Searching [Chapter 7]

[esp_dragon]

Fandom: 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.
Aaaah, forgot that plotbunny about the first time Kendal and Marland met! XD; And the minutes before Shodin first met Marland!
Wow, not that many italics! \o/
I did not realise that I'd made so many threads that I could use to make a sequel… XD;
Genre: Urban fantasy
Word count: 7,889
Total word count: 51,158
Status: Work in Progress (reposting, but is complete)



Over the next couple of weeks, Shodin started to slowly make progress with controlling his magic and not panicking. He still reacted when he started calling the magic, but it wasn’t as severe as the first time. Shodin still got shaky legs afterwards (which was why he started to sit on the couch when he practiced), and his breath quickened, but that was the majority of the reaction. He also recovered a lot faster, which, in some cases, Marland found unfortunate because then he had to deal with the random lighting up of the room numerous times in the one day.

One of the other downsides was that Shodin started eating a lot. Marland didn't know how much a human normally ate, but he thought that Shodin was surpassing that by quite a bit. Shodin seemed sheepish about it, so if Marland had to guess, it was because of the magic that Shodin seemed quite able to eat something that would have probably fed two people.

On the other hand, Shodin didn't come out shopping with him anymore, because he was normally still recovering after attempting to call up the magic, and Marland had flat out refused to let him come anyway, because, while yeah, Shodin had most definitely saved him in that fight, Marland didn't want to find out the hard way if that was a fluke and Shodin didn't really know how to, say, aim.

It was over two weeks later that Marland found himself glaring at Shodin, his ears flat, while Shodin chuckled weakly, and rubbed the back of his head, while they both eyed the smouldering hole in the couch.

"Uh, my apologies."

It wasn't exactly a big hole –Marland would only be able to poke one of his fingers in it- so it wasn't something to throw a fit over. And it wasn't like he liked or even used the couch, so it didn't really matter to him.

Marland was more concerned about the couch possibly catching on fire.

It didn't look like it was going happen to at the moment, but with the speed that Shodin was improving, he might end up causing it in a few days. That still wasn't what bothered Marland the most.

"That was lightning," he stated flatly. Not that he had seen the damn thing, but the afterimages in his eyes seemed to think so. Marland wasn't quite sure how the hell he was going to fight alongside Shodin. ...Wear sunglasses? He didn't think they would affect his sight that much, and he'd never tried them on properly. But, his ears were positioned wrong, too high compared to humans' ears, so he wouldn't be able to wear the ones that humans wore easily - not unless he taped it to his head, which, no, wouldn't work or stay there when he was fighting.

Shodin blinked up at him, and then studied the hole again. "It was?"

"Yeah." Which didn't make sense. Shodin had been freaked out about the thunderstorm, but he could throw lightning around? Maybe that was just an instinctual thing. Or something.

"Ah..." Shodin continued to study it for a little while longer before he leaned back on the couch, a sigh on his lips. He tugged at his hair tail that had found its way over his shoulder, playing with it. "Then I guess I should no longer practice indoors?"

Marland snorted, one ear flicking down. "No." Which then left the problem of where Shodin would practice. It would have to be a secluded area, one blocked off from easy sight, and could also hide the light that Shodin created well, but wasn't so blocked off that it ended up trapping them if they needed to run. Yeah, that wouldn't be hard.

He sighed, and moved his head to look at the blinds covering the window. It was dark enough that he'd be all right walking the streets, and he was so glad sunset was slowly becoming earlier and earlier. He wished that it would be faster though, but then that would mean he would also have to look to the winter months coming faster, which, ugh, no. His wings curled up closer to him at the thought.

They didn't need to get any shopping, and they were stocked up for the next three days. Unless when Shodin started using his magic 'properly', his appetite went through the roof again. He eyed him. Shodin looked back, curious, but waiting to see what he would say. He really hoped not. They definitely had enough money at the moment, so that wasn't a problem either, so Marland didn't have to go hunting. So all they had to do was find a place for Shodin to practice. And that still didn't sound simple.

Shaking his head and huffing, Marland jerked his head towards the door. "Come on."

Grinning, his mouth stretched wide, Shodin went off to get ready.

* * *
They had been wandering around for about half-an-hour, poking their heads into any kind of space they could find, but they weren't having that much luck. Most of them were too open, or too easily accessible for Marland's tastes. Also, some of them were too lit up, putting Marland in full display. They had taken one look at that place, shared a look, and then walked off without saying a word. Others still were too close to residential areas, too many windows looking down from flats.

Marland turned his head as he heard a faint crash in the distance. His ears flicked down for a second before they went up again; he craned to hear where it had come from.

Shodin, who had been humming the theme song to...something, one of those bad daytime television shows, noticed and trailed off, tensing alongside him. Yet another xeno. Marland had hoped that they wouldn't run into one, at least, not today, but maybe it was better now than it was later, after Shodin had exhausted himself. His ears still searching, Marland considered that thought.

He shouldn't let Shodin practice magic for too long, because he'd still need the energy to get home, and Marland didn't want to carry him. Especially if they got jumped on the way home. Or someone thought that he was re-kidnapping Shodin again. So they should probably do it by a timer, or after a certain amount of times Shodin had tried. The second one was probably better, especially since neither of them had a watch.

Another crash echoed in the distance, and it seemed like it had come from the same place as before. His ears still pricked towards the sound, Marland quickly headed in that direction, Shodin on his heels. This time, there wasn't any sound of running (apart from himself and Shodin behind him) so maybe the xeno hadn't found anyone yet. Or already had. Marland hoped it was the former.

He could hear the xeno as it rummaged through whatever it had toppled over, bags hissing and metal clattering when they hit the ground. It sounded fairly small though, and on its own at least.

They hurried around the corner, Marland already calling his fire to his hands, and then stopped short; Shodin crashed into one of his wings when he didn't slow down fast enough. They nearly ended up in a heap on the ground, his wing nearly flinging Shodin away when Marland tried to use them to steady himself.

The fox, seeing them and their antics instantly, bared its teeth with its ears flat and then bolted, the tip of its tail the only thing visible even to Marland's eyes after a few seconds.

"Wha-? Marland?" Shodin rubbed his jaw where Marland's wing must have scraped him. His beard must have protected him a little bit from that; there wasn't any blood at least.

"It was a fox," he said, glancing at the strewn rubbish that had spread over most of the pavement. It stank, and Marland's snout wrinkled. Ugh. It smelled like it had been sitting there for at least a couple of days now. Didn't anyone come here to collect it?

"A fox?"

"It's related to dogs." Marland started taking in the area around them as a whole. It was quiet, with barely any cars parked on the road. There were hardly any street lamps, and the ones that weren't broken threw the street into a dull yellow light, rather than a harsh white one. It explained why the fox had been brave enough to go out in plain sight. If they were where Marland thought they were, then there should some kind of warehouse nearby…

"So, they're normal here?"

Marland just looked at him, his head tilted down and his ears forward.

At that, Shodin chuckled, ducking his head. "Normal as in, not a xeno."

"Yeah."

They started walking down the road, following the direction that the fox had taken before it had dived under a hedge. Huh. Marland could barely hear any passing cars from here, and it didn't sound like they came around that often either. His ears were in constant motion, trying to hear any signs of life, but it didn't seem like it.

Shodin followed him as Marland checked out the street. A couple of minutes later, they stood in a large, dark, empty carpark that was only illuminated by a weak, flickering light on the other side of the area where Marland and Shodin were standing in.

The place had two entrances, with fairly high walls surrounding the warehouse shop. They were high enough that they'd be hard to spot from the corners – not so much when Shodin started casting magic, but they shouldn't be seen, even if their position was given away.

It put Marland's nerves on edge to do something like this, but there wasn't much else they could do. They wouldn't be so noticeable if Shodin practiced when the sun was up, but then it would be Marland who would be drawing attention to them, and he drew enough attention already. Not to mention, he wouldn't be able to see. He also didn't want to let Shodin go out by himself, because he'd been waking up recently to Shodin on the verge of collapse on the couch because he'd been pushing himself too hard. He could end up doing just that while he was practicing outside.

"Do you think this is a good spot?" Shodin asked as he glanced around, his fingers already moving and curling.

Marland turned his head away. He heard a chuckle before their corner began glowing. Marland could see his shadow clearly on the ground. It didn't fade out and fade back in like it would have a couple of weeks ago.

After a number of seconds, Marland could hear a faint crackling sound, like someone was crushing a bag of crisps. It grew in volume slowly, and then his shadow flickered, lengthening to double its height in between one blink and the next.

He was left with a faint afterimage of his shadow in his eyes. With one ear turned towards Shodin, he listened for anything out of the ordinary. All he could hear was Shodin panting hard, but it didn't sound like he'd collapsed into the wall either.

Not waiting for his eyes to adjust completely, Marland dug into one of his pockets and pulled out a bar of chocolate. It was one of the easiest things Shodin could eat when he could barely move, they'd found. Through numerous trial-and-error, they'd also found that Shodin's favourite flavour of chocolate was hazelnut, while he found the dark chocolate not to his taste.

The bar was pushed gently away. "I don't need it quite yet."

Blinking through the bright spots, Marland tried to see if Shodin was just pretending, or if he really was okay. Already, his breath was coming easier and didn't sound so laboured. Hmm, that was good; it didn't seem like they'd have to buy even more food for Shodin.

Once Marland's eyes cleared up, he looked at the wall around Shodin. He could see a small dusting of rocks by the wall, and when he looked up, he found a number of little holes about the same size as the one that was in his couch. He was beginning to wonder if Shodin could be hurt by his own magic; Marland wasn't hurt by his own magic, though he could feel its heat, but their magics were different from each other.

Shodin waited for a little while before he tried again, just in case there was a delayed side effect, but there didn't seem to be one. He did it a few more times, with the same rest period in between; Marland's eyes adjusted to the flashes better and better each time - or else that could have been Shodin somehow controlling his magic’s brightness.

"I think that should be enough for today," Shodin eventually said, and Marland eyed him suspiciously. He was surprised Shodin wasn't pushing himself harder. "I doubt you'd want to carry me home," he added, smiling at him.

And Marland really didn't know how Shodin always seemed to know what he was thinking – he didn't think his body language (even with his ears) was that easy to read. Or was he just that predictable?

He snorted at that, before his ears twitched and turned towards the further exit. That sounded like tires coming to a halt. And that was another car slowing down right next to it. Marland would have liked to believe that it was Kendal's team, but they only had the one van, and there was no way they would have found out about Marland and Shodin being there already.

The doors were opened carefully, and were shut as quietly as they could. There were at least…four people there, and it didn't seem like they were talking, unless they were using hand signals.

"We're going."

Shodin nodded, his face cautious, trying to peer where Marland had his attention to, and then they both started hurrying out. They were only two steps away from the exit when Marland heard a suspicious 'click'. A second later, he hauled Shodin out the car park by the scruff of his jacket, and hopefully into relative safety. As soon as they moved, the wall that had been behind them cracked and showered brick onto the ground.

Shit. Shitshit.

They scrambled to the righ – no, straight forward, there was another car coming towards them on the right, and Marland really hoped that whoever was shooting at him hadn't been organised to cover all routes simultaneously.

They hadn't – their way was clear. Must only be one car on their side. And it was catching up, just about to reach the corner. If they were lucky, the driver hadn’t seen them.

And they weren't lucky. The car went around the corner straight away, gun blasting in the silent night.

Marland and Shodin ducked, and dashed across the street, racing around the first corners they saw.

* * *
Some time later, when Marland and Shodin were completely out of breath, their legs and generally everything else burning, they stopped in a small park, at least partially hidden by darkness and protected by some fairly thick trees. It wasn't great, and it was unfortunately right next to a road, but it was the best they could do at that point.

They were quiet for a while as they struggled to catch their breath as quickly as possible. Shodin was sitting on the ground, his back to a tree, while Marland braced a hand above his head, flapping his wings as quietly as he could.

"Guns?" Shodin finally asked, his voice wheezy.

"Guns," he affirmed, the word coming out more like a growl.

Shodin shook his head, brushing sweat away from his forehead, and then stiffly pulled off his hair tie to tie his hair up again. "I thought you said guns made things more interesting. Exciting."

Marland glared at him. "In films, yeah. I didn't say anything about real life."

Shodin just laughed, breathless and barely leaving his throat. Grumbling, Marland waited for it to abate, his ears on the lookout for the sound of…anything, really. Cars were bad. So were people. And the sound of claws or paws on the pavement weren’t good either.

Finally it did, and Marland hadn't heard anything, apart from a far distant motorbike, so maybe it would be okay.

"Do you think we'll run into them again?" Shodin asked as he slowly got up, using the tree to help.

"Fuckin' hope not," Marland muttered, stepping away to give him space.

"Hmm, me as well – I'd rather not find out if the injuries in films are accurate in real life, nor do I really wish to find out if I actually can walk around with a hole in my stomach."

Marland rolled his eyes at the light tone Shodin was using. But it was better than panicking at least, and it was a whole lot better than Puzz panicking – Marland wondered why he hadn't taken over.

That was a question to ask when they were safe, not right now.

They made one last careful check around themselves before they left the relative cover of the park.

* * *
Marland and Shodin stumbled back into the flat a couple of hours later, entirely too breathless, their legs shaking, and in Shodin's case, completely drenched in sweat. Marland didn't sweat, but that meant he had more problems cooling down if he ever overexerted himself. He went over to the sink, with a mind to just dunk his head under the running tap, his wings extended and flapping all the while.

"Well that was fucking fun." They'd started getting paranoid of every passing car, so they had weaved their way around Lahstron, backing away every time they heard the sound of tires, or the growl of an engine. It had been starting to get light by the time they made it back, and they'd noticed that the number of vehicles on the road had begun to slowly increase.

Shodin chuckled as he threw himself onto the couch, face first. There were sounds of movement, but then some water gushed right into Marland's ear. He jerked away from the sink, shaking his head and trying to clear his ear. Marland went over to get a clean cloth so he could start cooling down his wings.

"Who were they?" Shodin was lying on his back, one arm covering his eyes, his legs dangling over an armrest when there was enough space for him to lie down on the actual cushions.

"Hunters. Police," Marland guessed. He paused, considering. "Probably police." Mostly because they were a lot easier to call. He also doubted that there was such a large team of hunters together, not unless they were from the government, and even then, he wasn't that big a problem for them to be called in. There were the lies about him, yeah, but that was 'only' one death and a kidnapping – it would be more likely that they would get called in for the cat-like xeni than him, at the rate they were spreading. Marland hadn't seen them again since, but that didn't mean they were completely gone.

"Ah." Shodin was quiet for a while, and Marland was sure that he'd fallen asleep. He heard him jerk suddenly as he dragged the wet cloth over his wings while the basin filled with water, which confirmed that Shodin had at least dozed off.

"I guess we can't go there anymore," Shodin said muzzily.

Marland snorted, wringing the cloth and putting it under the water again. He was leaving a lot of puddles under him already, but he didn't care at that particular moment. "I don't think we can go anywhere." Or, at least, Marland couldn't go with Shodin, and he didn't want Shodin to practice magic by himself outside. Though, for all he knew now, they had a description of Shodin and were going to hunt him down too, for one reason or another. He couldn't muster enough energy to think of a good enough reason why.

His wings cooler and carrying that coolness through his body, Marland carried the basin and dumped it on the kitchen table, water sloshing and some clearing the lip. It splashed onto the table, some of the water missing it completely. Ignoring it, Marland sat down beside it.

He heard a grunt, and Shodin's head became visible over the top of the couch. Shodin leaned on his crossed arms, looking like they were the only thing that was keeping his head up, his eyes already beginning to fall closed again. "Hmm, do you think you could flap your wings in this direction?"

Marland shot him a dry look, his ears forward. He was tempted to stop, but then he'd start overheating again. That said, Marland wasn't exactly positioned to give Shodin the best breeze either, sitting with his side to him, so unless he turned around, it wouldn't seem like he was doing what Shodin asked him.

Chuckling sleepily, Shodin brushed the side of his head with the flat of a palm, and then grimaced when it came away soaked with sweat. He wrinkled his nose as he wiped his hand on his top.

"I'm going for a shower," Shodin said as he heaved himself upright. Marland grunted, one ear flicking down in acknowledgement. Shodin left the room, and after a few moments, came back again, his arms laden with clothes. The bathroom door clicked shut and the sound of the shower started soon after.

Marland let the sound wash over him as he continued to cool his wings down. After what had happened, all he wanted to do was curl up in bed and sleep for the next twenty-four hours, but with the adrenaline still coursing through his system, and the paranoia that a group of people were going to come bursting through his door at any given moment, he knew he wasn't going to sleep any time soon, and if he did, it wouldn't be restful.

He must have been dozing off anyway because Shodin left the shower after it felt like he'd just gone in. Peering blearily at the floor, Marland confirmed that he must have – there was a rather large puddle under him. It had probably been caused when he'd tried to use the cloth without wringing it first. Which he didn't remember doing.

Using a towel to dry his hair, Shodin flopped back onto the couch. All Marland could see was the towel moving, with sometimes a flash of fingers. Maybe his body was tired enough that he'd fall asleep right away if he tried, Marland mused. But probably not.

"The shower woke me up," Shodin said wryly, voice his muffled by the towel. After Shodin had finished with his hair, he started tugging at it with a brush.

So. It looked like neither of them were going to sleep any time soon, and Marland wasn't so desperate for something to do that he'd turn on the TV and start watching the news or any movie that was on.

Sighing, he shook his wings to get rid of the excess water. And that snort of laughter probably meant he'd hit Shodin in the process.

He turned his head towards Shodin, finally feeling relatively safe enough to ask what had been bugging him for a while. "Where was Puzz?"

Shodin’s hand slowed down. "He was aware of what was happening," Shodin said slowly, as he started back up with combing his hair, "but I was able to convince him that it wasn't a good idea for him to take over."

Marland looked at him, his ears forward. Uh-huh. Because Puzz was easy to talk down.

"I showed him what happens when you get hit by a bullet."

Marland didn't move, not believing. "Wouldn't that make him want to protect you even more?" And how did he ‘show’ that to Puzz?

Shodin chuckled weakly. "I may have slightly exaggerated what happened when you get hit by a bullet, and told him that attacking them head-on wouldn't be successful." He shrugged slowly, his shoulders appearing briefly over the back of the couch. "Especially when we both take time to call our magic to us, and I can't attack, really."

Marland still couldn't believe that had been enough to stop Puzz, but Marland hadn't seen him since they'd talked about Shodin forgetting him. Puzz might have calmed down some due to them now talking with each other. Sometimes, while Marland and Shodin had been talking, Shodin would stare off into the distance and start making expressions that didn't match with whatever they'd been talking about. Shodin had also begun to use 'we' instead of 'I' in his sentences. It seemed weird to Marland, but Shodin hadn't changed that much other than that in the way that he spoke – at least, not in the direction of Puzz, but his speech was becoming a little looser as he picked up a few phrases and colloquialisms from the TV. Marland had found himself talking a little more formally than he used to as well.

"He acquiesced when I pointed out that you were with me."

Marland glared at him, his ears twitching. Whatever worked, he supposed. He wouldn't have been able to haul back a spitting-mad, protective Puzz who was completely intent in taking down a car and its inhabitants without either of them being hurt in one way or another.

Humming, Shodin set the brush down, shook his head and letting his hair settle wherever it fell. With his chin resting on the back of hand, Shodin started twisting his other fingers in a pattern.

"No more magic in the house."

Shodin smiled wryly at him, head tilted to the side. "I wasn't going to do that."

"And I recognise those movements," Marland shot back, his voice dry.

Shodin stifled a laugh, loosening his fingers and his arm dropped to dangle over the back of the couch. "I guess my body's starting to remember it unconsciously."

Just so long as his body didn't start doing it while Shodin and Puzz were sleeping, Marland grumbled to himself.

* * *
A couple of days later, the food had mostly run out in the fridge, and they needed more toilet paper. The couch was also sporting some more holes in its fabric.

"I am not staying in the flat, Shodin." Marland glared at Shodin, his ears flat and his wings slightly outspread.

Shodin glared back, his eyes narrow and arms crossed tightly across his chest. "You could have been killed last time."

Marland bared his teeth, his wings arching some more. "I will not hide in here, scared. If it happens, then it happens; I am not going to trap myself ‘just in case’ when I'm going to die one day anyway."

Shodin threw his hands up in the air, a sound of frustration escaping his throat. "And wouldn't it be better if you died later than earlier?"

"It wouldn't make a difference." If you died, then you died – did it matter if it was now or later? And who said they hadn't been followed on their way home those nights ago and the police had just been lying in wait for the right time to break in? All that staying in would accomplish was that he'd just boxed himself inside without a good escape route except from going through the windows. He was done with staying inside.

They continued to glare at each other in an attempt to make the other back down. Marland wasn't, because he was starting to feel claustrophobic from staring at the same walls for days on end; he needed to stretch his wings (physically or metaphorically, he wasn't entirely sure which) and breathe in some air that wasn't in this flat.

Shodin sighed after a few moments, his shoulders slumping, only his fingertips touching his forehead. "This is your house, and it is your decision whether you can leave it or not."

Finally. Marland relaxed from his own bristled stance. He caught Shodin watching him with a certain look in his eye, the one that Marland had begun to recognise as when Shodin was thinking deeply about something. Marland got a grin in return when Shodin realised that he was looking at him, the look vanishing completely. And that he didn't trust. Rolling his head, and then shaking it, Marland went off to get ready.

* * *
Marland and Shodin took a meandering route to the shop, attempting to go for the most convoluted way possible, Shodin had joked. They were probably halfway to it (possibly – with the route that they'd taken, they could have already walked the distance to the shop and then some, and they still weren't anywhere near it) when Marland's ears flicked behind him.

Something was thumping its way across the street. It didn't sound like it could be a fox – it was far too heavy and not as agile as one could ever be. And there were two of them. Dammit.

"A xeno?"

Marland nodded as he whirled around and started to run toward the sound, Shodin following straight away. Just like Shodin couldn't keep Marland in the flat, Marland wouldn't have been able to stop Shodin from coming with him, being able to use his magic or no. And if he tried, the xeno would either jump them again or run away.

They kept a constant look out for cars and other vehicles as they moved, and a few passed them as they chased the xeno down, but Marland had been able to duck out of sight in time and none of the cars slowed down or stopped. After a couple of minutes, Marland was aware of another set of feet following the xeni. More than one.

He skidded to a stop, using his claws to grip the ground and his wings to keep balance. Shodin shot past him, somehow missing his wings, and took a little longer to come to a halt. Shodin turned around, worry in his drawn in eyebrows.

"Marland? What's wrong?"

"There's other hunters after it as well." They should stop before one of them caught sight of Marland and decided to go after him as well.

"Ah, all right." Shodin peered down the street, his breathing still heavy. He then looked in the other direction. "Do you know where we are?"

Marland looked up at the closest street sign. Hmm. He knew vaguely where they were, and he knew a route they could take to the shop. They weren't as far from the shop as he thought they were. "Yeah," he said, beginning to walk down the street. The sounds of running didn't change direction or follow them.

A couple of minutes later, Marland glanced around a corner and saw Kendal leaning next to a shop. She noticed them straight away, her head jerking in his direction, her hand going towards where she kept her gun. When she saw him though, she grinned, relaxing, and waved them over.

Marland's ears sank down before they went up again. If he didn’t go, she'd badger him the next time she saw him. Grumbling, he checked for anyone else on the street and when he saw no-one else, he left the cover and headed towards her. He heard Shodin's soft spoken "Ah!" behind him.

As he got closer, Marland could see that it wasn't a shop that she was standing next to, but a fast food place.

"The others are getting something to eat," Kendal explained, jerking a thumb towards it. She glanced between the two of them, an amused smile quirking her lips.

He stared levelly back at her. What now?

The smile widened into a blown grin and she shook her head, snorting. "Never mind." She looked away, down a side street. Marland turned his ears in that direction but he couldn't hear anything. "I heard the police found ya a couple of days ago."

How did she always seem to find all these things out?

"It's called 'having connections', Marland," she said, teasing thick in her voice. "I can talk with them if you want," she said, shrugging.

Marland stared at her, his ears going back in confusion. What? "Why the hell would you want to?"

Kendal just crossed her arms, a no-nonsense eyebrow raised. "Because you're a very stupid, very stubborn, intelligent being."

He blinked at her. That made no sense.

She rolled her eyes and sent Shodin a pitying look.

Shodin laughed, light and short. "I know."

…What?

Rubbing her forehead with the heel of a palm, she shot a look through the window of the fast food place. "They're taking far too long," she muttered. "I'll see ya later," she said, waving at them over her shoulder as she strode into the place.

Marland looked at Shodin, who gazed back at him, his eyebrows raised innocently, like he didn't know what Marland was thinking. Ha. They continued doing that before Marland eventually broke eye contact, snorting. Whatever. If Shodin didn't tell him then he didn't tell him – he'd probably bring it up later anyway. The smile on Shodin's face grew.

Ignoring it, Marland started heading back towards the shop, Shodin only a few steps behind.

* * *
There was someone following Marland and Shodin. They had picked the person up a few minutes after they left the shop and no matter what path they took, the person doggedly followed them. They hadn't started shooting, hadn't started yelling, hadn't seemed to have phoned anyone either (texting, Marland couldn't really hear that). They weren't trying to hide either, just following them in a straight line, not ducking around corners or anything.

"What is it?" Shodin asked softly, his arms stilling, so not to make the bags swing so much.

"Being followed."

Shodin didn't, thankfully, turn around fully, but he did look at Marland, so that he could see the person from the corner of his eyes.

"Ah ha!" The sound of running footsteps towards them. Shit. Marland whirled around, his wings snapping out. The person was pretty average: short, brown hair, kinda loose clothing, but Marland couldn't see any concealed weapons. His shoes weren't meant for running and –

"I knew it was you, Ronthar!"

…What? …Oh, fucking hell. The person didn't sound drunk, and he wasn't weaving in any way, so…mistaken identity. Marland saw the man's eyes flick to him, but he didn't halt at the sight of him. Not that he should have been surprised at seeing him since Marland had been next to Shodin the entire time.

The man jogged for the last couple of paces, already slightly out of breath. He laughed breathlessly, his cheeks slightly red, a hand rubbing the back of his neck. "I should probably exercise more…" Coughing into a fist, the man said, smiling, "Saisha told me all about you, and I've been wanting to meet with you for ages."

Shodin blinked at him. Marland did the same, but he also wanted to rub a hand down his face. "Ah, I don't think you…"

"Nonsense!" the man exclaimed, flapping a hand. "I know that your favourite chocolate is hazelnut, you absolutely despise dark chocolate, you enjoy going for long walks –around parks, or in forests, if you can get to one-, you don't like heights, you're a dog person…" For every point, the man flicked off another finger.

Okay, it was a little weird how he got Shodin's choice of chocolate right, but that was just tastes. People shared them.

"How did you…?" Shodin was frowning, his eyebrows drawn together, and his lips slightly parted.

"I told you – Saisha told me about you." The man, paused, his happy expression softening and he sighed. "But it's been a couple of weeks since anyone's heard from you."

Something curled at the bottom of Marland's stomach. Shodin had appeared from a portal over a month ago. Marland had never seen a portal open before, but…the portal had been throwing lightning around its edges. But that didn't explain how Shodin could do magic. Right. Marland shook his head. He didn't get why he was suddenly doubting that Shodin was an xeno.

"I'm sorry," Shodin said, shaking his head, "but I think you have the wrong person."

The man raised his eyebrows, disbelief on his face. "Okay, wait, hold on." One of his hands went to his back pocket, and Marland tensed. When he brought his hand back, there was a wallet in it. The man flipped it open, and pulled out a picture. He smiled down at it, before he turned it around and showed it to Shodin.

"Oh…" Shodin breathed a soft exclamation, his eyes wide, as he took the photo gently from the man's hands. Keeping his ears trained on the other man, Marland looked down at it and felt the world freeze.

It was a photo of Shodin – a clean-shaven Shodin, with shorter hair, and a non-scarred neck. He had an arm draped around the shoulders of a smiling woman with a great big volume of bushy red hair on her head, both their eyes towards the camera, while Shodin had also raised a hand to wave. There weren't any marks or scars on Shodin's arms either. There was, however, a tattoo peeking out from under his sleeves. It was directly on the spot where Shodin always held himself when he was bothered about something. Ducking his head slightly, Marland lifted Shodin's sleeve with a finger. And the exact same tattoo was there.

"That's you and Saisha. Believe me yet?"

But that didn't make any sense. Shodin had magic; humans here didn't. He shared a body with Puzz; humans here… Was it only Puzz that was the xeno, not Shodin and Puzz? But if Shodin had grown up on Torpin, then why had he forgotten everything? Or was it because of Puzz Shodin had no memories?

But what did Marland know about memory problems? Absolutely nothing, apart from that he knew it could happen.

Shodin continued to stare down at the picture. Taking a deep breath, he shook his head, and gently handed the photo back to the other man, a small smile on his face. It didn't reach his eyes.

"I'm sorry, but I don't remember anything," he said quietly, the fake smile still present.

The man blinked, and then looked between Shodin and Marland. "You don't remember…anything?"

Shodin shook his head, his right hand creeping up – but then held his elbow instead. "Nothing."

"Oh – I, uh –" The man laughed nervously, looking down and fiddling with the cuff of his coat. "Well, this is awkward."

For all of them. What the hell was going to happen now?

"I hadn't introduced myself either," the man mumbled. He stuck out a palm towards Shodin. "I'm Balt."

Shodin took his hand and shook it twice. "Shodin."

Balt nodded sharply, his face concentrated, and then turned to Marland. "And you are…?"

Marland gazed back at him, not looking at the proffered hand, making sure that his ears didn't move – he'd only just gotten them back up again. It was weird that a human here would talk to him –or even walk up to him like Balt had just done- but if they knew someone in common… If they were friends because of similar likes or outlooks…

"Marland." He didn't shake his hand though.

Balt nodded again, smiling with his teeth on full display, even as he retracted his hand. Balt turned back to Shodin, his hand opening his wallet again. "I imagine this is a bit of a shock to you," he mumbled as he rummaged through the pockets, "suddenly meeting someone on the street who sort of knew you in a 'past life'." He pulled out a card, then squinted at it, bringing it close to his face.

"Yep! Okay, these are my contact details, if you want to get in touch," Balt said as he presented the card to Shodin.

Balt then glanced at the watch on his wrist, and then started, his eyes going wide. "Damn, I'm going to be late." He waved to both of them, grinning wide. "I hope I speak to you soon, Shodin! And thank you, Marland, for looking after him," he said warmly. He immediately started jogging in the direction that he'd come from before either of them could say anything.

They stood there in silence, Marland staring after where Balt had gone, and while it looked like Shodin was doing the same, he was probably talking with Puzz.

After some indefinite amount of time, Shodin exhaled deeply and shook his head. "We should head back before something else happens," he said quietly, adjusting his grip on the bags.

Like what? They bumped into someone who knew Shodin directly and had some way of restoring his memories completely? Shouldn't he want to stay out then?

Marland clenched his jaw, a growl growing in his throat. And he was being really fucking stupid right now – the longer they stayed outside, the bigger the chance that he’d be seen and they’d be attacked again.

With his head down, his ears flat, wings drawn in as tight as they could go, Marland followed Shodin home.

* * *
They were quiet as they put the shopping away. That wasn't unusual since Shodin had learned where everything went weeks ago. Marland paused and inspected that thought. …Maybe he should be calling Shodin Ronthar now, since that was his real name.

"Hey, Shod–" He stopped when he realised that he was using Shodin's… whatever name it was called –it wasn't a fake name, and calling it a 'given' name didn't sound right either- instead of his real name.

"I'm still going to go by 'Shodin'," Shodin said as he reached up to put something on the top shelf of a cupboard. "I don't, well, feel like I'm a 'Ronthar'. Shodin's my name."

"But so's Ronthar," Marland protested.

"Which I have no memories of," Shodin pointed out, his voice slightly muffled by the cupboard door in the way. "I do have memories of being Shodin though, so, therefore, I'd say I'm more 'Shodin' than I am 'Ronthar'." When he closed the cupboard, Shodin looked at him, an eyebrow raised.

If that was how he felt about it, then that was what Marland would call him. He squashed down the relief that he felt – if Shodin had wanted to be called Ronthar, then that was his decision. But he didn't, so Marland didn't have to think about that anymore. At least, only in the sense of what to call Shodin. As for the rest of it…

One of Marland's ears twitched down to the side before it popped up again. Smiling and tilting his head to the side, Shodin turned away to put something else in its proper place.

They continued empting the bags, but the silence wasn't so obvious as before, and Shodin began to hum a tune.

When it was finally all done, Shodin sat heavily on one of the kitchen chairs, blowing at the strands of hair that had worked their way free. His elbows went on the table, his mouth hidden by his intertwined fingers. Marland sat down opposite him, his ears constantly moving as they tried to go down and Marland not allowing it.

It didn't take long before Shodin started talking, his hands falling away, wrists crossed on the table. "Puzz doesn't remember much of what happened before we met you."

Marland already knew that, so he'd never considered that as something they could rely on. The photograph was something different.

The photograph was proof that Shodin had grown up here, that it was just Puzz that was the xeno. Which meant Shodin had something to go back to.

"So we don't know if the photo is fake or not."

Marland just looked at him, his ears forward, his head tilted down as well. "Unless you have a twin brother – and that would still mean that you grew up here."

Sighing, Shodin stared down at his hands, clenching them and unclenching them. "But I don't understand – you saw me appear from a portal so I should have come from another world."

One of Marland's ears flicked to the side. "Yeah, I did, but I don't know what a portal looks like – I don't remember what it was like when I first got here." He started restlessly tapping a finger on the table, his wings bunching up. "And…around the edges was lightning." But that could just be a coincidence, that the portal had thrown off the same the magic that Shodin and Puzz had.

Shodin raised his eyes at him. "You think-"

-'I didn't!'-

"You don't remember," Marland pointed out flatly.

-'But why would I…?'-

"How the hell should I know?" Marland shook his head sharply. There was too much about this entire situation where there was something uncertain, something that they couldn't understand because they didn't know something, didn't remember something.

"And we don't know if you actually did something," Shodin said to Puzz gently.

Puzz whined.

At least he wasn't shouting. "It'll be true," Marland said lowly. Faking photos could be done, but they were usually fuzzy, indistinct – Shodin's photo was clear-cut, had absolute clarity, and the lighting was regular and constant. It couldn't be another person; they had the same tattoo. It just didn't seem likely that two people who looked the same would also have the exact same tattoo in the exact same place. Marland hadn't even known about the tattoo; it was high enough that it was always covered by a shirt sleeve.

Shodin gazed at him, his eyes worried. Marland didn't look back at him, staring on the sink.

"The photo?"

Marland nodded once.

"I guess so…" Marland glanced at him, and saw that he was rubbing his palm against his left shoulder.

Marland couldn't stop the low rumble that was coming from his throat, or his ears flattening so much that they couldn't go any lower if they tried.

"So you'll be leaving then," he said shortly, through clenched teeth, his wings alternatively wanting to flash out and stay tight against his back. His hands curled into fists, his claws coming out. Fucking hell, he should have known that something like this was going to happen. Why had he thought otherwise?

Shodin's head snapped to him, his eyes wide, mouth open. "What? Why would you think that?"

What kind of idiot did he think he was? "You've found your old life; you can go back home," he snarled, leaning forward, his hands braced on the table, claws scoring the wood. Shodin hadn't even left the city he'd been living in! He had people who knew him, people who cared about him – why the fuck would he want to stay here?

"Marland – Marland, can you listen to me?"

He snarled again, shoving himself away from the table. He didn't want to fucking talk. Before Shodin could say anything else -or he just wasn't hearing it, the rage inside him making his head buzz, making his head hurt with how much it was making his heart pound- Marland was out the door, slamming it behind him.


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