[ He'll never truly get used to that -- to having another person's emotions and memories flickering through his mind, lighting up the inside of his eyelids like movie projections. Especially when they're this vivid. Gen flinches as his field of vision goes almost white, a blindingly bright blanket of snow colored only with lurid splatters of blood; the colors are so stark he can almost smell the gore. That too-familiar copper tang plays at the tip of his tongue, and he can't tell if it's coming through from Eustace, or if it's his own mind conjuring sensations to match what he's seeing.

His footsteps stumble for a moment as he lets that smaller version of Eustace lead him along, his ears flattening back so far they almost vanish into his hair, and there's the audible grit of his teeth for a moment before he abruptly snaps, ]

Calm down.

[ He aims it at the child yanking at his sleeve, he thinks. But maybe it's also directed at Eustace, a little bit. ]

Freaking out isn't gonna get anything done.

[ Vaguely, he remembers snapping something like this to Chako in his youth, after beating her bullies senseless. And it's not like he's ever been good at comforting people; it's not like he has any interest in babying people who are too weak to contain their distress. But ... it doesn't feel right to just let things spiral like this, either. -- it's hard moving with this kid freaking out, is what he tells himself. It's the only reason he lowers his stance a little to bring himself closer to the younger Eustace's eye level.

Gen gives a hoarse exhale before lowering his voice, trying to flatten out the anger, even if the sight of blood on the snow still has his nerves prickling. ]

Take a deep breath. I'm doing as you asked [ I'm here for you ], so. Calm down.