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: M
Notes: Contains swearing. And violence.
Any questions or clarifications, just ask. (Unless it’s, you know, plot-related. XD)
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 in between them should be italicised.
Genre: Urban fantasy
Word count: 2,716
Total word count: 14,414
Status: Work in Progress




-'Stay away!'-

Marland growled at him - them - mostly Poss and Shodin stared at him with unfocused eyes as he approached.

"You - Poss - I thought you said you wouldn't come out again."

-'Attack!'- he screeched, and there was a flicker of an image in Marland's mind but it was gone before he could make any sense of it. -'Attack on our minds!'- Shodin was swaying on his feet, mouthing the words at the same time they were spoken.

"Shut UP, or quit fucking shouting - we CAN hear you." Clearly enough to be able to get a headache from the sheer volume ringing in his head.

-'But - but - attack!'- Now Poss sounded less certain, definitely less loud.

-'I wasn't attacking.'-

Another screech, this time more animalistic, and then it was Poss who was fully in control. He dropped to all fours and backed away from Paizinel. Shodin was probably going to feel that when he got back in control.

Marland's ears flattened, despite there not being any sound. "Paizinel, just - don't talk to him right now."

She nodded, long tail waving back and forth. And that meant he was the one to try and talk Poss down. Just fucking great.

Poss was staring at her with wild eyes, throwing his head in wide circles, his breathing heavy.

What the HELL was he supposed to do?

He ran a hand down his face, knowing that Paizinel could get away if Poss went after her, not that he'd be able to get far very quickly, Shodin's body not really meant for walking on four legs anymore.

-'Ask him what's wrong,'- Paizinel told him helpfully.

He glared at her through his fingers. Fine, they could do it that way; it'd be a lot easier for him anyway. He turned back to Poss, his hand falling away. "What's wrong?"

"Attack! On our minds!" Even shrieking the way that he was, his voice was still lower than Shodin's.

"You've already said that."

Poss growled, the sound high, and flexed his fingers. "Not hurting him." He glowered at Paizinel.

-'I won't hurt him.'-

Unsurprisingly, Poss threw himself back like he'd been physically attacked, teeth bared.

"Pai..." Not that would do anything, Marland knew, seeing as she could be as stubborn about things as he was - more, sometimes.

-'If he doesn't get used to me talking to him, then I won't be able to talk to him.'-

And Marland hadn't thought about that - if Shodin and Paizinel started talking together... oh fucking hell. Paizinel would keep Shodin's curiosity going, and Paizinel would have another excuse to come over and socialise.

If they were able to calm Poss down.

... Maybe he should just let Poss stay in control.

"Will! Attacked just now!"

"Is there two of you in there?" Marland snapped, his head ringing. The last two times he'd talked with Poss, Poss had talked in different ways, this time more like the first. He definitely preferred the second one – except when he thought about it, they both kept repeating the same information over and over again. The second one was just a little calmer and talked in longer sentences.

Poss blinked at him, mouth slightly open. "Two: me and... Shodin."

Did that pause mean he knew Shodin's original name, or that he hadn't been paying that much attention when Shodin was in control?

"Pai wasn't attacking you," he told him, figuring it might help, but not that hopeful. "That's the way she talks, the same as you." But not entirely, seeing as he had access to a mouth that could talk.

Poss blinked, and then regarded Paizinel with curious, wary eyes. Paizinel didn't spark him off again by talking, letting him study her in peace. Not straight away anyway. She let him finish before speaking again.

-'I won't hurt Shodin, or yourself,'- Paizinel promised him.

Poss twitched when Paizinel spoke, but he slowly sat back on his heels, still not saying anything.

"You said that I was 'trustworthy' because of my magic - why's this any different?"

"He was scared! Hurt."

Marland snorted, giving him a flat look. "Think it coulda been because of you?"

"NO!"

-'Marland, please be quiet for the next couple of minutes, hmm?'- His ears flicked down at the saccharine tone.

"Don't think you'd be able to do that much better," he muttered. Considering how most of the time she spoke, Poss had started panicking again.

-'Does Shodin know about you?'-

Poss glared. "Of COURSE he..." His face blanked, and then paled. "He doesn't. He doesn't know about me." He lowered his head, cringing. So much for Paizinel doing better than him. Then Poss' body sagged forward, and it was only by a palm to the ground that he didn't end up with his face to the ground.

His breathing had changed, becoming unsteady again. "What...?" Shodin said weakly. "What was that?" He coughed, bringing his other hand to his mouth, and then sat heavily on the floor.

"Poss."

Shodin chuckled breathily at that. "I… can see why you weren't sure about him."

Marland blinked at him. "You know what happened?"

A nod. "I could see everything as it happened, but I wasn't in control, nor could I do anything about it." He started rubbing his left arm, taking in deep breaths.

-'Are you okay?'-

Another nod. "Physically, barring my previous physical injuries, yes." Shodin sighed, eyes closed. "As for my mental processes… I don't know."

Slowly, Paizinel made her way over until she was standing right in front of Shodin. As Shodin was sitting, they were about eye-level with each other. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Shodin, keeping eye contact, raised the hand that was on his arm and started petting her.

… Out of all the possibilities Marland had thought of how Shodin would react to Paizinel, NONE of them had come close to this.

Paizinel just leaned in to his touch as Marland watched. –'I don't know what to say about your mental processes either,'- Paizinel admitted, voice light. -'No-one's QUITE reacted to me like that before, and I'm talking about both reactions.'-

"This feels wrong," Shodin murmured, eyes downcast, staring at Paizinel. He must have felt Paizinel freeze under his fingers, and Marland was already snarling before Shodin continued quickly, eyes wide. "I don't mean it like that – it's just, I – I've done this before, but I keep EXPECTING something else when I do this." He paused, taking a deep breath. "I think it's fur that I expect to feel; long, light fur that… curls around my fingers." He waggled his fingers on top of Paizinel, then drew his hand away.

A pet? It didn't matter now anyway.

"Is that normal?" Shodin mused. "Doing that?"

-'Petting me when you see me? Not around here anyway,'- Paizinel teased.

Marland shrugged. "No idea. I don't know humans well here, and you're from another world. Maybe it is over there."

Paizinel glanced at him over her shoulder, then looked at Shodin. -'You're an Other?'- Surprise coloured her tone.

Shodin nodded, relaxing a little bit, enough to have a smile softly. "Yes."

-'I suppose that explains a few things. Interesting; I haven't heard of a human Other before.'-

"Oh?"

Very slowly, Marland's ears went down. Maybe if he left now, they wouldn't notice and he could hide in his bedroom. Once they got started, they'd forget about him anyway.

Paizinel moved so that she could face both Marland and Shodin easily. -'Yeah, but I've been hearing that the portals have been acting up in the past number of years - there's more Others coming through than there used to be.'- She paused, tail flicking. -'I guess it was only a matter of time before humans started coming through.'-

She turned back to him. –'So, what happened?'-

"What?"

She shook her head and sighed. -'You're injured. How bad is it?'-

"I'm-"

-'FINE. Yes, I know - you always say that. What's the wound like?'- she badgered.

He growled at her, lowering his head. "Got fingers shoved through my shoulder." Hopefully it would be enough to mollify her. "It also spat poison or drugs."

Paizinel and Shodin both looked at him with wide eyes. -'Why AREN'T YOU RESTING?'-

Should have known it wouldn't have been. "Because SOMEONE woke me up," -a glare to Shodin, who ducked his head- "and someone ELSE came around to visit."

Paizinel's tail curled up around her body. -'Oh, oops. I'd thought-'- she cut herself off, shaking her head. -'Go back to sleep now then; I'll keep Shodin company.'-

He huffed, not going because he wasn't sure if he wanted to leave the two of them alone together. If Poss took over again… But, Paizinel was agile enough to dodge easily, and if Poss DID take over, there would be more than enough noise to wake him up. Even then, Paizinel's voice wasn't blocked by the walls, so he'd hear her clearly.

"I'll be all right, don't worry," Shodin told him, waving a hand at him.

Marland could hear Paizinel spluttering before it turned in to whooping laughter, keeping it private just for him, her tail thumping on the floor. Shodin looked at her curiously and Marland didn't THINK she said anything to him then.

If he didn't go, the two would keep trying to get him to go to bed anyway. But that was him just assuming again. Maybe if he stayed, Shodin would ask questions.

... It would be better for him if he just went to sleep.

Shaking his head, he went back to his room. It seemed quiet for the next few minutes, the door maybe muffling whatever Shodin was saying, but Marland could already feel himself drifting off, his body relaxing, and then he fell asleep.

* * *

The next time Marland woke up, there was light coming in through the cracks in the blinds. Grumbling, he used his wing to cover his head, but it wasn't enough. He was fully awake, having slept for most of the night; he wasn't going to be going to sleep any time soon. Great. He hated waking up during the daytime.

The painkillers had worn off, his shoulder feeling tight, stiff, and far too hot. He couldn't hear anything on the other side of the door. His body felt like he was trying to move through treacle as he got off his bed.

Walking in to the main room, gingerly rubbing his shoulder, he saw Paizinel buried under a blanket on the couch, only her head and the tip of her tail poking out of each end.

Squinting around, he couldn't see much else out of place. But he couldn't see much of ANYTHING apart from sharp blocks of colour. He went over to where he kept the painkillers and had three of them.

-'Hn?'-

Marland looked over to Paizinel, but the back of the couch blocked his view. He hadn't been that loud, but it might have been when he was fiddling with the packet.

A sleepy yawn. –'Marland? 'Zat you?'-

"Yeah." His tongue was sticking a little to the roof of his throat because of the painkillers. He went to fill a glass of water.

-'Huh. Should you be up yet?'-

"Dunno," he replied, "I think it's still in my system."

-'MarLAND,'- she sighed. -'Go back to bed.'- He could her moving around, but it sounded like she'd only turned around, and wasn't getting up.

"Can't sleep anymore."

Paizinel laughed softly. –'Hmm. I guess that's our fault.'-

He shrugged, even though she couldn't see it. "I would've woken up anyway."

-'And you are surprisingly talkative right now.'-

His ears went down and he ducked his head. "I am not."

More laughter. –'Oh PLEASE, Marland; I've known you for years. You wouldn't have responded to that before.'-

… She had a point.

-'I can thank Shodin for that, can't I?'- She sounded far too amused.

He snorted, ears twitching. "He doesn't every stop asking questions."

There was another rustle of cloth, and then Paizinel's head popped in to view. –'I know,'- she said, sounding positively gleeful. –'I'm not sure what time we went to be bed at, but we were talking until the sun rose in the very least.'-

His ears flattened. He knew they would get on well. And for once, he was actually right. "It's a good thing I'm nocturnal."

She laughed at that, eyes sparkling, laying her head on the couch. –'So you're not worried about what he does during the day then?'-

Marland blinked at that. He considered the question before answering. "He's injured right now so, I'm not worried."

-'Uh-huh.'- The tone was flat, unbelieving. Paizinel tilted her head and opened one side of her mouth – her version of a smile. –'What about when he's not?'- she prodded.

He looked away. "I'll think about it when he is."

-'You're not exactly at a hundred percent either,'- she pointed out, the amused tone back.

He refused to answer her needling, turning away to make something to eat.

Paizinel chuckled and then clambered over the couch, looking at him over the table.

-'Buuuut, he's not the one to worry about.'-

He threw the two packs in the microwave and turned it on, approximating the time they were supposed to be in for.

-'So…?'-

Marland shrugged. "He doesn't think much past protecting Shodin, and he has magic of his own."

-'He's just a bundle of surprises, isn't he?'- A few seconds later, she was standing next to him, on her back four legs as she watched the food go around and around. -'Thanks for the food.'-

He snorted. "Who says it's for you?"

She turned to him, a sly look in her eyes. -'Well, Shodin's asleep, and you have no idea when he's getting up. And it wouldn't be like you to wake him up and give him-'- she checked the clock -'lunch; that would be a miracle if he had gotten you to relax that much in the space of two days.'- She paused, head tilted. -'Although, I guess to some people it's already a miracle what he's done with you.'-

"He hasn't DONE anything with me," he corrected her irritably, ears flattening.

-'He's talked with you,'- Paizinel said, with a hint of wistfulness. -'Tell me, how many humans here have done that at first sight of you?'-

Marand glared. "He's not from here, so that doesn't count."

The microwave dinged and he brought it out, taking it to the table, Paizinel following after him. -'Then, IN GENERAL, how many people have talked with you when they first see you?'-

Why the hell did she want to know? "Less than... I dunno, four," he hazarded, not really thinking about it that hard. Because there really hadn't been that many people who had stood out.

-'So it's already a big deal what he's done with you.'- There was a slight pause as she started eating. -'And he seems fairly comfortable with you.'-

That was the problem when there was a telepath was talking; the only way you could get them to stop talking properly would be if you distracted them. Eating didn't stop them in the slightest.

"Really? I'd've thought you would have gotten on better with you."

She smiled at him. -'Only because I'm more willing to answer his questions. He seems determined to know EVERYTHING about this world.'-

And hearing that just made Marland want to go to bed and stay there if he ever heard Shodin moving around.

-'I can't WAIT to see what you're like in a couple of weeks with him for company.'-

Marland wasn't sure if HE wanted to. "Insane?"

Paizinel shook her head. -'Nah, I don't think so. I think he'll have gotten you used to talking by that point.'-

That was doubtful.

They didn't talk much after that, Paizinel knowing that there was actually a limit to how much he'd talk over a certain amount of time. Then he'd start getting REALLY snappy and then just stop responding whatsoever.

Paizinel was beginning to doze off by the time she had finished her meal so she went back to the couch to sleep for a few more hours. Leaving Marland to stare at the walls for the next few hours.

Comments

[lucathia]

I like Paizinel. A LOT. XD Paizinel and Shodin together are amusing me greatly~

Grumbling, he used his wing to cover his head, but it wasn't enough.

Eee, so his wings can be useful. <3

[darkicedragon]

Eeee, so do I. They can team up together on Marland to get him to talk more!

X3 They do have some uses, so they're not completely deadweights.

[lucathia]

I think I'll need to reread the description of her appearance. I get the feeling that she's fairly feline though. X3;; But hehe, with her and Shodin's combined efforts, Marland's going to be talking and talking! XD He's already talking a lot more!

I see that Marland has this instinct to hide behind his wings sometimes. Does that really work? XD; I guess he wouldn't be able to see whoever was near him, and the other person wouldn't be able to see Marland's face. But Marland would still be there. XD; I thought it was a cute image. XD

[darkicedragon]

I keep thinking of espeon when I start mentioning her tail. XD

Ha. Ahaha~ It does not work. At all. XDD It makes him a little bit more obvious.

and the other person wouldn't be able to see Marland's face. ears.
Fixed it for you. XDD

Eeeeee.

[lucathia]

Espeon! Hm, I see, I see. XD

Weeeell, if Marland's ears go flat, his ears can hid behind his wings too, haha. XD