[ yeah there's probably some liquor in there, honestly. there's probably a whole cabinet full of it even, so he's got his pick.
and then he waits. there are no more whimpers, but the snarls do get pretty loud - until therion kicks the wall. the candle falls, and immediately the rug goes up in flame, and it's that violent sort of flame, quick and unstable. he skitters into a room - it's a bathroom, small and cramped - and listens. what he hears is the snarling coming to a stop, a heavy thudthudthud of someone crossing the room, opening a door, and then cursing. immediately there's shouting, and chaos out in the hallway. several doors slam against the wall as they're flung open, and there's a call for water, and a what the fuck happened? and alarmed noises as the fire starts to spread.
there's a gruff, bass voice shouting orders as the owner descends the stairs.
the second floor is on fire! but it seems like whatever was eating has left. did it leave its meal behind? maybe. who knows. ]
[ small and cramped is fine. he's up, off the floor, standing on whatever furniture is there and plastered to a wall in silence, holding his breath, heart pounding, listening. therion pulls his collar up over his nose as the sound gets further away, and he the second he deems it safe enough, he pushes the door open and runs for the other door in all of the chaos, using the cover of smoke and noise and shouting to dash inside of the door formerly occupied by hoolay.
he'll pick the lock in fucking record time if he has to, but otherwise, he's in and out and locks the door behind him, and then whirls around, what are we looking at. ]
[ it's not locked! he can just get in. he locks the door behind him and leaves the second floor on fire.
what he gets is an office that smells very strongly of iron. it's a pretty nice office, actually. spacious. there are bookshelves across the back wall, meticulously in order and very likely never read. a nice rug, a couple of portraits that seem very, very expensive across the walls. there's a desk with documents littered over the top, as well as a small desk lamp. there's a chair. someone is sitting in it, but - there's something more pressing. the source of the iron smell.
there's a tarp on the ground in front of the desk, which seems kind of hysterically fastidious for the amount of carnage on top of the tarp.
there are bodies! four of them. they're various heights, ages, gender - there's no rhyme or reason. it's also a little difficult to tell what they may have looked like, because they're ripped to shreds. two of the four are missing their arms. the other two are missing a leg, a hand. they seem dead. if they aren't, it's not going to be long before they are, blood leaking from gory, ripped apart torsos, crunched bones, clawed faces. looks like therion interrupted hoolay's meal after all.
but, back to the desk. because the person sitting in the chair has pink and red hair, and is unmistakably who therion is looking for. jiaoqiu sits in that chair, but his eyes aren't on therion. his eyes are on the bodies, gold eyes open and flat. ]
unfortunately, therion is not going to be saving any of those people, and he is not so kindhearted as to help them. he's not, after all, jiaoqiu. he's seen some pretty horrible things on the streets, but this is the first time he's been up this close and personal with this much gore all at once, and it even stops him in his tracks. the entire tableau he's looking at - from the dead or near dead corpses, the body parts and the gore to the person sitting in the chair, forced to stare at it.
he's forgotten all about the talk of betrayal, at that sight, at least right now. instead, he bounds across the room, nearly fucking vaults over the sight of the bodies or soon to be bodies, avoids the blood and skids across the desk, sending shit scattering everywhere. with the smell of smoke in the air and fire burning in the hallway, he takes one second to look for the closest window, so there's an exit - god he hopes there's an exit or they're both dead - but otherwise, he puts himself between jiaoqiu and the bodies when he gets across the desk, and looks him over, looks at the red, looks for injuries, at those flat eyes, is he alive looks to see if he's tied to this chair or held there by his own horror, and then he just - ]
Jiaoqiu. Jiaoqiu!
[ it's hissed, and then a little louder, and therion grabs his stupid face, and shakes it, tries to force him at least for a second back to life long enough that he can get him moving, he doesn't have to be present but he has to see if he's conscious. what if he's dead? he can't panic about it, he can't waste a single second, they have to get going and they have to go now.
selfishly, selfishly, he's so fucking glad it's not jiaoqiu on the ground, despite those brief thoughts of spite and fury in the hallway downstairs, he is so fucking glad. ]
he's tied to the chair, arms wrenched behind him, around the back of the chair, bound at the wrists. he's also not in the best shape. his clothes are torn, and he has... chunks, bitten out of him. his shoulder is in pretty bad shape, as is his leg - crunched, a bit, or at the very least pulled out of the socket. his face is starting to bruise, half his hair is soaked with blood. but the crazy thing is it seems like whatever did this was holding back. like playing with your food.
jiaoqiu doesn't really wake up when therion hisses his name. he barely even looks, or reacts, to having his face shaken. he just stares blankly at therion, like he's trying to comprehend. at least behind him there is a window.
behind them, something rattles at the door. and then, furious, that voice from earlier roars open the door, jiaoqiu!
and then the ramming starts, as hoolay throws his body against the door. someone realized he left his pet fox in a room that could catch fire. ]
[ nope. NOPE!! thank fucking god there's a window. ]
Shit. [ therion says, the swear a hiss under his breath when he realizes - he looks briefly just. horrified, stunned, but the sound of someone thundering up the stairs is enough to jar him back into action. don't bleed out. he thinks, desperately, sliding off the desk and getting behind him with his switchblade. one quick motion - he cuts the ropes or the zipties or whatever the fuck it is, and then - god, there's so much blood, there is so much blood, he can't just move him cleanly in a way that's not going to hurt, but it doesn't matter. i'd rather you be hurt than dead, he thinks, half desperate, half hysteric at himself and his own thought process. he should be bolting, leaving jiaoqiu behind, because he is uninjured and safe, but he doesn't hesitate for a fucking second as he bounds to the window and throws it open.
eyes on the door, he rips off the stupid - his stupid fucking scarf, he rips it off and he ties it around his leg, god, his leg, enough to try and stabilize it so it doesn't get jarred any worse than its already going to, and then he grabs jiaoqiu's good arm and throws it over his own shoulder and lifts him up on his back. thank god he's light.
(complaining, god you're heavy when jiaoqiu draped on him in that stupid hotel room. that feels like years ago.)
the window's wide enough that he can get through it with his package. there's a fire escape. in a funnier day he'd think god borisin are so fucking stupid, but he doesn't, because his heart is slamming so hard against his ribcage he's going to get sick. with jiaoqiu, he's not nearly as limber as usual, but he looks - are there other buildings nearby, or is it just a random ass bar.
if there are bars or other buildings, instead of going down, he starts going sideways - across to the next building, up, up, going for the roof, and under his breath, snarls: ] Don't you dare fucking die. Don't you dare fucking die. Jiaoqiu, fucking making a noise, tell me you're conscious.
[ there's anger but there's a thread of panic too. he keeps saying his name, and therion never, ever says his name. ]
[ it's okay, jiaoqiu doesn't even seem to react all that much - there's a harsh breath when therion wraps his leg, but other than that he's pretty limp. at least he doesn't argue therion picking him up. he just rests his head on therion's shoulder. it's a simple movement, but there's so much trust there that it aches. he's out of it, but it doesn't matter. instinctively, he knows therion, and knows that wherever therion is taking him, it's safe. it'll be safe.
just as therion gets them out the window, he can hear the door splinter and break.
but he's off - off he goes, across the fire escape, and to the other buildings. it's a pretty crammed city block, so it'll be easy to get up to the rooftops from the escapes. he'll hear snarling and yelling down below and behind, as the borisin start to assemble themselves. they're going to follow. it'll be hard to catch the scent, but they're both covered in blood now, and jiaoqiu is dripping it with alarming frequency, so there's not an insignificant chance that they can catch up.
on the jiaoqiu front, there's no answer at first. for a long moment, he's disconcertingly silent, hanging loosely. there's just white noise, behind his eyes, in his ears, all around him. the sludge is up to his nose, and he can't breathe. it's just - there's a voice. a familiar voice, one that is angry but not growling. it's not from a mouth with sharp fangs. it's his name. he hears his name, and tries so very hard not to pass out. and after a long moment, his functioning hand twitches. he curls his fingers into the fabric of therion's hoodie. it seems like that's all there's going to be, but then jiaoqiu's grip tightens, and he drags in a wet, staggered breath, and yanks. ]
Watch. Watch rooftops. Darius. [ he manages, with an exhale that sounds more like a rattle. ]
[ therion's unencumbered by the weight on his back for the most part, and the only thing that has him moving slowly is that he's trying to keep jiaoqiu from bleeding out while he's hopping from place to place, dipping over rooftops, down fire escapes, out one of the many, many, many escape routes he knows out of this part of town. his entire world has narrowed down to nothing, too, just the sheer prey animal escape drive of get away, get away, get away, a scurrying little rat so much more than a beast. therion's not thinking. he's focused on the fact that he thinks he can feel jiaoqiu breathing, and he's focused on the fastest route to a hospital, because he's not equipped to deal with the severity of his injuries.
and - oh my god he's so lucky he doesn't drop him. not because he's startled by the yank or anything - but because that's the name out of his mouth.
therion barks a laugh. sharp, almost startled out of his mouth, and it hurts like swallowing glass, but he never stops moving. an informant, right? that guy must've been a chump. ]
Hah! Calling someone else's name. That'll really kill the mood. [ he can't even help himself to make this comment. jiaoqiu grips him, yanks on his sweatshirt, and he's bleeding everywhere and he's going to die, and therion should fucking drop him off the side of a building, but he doesn't. he keeps running, taking wild twists and turns, all with one goal in mind. hospital. hospital, hospital. ] Hate to break it to you, but you're stuck with me, now.
[ it's sharp and mean, but he's so fucking panicked that's all he can really manage. jiaoqiu probably actually means that darius might be hanging around here, but if he's hallucinating from bloodloss and thinking the guy with the deep pockets is the one to save him, he's way wrong. ]
[ oh, okay, he's losing his mind, that's cool. why else would that be therion's response, something that makes like zero sense to jiaoqiu's cooked brain.
his grip falters, for a second. it really takes all of his remaining willpower to figure out why therion said this, and he doesn't even come to a conclusion, just gives up. he can barely even focus on the fact that they're moving, let alone anything else. the stupid thing is if he knew therion was trying to get him to a hospital, he would, in fact, protest. that's the last place he wants to go. he knows so many sketchy-ass healers that he would so much more prefer to see, in places where he won't be able to be found by horrible wolf mafia bosses.
the laugh gets his ears to weakly pin back, and: ]
What? [ a voice crack. ] No - Therion. He's... around. Be careful --
[ and he gets cut off by a coughing fit. oh, and also a knife, which comes hurtling through the air and hits therion in the shoulder if he's not quick enough to dodge it. ]
[ god, at least he's talking. hearing him speak again makes his heart just lurch in relief, and he can't decide if he hates himself for it or not, nor does he really have time, because. well. he's a thief, and he's quick, and his survival instincts are top notch, but he can't get completely out of the way of that. therion jerks, abruptly, and it slices his sweatshirt open and straight across his skin, glazing off enough that's not going to immediately drop jiaoqiu but also almost definitely going to need stitches.
if he had enough time he'd roll his eyes, and instead he just spits out - ]
Great, just what I fucking need, a welcoming committee.
[ at least thugs are usually quantity over quality - if it's actually darius, then that's going to be a hell of a lot more troublesome and a part of his brain screams "high place, get away, get away, high place", because this is too similar, too close, only now he has someone else with him and jiaoqiu is going to die if he doesn't get him to stop bleeding.
he looks left, right, spots a lower roof and hisses - ] Hold on. [ and that's the only warning he gets before he takes off, doing a near 180 and leaping directly off the fucking roof. take that, look at him, he's not traumatized! fuck you!!!
one, two, three seconds of air time. falling, he's falling again (he's watching darius stare down at him, he's hearing what a fucking chump, that guy) - and then his feet slam into the surface of someone's cushy ass rooftop garden and he swears, stumbles, and recovers, bolting down the rooftop with his slippery prize in hand, breathing hard. he doesn't know this area of the city as well as he'd like as they slip free of the sketchier district, and it's a gamble because they could just as easily be caught by any number of regular civilians and catch them in the crossfire, or worse, caught by the goddamn cops, but it might lose some of their tail. ]
no, at first, when therion jumps, he thinks he might actually be losing consciousness, the feeling is so sudden. it makes him feel like he's going to pass out or throw up - he does neither, but he buries his face in therion's shoulder and lets his head spin. and, belatedly, he realizes that therion is hurt, which sends a pulse of panic through him. shakily, his hand comes up to cover therion's wound. compress. don't bleed out. don't worry about him, he doesn't matter. it's more important that therion gets out of this.
but... if therion looks behind them, he will, in fact, see darius standing on the rooftop he just left from, arms folded. but that's not important. he's not following. he just watches, as therion falls away from him for a second time.
faintly, not really seeing much but therion's sweatshirt, jiaoqiu mumbles: ]
Lingsha. To... to Lingsha...
[ and then, forcing his eyes open again, he tries to lead. if therion listens to him, he'll murmur right, left, straight - trying to lead therion through this part of town with wolves hot on their tail. they get pretty far, even - there aren't many people around, which is good and bad. no cops, but no distractions, which is why once they're about a block away from where jiaoqiu is trying to lead them, a borisin comes out of nowhere and bullrushes therion, trying to knock him and his prize to the ground. goodbye. ]
[ oh, he fucking hates that - but at the same time, when he looks up and he spots ginger red, and he spots that smug, awful face, therion takes the millisecond to look at him and give him a defiant look back. fuck you. fuck you, he's fine, he's alive, fuck you. he's walking on both feet this time, not a crumpled pile of a person at the bottom of the cliff. he's alive, and like hell he's not going to survive this, either.
lingsha. okay. he doesn't know what the fuck that is, and this is a weird situation, because his first gut instinct is trap, that's a trap. but the state jiaoqiu is in wins, and he figures if he's trying to die and take therion out with him, well, like hell he's dying to anyone's demons, and he can't get any worse in terms of handicaps than the fact that he's running at top speed trying to get a nearly bleeding out jiaoqiu to a doctor on his back while avoiding his own lifelong sleep paralysis demon, so, whatever it is probably can't be worse. he's just going to have to trust him.
so, he does. he goes where he's told, moving on adrenaline and adrenaline alone. right, left, straight - barreling down an alleyway. the pressure on his arm gets an almost hysterical laugh. ]
Press on yourself you fucking idiot - this Lingsha better, better be helpful and not another hot pot restaurant, I swear to fucking god - [ and he still has the energy to complain? so there's that. he's starting to lag in speed, now, and he knows he is, but they've got to be almost there to wherever jiaoqiu's trying to send him.
which! of course! great, he is met with a fucking giant wolf person. he thought they'd finally gotten free enough, and that means when this guy comes of nowhere, he gets bodied. there's a pained noise as he's thrown backwards, and therion tries to use his reflexes, fast as they are, to jerk in midair, so it's his back that hits the wall and not jiaoqiu's. his reflexes, even right now, are to keep jiaoqiu from getting hurt worse.
so he slams into the wall and sees stars, likely concusses himself with the force, but his survival instinct has him rolling up to his feet immediately. he cannot fight this guy. he is not going to win. he can get away, but he's not going to be able to win. ]
[ if jiaoqiu was conscious enough to talk back, he would've given therion such a look at the restaurant comment. he might have no survival instinct, but he's vaguely offended by the implication that he'd lead them to hot pot when he's bleeding to death all over therion's clothes. the thought is gone in two seconds though, because they're under attack.
there's a choked noise at the impact, because even with therion shifting to block him from hitting the wall, it's still a rough landing. sorry for the blood he leaks out of his mouth onto your jacket, therion.
the wolf roars, completely lost to the moon rage, and throws himself at therion again, ignoring the banter entirely like a poor sport. he rakes his claws across whatever he can reach, using his bulk to try and block therion from slipping away from him. those teeth are coming into play, too - if he has to bite through jiaoqiu to get to therion he will, coming at the thief with the intent to kill. a rake across the stomach, a bite to the arm, jaws way, way too strong. and worst of all - there's a strong, acrid smell in the air. lupitoxin, leaking out of the borisin, wriggling in to set off all the worst of their fears.
there's a very weak burst of fire that boffs the wolf across the face, makes him let go of therion's arm. a last ditch effort, just the smallest amount of magic that jiaoqiu can muster. he goes limp very shortly after.
and so much is going on, it's a hectic fight and dodge. but. even in the middle of this, as the wolf is coming at him - therion can see a small, red, transparent bunny. ]
[ if he left jiaoqiu, he could make it out of this fine. he could distract the borisin with a meal and cut and run, escape like a selfish little parasite, surviving off of the goodness of others. just a little scratch on the shoulder and away with his life.
but the thing is, therion - who claims to be all of those things, does not. he doesn't even think about it, not even with the lupitoxin in the air as an acrid, awful poison that seeps into your lungs and your bones. the lupitoxin doesn't make him freeze up in fright, or run as far as he can. no, therion's fears have to do right now with the loss of the person clinging to his back, and it's only intensified by the poisonous pheromone's strength.
he does everything - everything in his power to keep jiaoqiu from getting hit again. therion is fast, and excellent at being evasive, and even with the heavy weight on his back, he's successful in his quest to keep jiaoqiu from worse harm short of the initial landing, though it is at a heavy cost. he's not a tanky person, he's meant to avoid harm, not take it, but he keeps taking hits each time he jerks jiaoqiu's limp body out of the way. the amount of blood in this alleyway is mingling now, as the rakes across his stomach leave him choked for air, as he narrowly dodges gnashing teeth in his leg and nearly loses his arm for his trouble, instead. he can't dislocate his shoulder to get free this time, not without losing jiaoqiu, and the fire over his shoulder is his saving grace. he chokes out a breath and leaps backwards, backed into a corner, as far away from the borisin as he can manage. the thing's only stunned for a second, because of course it is, and therion's arm and stomach and chest are bleeding, everywhere, but he's still moving. like the goddamn parasite he is, he's still moving.
and so, therion spits blood on the ground and kicks at the borisin again when it tries to snap at him, landing a solid hit on its stupid nose, scrambling up a dumpster because it's the highest ground he's got, but he's not got a lot of strength left. he's breathing hard, his vision tunneling, the adrenaline the only thing keeping him moving, keeping jiaoqiu on his back, keeping him dodging as many of those strikes in this narrow space as he possibly can.
he has to survive. i woke up blind, and they told me feixiao and moze had both fallen to the borisin.
therion has to survive.
there's another fire escape above him and if he can make it up with jiaoqiu, deposit him there so maybe he can get his knife out and fight back instead of just running away. he'd have to jump, which would leave jiaoqiu exposed, and his arms are occupied so he can't just grab onto it, he'd have to really pull some parkour shit and he's starting to fade, fast. so, no. that's not going to work. the dumpster smells and he's considering dropping jiaoqiu in the garbage (sorry) so he can actually fight the borisin, take one last stand, and that might just be his only option.
so he's considering that when he sees. a rabbit? a fucking rabbit. he thinks he's hallucinating. Great. Helpful. he still has time to think, because he is therion and can't be anything if not sarcastic even if he's trying really hard to keep his own guts inside of his body and not become this thing's lunch. ]
[ imagine waking up in the trash to a bloody alleyway and a potentially dead not-boyfriend, wow. he'd probably prefer to be eaten.
but - that's not what's happening here. therion is doing everything in his power to stay alive, and it means he's slippery, managing to get out of the way of the borisin's worst swipes. he ducks one that might have taken his head off, and as he crawls up the dumpster, the borisin growls, backing up a bit to try and regroup. for a moment, they're both in a standoff - and even more so when the bunny takes one hop into the middle of the alleyway, between him and the wolf. it looks up at therion, and then looks at the borisin. turns to the borisin, and stomps on the ground.
the borisin kind of just - laughs? like what the fuck is this. does this bunny belong to you, therion, what kind of last defense is this - only, as he's laughing, the bunny changes. it shifts, and grows about six or seven times its usual size.
and then it launches itself at the borisin, earning a terrified yelp out of the guy as he falls backwards.
"This is a no combat zone, you know," comes a voice comes from the side of the dumpster, on the ground. a woman stands there, with long brown hair and a disapproving look. her arms are red and slightly scaled up to the middle, with legs to match, and she brings a very strong smell of incense with her as she watches the bunny beat the shit out of the borisin. a beat. she looks up at therion.
"Come down. I have you both. Stupid Jiaoqiu, what have you gotten yourself into this time?"
and she blows smoke up towards therion - the smoke gathers and curls around him, and if he allows it, it'll support him down from from the dumpster, and even carry him, should his adrenaline run out entirely. ]
[ don't worry to the borisin, because therion is looking the exact same way at the rabbit when he starts laughing. he's actually pretty sure he's just hallucinating. this has to be the blood loss. what the fuck? what the actual fuck?
that look does not stop when it turns into a giant fucking monster rabbit? okay! sure! he's definitely hallucinating, it is absolutely the blood loss. and when someone speaks up, he's immediately on guard, defensive - backing up further on the dumpster with jiaoqiu still at his back, breathing hard, pupils pinpricks in his green eyes. she says jiaoqiu's name, and when the smoke starts coming he -
jerks back, at first, out of the way? protectively, even though he's got maybe 2hp left and he's probably going to pass out any second, he stares at this lady like a feral, wild animal, holding onto jiaoqiu on his back, putting himself completely in front of him despite his small stature, just like he'd done against the borisin too. just because this lady decided to beat up the borisin doesn't mean anything, and he growls out: ]
Who are you.
[ the fact he can even manage a sentence is sheer spite and stubbornness, but he is not going to allow himself to be tricked, not when jiaoqiu is that close to death and he's severely injured, either. not without a name. proof. something. for as long as he can stand, anyway, but that feral animal side of him is just as protective now as it was three second ago. ]
there's a pause, though, because she's seen people like this before. she's treated a lot of people like this in the past, so it's not like she doesn't understand the feral prey animal reaction. her posture gets just a little less rigid, and she holds out her hands, showing him that she doesn't have a weapon. just the smoke. if therion's ever come across vidyadhara, he'll recognize that's what she is - long-lived dragon people, who have a very close connection to cloudhymn magic.
she raises an eyebrow.
"Jiaoqiu is an old friend of mine. If you'd like for the two of you to survive, you'll let me help you. I'll put it on his tab. Come now, stop being stubborn, you're about to pass out." ]
he might hear a very unladylike curse from lingsha when he swoons, but it's fine. she doesn't mind all that much.
when he wakes up, much later, he'll find himself in a cozy little house. an actual house, not an apartment - it looks like all the rest of the houses around here on the outside, but the inside has been remodeled to look very much like a traditional chinese set-up. kind of like lan zhan's jingshi in mo dao, it's got that vibe. there's a bed, a desk, a nightstand, a dresser and a mirror above that dresser, and all the lights are off. but - the sun is shining gently through the window, warming the room, so it's not cold and clinical, at least.
therion is bandaged, and probably painkiller'd, or something close to that. his skin is sort of damp in all the places that he has injuries, like water rather than blood. some sort of magic is going on there, under the bandages. but, even without the pain, he's still lost a lot of blood and it's very clear, with how weak his body must feel.
he's in this room by himself, in a bed, and the smell of incense is strong, but relaxing. there's also a bunny sleeping at his feet. it's the same one from before, though it's back to normal size. the house itself is pretty quiet, though he can probably pick up the sound of a woman outside, sharply reprimanding something or someone. in fact, that may have been what woke him up.
he's never once slept well in a place he didn't know - well, he never sleeps well in general, but especially when its somewhere he doesn't know. it's only all of the healing and blood loss that keeps him knocked out for however long he was, and once he's awake, he's immediately fully alert and... fucking exhausted. his body hurts, though admittedly it hurts much less than he thought it ought to, and he checks himself over briefly, takes in the state of his bandages, his clothing, of his body, takes in the room around himself, poised like an animal with every bit of strength he can manage.
it's about then that everything that happened hits him like a ton of bricks. the borisin, darius, the fire, the - jiaoqiu. everything that happened with jiaoqiu. for a second, it's a downright overwhelming mix of emotions, somewhere between horror and anger and bitterness and fear, definitely fear, and this awful sensation of something guilty. it's enough he has to swallow it down, curl his fists tight in the blankets on this bed, and stare at the rabbit. he needs to get the hell out of here no matter how bad he feels, physically and emotionally.
however. hearing someone getting yelled at catches his attention. after a moment, silently - without even disturbing the little rabbit, he slides out of the bed and pads over in the direction of the sound. might as well eavesdrop. ]
[ oh, good, he can hear a woman scolding someone with a whole lot of barely disguised fury.
"-- off! Off my property! Now! You go back right this instant and you tell Hoolay that if he sends any of you foul-smelling beasts to my doorstep again, I will cut him off from every single healer in this city. Do you understand? You keep your business away from mine, I do not care who or who not I may have in my house! Out! Out! Before I call Fuyuan!"
there's the sound of scampering, silence, and then the voice getting louder as the woman mutters to herself, slamming her door. this is more just her calling borisin some very nasty names as she thuds around the place.
on the bed, the rabbit thumps its foot on the mattress, having woken up because of the noise. it gives therion a stink eye. ]
good? great. on the one hand, it does mean that he's probably safe for now, if the way that woman was barking was any indication. on the other hand, it means he's probably stuck here. he sighs and leans against the door of the little room he's found himself in, reaching up to rub a hand over his face under his bangs and suddenly just feeling very, very tired. he stands there for a minute like that, hand on his face as the events of the day come back to him.
really, this is what he gets. something good was happening - it figures it would've been destroyed. therion should've known better. with this self deprecating, bitter thought out of the way, he drags his hand down his face and looks at the rabbit that is glaring at him. what the fuck? he gives a stink eye right back. ]
Hey. Don't look at me, hopalong. I'm not the one shouting.
[ he's talking to a rabbit. maybe he has lost his mind.
the longer he stands there, the worse he feels, both mentally and physically, but he's too stubborn to sit right away. so, he just leans against the door like an idiot, cranky and full of emotions that are settled now somewhere between bitterness and anxiety and dread. he has to assume with all that noise that - if this lady knew him, then... jiaoqiu's probably okay, but he...
but after a moment, when it seems to understand he is not going to get back into bed, it jumps off the bed and headbutts his ankle. gets his attention, only to tap a paw on the door. open please.
and if he does, it'll lead him out into the main living space, where lingsha is sitting next to a cot. it's hard to see who is in the cot, but if he squints he can probably see the red-stained pink tail hanging off the side of it. there's a beat, and lingsha looks up, frowning.
"... You should be in bed," she says, with a resigned sort of expression like she knows that he's not going to go lay down again. she glances at the bunny, who thumps its foot again and then bounces over to go curl up by her feet. ]
[ the bunny is rude? rude. he like wiggles his foot and nudges at the rabbit when it headbutts his ankle, but he will do as he's told, and nudges the door open, and...
he stares for a second, processing but not quite processing that there are words being said, not quite processing anything but that fluff of pink just in his vision. it's another whammy of emotions - whatever those dumb fucking borisin said, and then the look on his face and all of those injuries, and darius giving over information, and...
there's that twist again. guilt and anxiety and that bitter upset misery, until it feels like he's going to be sick. none of it shows on his face as he leans against the doorway, and does not lay down, folding his arms and jerking his head towards jiaoqiu. ]
"He's alive. And he'll be fine, if he rests." she reaches down and scoops the bunny up off the floor. "He should be awake soon. If you're not going to sleep, you can make yourself useful and come sit with him until he does."
she picks herself up off the chair, and moves out of the way.
"He was asking for you earlier. I don't think he was awake, but he was saying what I assume is your name. Therion?" ]
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and then he waits. there are no more whimpers, but the snarls do get pretty loud - until therion kicks the wall. the candle falls, and immediately the rug goes up in flame, and it's that violent sort of flame, quick and unstable. he skitters into a room - it's a bathroom, small and cramped - and listens. what he hears is the snarling coming to a stop, a heavy thudthudthud of someone crossing the room, opening a door, and then cursing. immediately there's shouting, and chaos out in the hallway. several doors slam against the wall as they're flung open, and there's a call for water, and a what the fuck happened? and alarmed noises as the fire starts to spread.
there's a gruff, bass voice shouting orders as the owner descends the stairs.
the second floor is on fire! but it seems like whatever was eating has left. did it leave its meal behind? maybe. who knows. ]
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he'll pick the lock in fucking record time if he has to, but otherwise, he's in and out and locks the door behind him, and then whirls around, what are we looking at. ]
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what he gets is an office that smells very strongly of iron. it's a pretty nice office, actually. spacious. there are bookshelves across the back wall, meticulously in order and very likely never read. a nice rug, a couple of portraits that seem very, very expensive across the walls. there's a desk with documents littered over the top, as well as a small desk lamp. there's a chair. someone is sitting in it, but - there's something more pressing. the source of the iron smell.
there's a tarp on the ground in front of the desk, which seems kind of hysterically fastidious for the amount of carnage on top of the tarp.
there are bodies! four of them. they're various heights, ages, gender - there's no rhyme or reason. it's also a little difficult to tell what they may have looked like, because they're ripped to shreds. two of the four are missing their arms. the other two are missing a leg, a hand. they seem dead. if they aren't, it's not going to be long before they are, blood leaking from gory, ripped apart torsos, crunched bones, clawed faces. looks like therion interrupted hoolay's meal after all.
but, back to the desk. because the person sitting in the chair has pink and red hair, and is unmistakably who therion is looking for. jiaoqiu sits in that chair, but his eyes aren't on therion. his eyes are on the bodies, gold eyes open and flat. ]
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unfortunately, therion is not going to be saving any of those people, and he is not so kindhearted as to help them. he's not, after all, jiaoqiu. he's seen some pretty horrible things on the streets, but this is the first time he's been up this close and personal with this much gore all at once, and it even stops him in his tracks. the entire tableau he's looking at - from the dead or near dead corpses, the body parts and the gore to the person sitting in the chair, forced to stare at it.
he's forgotten all about the talk of betrayal, at that sight, at least right now. instead, he bounds across the room, nearly fucking vaults over the sight of the bodies or soon to be bodies, avoids the blood and skids across the desk, sending shit scattering everywhere. with the smell of smoke in the air and fire burning in the hallway, he takes one second to look for the closest window, so there's an exit - god he hopes there's an exit or they're both dead - but otherwise, he puts himself between jiaoqiu and the bodies when he gets across the desk, and looks him over, looks at the red, looks for injuries, at those flat eyes, is he alive looks to see if he's tied to this chair or held there by his own horror, and then he just - ]
Jiaoqiu. Jiaoqiu!
[ it's hissed, and then a little louder, and therion grabs his stupid face, and shakes it, tries to force him at least for a second back to life long enough that he can get him moving, he doesn't have to be present but he has to see if he's conscious. what if he's dead? he can't panic about it, he can't waste a single second, they have to get going and they have to go now.
selfishly, selfishly, he's so fucking glad it's not jiaoqiu on the ground, despite those brief thoughts of spite and fury in the hallway downstairs, he is so fucking glad. ]
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he's tied to the chair, arms wrenched behind him, around the back of the chair, bound at the wrists. he's also not in the best shape. his clothes are torn, and he has... chunks, bitten out of him. his shoulder is in pretty bad shape, as is his leg - crunched, a bit, or at the very least pulled out of the socket. his face is starting to bruise, half his hair is soaked with blood. but the crazy thing is it seems like whatever did this was holding back. like playing with your food.
jiaoqiu doesn't really wake up when therion hisses his name. he barely even looks, or reacts, to having his face shaken. he just stares blankly at therion, like he's trying to comprehend. at least behind him there is a window.
behind them, something rattles at the door. and then, furious, that voice from earlier roars open the door, jiaoqiu!
and then the ramming starts, as hoolay throws his body against the door. someone realized he left his pet fox in a room that could catch fire. ]
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Shit. [ therion says, the swear a hiss under his breath when he realizes - he looks briefly just. horrified, stunned, but the sound of someone thundering up the stairs is enough to jar him back into action. don't bleed out. he thinks, desperately, sliding off the desk and getting behind him with his switchblade. one quick motion - he cuts the ropes or the zipties or whatever the fuck it is, and then - god, there's so much blood, there is so much blood, he can't just move him cleanly in a way that's not going to hurt, but it doesn't matter. i'd rather you be hurt than dead, he thinks, half desperate, half hysteric at himself and his own thought process. he should be bolting, leaving jiaoqiu behind, because he is uninjured and safe, but he doesn't hesitate for a fucking second as he bounds to the window and throws it open.
eyes on the door, he rips off the stupid - his stupid fucking scarf, he rips it off and he ties it around his leg, god, his leg, enough to try and stabilize it so it doesn't get jarred any worse than its already going to, and then he grabs jiaoqiu's good arm and throws it over his own shoulder and lifts him up on his back. thank god he's light.
(complaining, god you're heavy when jiaoqiu draped on him in that stupid hotel room. that feels like years ago.)
the window's wide enough that he can get through it with his package. there's a fire escape. in a funnier day he'd think god borisin are so fucking stupid, but he doesn't, because his heart is slamming so hard against his ribcage he's going to get sick. with jiaoqiu, he's not nearly as limber as usual, but he looks - are there other buildings nearby, or is it just a random ass bar.
if there are bars or other buildings, instead of going down, he starts going sideways - across to the next building, up, up, going for the roof, and under his breath, snarls: ] Don't you dare fucking die. Don't you dare fucking die. Jiaoqiu, fucking making a noise, tell me you're conscious.
[ there's anger but there's a thread of panic too. he keeps saying his name, and therion never, ever says his name. ]
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just as therion gets them out the window, he can hear the door splinter and break.
but he's off - off he goes, across the fire escape, and to the other buildings. it's a pretty crammed city block, so it'll be easy to get up to the rooftops from the escapes. he'll hear snarling and yelling down below and behind, as the borisin start to assemble themselves. they're going to follow. it'll be hard to catch the scent, but they're both covered in blood now, and jiaoqiu is dripping it with alarming frequency, so there's not an insignificant chance that they can catch up.
on the jiaoqiu front, there's no answer at first. for a long moment, he's disconcertingly silent, hanging loosely. there's just white noise, behind his eyes, in his ears, all around him. the sludge is up to his nose, and he can't breathe. it's just - there's a voice. a familiar voice, one that is angry but not growling. it's not from a mouth with sharp fangs. it's his name. he hears his name, and tries so very hard not to pass out. and after a long moment, his functioning hand twitches. he curls his fingers into the fabric of therion's hoodie. it seems like that's all there's going to be, but then jiaoqiu's grip tightens, and he drags in a wet, staggered breath, and yanks. ]
Watch. Watch rooftops. Darius. [ he manages, with an exhale that sounds more like a rattle. ]
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and - oh my god he's so lucky he doesn't drop him. not because he's startled by the yank or anything - but because that's the name out of his mouth.
therion barks a laugh. sharp, almost startled out of his mouth, and it hurts like swallowing glass, but he never stops moving. an informant, right? that guy must've been a chump. ]
Hah! Calling someone else's name. That'll really kill the mood. [ he can't even help himself to make this comment. jiaoqiu grips him, yanks on his sweatshirt, and he's bleeding everywhere and he's going to die, and therion should fucking drop him off the side of a building, but he doesn't. he keeps running, taking wild twists and turns, all with one goal in mind. hospital. hospital, hospital. ] Hate to break it to you, but you're stuck with me, now.
[ it's sharp and mean, but he's so fucking panicked that's all he can really manage. jiaoqiu probably actually means that darius might be hanging around here, but if he's hallucinating from bloodloss and thinking the guy with the deep pockets is the one to save him, he's way wrong. ]
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his grip falters, for a second. it really takes all of his remaining willpower to figure out why therion said this, and he doesn't even come to a conclusion, just gives up. he can barely even focus on the fact that they're moving, let alone anything else. the stupid thing is if he knew therion was trying to get him to a hospital, he would, in fact, protest. that's the last place he wants to go. he knows so many sketchy-ass healers that he would so much more prefer to see, in places where he won't be able to be found by horrible wolf mafia bosses.
the laugh gets his ears to weakly pin back, and: ]
What? [ a voice crack. ] No - Therion. He's... around. Be careful --
[ and he gets cut off by a coughing fit. oh, and also a knife, which comes hurtling through the air and hits therion in the shoulder if he's not quick enough to dodge it. ]
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if he had enough time he'd roll his eyes, and instead he just spits out - ]
Great, just what I fucking need, a welcoming committee.
[ at least thugs are usually quantity over quality - if it's actually darius, then that's going to be a hell of a lot more troublesome and a part of his brain screams "high place, get away, get away, high place", because this is too similar, too close, only now he has someone else with him and jiaoqiu is going to die if he doesn't get him to stop bleeding.
he looks left, right, spots a lower roof and hisses - ] Hold on. [ and that's the only warning he gets before he takes off, doing a near 180 and leaping directly off the fucking roof. take that, look at him, he's not traumatized! fuck you!!!
one, two, three seconds of air time. falling, he's falling again (he's watching darius stare down at him, he's hearing what a fucking chump, that guy) - and then his feet slam into the surface of someone's cushy ass rooftop garden and he swears, stumbles, and recovers, bolting down the rooftop with his slippery prize in hand, breathing hard. he doesn't know this area of the city as well as he'd like as they slip free of the sketchier district, and it's a gamble because they could just as easily be caught by any number of regular civilians and catch them in the crossfire, or worse, caught by the goddamn cops, but it might lose some of their tail. ]
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no, at first, when therion jumps, he thinks he might actually be losing consciousness, the feeling is so sudden. it makes him feel like he's going to pass out or throw up - he does neither, but he buries his face in therion's shoulder and lets his head spin. and, belatedly, he realizes that therion is hurt, which sends a pulse of panic through him. shakily, his hand comes up to cover therion's wound. compress. don't bleed out. don't worry about him, he doesn't matter. it's more important that therion gets out of this.
but... if therion looks behind them, he will, in fact, see darius standing on the rooftop he just left from, arms folded. but that's not important. he's not following. he just watches, as therion falls away from him for a second time.
faintly, not really seeing much but therion's sweatshirt, jiaoqiu mumbles: ]
Lingsha. To... to Lingsha...
[ and then, forcing his eyes open again, he tries to lead. if therion listens to him, he'll murmur right, left, straight - trying to lead therion through this part of town with wolves hot on their tail. they get pretty far, even - there aren't many people around, which is good and bad. no cops, but no distractions, which is why once they're about a block away from where jiaoqiu is trying to lead them, a borisin comes out of nowhere and bullrushes therion, trying to knock him and his prize to the ground. goodbye. ]
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lingsha. okay. he doesn't know what the fuck that is, and this is a weird situation, because his first gut instinct is trap, that's a trap. but the state jiaoqiu is in wins, and he figures if he's trying to die and take therion out with him, well, like hell he's dying to anyone's demons, and he can't get any worse in terms of handicaps than the fact that he's running at top speed trying to get a nearly bleeding out jiaoqiu to a doctor on his back while avoiding his own lifelong sleep paralysis demon, so, whatever it is probably can't be worse. he's just going to have to trust him.
so, he does. he goes where he's told, moving on adrenaline and adrenaline alone. right, left, straight - barreling down an alleyway. the pressure on his arm gets an almost hysterical laugh. ]
Press on yourself you fucking idiot - this Lingsha better, better be helpful and not another hot pot restaurant, I swear to fucking god - [ and he still has the energy to complain? so there's that. he's starting to lag in speed, now, and he knows he is, but they've got to be almost there to wherever jiaoqiu's trying to send him.
which! of course! great, he is met with a fucking giant wolf person. he thought they'd finally gotten free enough, and that means when this guy comes of nowhere, he gets bodied. there's a pained noise as he's thrown backwards, and therion tries to use his reflexes, fast as they are, to jerk in midair, so it's his back that hits the wall and not jiaoqiu's. his reflexes, even right now, are to keep jiaoqiu from getting hurt worse.
so he slams into the wall and sees stars, likely concusses himself with the force, but his survival instinct has him rolling up to his feet immediately. he cannot fight this guy. he is not going to win. he can get away, but he's not going to be able to win. ]
Don't you have better things to be doing?!
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there's a choked noise at the impact, because even with therion shifting to block him from hitting the wall, it's still a rough landing. sorry for the blood he leaks out of his mouth onto your jacket, therion.
the wolf roars, completely lost to the moon rage, and throws himself at therion again, ignoring the banter entirely like a poor sport. he rakes his claws across whatever he can reach, using his bulk to try and block therion from slipping away from him. those teeth are coming into play, too - if he has to bite through jiaoqiu to get to therion he will, coming at the thief with the intent to kill. a rake across the stomach, a bite to the arm, jaws way, way too strong. and worst of all - there's a strong, acrid smell in the air. lupitoxin, leaking out of the borisin, wriggling in to set off all the worst of their fears.
there's a very weak burst of fire that boffs the wolf across the face, makes him let go of therion's arm. a last ditch effort, just the smallest amount of magic that jiaoqiu can muster. he goes limp very shortly after.
and so much is going on, it's a hectic fight and dodge. but. even in the middle of this, as the wolf is coming at him - therion can see a small, red, transparent bunny. ]
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but the thing is, therion - who claims to be all of those things, does not. he doesn't even think about it, not even with the lupitoxin in the air as an acrid, awful poison that seeps into your lungs and your bones. the lupitoxin doesn't make him freeze up in fright, or run as far as he can. no, therion's fears have to do right now with the loss of the person clinging to his back, and it's only intensified by the poisonous pheromone's strength.
he does everything - everything in his power to keep jiaoqiu from getting hit again. therion is fast, and excellent at being evasive, and even with the heavy weight on his back, he's successful in his quest to keep jiaoqiu from worse harm short of the initial landing, though it is at a heavy cost. he's not a tanky person, he's meant to avoid harm, not take it, but he keeps taking hits each time he jerks jiaoqiu's limp body out of the way. the amount of blood in this alleyway is mingling now, as the rakes across his stomach leave him choked for air, as he narrowly dodges gnashing teeth in his leg and nearly loses his arm for his trouble, instead. he can't dislocate his shoulder to get free this time, not without losing jiaoqiu, and the fire over his shoulder is his saving grace. he chokes out a breath and leaps backwards, backed into a corner, as far away from the borisin as he can manage. the thing's only stunned for a second, because of course it is, and therion's arm and stomach and chest are bleeding, everywhere, but he's still moving. like the goddamn parasite he is, he's still moving.
and so, therion spits blood on the ground and kicks at the borisin again when it tries to snap at him, landing a solid hit on its stupid nose, scrambling up a dumpster because it's the highest ground he's got, but he's not got a lot of strength left. he's breathing hard, his vision tunneling, the adrenaline the only thing keeping him moving, keeping jiaoqiu on his back, keeping him dodging as many of those strikes in this narrow space as he possibly can.
he has to survive. i woke up blind, and they told me feixiao and moze had both fallen to the borisin.
therion has to survive.
there's another fire escape above him and if he can make it up with jiaoqiu, deposit him there so maybe he can get his knife out and fight back instead of just running away. he'd have to jump, which would leave jiaoqiu exposed, and his arms are occupied so he can't just grab onto it, he'd have to really pull some parkour shit and he's starting to fade, fast. so, no. that's not going to work. the dumpster smells and he's considering dropping jiaoqiu in the garbage (sorry) so he can actually fight the borisin, take one last stand, and that might just be his only option.
so he's considering that when he sees. a rabbit? a fucking rabbit. he thinks he's hallucinating. Great. Helpful. he still has time to think, because he is therion and can't be anything if not sarcastic even if he's trying really hard to keep his own guts inside of his body and not become this thing's lunch. ]
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but - that's not what's happening here. therion is doing everything in his power to stay alive, and it means he's slippery, managing to get out of the way of the borisin's worst swipes. he ducks one that might have taken his head off, and as he crawls up the dumpster, the borisin growls, backing up a bit to try and regroup. for a moment, they're both in a standoff - and even more so when the bunny takes one hop into the middle of the alleyway, between him and the wolf. it looks up at therion, and then looks at the borisin. turns to the borisin, and stomps on the ground.
the borisin kind of just - laughs? like what the fuck is this. does this bunny belong to you, therion, what kind of last defense is this - only, as he's laughing, the bunny changes. it shifts, and grows about six or seven times its usual size.
and then it launches itself at the borisin, earning a terrified yelp out of the guy as he falls backwards.
"This is a no combat zone, you know," comes a voice comes from the side of the dumpster, on the ground. a woman stands there, with long brown hair and a disapproving look. her arms are red and slightly scaled up to the middle, with legs to match, and she brings a very strong smell of incense with her as she watches the bunny beat the shit out of the borisin. a beat. she looks up at therion.
"Come down. I have you both. Stupid Jiaoqiu, what have you gotten yourself into this time?"
and she blows smoke up towards therion - the smoke gathers and curls around him, and if he allows it, it'll support him down from from the dumpster, and even carry him, should his adrenaline run out entirely. ]
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that look does not stop when it turns into a giant fucking monster rabbit? okay! sure! he's definitely hallucinating, it is absolutely the blood loss. and when someone speaks up, he's immediately on guard, defensive - backing up further on the dumpster with jiaoqiu still at his back, breathing hard, pupils pinpricks in his green eyes. she says jiaoqiu's name, and when the smoke starts coming he -
jerks back, at first, out of the way? protectively, even though he's got maybe 2hp left and he's probably going to pass out any second, he stares at this lady like a feral, wild animal, holding onto jiaoqiu on his back, putting himself completely in front of him despite his small stature, just like he'd done against the borisin too. just because this lady decided to beat up the borisin doesn't mean anything, and he growls out: ]
Who are you.
[ the fact he can even manage a sentence is sheer spite and stubbornness, but he is not going to allow himself to be tricked, not when jiaoqiu is that close to death and he's severely injured, either. not without a name. proof. something. for as long as he can stand, anyway, but that feral animal side of him is just as protective now as it was three second ago. ]
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"A doctor. My name is Lingsha."
there's a pause, though, because she's seen people like this before. she's treated a lot of people like this in the past, so it's not like she doesn't understand the feral prey animal reaction. her posture gets just a little less rigid, and she holds out her hands, showing him that she doesn't have a weapon. just the smoke. if therion's ever come across vidyadhara, he'll recognize that's what she is - long-lived dragon people, who have a very close connection to cloudhymn magic.
she raises an eyebrow.
"Jiaoqiu is an old friend of mine. If you'd like for the two of you to survive, you'll let me help you. I'll put it on his tab. Come now, stop being stubborn, you're about to pass out." ]
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…and then immediately swoons and passes out from blood loss. Goodbye. ]
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he might hear a very unladylike curse from lingsha when he swoons, but it's fine. she doesn't mind all that much.
when he wakes up, much later, he'll find himself in a cozy little house. an actual house, not an apartment - it looks like all the rest of the houses around here on the outside, but the inside has been remodeled to look very much like a traditional chinese set-up. kind of like lan zhan's jingshi in mo dao, it's got that vibe. there's a bed, a desk, a nightstand, a dresser and a mirror above that dresser, and all the lights are off. but - the sun is shining gently through the window, warming the room, so it's not cold and clinical, at least.
therion is bandaged, and probably painkiller'd, or something close to that. his skin is sort of damp in all the places that he has injuries, like water rather than blood. some sort of magic is going on there, under the bandages. but, even without the pain, he's still lost a lot of blood and it's very clear, with how weak his body must feel.
he's in this room by himself, in a bed, and the smell of incense is strong, but relaxing. there's also a bunny sleeping at his feet. it's the same one from before, though it's back to normal size. the house itself is pretty quiet, though he can probably pick up the sound of a woman outside, sharply reprimanding something or someone. in fact, that may have been what woke him up.
jiaoqiu is not in this room, though. hm. ]
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he's never once slept well in a place he didn't know - well, he never sleeps well in general, but especially when its somewhere he doesn't know. it's only all of the healing and blood loss that keeps him knocked out for however long he was, and once he's awake, he's immediately fully alert and... fucking exhausted. his body hurts, though admittedly it hurts much less than he thought it ought to, and he checks himself over briefly, takes in the state of his bandages, his clothing, of his body, takes in the room around himself, poised like an animal with every bit of strength he can manage.
it's about then that everything that happened hits him like a ton of bricks. the borisin, darius, the fire, the - jiaoqiu. everything that happened with jiaoqiu. for a second, it's a downright overwhelming mix of emotions, somewhere between horror and anger and bitterness and fear, definitely fear, and this awful sensation of something guilty. it's enough he has to swallow it down, curl his fists tight in the blankets on this bed, and stare at the rabbit. he needs to get the hell out of here no matter how bad he feels, physically and emotionally.
however. hearing someone getting yelled at catches his attention. after a moment, silently - without even disturbing the little rabbit, he slides out of the bed and pads over in the direction of the sound. might as well eavesdrop. ]
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"-- off! Off my property! Now! You go back right this instant and you tell Hoolay that if he sends any of you foul-smelling beasts to my doorstep again, I will cut him off from every single healer in this city. Do you understand? You keep your business away from mine, I do not care who or who not I may have in my house! Out! Out! Before I call Fuyuan!"
there's the sound of scampering, silence, and then the voice getting louder as the woman mutters to herself, slamming her door. this is more just her calling borisin some very nasty names as she thuds around the place.
on the bed, the rabbit thumps its foot on the mattress, having woken up because of the noise. it gives therion a stink eye. ]
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good? great. on the one hand, it does mean that he's probably safe for now, if the way that woman was barking was any indication. on the other hand, it means he's probably stuck here. he sighs and leans against the door of the little room he's found himself in, reaching up to rub a hand over his face under his bangs and suddenly just feeling very, very tired. he stands there for a minute like that, hand on his face as the events of the day come back to him.
really, this is what he gets. something good was happening - it figures it would've been destroyed. therion should've known better. with this self deprecating, bitter thought out of the way, he drags his hand down his face and looks at the rabbit that is glaring at him. what the fuck? he gives a stink eye right back. ]
Hey. Don't look at me, hopalong. I'm not the one shouting.
[ he's talking to a rabbit. maybe he has lost his mind.
the longer he stands there, the worse he feels, both mentally and physically, but he's too stubborn to sit right away. so, he just leans against the door like an idiot, cranky and full of emotions that are settled now somewhere between bitterness and anxiety and dread. he has to assume with all that noise that - if this lady knew him, then... jiaoqiu's probably okay, but he...
... maybe it'd be better to see for himself. ]
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but after a moment, when it seems to understand he is not going to get back into bed, it jumps off the bed and headbutts his ankle. gets his attention, only to tap a paw on the door. open please.
and if he does, it'll lead him out into the main living space, where lingsha is sitting next to a cot. it's hard to see who is in the cot, but if he squints he can probably see the red-stained pink tail hanging off the side of it. there's a beat, and lingsha looks up, frowning.
"... You should be in bed," she says, with a resigned sort of expression like she knows that he's not going to go lay down again. she glances at the bunny, who thumps its foot again and then bounces over to go curl up by her feet. ]
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he stares for a second, processing but not quite processing that there are words being said, not quite processing anything but that fluff of pink just in his vision. it's another whammy of emotions - whatever those dumb fucking borisin said, and then the look on his face and all of those injuries, and darius giving over information, and...
there's that twist again. guilt and anxiety and that bitter upset misery, until it feels like he's going to be sick. none of it shows on his face as he leans against the doorway, and does not lay down, folding his arms and jerking his head towards jiaoqiu. ]
How's he?
[ very polite ]
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"He's alive. And he'll be fine, if he rests." she reaches down and scoops the bunny up off the floor. "He should be awake soon. If you're not going to sleep, you can make yourself useful and come sit with him until he does."
she picks herself up off the chair, and moves out of the way.
"He was asking for you earlier. I don't think he was awake, but he was saying what I assume is your name. Therion?" ]
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