cakeBane is good at abrupt endings.
cakeThe answer Gabriel gave Bane was far more detailed, more personal, than the black wolf had expected. He watched and he listened, as he did always, as he had since he the day he'd learned that this was the best way to survive in a world that hid itself so diligently from those who lived in it. Since arriving in Nova Scotia, the former war doctor hadn't lost his upper hand. As far as he was concerned, he was the only one who knew what was going on, and he would bide his time as much as he needed to until the world finally revealed itself to him, so that he would understand more than he (anyone) ever had. He was an intelligent, dominant man who lived in an entirely self-sufficient manner, and it suited him well. That changed as Gabriel finished speaking, and for a moment Bane knew nothing.
cakeAll traces of curiosity or, indeed, anything, had vanished from his face, which was strange now. His eyes were clear, piercing as ever, but oddly blank as he simply looked at his companion. Things rarely surprised him. Bane had spent his life knowing his destiny; and now, it had been changed. He could hear the jackal in his head. It was a moment before he moved; then, suddenly, abruptly, it was as if the life returned to his face, and he was awake again. The halfling's words were almost a challenge, one Bane didn't care to take on at the moment. The screaming inside his skull was almost overwhelming; he needed to think. "Once upon a time, I didn't." A simple reply, as vague as Gabriel's had been clear. "Thank you for your time, Gabriel of the Western Kingdoms," he added with his trademark cordial smile. "I will visit you again." And he would, when more of his story came to him, when it made more sense. Or rather, when he accepted that perhaps it was already there, and that it already did.
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