Searching

[esp_dragon]

Fandom: Original
Summary:
The world of Torpin is open, dragging in Others from different worlds. The majority of them are monsters, prone to violence. There are some, however, that are not, and are able to live amongst the human population, if allowed to. Marland should know; he's one of them. His job is to hunt and stop the Others that seek only to destroy what's around them. On one job, a human Other drops through a portal, an event which Marland has never heard of happening before. And that's not the only thing different about the human...
Rating: T
Notes: Contains swearing. Also mentions of death and violence. Will eventually have fighting. I hope
As for the italics thing, I'm going for if the word's in caps, then chances are, it's supposed to be in italics. Similarly, if there's words encompassed by -' '- , then whatever's inbetween them should be italicised. The start has italicises because I'd attempted to put the tags in while writing. Ahaha~ Noooo, not doing that again. XD;
Marland, I so wish you could interpret human faces better, rather than just simplistic 'smile'. Nuances! Argh.
Genre: Urban fantasy
Word count: 2,736
Status: Work in Progress



The rain wasn't enough to cover the stench of blood. It was a blanket that covered everything, hid everything in view as it pelted down, but it couldn't hide the smell of freshly spilt blood.

Silently, Marland watched the three black cat-like Others fighting over the woman they'd just killed, his ears flat. Too fucking late. He'd just been chasing after them an hour ago when he lost sight of them. His throat began to rumble but he stopped it before he gave himself away.

And, again, too late.

The closest one to him paused, and lifted its horned head, muzzle slick from blood, towards him. The others ignored it completely, gorging themselves.

Do it now. Legs tensing, Marland prepared to fling himself over his cover when the air shifted, and he hesitated, waiting to see what would happen.

The Others noticed whatever-it-was at the same time and froze, then looking up. Up? Marland followed their gaze but couldn't see anything.

Shaking his head, jumped over the pile of boxes he'd been hiding behind and sprinted forwards. Three heads snapped to him, blue eyes glowing in the dim alley, as soon as he got away from his cover. They stood their ground, but started to lift and raise their front paws alternatively. A threat display?

Just when he'd only taken three steps towards them, the air howled, raging like a beast denied, and it had nothing to do with the weather. Marland's ears snapped down at the sound, it practically searing through his chest as it made its presense known.

Above the Others, a portal opened (it had to be, there was nothing else it could be) its edges spitting sparks, throwing the alley in to far too much brightness than his eyes liked, throwing him in to too much light than he liked and throwing lightning at the walls, too much than what they liked.

It was too much for the Others. Attacked from two different sides, they bolted. Dammit, he could barely see and now he had to track them down again. He rewound that thought.

He could barely see and there was an Other about to pass through that portal.

Shit.

Marland turned his head away, using his wings as an additional shield, hoping that it'd be enough to rest his eyes so he'd be ready for whatever came through. The light stopped flickering around the back of his eyelids, and a second later there was a distinctive thump of a large something hitting the ground.

He peered warily over his wing and then froze. That couldn't be right. That was another human. Dressed in simple white (white shirt, while trousers, white shoes) and - the human wasn't breathing. Dead then. Cautiously, he picked his way over and knelt down. And then leaned closer when he saw the human twitch. Alive, but not breathing.

This close, he could see the collar around the human's neck digging in far too much.

Marland unsheathed his claws and hooked them under the material. One quick jerk and it fell fee. Now the human's breathing again, in big gasps.

-'Hurt! Hurt and I'll kill you!'-

Marland backed up a step, ears flat and teeth bared. Telepath. Panicking telepath. But. This was coming from a human.

-'Don't-!'- A pause and Marland could feel something poking at his wings, his horns, even his toes. -'You're not human.'- There's wonder in his voice, and that was something new. Marland's not sure if that had ever happened to him before.

"Yeah," he said gruffly, expecting another barrage.

-'Good.'-

And he didn't say any more after that. Good? Since when was not being human good? Marland took another step forward and knelt down again.

There was blood seeping around his neck from where the collar had used to be and - Marland's ear twitched. That sounded like sirens.

Shit. He had to get out of here. The police would think he'd been the one to kill the woman and it wouldn't matter what he said, or the fact that his jaw couldn't have made those marks. An Other was an Other, and you killed them.

Picking the human up (heavier than he looked, and very awkward) he snuck out of the alley as quickly as he could and headed back home.

* * *

Marland hoped the human wasn't leaving a trail of blood along his stairwell. The rain dripping from them would have to do for now. And that blood could have been anyone's, so his neighbours wouldn't think it was because of him straight away. He snorted. Right.

Opening up his door was a challenge, and no, his wing couldn't support a human's upper body that well. Closing the door shut with a foot, he crossed the living room and went straight in to the spare bedroom. Marland put the human there and then wondered what else he was supposed to do. He knew the human (and maybe he should stop labelling the human as the human, and start labeling him as the man, because he already knew what his voice sounded like) could communicate with him, and in a way that couldn't be thought of as random. So there was that. And the... man could pass easily with the rest of the population. Far too easily, Marland thought with a dark curl of envy.

The blood was annoying him. It had already filled the air, marking the place as the hu - man's, but that wasn't what was really bothering him. With a sigh, ears flicking, Marland went in search of the well-used first aid kit.

The man was still out when he got back and there Marland hesitated with the kit in his hand. If the man woke up while he was dressing his wounds... His ears flicked down. And even if he didn't, the fact that an Other had... But he was also an Other. And didn't seem to mind him either.

Silently, he made his way forward, pausing at every sound the huma - man made. He eventually got there and then started to unpack what he needed, eyes travelling back to the man's face after every item found. Blond, and Marland wasn't sure since his hair was plastered to his head, but it was fairly long, reaching past the man's shoulders. A fuzzy beard. Fairly tanned.

And he was waking up. Shit.

Eyebrows creasing, lips pursing, the human's eyes flew open when Marland shoved himself away from the bed. Fuck. Not good. Well, the kit was there, so the human could dress his wounds himself.

"Wait," he heard when he was two steps from the door. It wasn't the request that he reacted to, but the fact that the voice was different from what he'd expected it to be. The man's speaking voice was higher, more... cultured, Kendal would say, than the voice that had been in his head.

"Um, did I... Did I interrupt something by waking up?" the man asked, voice soft.

Marland's ears made it half-way down before he could stop them. Stupid things.

"I apologise for that. I'll sit quietly as you do your work." Marland blinked and then turned around to stare. He wasn't human, had been in the man's personal space when he woke up -

"Though, I WOULD like to see your face. Is there a light...?"

Oh. Right. The human couldn't see him in the dark.

Resigned, Marland crossed the rest of the room to the light switch, hoping the human wouldn't scream TOO loudly, disturbing the neighbours.

"Ah, thank you."

And that was it. The man peered at him as he slowly and painfully got up in to a sitting position, while Marland stood there awkwardly.

The man smiled at him, his lips barely moving but his eyes doing all of the expression. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," he growled, just slightly baring his teeth. And still nothing. Not even a widening of the eyes.

"So, would you be able to do this? I'm afraid I don't think I'd be able to dress my wounds very well." He tilted and lowered his head a little bit, the small smile still there.

Marland's ears went flat again. Why did it sound like the man was trying to placate a small harmless animal? Carefully, oh so carefully, waiting for the tell that would show the human's real emotion, Marland made his way over. The man watched him come over, and then slowly turned his head away, looking out the window. With the eyes no longer on him, Marland could feel himself relax a little but... Was that deliberate? To make him feel safer, to lower his guard, before attacking?

The kit was on the side that the man was facing. Slowly, he picked up the stuff and retreated to the other side. The man didn't move. Didn't smell scared. He began to unwrap the bandage when the man spoke up again.

"What's your name?"

He was assuming that he could talk. But... they'd already spoken to each other. "Marland. Yours?"

And THEN the human froze, his whole body stiffening, his breath leaving him in a startled gasp. "I... don't remember."

Huh. Maybe that was why the man wasn't scared of him. Didn't know he was supposed to. But Marland was still DIFFERENT, still not human, so that alone should have had the man wary.

"This is so... strange. I don't think I remember anything." The man was looking down at his hands (the wrists were red and swollen, the marks of something running around them put on far too tight), waggling his fingers.

"So, you don't remember how you got injured," Marland prodded, not entirely sure why he was.

The man looked up at him and shook his head.

"Where you're from?" And he nearly asked that wrong.

Another shake of the head.

Marland wracked his brain. What else did you ask? "Friends or family?"

"No." And the man didn't seem all that worried. "Hm."

Maybe there was something wrong with him in general. He didn't react to a non-human, OR the fact that he'd lost all his memories. Or maybe, it was because he'd lost his memories that he was like this. There wasn't a measure of 'normal' to compare so it was taking it all as normal. Maybe, this would actually work.

"Well," the man mused, "at least I can talk with you. That's at least something." Which was one thing Marland had never really understood. The Others that came through that were able to talk in whatever way they could, they sometimes had problems with the local language, but there was an equal amount who talked like they'd lived on Torpin their entire life.

"But," the man said, crossing his arms, "I guess I do need a name to go by." He looked at him, eyes smiling again. "Do you have any suggestions?"

He was asking HIM? "I don't think I'm the right choice for that."

“How not? You’re a native here, so you know what names are normal.”

Marland snorted. “I don’t know that many human names.” And he wasn’t a native.

A shrug. “So name me anything; I won’t mind. ”

He sighed, wings drooping slightly. “Fine. … Shodin.”

The smile came back, wider than before. “Thank you.” Marland looked away, ears wanting to flatten. He’d never heard that tone before, let alone directed towards him. “Does it mean anything?”

“…It’s a kind of tree.”

“Ah.” A brief pause. “The one outside the window?”

“Yeah.” Glancing back, Shodin was watching him, but it didn’t seem like he was laughing at him.

A shiver then went through Shodin’s body, and Marland realised how much of the… goosebumps? he was seeing on Shodin’s skin. “I should probably take these off,” Shodin muttered, picking at his sodden clothing. “Do you mind if I borrow some clothes of yours?”

It seemed like Marland was never going to STOP staring at Shodin, for one reason or another. “I have trousers, but…”

“No tunic or shoes,” Shodin finished for him, eyes flicking up and down, lips curled at the sides. “I understand.”

MARLAND didn’t. Humans didn’t just – He’d probably feel better if Shodin acted like the humans here. At least he’d know what to expect. He also knew shit-all about human biology. Was he supposed to get the new clothes first and THEN bandage, or bandage first and THEN take off the clothes? And they were still wet.

Dry first, get clothes off, bandage, and then put on new clothes.

He left the room to get a spare towel and then handed it to Shodin, who frowned when taking it. “Aren’t you going to use one as well?”

“Don’t need one.” Water slid off his scales a lot easier than human skin, and he’d never been as bothered about temperature as humans did. Apart from in winter; having wings when the temperature dropped below freezing and being unable to cover them in any way possible sucked.

Still frowning slightly, Shodin dried himself up, his movements slow, hand skirting around his neck, never fully going there, never staying long. Eventually the skin was mostly dry and the towel was spotted with blood.

Shodin looked at him from the corner of his eyes – and then lobbed the towel at his head.

Shit. SHIT. Marland snatched the towel from the air before it could reach him, flames licking his other palm, eager to burn. Dammit, he’d let his guard… down? Shodin was beginning to take his top off. Was he supposed to do…?

Right. Dry clothes. Ears clamped to his skull, he left the room, went to his own and started to rummage around. There were a couple of trousers he didn’t use anymore, either too tight or he just didn’t like them anymore. He grabbed a few, alongside some boxers and a belt. Just have to hope that they were too big rather than small, or they’d have problems.

Stepping back in to the room, Marland stopped, eyes drawn to the motley of bruises and long-healed scars scattered across Shodin’s torso. One of the more obvious ones was on his upper left arm, the skin puckered and darker than the rest; it looked like someone had decided to take a small chunk out of his arm.

Maybe it was a good thing Shodin didn’t remember anything.

Shodin finished peeling his shoe off with a grimace. His face brightened when he saw the clothes. “Ah, thank you.” His smile softened. “I’ll change in to one when you’ve left the room.” Not a dismissal, but… It was that damn placating voice again.

His ears flicked down. He was NOT some wary animal hiding under a bush.

And they still needed to bandage Shodin’s throat. Keeping an eye on Shodin’s hands, Marland approached him, setting the stuff on the end of the bed and picking up the tube of disinfectant. Shodin had already turned his head away, looking back out the window.

Shodin twitched at the contact but did nothing else, no matter how long Marland waited. His neck was still bleeding in places, but some of the wounds were small, merely pinpricks when the blood was cleaned away. Other parts looked like they’d been rubbed raw until the skin just peeled off.

The bandaging would be tricky, especially with Shodin’s hair getting in the way.

“What do you want me to do?”

He was NOT that obvious. “Hold the bandage and get your hair out the way.”

Shodin did so, one hand resting beside his, the other lifting his hair from underneath, palm down. There was still some manoeuvring, but it wasn’t as awkward as Marland thought it would be. At least in getting the bandage to cover the areas that needed it the most. Being that close to someone, he was on edge the entire time. He wasn’t used to being so much in someone else’s physical space before, not unless they were trying to kill each other.

At that point, Shodin’s stomach growled loudly. Shodin smothered his quick laughter with a hand. “Ah, apologies for that.”

“Any idea what you can’t eat?” Marland asked, running through what he had in the fridge. Basically, nothing. Great. But Shodin was human, so he couldn’t react too badly to whatever he ate.

“What I can’t eat?” Shodin's eyebrows were drawn together, his face looking puzzled.

Marland floundered for a word. “Allergic. You allergic to anything?” Not exactly the right word, but close enough.

The look didn’t change; if anything, it deepened.