all of his troubles. She felt that they happened because he was stressed out over her. It was all her fault. If she hadn't ran away and met Cormac, then he wouldn't be stressing. If she hadn't run away from Cormac, he wouldn't be stressing even more. She truely felt like it was all her fault, she doubted anything anyone said could convince her otherwise. Yet... at the same time... she just... wanted to be held. To know that he was alright... that everything was alright.

Cormac waves a hand. "Meh. I'm easily stressed. And my self-esteem is bad when it comes to people I don't know well. So don't blame yourself. And that's been building for about a month now. So, if that hadn't happened soon I would have lost it in other ways." He scratches his arm, making his sleeve go up and reveal those cuts again. He then rubs his eyes, still looking slightly cute. Cassiel pouts at Cormac. "You gotta work on that, hun. And don't say nooo, I'll bop you."

The cuts on Cormac's arms suddenly made sense to Serena. She looked down, still feeling horrible. No matter what he said, she'd always felt responsible. She was the one that provided the straw that broke the camel's back. Living with an abusive/alcoholic father and a step-mother that doesn't care about anyone except herself puts some major self-esteem issues on her. She was always blamed for things, even when she had no part in it. Of course she would believe that she was the cause of his breakdown.

She didn't know what to do. She wanted to say something, to believe what he said, but she couldn't. She wanted to go to him, and sit by him, but she was afraid. Of what, she wasn't sure of. She looked up and basically stared at Cormac, she didn't know what to do... if she was really wanted.

Cassiel starts at the cuts. "You've moved on to self-injury now?" Cormac just stares for a moment. "Huh?" Then he follows Cassiel's gaze. "Oh, hah. No, actually. My...claws did that. I started to switch when I almost freaked and only got half changed. And i somehow swiped myself. Dunno why they won't fully heal. Bugs me though." Cassiel doesn't seem to buy it. "Really now.""It's true. Listen, we all know how fast I heal. If I cut myself it'd have healed by now. And these aren't healing. Which means I didn't do them." He does have a valid point, and seems to be telling the truth.

"Does it hurt? Changing, I mean" Serena asked, her voice barely above a whisper. She felt as though she didn't belong, that they didn't want her there. Yet she chose to live in denial and press forward. So, she spoke in whispers, afraid that somehow her words would offend them. What am I doing? They weren't bothered by my presence before, why now? But... then... back then was before I ran away a screwed everything up, she thought.

"It did the first time. Now it's just annoying changing back. I lose my clothes in the change. At least I'm not like Batty, here, who changed back in mid-air." He grins, amused. "That hurt. I was about seven feet in the air, and I don't heal as fast as Macy. I do heal quicker than non-shifters though." He didn't say humans, partly not wanting to offend her and also because they healed faster than some other non-human races as well, such as elves. He pouted at that. "That was a few years ago though, when I was first learning to control it. Now trees, those I still make friends with. They don't want to be friends though. They give me splinters instead.

Serena found herself smiling lightly at their banter, glad to have reassurance that they didn't hate her. She meekly walked forward and leaned on the edge of the wagon so that she was closer to them. "I would've loved to heal as fast as you guys do, when I was growing up, I was always getting hurt one way or another" she commented, her voice timid and meek, but not whispering.

Cormac snickers. "Sounds like me. I managed to trip over Sera, who was sitting in the hall and bowl myself down the stairs. That was...fun, but scary then. I was...I don't even remember how old any more." He facepalms at that. "Oh, you mean like the time I was walking to the chapel and tripped over the invisible rock? And got cut by it?" He glances at Serena. "I tripped over something in a semi-grassy field about a mile out of here, and got cut. There were no rocks nearby. It was a invisible rock," he concluded. That story always confounded him.

Serena blinked at Cassiel "grass. Grass and dirt was your sword that day, and you unfortunately were without your shield" she commented. Unfortunately... I was actually quite graceful and hardly ever was injured by tripping or falling down or some such way... but they don't really need to know that, she thought to herself and pulled down her sleeves, crossing her arms to disguise the action as prevention from a chill.

"Knowing my luck, grass would be the death of me. I love my luck." He seems amused, still. He noticed, however, that Cormac never mentioned his parents or what that nightmare was about. "Hey, Macy. Wanna tell my which nightmare you had?" Cormac froze. "Uh..." He seems more worried than anything. he looks away and fidgets.

Serena noticed the nervous action. "Oi, don't listen to him. Don't let him bug you about stuff, alright?" she commanded, poking Cormac's cheek a couple of times. "Some things are better left unsaid, trust me on this one"

Cormac turns and nips her finger, amused. "Meh. I know why he's doing it." He frowned at Cassiel. "I'm strange enough, Cass. Let's not add dangerous to the list." "It'll come out eventually. Wouldn't you rather tell her before Angeni does? You know she'll use it against you. Especially now." His voice was serene and he tilted his head slightly. He knew he was right, but wasn't going to force Cormac.