IGNORE THIS UNLESS YOU ARE LIN??
To say that Paxter wasn't sure how it happened would be an utter lie-- he remembered perfectly why it happened, when it started, and what he did to initiate it. It was because Tupi had been bossing him around again, insisting that their status as moirails meant that Paxter should listen to him, and then Paxter had thought, we are not moirails and I am above him. And then, suddenly, he could see the hemospectrum clearly and distinctly in his mind's eye, and he realized, oh. I am. And I always have been. And he found it interesting that something he'd never bothered remembering was suddenly so vivid so easily.
So he decided Tupi should listen to him, and he'd asked where Tupi's hive was. After he'd looked it up on world maps and charted a quick route, it had taken him a much shorter time to find it than he'd expected. He'd taken no detours or wrong turns, as though he'd never have had a bad sense of direction to start with if he hadn't let himself. That was an interesting thought, too-- the idea that Paxter's weaknesses wouldn't exist if he didn't let them exist.
Shooting Tupi was not as satisfying as Paxter had expected; because they were in the same house, even when there were walls in the way of his vision, Tupi was noisy and predictable and it took little thought to aim them just where he wanted. If they'd been farther away, maybe it would have been more challenging, but "farther away" wasn't an option, so Paxter settled with "stop shooting and bludgeon him" instead.
He'd planned to stop when Tupi admitted his inferiority, but Tupi seemed to be too busy sobbing, so Paxter saw no reason to cut the lesson short until the girl showed up.
Perhaps if he knew well enough to consider things from her perspective, he would have dropped his grip on Tupi's horn then and let him crumple to the ground. He didn't think of why she had suddenly shown up, either. Really, his first thought was the same as his way of greeting her: "Doesn't yourr hairr get in the way of seeing?"
So he decided Tupi should listen to him, and he'd asked where Tupi's hive was. After he'd looked it up on world maps and charted a quick route, it had taken him a much shorter time to find it than he'd expected. He'd taken no detours or wrong turns, as though he'd never have had a bad sense of direction to start with if he hadn't let himself. That was an interesting thought, too-- the idea that Paxter's weaknesses wouldn't exist if he didn't let them exist.
Shooting Tupi was not as satisfying as Paxter had expected; because they were in the same house, even when there were walls in the way of his vision, Tupi was noisy and predictable and it took little thought to aim them just where he wanted. If they'd been farther away, maybe it would have been more challenging, but "farther away" wasn't an option, so Paxter settled with "stop shooting and bludgeon him" instead.
He'd planned to stop when Tupi admitted his inferiority, but Tupi seemed to be too busy sobbing, so Paxter saw no reason to cut the lesson short until the girl showed up.
Perhaps if he knew well enough to consider things from her perspective, he would have dropped his grip on Tupi's horn then and let him crumple to the ground. He didn't think of why she had suddenly shown up, either. Really, his first thought was the same as his way of greeting her: "Doesn't yourr hairr get in the way of seeing?"