[He's through the lamp already the instant he hangs up, and emerges into the School of Mutter cramming the omni into his pocket and already aimed towards the entrance. Baltus promptly takes off like a shot, shadowing himself intangible so he can run straight and true without worrying about knocking anyone over. Even so, people scatter hurriedly when they see him coming, moving on instinct. The vast majority of the time, Baltus resembles at best a pile of noodles stuck into a wad of clay with no spine in it, which suits his purposes just fine. But just as Break's often deliberately silly exterior masks the deadly quick swordsman underneath, the breed of dog that Baltus has manifested as is a breed that is meant for hunting wolves, and when he runs at full speed, he eats up the distance between the school and the big green mansion with an elegance that would appear preternatural even if it weren't for the glowing white eyes.
Baltus is entirely capable of turning on a dime. Instead, conscious of Ange's current state as a small and recently upset child, the omen deliberately sends himself ass over teakettle into a comical noodley somersault when he arrives, bouncing up quickly and giving himself a cheerful shake before he trots over. He's bigger than Ange now, and he approaches her with his head low and his tail high and swishing, ears perked up and friendly.
With his omen serving as a distraction Break could easily think of that as good enough and take the same route in a quick but reasonable clip. Indeed, as he winds his way through the crowd and out of the school, something he'd genuinely forgotten for a moment there finally crosses his mind again: Ange isn't usually six years old. She isn't really a child. This is some sort of Trench nonsense and she'll be back to normal sooner or later, and after all this embarrassment, it truly will be a shock if this girl can stand to speak to him ever again. When he thinks of that older Ange as he knows her, the kindest thing to do is probably not to make a big deal out of any of this, to simply tolerate the situation until it resolves itself and then let everybody move on.
He can't do it.
No matter how things turn out later and no matter what Ange thinks of it then, in this moment she is a child, and just a few moments ago she was crying at him. She was crying at him because to her, he was gone, and I thought you were gone forever runs right up into another little girl's voice that still cries out if you leave, I'll be all alone in the depths of his heart on rough nights. Having turned his back on a child who needed him exactly one time, Break simply can't bear to be casual about such things ever again, and the one currently waiting for him on the steps of her front porch needs to know that if she asks him to come quickly, he'll do it.
Emerging from the entrance to the school, Break hops up onto the railing and surfs on down it instead of bothering with all the stairs that lead up to it. Once he hits the street, heaven help him, he runs.]
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[He's through the lamp already the instant he hangs up, and emerges into the School of Mutter cramming the omni into his pocket and already aimed towards the entrance. Baltus promptly takes off like a shot, shadowing himself intangible so he can run straight and true without worrying about knocking anyone over. Even so, people scatter hurriedly when they see him coming, moving on instinct. The vast majority of the time, Baltus resembles at best a pile of noodles stuck into a wad of clay with no spine in it, which suits his purposes just fine. But just as Break's often deliberately silly exterior masks the deadly quick swordsman underneath, the breed of dog that Baltus has manifested as is a breed that is meant for hunting wolves, and when he runs at full speed, he eats up the distance between the school and the big green mansion with an elegance that would appear preternatural even if it weren't for the glowing white eyes.
Baltus is entirely capable of turning on a dime. Instead, conscious of Ange's current state as a small and recently upset child, the omen deliberately sends himself ass over teakettle into a comical noodley somersault when he arrives, bouncing up quickly and giving himself a cheerful shake before he trots over. He's bigger than Ange now, and he approaches her with his head low and his tail high and swishing, ears perked up and friendly.
With his omen serving as a distraction Break could easily think of that as good enough and take the same route in a quick but reasonable clip. Indeed, as he winds his way through the crowd and out of the school, something he'd genuinely forgotten for a moment there finally crosses his mind again: Ange isn't usually six years old. She isn't really a child. This is some sort of Trench nonsense and she'll be back to normal sooner or later, and after all this embarrassment, it truly will be a shock if this girl can stand to speak to him ever again. When he thinks of that older Ange as he knows her, the kindest thing to do is probably not to make a big deal out of any of this, to simply tolerate the situation until it resolves itself and then let everybody move on.
He can't do it.
No matter how things turn out later and no matter what Ange thinks of it then, in this moment she is a child, and just a few moments ago she was crying at him. She was crying at him because to her, he was gone, and I thought you were gone forever runs right up into another little girl's voice that still cries out if you leave, I'll be all alone in the depths of his heart on rough nights. Having turned his back on a child who needed him exactly one time, Break simply can't bear to be casual about such things ever again, and the one currently waiting for him on the steps of her front porch needs to know that if she asks him to come quickly, he'll do it.
Emerging from the entrance to the school, Break hops up onto the railing and surfs on down it instead of bothering with all the stairs that lead up to it. Once he hits the street, heaven help him, he runs.]