[ Sirius finally goes still, and there's the expectation of reprieve. A break in the tension, the sense of having won, of having gained some sliver of control. What should be relief is replaced by thoughts, one on top of the other, mundane glimpses of gardens and clouds and the moon — and there's a flinch of fear, quick as the image, feeding back into the noise — and it's all fractured by violence, by Peter. Even if he wanted to kill Sirius, he'd be hard pressed to manage it now. There's a headache knocking at the back of his skull, and his own thoughts are difficult to grasp amidst the white noise; harder still to resolve into action.
The wand in his off hand isn't Sirius'. It's foreign, obviously stolen. Remus pockets it after giving it a critical glance, keeps his own wand at the ready. And while this isn't relief, exactly, it is less than before: less immediate threat. Enough time for awareness to trickle back in, small details like the fact that they're in the common room, and he's just incapacitated Sirius, and someone could walk in at any moment.
When he reaches out, it's half by accident. It's the impulsive flash of regret, that hapless urge to pass the blame and let someone else clean up his mess. The connection answers before he can think to take it back, filling the gaps left by indecision and frustration — it finds Mara, tracking her down by the impressions of her authority and control. Once it's there, Remus doesn't shy away from it. His mind briefly strays from the flood of memory spilling from Sirius', but the first attempt to pull up his walls frays quickly. The second time's better, backed by irritation and anger, all of it seeping into the connection with Mara as he tries to divert his focus. ]
i was gonna say sorry i'm so slow but u know me so. NO SURPRISE
The wand in his off hand isn't Sirius'. It's foreign, obviously stolen. Remus pockets it after giving it a critical glance, keeps his own wand at the ready. And while this isn't relief, exactly, it is less than before: less immediate threat. Enough time for awareness to trickle back in, small details like the fact that they're in the common room, and he's just incapacitated Sirius, and someone could walk in at any moment.
When he reaches out, it's half by accident. It's the impulsive flash of regret, that hapless urge to pass the blame and let someone else clean up his mess. The connection answers before he can think to take it back, filling the gaps left by indecision and frustration — it finds Mara, tracking her down by the impressions of her authority and control. Once it's there, Remus doesn't shy away from it. His mind briefly strays from the flood of memory spilling from Sirius', but the first attempt to pull up his walls frays quickly. The second time's better, backed by irritation and anger, all of it seeping into the connection with Mara as he tries to divert his focus. ]