Searching [Chapter 2]
Sep. 27th, 2011 11:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
esp_dragonFandom: Original
Summary: The world of Torpin is open, dragging in xeni from other 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 xeni that seek only to destroy what's around them. On one job, a human xeno 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: R
Notes: Contains swearing, bloody fighting and death.
Aaaah, I want to start writing these two again! XDD
Genre: Urban fantasy
Word count: 5,613
Total word count: 12,383
Status: Work in Progress (reposting, but is complete)
Marland hated shopping. The lights in the shop were too bright for his eyes, and he continually had to squint to make sure he didn't walk right into someone as the world narrowed into a blur of white, and dark shadows. It didn't help that he was always consciously aware of his wings, making sure that they didn't stick out, in case he toppled something from the shelves or display.
One good thing was the shop at least had regular xeno customers, so he didn't stand out as much as he could have. The cashiers were sometimes friendly, sometimes absolutely terrified that they essentially hid in the back room for the whole night. Marland didn't see those ones much after that.
Thank fuck they had self-service machines installed.
He left quickly, the bags making noises no matter how he held them, and then stood in one of the shadows away from the shop for a few minutes to let his eyes adjust back to the darkness.
One of his ears twitched to the right. What had that been? He stilled, waiting. The stupid bags rustled in the wind, but it wasn't enough to cover the faint sound of pounding footsteps, the gasping breaths, followed by a scrabbling of claws on the pavement. Whatever it was, it was much larger than a big dog.
Shit.
Quickly, Marland stashed the shopping away in a dry-looking corner of the alley and followed the sounds. He tracked them, after having to pause at junctions, straining his ears, and hoping like fuck he wouldn't bump into any humans. It wasn't that late that the streets should be completely empty. And just as he thought that, a car came around the corner, its headlights searing pain directly into his brain. He could hear panicked screams coming from inside, and the car swerved, heading straight towards him. Crap, crap, crap.
Marland cleared the bonnet by sheer luck, and was then nearly thrown off as the car sharply changed direction again, his claws the only thing keeping him on it.
Dammit, at this rate, he'd lose them. Marland jumped one more time and miraculously landed on the top of the car and didn't skid off, his claws helping him to stay in place. It took one more leap to land on all fours behind it. The last sounds he'd heard of the xeno had come from the direction he was facing and he started sprinting that way, hoping that the humans wouldn't attempt to reverse on him.
They didn't, getting the car back on the road and roaring away, the occupants still yelling inside. The silence they'd left rang but Marland kept his ears pricked, hoping that the human was still alive, his eyes squeezed shut, waiting for his eyes to start functioning again.
There. It sounded like something just toppled over, and that was a triumphant howl. Shitshitshit - he was going to be too late again.
Marland skidded around the corner, flames already in his hand, his eyes frantically scanning for something out of place. The street looked empty, the streetlamps making it glow yellow but there wasn't - movement to his left.
He sprinted forward and threw a fireball at the hulking form above the quaking human on the ground. The xeno was bulky, its form more round than humanoid, though the way that it was holding itself suggested that it could possibly look human if you stripped the extra fat away. There were three fingers at the end of each limb, one finger to the back, while the other two were paired off together. At the end of each finger, there was a pale hooked claw the length of Marland's thumb. Pale yellow, its head was bird-like, with a protruding beak and extensions coming out of its neck that looked like they could be ruffled feathers. It had two beady eyes on the side facing Marland and it shrieked at him, turning to face him, his magic not strong enough to knock it down.
Which was when he slammed into it, claws first. He threw it off its feet completely and they skidded along the ground for a few seconds. Before they'd stopped completely, Marland had raked five green blood streaks in the xeno's torso and then threw himself off as the xeno opened its mouth and hissed, the extensions shivering in warning. Just in time; the xeno spat something where his head had just been.
Wings flared for balance, Marland aimed for its head this time with his magic. It missed, the xeno surprisingly quick for its size.
There was a crash to his left. Marland turned his head slightly, keeping the xeno in his line of sight as he looked at what was. The xeno wasn't so cautious, taking its entire attention off him and towards whatever had made the noise.
It was the human, trying to shrink further into the shadows. Satisfied it wasn't another xeno or an attacking human, Marland charged at the xeno, his wings poised above his head. The xeno's head snapped back to him straight away, and Marland had to twist out of the way of whatever it was spitting at him. Another gout of flame, smaller this time, aimed for the eyes. It ducked, going on all fours, a shriek piercing his ears a second later. Then it lowered its head and charged at him.
Marland scored it right along where its spine should be with his fire. It howled, but kept going stubbornly forward, barely slowing down. It cleared the space between them in one powerful leap and caught Marland straight in the chest. He snarled as he landed on his back, his wings getting crushed under the weight of both of them.
The xeno started hissing in his face above him as it pinned him down and Marland could see every single of the extension-things vibrating. Shit. Shit. He drove his claws into its side and then dragged down. The spit landed beside his head as the xeno jerked back with a roar.
In retaliation, the xeno tore at his shoulder, piercing his scales, creating furrows in his shoulder as it backed away from him, the 'feathers' shaking incessantly. Marland could see its blood dripping steadily onto the ground as it crouched down. He got to his feet as quickly as he could, aching around his chest and all over his wings. He was probably going to be picking dirt and grit off them for a week. Before he'd gotten up completely, the xeno was bearing down on him again.
He flicked his wings out and covered himself with them before he flared them out again, towards the xeno. It was enough. The action was enough to startle it enough to make the xeno hesitate. His hand full of flames, Marland lashed out. It was still fast enough to dodge and he only glanced off its cheek. Dammit.
That brought him close enough for it lash out at him too. Arm raised, its claws slashed right through to the vulnerable skin in his right shoulder. The world sharpened around the pain and the fire in his hand flickered. Fuck. Fucking hell. Clenching his teeth, Marland hissed right back at it, turned his hand around and slashed right across its face, taking the eyes on its right side out.
Marland wildly struck out with his left hand while it was still screeching, the flames there only half its strength they could have been – he caught the xeno on its beak, but it was barely a scratch.
Snapping his wing into its side affected it much more.
It stumbled a step to the side and Marland used that brief breathing space to call his magic back to his hand, resolutely ignoring the stabbing pain in his shoulder and how sluggish his magic seemed to respond to him. He was fine. It was just his perception of time that was affected. That was all.
The xeno charged again, on four legs now. Marland threw the fireball at its face - this time, it was a solid hit, leaving green streaks in its wake. The right side of its face was a wet mess of green blood and flesh, white bone visible between it all. It skittered back, shrieking with every step.
Every nerve in Marland's body was stretched, expecting to hear sirens in seconds. This fight was far too loud and it had gone on for far too long. There had to be at least one person who'd called for the police, for the hunters.
Just a few more minutes more. Then the fight would be over. The xeno seemed to think so too, the extensions shaking for all their worth. Some of the blood had started to trail down on the left side of its head. Maybe...
The xeno wavered back and forth, retreating and coming back again every few steps. The movement caused the trickle to fall faster, and it weaved its way straight into the xeno's eyes. It blinked, shaking its head and pawing at its face.
One small fireball, aimed for the mouth. It was a direct hit and the xeno reared back, exposing its neck. One lunge, one thrust and Marland had most of its throat in his hand. The xeno wavered on its feet for a few seconds - he could hear and see the xeno trying to breathe. It collapsed in a heap, twitching, but it eventually stilled. Marland waited a few more seconds, his ears straining to hear anything else but the xeno didn't move again.
Still keeping an eye out, Marland allowed himself to relax a little, his wings drooping slightly, already starting to feel the burn from his shoulder, incessant and demanding attention. He groped around his collarbone with his left hand, fingers eventually finding the thick chain, following it around until they bumped into the circular disk. He fumbled with it for a few seconds, his arm feeling like it was losing its strength just by holding itself up before he pressed the small button embedded in it.
That done, he stumbled to the closest alley he could find and waited, trying not to notice just how much blood was trailing down his chest. Shit. He pressed his hand to his shoulder - and then the world span, tipping on its side as the colours flashed and brightened. Wha-? What'd...? Ears flat to his skull, Marland peered at his hand. Or attempted to; his hand wasn't staying still in his vision, sliding left and right, before going back again.
Green hand with gold swirls, normal. Green blood, darker than his scales, yeah, wasn't his. 'Cause he didn't have green blood; his was red. The thin blue liquid that was spread across his palm... Not sure. Marland blinked, and then looked away. It didn't help with the swaying he could feel in his head, his body following suit. The entire street was a haze of colours, and he was having a hard time telling the difference between the road and the buildings. Or maybe he was looking down the road. Hard to tell.
Marland wanted to be sick, his stomach a whirlpool inside him.
He stayed leaning on the wall, his wing getting crushed beside him, but he didn't mind that much. Other things were more important.
There was a rumble of tires coming steadily closer. That was what was more important.
Awkwardly, Marland got to his feet properly, using his claws on the wall to help, and peered around the corner. Black something coming up. Fuck did his head hurt. No, he had to concent... His head wouldn't stop pounding. Distracting him.
The...big...van? stopped beside the xeno, the engine still running. There was a 'click' as a door opened and - and fucking hell. He could barely see but that was not Laris - too thin, too short, blond instead of black-haired. Shit shit shit - what the hell -
"Dammit, Nav," a familiar voice hissed from inside the van, "I told ya ta wait 'till I told ya you could come out." Laris. Marland could feel his breathing come back to semi-normality. Good.
"Oh, come on, Laris - the xeno's dead so it's not like I'm in any kinda danger or anything." The voice was younger, male.
"Were you listening to me when I told you about Marland?" Laris growled. There was something about that. Something he should pay attention to. Taking a deep breath, Marland pricked his ears towards them, listening to what they would say.
"Yeah, yeah," Nav said, and Marland could hear something rustling. "Doesn't like people, pretty paranoid, looks a bit different."
Marland flinched as a van door slammed shut. "He's a xeno."
There was a brief silence. "...Really?" Marland's head was too disorganised, too - too soft (something?) to be even think about interpreting Nav's tone.
"So, no, ya really weren't listening t'me." Footsteps going around the van, scuffing every couple of steps. "You can't be fallin' asleep already; s'only twelve."
"Hey," Nav protested weakly, "I haven't been doing this for long, you know?"
Laris sighed. "Marland, s'all right - the kid's with me," he called out in a louder voice.
"I'm not a kid," Nav muttered.
"Y'are t'me, so shut it."
Slowly, Marland made his way out in the open, keeping an unsteady eye on the two of them.
"Ya look like shit, Marland," Laris said succinctly, his arms crossed.
Marland's ears were already pretty much entirely flat on his head already so they couldn't go any lower. "Feel like it." Not really. Worse. His heart ached every time it beat and - he shook his head slowly, trying to focus again. He wanted to press his hand to his shoulder, but - no, can't - couldn't, even if he'd wiped his hand to clean it, he didn't - couldn't, know if the - the acid? poison? was still there.
Nav had surprisingly stayed in place, maybe hadn't even reached for a weapon. But Laris was in front of him, so, blocking view or stopping him?
"Acid or poison mouth so..." He shook his head slowly again, taking a deep breath. That was enough to understand his warning.
"We'll be careful, don't worry." There was a small smile in Laris' voice. "So, this eejit's Nav." Laris nodded to the man over his shoulder.
"Why... Why is he with you?" Hell that had been hard to get out. Everything just felt out of sync, running far slower than normal. The world tilting on him didn't help either.
"Just, for just in case." Laris shrugged. "I'm gettin' older, and yer gonna need someone who doesn't attack ya on sight."
That was definitely true; there weren't that many collectors willing to collect for a xeno when their job was to collect xeno corpses. Marland peered at Nav, the inherent movement in his head starting to settle down. He didn't look that scared - wide eyes, gaping at him, but not like he was going to bolt or attack him. Marland had seen that enough to know the signs, even drugged as he was.
"Anything else about the xeno?" Laris prompted him.
Poisonous or acidic. Could walk on both two legs and four. Shaking 'feathers' was a warning before it spat. "No." He could feel his blood seeping from his wound and he wanted nothing more than to clean it away.
No. Not true. He wanted to go home, out of the eye of the rest of the world, curl up and just stay there, where he didn't have to keep a constant lookout all the time. After cleaning the wound. …So he was right the first time.
"All right." Laris pulled out an envelope and handed it to him. Marland pocketed it without checking the contents; it was routine now that he didn't worry about there being anything else in it other than money. "See ya next time," Laris said as he turned away and started poking at the xeno with a foot.
So, Marland thought muzzily, he'd come from that direction, and...and he'd left the shopping somewhere. Slowly and unsteadily, he started making his way back.
"Uh... Laris?" Nav hadn't been paying attention when Laris told him that he had good hearing either. Or Laris hadn't told him. Keeping his voice down didn't do much, apart from making Marland pay more attention to it. "Shouldn't he be...you know?"
Well, Nav had already shown that he could think past terror, so expecting him to want him to live was too far. Marland wasn't sure if that thought made any sense.
"What?" Gruff and distracted, and there was the snap of gloves. A second later there was another snap of gloves.
"Going to the hospital?"
...What was it recently, with humans acting in a way he wasn't expecting?
There was a bark of laughter. "Right; he walks in covered in blood and barely able to speak - ha, fuck that - he walks in and they'll attack him on the spot."
"Oh. ... Shit."
Laris snorted. "Yeah. Won't take any help, so no point in offering either."
"Ah, wondered about that."
"C'mon, grab it by the ankles."
"But-"
"The rope."
"Ah, right, right. Haha..."
A sigh. "You're bringing coffee with you tomorrow, got that?"
The conversation pretty much stopped at that point, and Marland had mostly gotten out of his earshot by then anyway.
This was the road where he'd nearly been ran over, and he'd taken a...right at the junction, so he should go left. His memory of how he got to the end of that street was a little fuzzy though. So, that shop looked familiar, and he'd been looking at it from...that direction, so that meant going straight.
Some time later, Marland's head had started to clear. He still wasn't thinking completely normally, but he was able to find the shopping, still untouched, and the flat was only a few minutes' walk away from there.
He staggered up the stairwell, maybe leaving blood marks all over the walls. Again. Shit. Through some miracle, he was able to open his door and he stumbled in, sighing in relief as soon as the door clicked shut. The lack of light was a balm for his straining eyes. Marland stood there for a few minutes, pretty much pressing himself up against the door, his feet keeping him in place only because he'd hooked his claws into the floor.
When he felt slightly better, he moved to the kitchen area - misjudged, misstepped, walked right into the table (fridge?) and the world started spinning again.
He couldn't stop it this time, the world brightening up to the point of pain and Marland only saw the ground whirling towards him.
* * *
Bang. Bang bang. 'Marland?' Bangbangbang.
Shut up. Shutupshutupshutup.
Bangbang. 'Marland, can you hear me?' Bang.
Fucking hell, why wasn't it shutting up?
Marland whimpered, flail – shit. The pain in his shoulder spiked, waking him up entirely. Shit; his shoulder started bleeding again, and had already left a decently-sized puddle on his floor. Barring the headache that felt like his brain was trying to squeeze out through his eyeballs and ears, he felt that he could think more in straight lines and in full sentences.
’Marland, can you hear me? Can you answer me?’ More pounding on the door. Each strike was like someone was slamming his head on the ground.
Fucking – Shitting – Argh! Marland heaved himself upright, his limbs shaking under him. He nearly stumbled into the couch, then nearly over the table. He finally reached the door, and he thumped on it first before he reached for the key. He missed it the first time, and then got it the next time by running his hand up the door.
Light flooded his eyes and he flinched away, his ears flat and his eyes squeezed shut, and his wings moved forward to shield his head.
"Mar-" Shodin cut himself off as he presumably saw the state that he was in. "What happened to you?"
"Fight," Marland grunted, testing his eyes’ sensitivity. The light was still too much on the bright side, but it didn’t hurt as much as before. He moved away from the square of light; Shodin followed.
He didn’t care if Shodin attacked him now – maybe it’d stop the throbbing and every little scrape and gaping wound making its needs known extremely clearly.
"Marland, you need help with that shoulder," Shodin said, his voice barely over a whisper.
"No, I don’t," he mumbled half-heartedly, fully intending to go to bed, really, but the floor was closer, and Marland sank down with as much grace as he could: none whatsoever.
He heard footsteps walk away, back to the bedroom. Good. Just leave him alone. The footsteps came back a few scant seconds later and Shodin sat down next to his head.
"Can you turn over?"
Marland growled, and swatted him with his wing. Or tried to - his shoulder spasmed as his muscles tightened.
"I’m not leaving until I’ve at least bound your shoulder."
He glared up at Shodin. "You even know how to do that?"
"I’m not entirely sure," Shodin admitted, one hand already unrolling one of the bandages. He’d bought more today, hadn’t he? "But I can emulate what you did yesterday in the very least."
"Who says I'm gonna let you do that?"
Shodin raised his eyebrows at him, not looking impressed. "I could attempt to lift you up myself; I think it would be better for both us if I didn't."
He snorted. "You're as injured as I am - don't think you'd be able t'move me anywhere."
"That was my point." There was a small smile on Shodin's face as he said that. "But, you are far more injured than I am; I doubt I ever lost that much blood."
Marland had to agree with that. If he let Shodin bandage him up, he'd go then away - and he really had no idea why he was acting so idiotic right now. He knew what unknown substances could do, yet he wasn't doing anything about it. Maybe it was because of whatever the spit had been.
The only problem was that he wasn't in any way comfortable with letting Shodin patch him up.
"Well?" Shodin peered down at him. And, fuck, Shodin would need to turn on the lights to see.
"Fine." Unsteadily, Marland eased himself up and when he started to get to his feet, Shodin reached out a hand towards him. He snarled at that, backing away and nearly fell over completely. Pain spiked up again from his shoulder and he snarled again, his ears flat.
"You can just sit here," Shodin said, leaning forward. "You don't have to fully get up."
"Yes, I do," Marland said through gritted teeth.
Shodin frowned at him. "You'll make it worse the more you move around."
"So let me siddown." He stumbled a few steps to the closest chair and fell on top of it. Which set off his shoulder again. He really wasn't thinking at the moment.
"Marland." Shodin sighed. "You didn't have to do that."
"Yeah, I did." Marland motioned to the lamp with a wing. "You need light, and I need my wings not t'be crushed."
Shodin blinked, and then slowly looked him up and down, taking in the full length of his wings; the only way he’d be able to sit with his ass on the floor would be if his wings had been snapped in half.
"Oh..."
Marland turned his head away with his eyes shut when Shodin turned the lamp on, but that just meant he was facing the light coming out from Shodin's room. The problem was, he wouldn't be able to just sit there and not double-check what Shodin was doing to his shoulder, which meant he had to pretty much stare directly at the lamp.
"There's a bunch of clean cloths in the cupboard over there," Marland told him, waving to the door to their right, watching where Shodin went. "Use the basin that's in the sink."
While Shodin busied himself with the water, Marland stared at his hand. His ears flicked down when he saw the blue whatever-it-was was still there, dried into his scales. He'd have to wash that off before everything else, just in case. Shodin turned towards him when he approached.
"Hand. Poisonous. Drugs. Something," he attempted to explain, not really bothering. He twisted the tap out the way while Shodin stepped away and stuck his hand under the stream, away from the lip of the basin. He waited a few seconds and scrubbed at it with his claws to make sure, then flicked the excess water off and made his way back to the chair. This time, he eased himself down on it. Maybe he was finally starting to think properly again.
Shodin came back a few seconds later, the basin in his hands. He pulled the other chair up closer and set the basin on it. "All right, I'll start then."
Marland growled at him, his eyes narrowed. "You don't have to warn me." He could see he was about to start.
Shodin hummed. "Yes, but I have a feeling that you won't want to talk much, and I don't really like silence."
With the amount that he talked and asked questions, that wasn't a surprise.
"Just tell me if it becomes too painful."
It already was on the way to becoming 'too painful', flaring up and dying down in throbbing cycles. There wasn't any point in telling him though.
The water was cool against his burning skin, but no matter how slowly Shodin moved the cloth, it tugged and felt like it was trying to pull his skin off in chunks. The water in the basin quickly turned from transparent to a light brown colour and then deepened every time Shodin dunked the cloth back in. All the way through, Shodin kept an equal eye on both the wound and on his face; for what, Marland wasn't completely sure.
The angle for seeing his shoulder was awkward, but he could see some of it. There were two ragged gashes where the claws had scraped his skin, not looking as deep or as large as they felt. The holes had mostly stopped bleeding, but there was still fluid leaking out sluggishly. His skin had bruised spectacularly as well already, covering the entire exposed part.
The antiseptic was going to hurt like fuck, Marland realised, his ears flattening, when Shodin had finished and started to reach for the tube.
Marland clenched his teeth and then nearly walloped Shodin with his wing out of sheer reflex the first time Shodin touched him with the cream. He had been lucky that he had been standing off to the side, or else the hooked claw at the bend of Marland's wing would have hit him squarely in the face. Not that Shodin seemed to realise this or care.
Ears flat, Marland watched Shodin come again with the cream and then only tensed at the burning sensation. He held himself in place, growling, trying to not to react to the pain. Which made the pain worse either way.
"All right," Shodin murmured a few minutes later, "I'm going to go to put on some more cream."
His shoulder felt warmer than before, feeling like there were multiple needles poking his skin at the same time. Not enough to break the skin, but just there, where he could feel their sharpness, but nothing more.
Shodin continued on slowly, this time paying more attention to coating the wounds than on Marland's face, his brows lowered in concentration, his lips pursed a little.
"Shit!"
"Da - Sorry!"
Even then, it didn't stop Shodin from poking a little too hard sometimes.
Marland was constantly growling by the end of it, a steady rumble that ended up being part of the background, he'd been hearing it so long.
"Okay, so bandages next."
He would have snapped at him for stating the obvious, but his jaw was inclined to just stay shut so he continued to growl instead.
"Could you...?"
Without a word, Marland held the end of the bandage in place. He did not like having Shodin that close to him, and in an attempt to distract himself, he tried to figure out why this was worse than the antiseptic. It wasn't like Shodin was that much closer, so it wasn't that, but-
"Do you think you can lift your arm? ... Ah, yes, that's high enough, thank you."
Just putting his arm to that angle increased how much he was growling. He wouldn't have been able to lift it any higher anyway. And now he had to hold it in place while Shodin wrapped the bandage around his chest. His fingers felt weird though, not as responsive as they normally were.
"...Hmm."
That didn't sound good. "What?" Marland grumbled, eyeing him.
"It's your wings; can you can lower them?"
"No," he said bluntly. "I can move them back slightly, but that's it." It was a little awkward when he did it, but still manageable.
"No, that'll be fine."
It was probably the fact that Shodin kept leaving his field of vision every couple of seconds (not that he could see him that much when he was in front of him anyway) that bothered him the most. He couldn't see what he was doing, and every time he left, Marland kept twisting as much as he could to keep him in sight. That earned him a few quirks of the mouth, but Shodin didn’t say anything about it.
When he’d finished, Shodin put the basin on the table, sat down on the chair and looked over his work. "I don't think I did too disastrously for someone who doesn't consciously know how to do it."
"Why'd you help me?" Marland asked, grudging curiosity present. Shodin could have done anything: beaten him up, killed him, ran. They would have made sense. Instead, he'd bandaged him up.
Marland could barely see Shodin's face, surrounded by light like it was, but he heard him sigh. "You were hurt."
It couldn't be that...simple.
"I doubt you believe me," Shodin said, his voice wry, "but...that was it. You were hurt and I wanted to help you. You did the same for me."
Ha. "I didn't; I took you in case you were a xeno I had to kill - it would be easier to do it if I kept you close."
Silence followed that statement. Marland wondered if it was now that he was going to be attacked.
"And? Do you consider me to be dangerous?"
More fucking questions. "You? No. The one that poss - that's too fucking long to say." Marland squinted at Shodin. If they were going to talk about him often, Marland wanted to say something that was short and easy to say. "I'm naming him... Fuck, I dunno, Puzz." Good with names, he was not. "Puzz, only if you're being threatened. The rest of the time," -he would have shrugged, but he couldn't, so he shrugged with one wing instead- "the rest of the time, you’re in control."
"Hmm."
He should just go to bed. Sleep off the headache, just not think for the next while. Not answer any questions until the whatever-it-was was out of his system. Or just not answer any of his questions anymore.
"Marland...?"
His ears flicked down at the tone: cautious, but still wanting to know something. "What?" he grumbled.
"Do you have a place where I can...relieve myself?"
He blinked at him. What...?
Shodin chuckled weakly as he tugged at his hair. "A restroom?"
Oh. ... Right. "It's that door over there," he said, waving a hand to the door next to the cupboard.
"Thank you." Shodin didn't exactly run over, but he did make his way over to it quickly. He opened the door, paused, and then looked at Marland over his shoulder, his eyebrows drawn together.
...Xeno. Different world; different technology. Dammit.
He made his way unsteadily over, flicked on the light and then pointed out the various objects. "Toilet. Sink. Shower an' bath." Please don't ask what they were for; he didn't want to answer that even if he was at full health.
Shodin nodded for each one, smiled at him, and then entered the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
Maybe he could use the time while Shodin was in there to crawl into bed. Hide before the next set of questions were gathered up and thrown at him. And then Shodin would probably worry about him and start pounding on his door just as he fell asleep anyway.
Marland went to the kitchen, and riffled around for his painkillers. He found some of them, downed them and then went back to the chair, sinking down on it thankfully slow enough that he didn't jar anything. He eyed the sink but he didn’t have enough energy to wash the bitter taste of it from his mouth.
It wasn't long Shodin before came back, the sound of the flush grating on Marland's ears. In some ways, he was thankful; that meant he wouldn't have to explain absolutely everything to him.
Shodin paused a couple of feet away from him, studying him. "You should rest," he eventually said.
Marland glared at him. He should just give up trying to predict what Shodin would do; it was never going to be what he expected.
Growling low in his chest, Marland went to his bedroom, crawled on top of his bed, and then fell straight to sleep.
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Summary: The world of Torpin is open, dragging in xeni from other 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 xeni that seek only to destroy what's around them. On one job, a human xeno 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: R
Notes: Contains swearing, bloody fighting and death.
Aaaah, I want to start writing these two again! XDD
Genre: Urban fantasy
Word count: 5,613
Total word count: 12,383
Status: Work in Progress (reposting, but is complete)
Marland hated shopping. The lights in the shop were too bright for his eyes, and he continually had to squint to make sure he didn't walk right into someone as the world narrowed into a blur of white, and dark shadows. It didn't help that he was always consciously aware of his wings, making sure that they didn't stick out, in case he toppled something from the shelves or display.
One good thing was the shop at least had regular xeno customers, so he didn't stand out as much as he could have. The cashiers were sometimes friendly, sometimes absolutely terrified that they essentially hid in the back room for the whole night. Marland didn't see those ones much after that.
Thank fuck they had self-service machines installed.
He left quickly, the bags making noises no matter how he held them, and then stood in one of the shadows away from the shop for a few minutes to let his eyes adjust back to the darkness.
One of his ears twitched to the right. What had that been? He stilled, waiting. The stupid bags rustled in the wind, but it wasn't enough to cover the faint sound of pounding footsteps, the gasping breaths, followed by a scrabbling of claws on the pavement. Whatever it was, it was much larger than a big dog.
Shit.
Quickly, Marland stashed the shopping away in a dry-looking corner of the alley and followed the sounds. He tracked them, after having to pause at junctions, straining his ears, and hoping like fuck he wouldn't bump into any humans. It wasn't that late that the streets should be completely empty. And just as he thought that, a car came around the corner, its headlights searing pain directly into his brain. He could hear panicked screams coming from inside, and the car swerved, heading straight towards him. Crap, crap, crap.
Marland cleared the bonnet by sheer luck, and was then nearly thrown off as the car sharply changed direction again, his claws the only thing keeping him on it.
Dammit, at this rate, he'd lose them. Marland jumped one more time and miraculously landed on the top of the car and didn't skid off, his claws helping him to stay in place. It took one more leap to land on all fours behind it. The last sounds he'd heard of the xeno had come from the direction he was facing and he started sprinting that way, hoping that the humans wouldn't attempt to reverse on him.
They didn't, getting the car back on the road and roaring away, the occupants still yelling inside. The silence they'd left rang but Marland kept his ears pricked, hoping that the human was still alive, his eyes squeezed shut, waiting for his eyes to start functioning again.
There. It sounded like something just toppled over, and that was a triumphant howl. Shitshitshit - he was going to be too late again.
Marland skidded around the corner, flames already in his hand, his eyes frantically scanning for something out of place. The street looked empty, the streetlamps making it glow yellow but there wasn't - movement to his left.
He sprinted forward and threw a fireball at the hulking form above the quaking human on the ground. The xeno was bulky, its form more round than humanoid, though the way that it was holding itself suggested that it could possibly look human if you stripped the extra fat away. There were three fingers at the end of each limb, one finger to the back, while the other two were paired off together. At the end of each finger, there was a pale hooked claw the length of Marland's thumb. Pale yellow, its head was bird-like, with a protruding beak and extensions coming out of its neck that looked like they could be ruffled feathers. It had two beady eyes on the side facing Marland and it shrieked at him, turning to face him, his magic not strong enough to knock it down.
Which was when he slammed into it, claws first. He threw it off its feet completely and they skidded along the ground for a few seconds. Before they'd stopped completely, Marland had raked five green blood streaks in the xeno's torso and then threw himself off as the xeno opened its mouth and hissed, the extensions shivering in warning. Just in time; the xeno spat something where his head had just been.
Wings flared for balance, Marland aimed for its head this time with his magic. It missed, the xeno surprisingly quick for its size.
There was a crash to his left. Marland turned his head slightly, keeping the xeno in his line of sight as he looked at what was. The xeno wasn't so cautious, taking its entire attention off him and towards whatever had made the noise.
It was the human, trying to shrink further into the shadows. Satisfied it wasn't another xeno or an attacking human, Marland charged at the xeno, his wings poised above his head. The xeno's head snapped back to him straight away, and Marland had to twist out of the way of whatever it was spitting at him. Another gout of flame, smaller this time, aimed for the eyes. It ducked, going on all fours, a shriek piercing his ears a second later. Then it lowered its head and charged at him.
Marland scored it right along where its spine should be with his fire. It howled, but kept going stubbornly forward, barely slowing down. It cleared the space between them in one powerful leap and caught Marland straight in the chest. He snarled as he landed on his back, his wings getting crushed under the weight of both of them.
The xeno started hissing in his face above him as it pinned him down and Marland could see every single of the extension-things vibrating. Shit. Shit. He drove his claws into its side and then dragged down. The spit landed beside his head as the xeno jerked back with a roar.
In retaliation, the xeno tore at his shoulder, piercing his scales, creating furrows in his shoulder as it backed away from him, the 'feathers' shaking incessantly. Marland could see its blood dripping steadily onto the ground as it crouched down. He got to his feet as quickly as he could, aching around his chest and all over his wings. He was probably going to be picking dirt and grit off them for a week. Before he'd gotten up completely, the xeno was bearing down on him again.
He flicked his wings out and covered himself with them before he flared them out again, towards the xeno. It was enough. The action was enough to startle it enough to make the xeno hesitate. His hand full of flames, Marland lashed out. It was still fast enough to dodge and he only glanced off its cheek. Dammit.
That brought him close enough for it lash out at him too. Arm raised, its claws slashed right through to the vulnerable skin in his right shoulder. The world sharpened around the pain and the fire in his hand flickered. Fuck. Fucking hell. Clenching his teeth, Marland hissed right back at it, turned his hand around and slashed right across its face, taking the eyes on its right side out.
Marland wildly struck out with his left hand while it was still screeching, the flames there only half its strength they could have been – he caught the xeno on its beak, but it was barely a scratch.
Snapping his wing into its side affected it much more.
It stumbled a step to the side and Marland used that brief breathing space to call his magic back to his hand, resolutely ignoring the stabbing pain in his shoulder and how sluggish his magic seemed to respond to him. He was fine. It was just his perception of time that was affected. That was all.
The xeno charged again, on four legs now. Marland threw the fireball at its face - this time, it was a solid hit, leaving green streaks in its wake. The right side of its face was a wet mess of green blood and flesh, white bone visible between it all. It skittered back, shrieking with every step.
Every nerve in Marland's body was stretched, expecting to hear sirens in seconds. This fight was far too loud and it had gone on for far too long. There had to be at least one person who'd called for the police, for the hunters.
Just a few more minutes more. Then the fight would be over. The xeno seemed to think so too, the extensions shaking for all their worth. Some of the blood had started to trail down on the left side of its head. Maybe...
The xeno wavered back and forth, retreating and coming back again every few steps. The movement caused the trickle to fall faster, and it weaved its way straight into the xeno's eyes. It blinked, shaking its head and pawing at its face.
One small fireball, aimed for the mouth. It was a direct hit and the xeno reared back, exposing its neck. One lunge, one thrust and Marland had most of its throat in his hand. The xeno wavered on its feet for a few seconds - he could hear and see the xeno trying to breathe. It collapsed in a heap, twitching, but it eventually stilled. Marland waited a few more seconds, his ears straining to hear anything else but the xeno didn't move again.
Still keeping an eye out, Marland allowed himself to relax a little, his wings drooping slightly, already starting to feel the burn from his shoulder, incessant and demanding attention. He groped around his collarbone with his left hand, fingers eventually finding the thick chain, following it around until they bumped into the circular disk. He fumbled with it for a few seconds, his arm feeling like it was losing its strength just by holding itself up before he pressed the small button embedded in it.
That done, he stumbled to the closest alley he could find and waited, trying not to notice just how much blood was trailing down his chest. Shit. He pressed his hand to his shoulder - and then the world span, tipping on its side as the colours flashed and brightened. Wha-? What'd...? Ears flat to his skull, Marland peered at his hand. Or attempted to; his hand wasn't staying still in his vision, sliding left and right, before going back again.
Green hand with gold swirls, normal. Green blood, darker than his scales, yeah, wasn't his. 'Cause he didn't have green blood; his was red. The thin blue liquid that was spread across his palm... Not sure. Marland blinked, and then looked away. It didn't help with the swaying he could feel in his head, his body following suit. The entire street was a haze of colours, and he was having a hard time telling the difference between the road and the buildings. Or maybe he was looking down the road. Hard to tell.
Marland wanted to be sick, his stomach a whirlpool inside him.
He stayed leaning on the wall, his wing getting crushed beside him, but he didn't mind that much. Other things were more important.
There was a rumble of tires coming steadily closer. That was what was more important.
Awkwardly, Marland got to his feet properly, using his claws on the wall to help, and peered around the corner. Black something coming up. Fuck did his head hurt. No, he had to concent... His head wouldn't stop pounding. Distracting him.
The...big...van? stopped beside the xeno, the engine still running. There was a 'click' as a door opened and - and fucking hell. He could barely see but that was not Laris - too thin, too short, blond instead of black-haired. Shit shit shit - what the hell -
"Dammit, Nav," a familiar voice hissed from inside the van, "I told ya ta wait 'till I told ya you could come out." Laris. Marland could feel his breathing come back to semi-normality. Good.
"Oh, come on, Laris - the xeno's dead so it's not like I'm in any kinda danger or anything." The voice was younger, male.
"Were you listening to me when I told you about Marland?" Laris growled. There was something about that. Something he should pay attention to. Taking a deep breath, Marland pricked his ears towards them, listening to what they would say.
"Yeah, yeah," Nav said, and Marland could hear something rustling. "Doesn't like people, pretty paranoid, looks a bit different."
Marland flinched as a van door slammed shut. "He's a xeno."
There was a brief silence. "...Really?" Marland's head was too disorganised, too - too soft (something?) to be even think about interpreting Nav's tone.
"So, no, ya really weren't listening t'me." Footsteps going around the van, scuffing every couple of steps. "You can't be fallin' asleep already; s'only twelve."
"Hey," Nav protested weakly, "I haven't been doing this for long, you know?"
Laris sighed. "Marland, s'all right - the kid's with me," he called out in a louder voice.
"I'm not a kid," Nav muttered.
"Y'are t'me, so shut it."
Slowly, Marland made his way out in the open, keeping an unsteady eye on the two of them.
"Ya look like shit, Marland," Laris said succinctly, his arms crossed.
Marland's ears were already pretty much entirely flat on his head already so they couldn't go any lower. "Feel like it." Not really. Worse. His heart ached every time it beat and - he shook his head slowly, trying to focus again. He wanted to press his hand to his shoulder, but - no, can't - couldn't, even if he'd wiped his hand to clean it, he didn't - couldn't, know if the - the acid? poison? was still there.
Nav had surprisingly stayed in place, maybe hadn't even reached for a weapon. But Laris was in front of him, so, blocking view or stopping him?
"Acid or poison mouth so..." He shook his head slowly again, taking a deep breath. That was enough to understand his warning.
"We'll be careful, don't worry." There was a small smile in Laris' voice. "So, this eejit's Nav." Laris nodded to the man over his shoulder.
"Why... Why is he with you?" Hell that had been hard to get out. Everything just felt out of sync, running far slower than normal. The world tilting on him didn't help either.
"Just, for just in case." Laris shrugged. "I'm gettin' older, and yer gonna need someone who doesn't attack ya on sight."
That was definitely true; there weren't that many collectors willing to collect for a xeno when their job was to collect xeno corpses. Marland peered at Nav, the inherent movement in his head starting to settle down. He didn't look that scared - wide eyes, gaping at him, but not like he was going to bolt or attack him. Marland had seen that enough to know the signs, even drugged as he was.
"Anything else about the xeno?" Laris prompted him.
Poisonous or acidic. Could walk on both two legs and four. Shaking 'feathers' was a warning before it spat. "No." He could feel his blood seeping from his wound and he wanted nothing more than to clean it away.
No. Not true. He wanted to go home, out of the eye of the rest of the world, curl up and just stay there, where he didn't have to keep a constant lookout all the time. After cleaning the wound. …So he was right the first time.
"All right." Laris pulled out an envelope and handed it to him. Marland pocketed it without checking the contents; it was routine now that he didn't worry about there being anything else in it other than money. "See ya next time," Laris said as he turned away and started poking at the xeno with a foot.
So, Marland thought muzzily, he'd come from that direction, and...and he'd left the shopping somewhere. Slowly and unsteadily, he started making his way back.
"Uh... Laris?" Nav hadn't been paying attention when Laris told him that he had good hearing either. Or Laris hadn't told him. Keeping his voice down didn't do much, apart from making Marland pay more attention to it. "Shouldn't he be...you know?"
Well, Nav had already shown that he could think past terror, so expecting him to want him to live was too far. Marland wasn't sure if that thought made any sense.
"What?" Gruff and distracted, and there was the snap of gloves. A second later there was another snap of gloves.
"Going to the hospital?"
...What was it recently, with humans acting in a way he wasn't expecting?
There was a bark of laughter. "Right; he walks in covered in blood and barely able to speak - ha, fuck that - he walks in and they'll attack him on the spot."
"Oh. ... Shit."
Laris snorted. "Yeah. Won't take any help, so no point in offering either."
"Ah, wondered about that."
"C'mon, grab it by the ankles."
"But-"
"The rope."
"Ah, right, right. Haha..."
A sigh. "You're bringing coffee with you tomorrow, got that?"
The conversation pretty much stopped at that point, and Marland had mostly gotten out of his earshot by then anyway.
This was the road where he'd nearly been ran over, and he'd taken a...right at the junction, so he should go left. His memory of how he got to the end of that street was a little fuzzy though. So, that shop looked familiar, and he'd been looking at it from...that direction, so that meant going straight.
Some time later, Marland's head had started to clear. He still wasn't thinking completely normally, but he was able to find the shopping, still untouched, and the flat was only a few minutes' walk away from there.
He staggered up the stairwell, maybe leaving blood marks all over the walls. Again. Shit. Through some miracle, he was able to open his door and he stumbled in, sighing in relief as soon as the door clicked shut. The lack of light was a balm for his straining eyes. Marland stood there for a few minutes, pretty much pressing himself up against the door, his feet keeping him in place only because he'd hooked his claws into the floor.
When he felt slightly better, he moved to the kitchen area - misjudged, misstepped, walked right into the table (fridge?) and the world started spinning again.
He couldn't stop it this time, the world brightening up to the point of pain and Marland only saw the ground whirling towards him.
Bang. Bang bang. 'Marland?' Bangbangbang.
Shut up. Shutupshutupshutup.
Bangbang. 'Marland, can you hear me?' Bang.
Fucking hell, why wasn't it shutting up?
Marland whimpered, flail – shit. The pain in his shoulder spiked, waking him up entirely. Shit; his shoulder started bleeding again, and had already left a decently-sized puddle on his floor. Barring the headache that felt like his brain was trying to squeeze out through his eyeballs and ears, he felt that he could think more in straight lines and in full sentences.
’Marland, can you hear me? Can you answer me?’ More pounding on the door. Each strike was like someone was slamming his head on the ground.
Fucking – Shitting – Argh! Marland heaved himself upright, his limbs shaking under him. He nearly stumbled into the couch, then nearly over the table. He finally reached the door, and he thumped on it first before he reached for the key. He missed it the first time, and then got it the next time by running his hand up the door.
Light flooded his eyes and he flinched away, his ears flat and his eyes squeezed shut, and his wings moved forward to shield his head.
"Mar-" Shodin cut himself off as he presumably saw the state that he was in. "What happened to you?"
"Fight," Marland grunted, testing his eyes’ sensitivity. The light was still too much on the bright side, but it didn’t hurt as much as before. He moved away from the square of light; Shodin followed.
He didn’t care if Shodin attacked him now – maybe it’d stop the throbbing and every little scrape and gaping wound making its needs known extremely clearly.
"Marland, you need help with that shoulder," Shodin said, his voice barely over a whisper.
"No, I don’t," he mumbled half-heartedly, fully intending to go to bed, really, but the floor was closer, and Marland sank down with as much grace as he could: none whatsoever.
He heard footsteps walk away, back to the bedroom. Good. Just leave him alone. The footsteps came back a few scant seconds later and Shodin sat down next to his head.
"Can you turn over?"
Marland growled, and swatted him with his wing. Or tried to - his shoulder spasmed as his muscles tightened.
"I’m not leaving until I’ve at least bound your shoulder."
He glared up at Shodin. "You even know how to do that?"
"I’m not entirely sure," Shodin admitted, one hand already unrolling one of the bandages. He’d bought more today, hadn’t he? "But I can emulate what you did yesterday in the very least."
"Who says I'm gonna let you do that?"
Shodin raised his eyebrows at him, not looking impressed. "I could attempt to lift you up myself; I think it would be better for both us if I didn't."
He snorted. "You're as injured as I am - don't think you'd be able t'move me anywhere."
"That was my point." There was a small smile on Shodin's face as he said that. "But, you are far more injured than I am; I doubt I ever lost that much blood."
Marland had to agree with that. If he let Shodin bandage him up, he'd go then away - and he really had no idea why he was acting so idiotic right now. He knew what unknown substances could do, yet he wasn't doing anything about it. Maybe it was because of whatever the spit had been.
The only problem was that he wasn't in any way comfortable with letting Shodin patch him up.
"Well?" Shodin peered down at him. And, fuck, Shodin would need to turn on the lights to see.
"Fine." Unsteadily, Marland eased himself up and when he started to get to his feet, Shodin reached out a hand towards him. He snarled at that, backing away and nearly fell over completely. Pain spiked up again from his shoulder and he snarled again, his ears flat.
"You can just sit here," Shodin said, leaning forward. "You don't have to fully get up."
"Yes, I do," Marland said through gritted teeth.
Shodin frowned at him. "You'll make it worse the more you move around."
"So let me siddown." He stumbled a few steps to the closest chair and fell on top of it. Which set off his shoulder again. He really wasn't thinking at the moment.
"Marland." Shodin sighed. "You didn't have to do that."
"Yeah, I did." Marland motioned to the lamp with a wing. "You need light, and I need my wings not t'be crushed."
Shodin blinked, and then slowly looked him up and down, taking in the full length of his wings; the only way he’d be able to sit with his ass on the floor would be if his wings had been snapped in half.
"Oh..."
Marland turned his head away with his eyes shut when Shodin turned the lamp on, but that just meant he was facing the light coming out from Shodin's room. The problem was, he wouldn't be able to just sit there and not double-check what Shodin was doing to his shoulder, which meant he had to pretty much stare directly at the lamp.
"There's a bunch of clean cloths in the cupboard over there," Marland told him, waving to the door to their right, watching where Shodin went. "Use the basin that's in the sink."
While Shodin busied himself with the water, Marland stared at his hand. His ears flicked down when he saw the blue whatever-it-was was still there, dried into his scales. He'd have to wash that off before everything else, just in case. Shodin turned towards him when he approached.
"Hand. Poisonous. Drugs. Something," he attempted to explain, not really bothering. He twisted the tap out the way while Shodin stepped away and stuck his hand under the stream, away from the lip of the basin. He waited a few seconds and scrubbed at it with his claws to make sure, then flicked the excess water off and made his way back to the chair. This time, he eased himself down on it. Maybe he was finally starting to think properly again.
Shodin came back a few seconds later, the basin in his hands. He pulled the other chair up closer and set the basin on it. "All right, I'll start then."
Marland growled at him, his eyes narrowed. "You don't have to warn me." He could see he was about to start.
Shodin hummed. "Yes, but I have a feeling that you won't want to talk much, and I don't really like silence."
With the amount that he talked and asked questions, that wasn't a surprise.
"Just tell me if it becomes too painful."
It already was on the way to becoming 'too painful', flaring up and dying down in throbbing cycles. There wasn't any point in telling him though.
The water was cool against his burning skin, but no matter how slowly Shodin moved the cloth, it tugged and felt like it was trying to pull his skin off in chunks. The water in the basin quickly turned from transparent to a light brown colour and then deepened every time Shodin dunked the cloth back in. All the way through, Shodin kept an equal eye on both the wound and on his face; for what, Marland wasn't completely sure.
The angle for seeing his shoulder was awkward, but he could see some of it. There were two ragged gashes where the claws had scraped his skin, not looking as deep or as large as they felt. The holes had mostly stopped bleeding, but there was still fluid leaking out sluggishly. His skin had bruised spectacularly as well already, covering the entire exposed part.
The antiseptic was going to hurt like fuck, Marland realised, his ears flattening, when Shodin had finished and started to reach for the tube.
Marland clenched his teeth and then nearly walloped Shodin with his wing out of sheer reflex the first time Shodin touched him with the cream. He had been lucky that he had been standing off to the side, or else the hooked claw at the bend of Marland's wing would have hit him squarely in the face. Not that Shodin seemed to realise this or care.
Ears flat, Marland watched Shodin come again with the cream and then only tensed at the burning sensation. He held himself in place, growling, trying to not to react to the pain. Which made the pain worse either way.
"All right," Shodin murmured a few minutes later, "I'm going to go to put on some more cream."
His shoulder felt warmer than before, feeling like there were multiple needles poking his skin at the same time. Not enough to break the skin, but just there, where he could feel their sharpness, but nothing more.
Shodin continued on slowly, this time paying more attention to coating the wounds than on Marland's face, his brows lowered in concentration, his lips pursed a little.
"Shit!"
"Da - Sorry!"
Even then, it didn't stop Shodin from poking a little too hard sometimes.
Marland was constantly growling by the end of it, a steady rumble that ended up being part of the background, he'd been hearing it so long.
"Okay, so bandages next."
He would have snapped at him for stating the obvious, but his jaw was inclined to just stay shut so he continued to growl instead.
"Could you...?"
Without a word, Marland held the end of the bandage in place. He did not like having Shodin that close to him, and in an attempt to distract himself, he tried to figure out why this was worse than the antiseptic. It wasn't like Shodin was that much closer, so it wasn't that, but-
"Do you think you can lift your arm? ... Ah, yes, that's high enough, thank you."
Just putting his arm to that angle increased how much he was growling. He wouldn't have been able to lift it any higher anyway. And now he had to hold it in place while Shodin wrapped the bandage around his chest. His fingers felt weird though, not as responsive as they normally were.
"...Hmm."
That didn't sound good. "What?" Marland grumbled, eyeing him.
"It's your wings; can you can lower them?"
"No," he said bluntly. "I can move them back slightly, but that's it." It was a little awkward when he did it, but still manageable.
"No, that'll be fine."
It was probably the fact that Shodin kept leaving his field of vision every couple of seconds (not that he could see him that much when he was in front of him anyway) that bothered him the most. He couldn't see what he was doing, and every time he left, Marland kept twisting as much as he could to keep him in sight. That earned him a few quirks of the mouth, but Shodin didn’t say anything about it.
When he’d finished, Shodin put the basin on the table, sat down on the chair and looked over his work. "I don't think I did too disastrously for someone who doesn't consciously know how to do it."
"Why'd you help me?" Marland asked, grudging curiosity present. Shodin could have done anything: beaten him up, killed him, ran. They would have made sense. Instead, he'd bandaged him up.
Marland could barely see Shodin's face, surrounded by light like it was, but he heard him sigh. "You were hurt."
It couldn't be that...simple.
"I doubt you believe me," Shodin said, his voice wry, "but...that was it. You were hurt and I wanted to help you. You did the same for me."
Ha. "I didn't; I took you in case you were a xeno I had to kill - it would be easier to do it if I kept you close."
Silence followed that statement. Marland wondered if it was now that he was going to be attacked.
"And? Do you consider me to be dangerous?"
More fucking questions. "You? No. The one that poss - that's too fucking long to say." Marland squinted at Shodin. If they were going to talk about him often, Marland wanted to say something that was short and easy to say. "I'm naming him... Fuck, I dunno, Puzz." Good with names, he was not. "Puzz, only if you're being threatened. The rest of the time," -he would have shrugged, but he couldn't, so he shrugged with one wing instead- "the rest of the time, you’re in control."
"Hmm."
He should just go to bed. Sleep off the headache, just not think for the next while. Not answer any questions until the whatever-it-was was out of his system. Or just not answer any of his questions anymore.
"Marland...?"
His ears flicked down at the tone: cautious, but still wanting to know something. "What?" he grumbled.
"Do you have a place where I can...relieve myself?"
He blinked at him. What...?
Shodin chuckled weakly as he tugged at his hair. "A restroom?"
Oh. ... Right. "It's that door over there," he said, waving a hand to the door next to the cupboard.
"Thank you." Shodin didn't exactly run over, but he did make his way over to it quickly. He opened the door, paused, and then looked at Marland over his shoulder, his eyebrows drawn together.
...Xeno. Different world; different technology. Dammit.
He made his way unsteadily over, flicked on the light and then pointed out the various objects. "Toilet. Sink. Shower an' bath." Please don't ask what they were for; he didn't want to answer that even if he was at full health.
Shodin nodded for each one, smiled at him, and then entered the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
Maybe he could use the time while Shodin was in there to crawl into bed. Hide before the next set of questions were gathered up and thrown at him. And then Shodin would probably worry about him and start pounding on his door just as he fell asleep anyway.
Marland went to the kitchen, and riffled around for his painkillers. He found some of them, downed them and then went back to the chair, sinking down on it thankfully slow enough that he didn't jar anything. He eyed the sink but he didn’t have enough energy to wash the bitter taste of it from his mouth.
It wasn't long Shodin before came back, the sound of the flush grating on Marland's ears. In some ways, he was thankful; that meant he wouldn't have to explain absolutely everything to him.
Shodin paused a couple of feet away from him, studying him. "You should rest," he eventually said.
Marland glared at him. He should just give up trying to predict what Shodin would do; it was never going to be what he expected.
Growling low in his chest, Marland went to his bedroom, crawled on top of his bed, and then fell straight to sleep.