[ it's sharp, but like usual, its his way of worrying in return. though, his sarcasm is seriously limited by how downright sleepy he sounds tucked in here, all of his remarks starting to lose their usual bite when the painkillers take hold. but, now that he's comfortable - bundled up with jiaoqiu's tail draped warmly across his lap, his injuries tended to, and alive, and safe, the adrenaline crash finally hits him properly. what starts off as a doze lapses easier than he'd ever expect.
with the help of the medicine, and the help of safety, he's out. stone cold asleep, unbothered by a movement, by jiaoqiu adjusting or shifting - like being chosen by a particularly fussy cat, therion falls asleep curled against his chest. though he fusses occasionally in his sleep, this time, his free hand comes up and curls, unconsciously, in jiaoqiu's clothes, and holds there. ]
[ jiaoqiu holds him the whole way through, slumped heavily against the wall. for a while he just kind of zones out, trying not to fall asleep as he stares at the wall. he's lulled, a little, by the way therion's curled up on him.
eventually, in an attempt not to fall asleep, he reaches for his phone, and starts slowly tapping a message. primrose gets an alert - found him, injured badly, recovering now, laying low. will look for way out tomorrow. and that's about when therion reaches up to curl into his clothes. jiaoqiu hums, and carefully rests his hand on top of therion's, keeping it there.
the absolute knocked out nature of his sleep is satisfying, honestly. it makes him feel warm - it almost means as much as all the feelings they exchanged, today. and those - all of that, he thinks about too. he drifts, absently, thinking about finding a place when they get back. making therion dinner, and insisting he stay home for a week so he can nap in therion's lap like a particularly spoiled housecat. break in the new bed, too - that thought amuses him a little, because he's sure he can think of a few ways to make that happen.
somewhere in there, though, his ear twitches as he hears shouting over the wind outside. it's getting dark, and, nervously, he makes sure his phone is hidden, and they're out of view of any windows. no light, no nothing. he holds therion close, eyes open, just a little tense.]
[ primrose's response doesn't take too long - as ever, she's succinct, a simple Be careful. See you soon. May faith be your shield. three short sentences with a world of meaning, worry, and of course, a successful escape from wherever they're holed up, with all of the faith of house azelhart behind it.
an hour or two passes. it's starting to get very dark indeed, which is not necessarily as much of a blessing as you might think, because thieves and bandits tend to make their best at night - therion is certainly much of the same. streetlamps flicker on, and with it, the town starts to get a little louder, a little rowdier. you can practically hear the sound of doors slamming shut and locking across northreach.
sure enough, jiaoqiu's hearing picks up on the shouting. it's not too close, but it's getting closer, the sound of yelling, pushing, thudding footsteps. as the voices close in around the house, he'll hear snatches of their conversations. "Shit, you got humiliated, huh?" "Shut up and keep looking!"
that can't be good! distantly, there's the sound of someone banging on a nearby door, and yelling at the people inside about harboring fugitives.
if jiaoqiu looks down at all, he might feel that therion's also gone completely still where he's being held - good eye opening quickly, roused almost immediately out of his deep, deep sleep. he makes eye contact if he can, but he says nothing, dead silent. ]
[ he stays silent, but - he pulls therion a little closer, making eye contact. his ears are pinned back, and he's tense, but he's not panicking. it's fine. they'll make it.
carefully, he says, so, so soft right against therion's ear: ] Stay?
[ despite not having a single animalistic gene himself, therion is a little wolf through and through - he is so keenly used to dealing with these situations that he's holding himself tense, every muscle ready to spring into action, pain be damned. he knows, logically, they can't stay here, just as logically as he knows he can't move fast enough to avoid an entire mob.
jiaoqiu's voice is as soft and smooth in his ear as silk, and he shifts a tiny bit, enough to lean further out of the way of the window, pressing himself to jiaoqiu's chest. it hurts his arm, but the ache is just an afterthought, as he pays close attention, and turns his head closer. just as quietly - ]
How many?
[ trusting jiaoqiu, here, and especially trusting his hearing. can he tell how many voices there are approaching? ]
[ he's not super confident in his ability to fight, here. he's got fire, he can bite and scratch and get away, but he's not a hand to hand fighter or. a fighter at all, really. he's a combat medic, and that's about it.
he rests his hand on therion's neck again, at the nape of it, just holding. he's still, eyes closed as he focuses. how many voices? he's not sure, it's hard to tell. but - he picks out one. then two, then three - if there are more, he can't tell the difference between them.
so, soft: ] Three. Might be more.
[ he's not sure they can knock out three fast enough to not alert the others. but he's willing to try. ]
[ therion watches the light of a cellphone shine into a window a few doors down, pressing closer to jiaoqiu - he can likely hear his heartbeat thumping against his hand - and looking around the house itself. there's a closet. an attic pull, likely, on the inside, but it's a gamble. he can climb one handed if there's a ladder but bringing it down might make noise, and he could pull himself up silently without one, if he wasn't hurt. the closet itself might be the better choice.
his eyes track to the windows, pulling a bit of an annoyed face. ]
Down to the ground to crawl. [ with a slight move of his head towards the closet. ] Keep your ears down.
[ crawling is. going to be bad for his injuries, but therion's already prepared himself for whatever pain he's going to feel. it's fine. better to feel pain than to be alive. ] Avoid the confrontation if we can.
[ if it comes down to it, he can help therion up - he can hoist therion onto his back long enough to get up into an attic if need be. it might be better to stay up there regardless, even after the men leave, but for now, it's priority just to get there. he hums his assent, frowning a little because he knows therion is going to have a hard time crawling.
it upsets him a bit to think that therion's going to reopen his wounds this way, but. they've got to. so, carefully, he lets go of therion - not before pressing a kiss to his forehead - before sliding down the the floor, keeping his ears down like he was asked.
he's not injured, so it takes next to no time for him to crawl to the closet and open it just enough for them to get inside. the voices get a little louder, and he has to grab his tail to stop it from anxiously swishing across the floor. he'll check to see if there's an attic pull, just in case. ]
[ *dead, not alive, what an unfortunate typo up there
anyway. down they go. therion's watching the window from where he's settled, ignoring the way his head is pounding to watch jiaoqiu safely traverse the small space, watches him hold his stupid fluffy tail - serves him right for all the times therion's ended up practically eating it when they share a bed, he would think in a much less dangerous situation - and then slowly eases off the bed himself. it hurts, trying to get down, every muscle and injury screaming in protest, but he tests the floor with one foot to make sure the boards aren't squeaky, and then carefully lowers himself down.
this is what he did before jiaoqiu showed up, so frankly, it's easier to do it now that he's warm and bandaged. in that cold church, he pulled himself off that shitty altar and dragged himself into the corner to survive. that's all he's ever wanted to do - live, survive, like the cockroach that he is - and his stubbornness serves him well because of it. he moves without wincing, even if he feels stitches pull, even if his arm hurts where it touches against the ground briefly, but he slides under the window with relative ease and makes it to the door, where he pauses.
"Oi. We check this one yet?"
"Nah. Didn't even know it was out here. Might have some loot we didn't take yet. Forget the little guy."
despite this extremely concerning series of conversation and chatter outside - there's the sound of a fist banging into the door, loud and violent - therion seems mostly unbothered as he pulls himself around and inside like liquid, letting the closet door creak shut behind them. it's a very small closet, but above their heads, dangling, there does appear to be an attic pull. there's also some moth-bitten clothing in here. it smells bad! but hey. at least it's something.
while the thieves outside are making a ruckus, therion, still on the ground, mutters just loud enough to be heard by jiaoqiu - ] Think they'd at least learn my name by now.
[ because apparently he can still be sassy? like this? but he jerks his chin up to the attic pull. ]
jiaoqiu watches him pull himself across the floor with an expression that is absolutely Unhappy. he does not like that therion is having to hurt himself to get safe. but - it'll be okay. he'll fix it, once they're safe. he can do as much as he can to make sure that therion doesn't make it that much worse, in the meantime.
the voices get him to tense, ears flicking violently. therion, at least, doesn't look like he's having that bad of a time here, but jiaoqiu knows it's mostly just because he's used to this sort of thing. with a little sigh, he rubs at his face as the door closes, and then jumps and slaps a hand to his chest like an old man at the fist banging on the door. jesus.
there's a little jolt, as he thinks about how he left the blanket and pillow out there, but. he brought his bag with him, at least. they can't steal that much, and they hopefully won't know that someone was just in the building.
therion gets a little huffy look at the sass, and then very, very carefully stands up in the closet to try and pull the attic open. slowly, quietly as he can. it's pretty decently soft, considering he's not built for stealth, and though it creaks slightly when he eases it down, it doesn't seem to alert anybody. with a deep breath, jiaoqiu glances down at therion, and then shifts so therion can climb onto his back. he'll help him on, of course, but - there's no way he's going to be strong enough to lift him up above his head.
they can get up into the attic. he'll figure out what to do with the pull once therion's up and safe. ]
[ this is very undignified but it's fine. therion's done a lot of undignified things in his life! there's not even enough time to react to the way his injuries are throbbing from that crawl over here, the adrenaline too high, the danger senses too strong. all he does is press up close against jiaoqiu in the very limited space, setting his good hand on the doorknob, just in case, as jiaoqiu fiddles with the attic pull. he can't hear that well, but the foxian hearing can likely pick up on the sound of something jingling and one of the thieves making fun of another one for being slow, but the lock catches.
in the meantime, therion's pride thinks he can get up the ladder perfectly fine by himself, at the moment - he gives jiaoqiu a little bit of a look when he offers his back. there's not exactly room to complain, though, and honestly, it shows even more how much he trusts him, to allow for this. putting himself on jiaoqiu's back leaves him very vulnerable in case that door flies open, and he does not like that, but carefully, he props himself up against the door, and then climbs onto jiaoqiu one handed, lowering his head near his ear. ]
Step to the back of the ladder steps. [ therion murmurs, his voice barely a whisper. less squeaking, that way. less chance of making more noise. sneaking 101 from a thief.
there's the sound of a door opening - his grip tightens on jiaoqiu, a nonverbal hurry. ]
[ this close, curled up against him on his back, therion can probably hear jiaoqiu's heart pounding in his chest. he's calm in motion, he knows how to be - but this is terrifying if only because he's genuinely not sure how he'll fight the men off if he has to. they're sitting ducks. and - well, really, he's more concerned about therion than he is himself, as always. therion can't really protect himself all that well, like this, and jiaoqiu promised he would.
but he trusts therion to hold on, and takes his advice easily enough. back of the steps - there's less noise, and he's decently quiet as he makes his way up to the top of the ladder, into the dusty and damp attic. the door opening out in the main room freaks him out, his fur sticking up on end and his expression tense, but he manages to reach down and pull the ladder up and close the trapdoor without any banging or clatters.
it's cold up here, and dark, though he can see alright considering his foxian senses. he shifts to let therion down, wrapping an arm around him to support him. there are boxes in the corner of the room that seem like decent cover, but mostly, he's hoping the thieves don't even bother checking up here at all. that they miss it. ]
[ honestly, if he was less hurt, this would be a whole other situation for therion if only because - well, he's always been an adrenaline junkie, it's sort of a requirement of the life that he lives. this is very, very dangerous, and there's something about being pressed close to someone, trusting them with your life, escaping danger by the skin of your teeth that gets him going a little, but there's no room for that now. or energy.
he can feel jiaoqiu's fur puff up near his ear - unlike jiaoqiu, he doesn't seem that bothered, and there's a puff of a laugh, something a little wild no matter its quiet volume, near his ear, as they get up and into the attic room. therion can't see their surroundings well, and as he's set down, he gingerly unpeels himself from jiaoqiu in the small space, and shifts his good hand down, reaching into his bag and feeling for his switchblade. he'll let jiaoqiu get adjusted for the moment, moving through this like an old hat, and though he's supposed to be the one being protected, he still makes sure jiaoqiu stays close by, already thinking through a plan of where to go, how to get out if they get caught. he'll just turn himself in. shitty as that is, he'd rather jiaoqiu get out.
in the meantime, there's a loud cacophony from downstairs - it's more muffled up here, with the distance of the closet and the attic panel. the sounds of drawers being opened and shut, rattled around. the contents of the kitchen silverware being raided, any semi-useful electronics ripped out of the wall. occasionally, they can hear a swear, or a hell yeah!, but for the most part it's just noisy.
"Man, place's already been picked clean." grumbles one of the thieves. "Check everything," says another voice, grumbling, "Bout fucking time we get to take loot for ourselves."
therion rolls his eyes where he's crouched. thieves. egotistical, selfish. darius has bad taste in goons. a doorknob nearby rattles - the main bedroom door. ]
[ oh he's very funny that he thinks he'll turn himself in without jiaoqiu getting involved,
they stick close to each other in the dark, and even as therion's reaching for his blade and settling in to wait, jiaoqiu's tail comes around him anyway. big, fluffy, and warm - trying to stave off the chill. he listens to the thieves raid the area downstairs, quiet and absently resting his hand on therion's back, just to sort of... ground himself. it's kind of funny. in a situation where therion wasn't beat to shit, he might also find this sort of exciting in that horrible sort of way, but right now, he's genuinely not sure they won't just stab him and take therion.
the loot chatter gets jiaoqiu's ear to flick in annoyance, if only because he's going to be pissed if they take his blanket. the rattle of the doorknob, however, gets him to flinch, and he ducks down a little, ears pinned back. all he can do is be quiet and hope they don't bother.
the closet is obviously a good place to check out, though. footsteps get louder as the thief comes to dig around for valuables, and jiaoqiu's fingers curl into therion's shirt as the closet door below them opens. he's about holding his breath, here. ]
[ he feels the fingers in his shirt, and lifts his good hand up - up, blindly, and covers jiaoqiu's mouth with one hand. he's used to being dead silent, and it's not that he thinks he's going to make noise or something, but it's an extra layer of protection for the both of them. he chooses to protect jiaoqiu, to keep him extra quiet, instead of to grab his knife.
he's used to it, anyway - hiding like this, staying put away. the only worry he has is that he might have gotten blood on the floor, but that's the nice thing, he doesn't even have to, because he knows jiaoqiu took care of him. because again, he can trust him, and he's proved it over and over.
so, he holds his own breath too, utterly still, listening. there's grumbling downstairs, the voices right underneath their feet.
"Just a bunch of fucking moths." one of the men grumbles, and slams the door shut. this woul dbe a good time for a moment of relief, but there's some more bickering, too muffled for therion to pick up but likely easier for jiaoqiu. "Don't be stupid, there might be a fake floor." "In a regular house? Are you shittin' me?"
more bickering. the doorknob turns again, the door opens again. therion's hand curls a little more, tensing, tensing. there's a little bit of a scuffle, as the leader of whoever this group of little thieves is bangs through the door and starts rifling through the coats. therion grabbed the pull and hid it on the way up. maybe that'll be enough. ]
[ the door opening below them and the voice that speaks scares the everloving shit out of jiaoqiu, even though he knows it's coming. it's a good thing that therion has his hand over his mouth - it reminds him not to make noise. he curls a little closer, closing his eyes, concentrating on being quiet, because they really cannot get out of this if they're found. they're backed into a corner.
he holds therion a little more tightly, listening as the thieves ruffle through all of the coats, as there's banging sounds and rattling across the house. he can hear one of them using a knife to open a cabinet, another one kicking something around. there's rustling below them, and then - it stops. silence, for a moment.
and then the leader calls out, "Ain't nothing in here," as he shoves a couple of loose coins in his bag he found in the coats. he slams the closet door again, and stomps off, and jiaoqiu, who had completely frozen, slumps against therion with a sigh that is mostly muffled by his hand over his mouth. god. there isn't much more of the damn place that they can search, so - theoretically, they should leave soon.
[ thank god. therion's original assessment - morons - seems to be true.he's sort of insulted for the fine art of his lawbreaking career, but mostly, he's just tired. the back of his head is starting to hurt again, and it comes with the sting of his pride, too, knowing that it was a bunch of these clowns that managed to get him down, even if it was like, thirty of them.
he holds perfectly still as the noise starts to get further away, hand still resting over jiaoqiu's mouth, letting him sink closer against him and pressing a little more into his tail, too, until they're practically melted into one. it's another five minutes before he's the one that finally, slowly, pulls his hand away from jiaoqiu's mouth, and shifts to lean over, pressing his ear to attic door. listening, as the sound of arguing disappears.
he gives him a look, meaningful, from where he's settled - there's a little glimmer of something almost mischievous to it, the sense that he is absolutely judging the other thieves, and he says, lowly, a casual sort of roguish lilt to his tone - almost... flirting? ] Missed one hell of a treasure.
[ lmao. and then, because he is therion, he goes to start pulling the trap door down one handed, completely intending to ascend down there and check first by his damn self because that's who he is as a person. ]
[ well, it takes him a second to register what is being said here - he's still adrenaline soaked from the thieves breaking in at all. if it weren't for the situation they're currently in, he might have liked all of that, honestly. being curled up together that closely was nice, and he's disappointed when therion moves. his main goal now is to check therion out to make sure he's doing okay, and then to curl back up with him to get warm.
thankfully for him, also, therion pulls his hand away so he doesn't feel how fast jiaoqiu's face goes red at that flirting. a beat, because he's not even sure that he heard that right? is he the treasure? he doesn't want to assume... he'd feel really silly if he did assume and therion was talking about... something else... jiaoqiu is a moron. he kind of splutters a little, ear flicking.
and then therion starts opening the trap door like he's going to climb down on his own with a concussion and one arm? jiaoqiu hisses, forgetting about all that for a moment. he scuttles over to him, grabbing for the trap door. ]
Don't go down by yourself. Let me go first.
[ so he can catch you if you fall!! or like, break your fall with his body, that's more how that'd go. either way he's going to bully his way forward so he can climb down first. ]
[ heh. even hurt, he still has the audacity to be a little bit of a bully. maybe that's the adrenaline talking - though jiaoqiu's reaction leaves him pleased with himself, brief as it is, smug even though he has zero right to be. still got it.
of course, he is not allowed to go down the door by himself. therion makes a complaining noise as jiaoqiu pushes past him, rolling his eyes and scoffing - ] I'm not an invalid. [ because he's FINE he's had WORSE but whatever, he knows jiaoqiu is going to be jiaoqiu about this so he just lets him have it. rolling his eyes makes his head hurt which is a dramatic debuff to therion's general attitude.
down the door goes - hopefully just as smoothly as before - and he sighs, watching jiaoqiu clamber down and putting his chin in his hand, staring down at him with an expression akin to a pout. his voice is still lower than it needs to be, just in case. ]
See anything? Or are you gonna stand there and wait for me to jump out.
[ he shushes therion rudely where he's standing, listening closely. a long pause, as his ears swivel, flick - trying to catch any sign of the men coming back. the voices are getting fainter and fainter, which means they're probably safe for now. he figures they should be overly careful - no lights, no obvious signs of life, but it does make his plans to go try and find them food and water pretty impossible.
he sighs, ears falling back, not pinned to his skull but clearly displeased. and then he looks up at therion where he's watching, and eases just slightly. the pout, funnily enough, makes him feel better. it's cute, and... well, therion's alive. injured, but alive, and here, and that's all that matters. they can figure it out.
he reaches up. holds his hands out. come on down. ]
They're moving away from us. We should be careful, regardless. [ ... ] It's inadvisable to leave the house, like this. Come down. You're not an invalid, but you are injured, and I need to make sure you didn't open your stitches.
[ that it was inadvisable. in fact he did!!!! therion just grumbles this to himself, pulling a face, but otherwise seems mostly unbothered. it's fine. honestly, he thinks they should stay up in the attic, but it's cold up there, and he probably doesn't need to add hypothermia to his list of problems. suddenly, he's itching to have his scarf back, and he thinks it even more so as he looks down at jiaoqiu, at his outstretched hands. something about it makes his heart skip, which is stupid, and embarrassing, and he huffs to himself and slides out from where he's placed himself and onto the ladder. ]
Yes, mother.
[ little shit. as usual! but, as he descends the stairs, the heavy weight of his body and the ache of his head swells a little - the world starts to spin again from the change in direction from horizontal to vertical. he makes it three steps down the ladder, and then he missteps on the second to last rung, too dizzy to properly land, and he slips.
it's not a fall so much as it is a stumble, only a foot or so away from the ground, and in a position to be easily caught by the person down below, but it's something where gravity gives up and he feels his heart leap in horror, expecting - therion's going to fall, he's falling again, falling -- ]
jiaoqiu watches him like a hawk as he makes his way down, ignoring the snark. it's just like a teething puppy gnawing on his hand. it makes therion feel better, and it doesn't hurt jiaoqiu. it's kind of cute, even, and it rolls off him easily enough. he barely even hears it, because he's distracted by the way that he can almost sense that therion's dizzy, with how tuned in he is to his injuries.
so when therion stumbles, and falls backward, jiaoqiu immediately moves forward and catches him, stops him from hitting the ground. he wraps his arms around therion and, while his arms aren't exactly like falling down onto a pillow or something, he's solid. there's a little give. and most importantly, it doesn't hurt, not like hitting the wood floor would've. there's no second thought to it. there's no realization of the significance, on his part, not just yet - he just instinctively moved to save therion from even the smallest of hurts.
jiaoqiu curses under his breath - it's low and distinctly xianzhou in flavor, muttered strings of another language that sounds a little like being grumbled at by a fussy parent. ]
Are you alright? [ there's a tinge of worry to his voice, as he scoops therion up. he knows therion's not going to like being picked up, but he nearly passed out just crawling down a ladder. jiaoqiu is no longer giving him chances to fuck himself up worse. he holds him close, protective, and pushes his foot out to try and open the closet door, eyes on therion entirely. ]
[ and he's caught. it startles him - his breath catches when he realizes. for as goofy as he felt like it was, to be climbing down a ladder and having jiaoqiu overprotectively standing there like he's a child, when therion fell, he caught him.
it's the difference between the nightmares he has of past and present, and reality. there's someone standing at the bottom of the cliff, someone there to make sure he doesn't crash into the ground and shatter for the first, second, thousandth time. that's reality as much as the first push was, and it's a reality he's starting to come to with a startling amount of clarity. jiaoqiu saved his life today, and maybe that's to be expected of a doctor, but it's so much more than that. for the fist time, for the first real moment, he doesn't feel a shred of doubt in the trust that they've built, because for as stupid as this is, he fell, and jiaoqiu caught him, and his first instinct was to do so instead of to let him fall on his ass and laugh.
it's beyond significant. it's so much so that his fingers curl in jiaoqiu's sleeves on his arms, first loosely, and then tighter, like he's a lifeline. his heart feels like it's going to leap out of his chest. therion looks up when jiaoqiu swears, single visible eye wide. stunned. ]
I -
[ - and, well, thankfully, jiaoqiu picks him up. this is much more normal because now he can be offended. he flusters, two beats too late, cheeks turning red, sputtering like a pilot light trying hard to stay on. a hissing, spitting cat. ] -- I can walk, fluff, I'm fine - put me down!
[ embarrassing!!!! embarrassing, he got all fluttery and now he's being carted out of here like - god, he feels like a maiden, that's the worst!! what the hell!! ]
[ he says, sharply, ear flicking. he will not put therion down, he is in Full Fuss Mode, and if therion's looking, he can probably tell it's because jiaoqiu is a little terrified. they're being hunted down by thugs, therion's in poor shape, they can't access food or water, and it's cold enough that he's not sure their body heat and blanket will be enough. he's been in worse conditions - he lived on a battlefield for most of his life, he knows how to rough it, but the thing about that is it puts him in that mindset.
but it isn't so much the situation as much as he's just afraid to lose therion after everything. he won't, they're both resourceful and they'll make it out, but the thieves right below their feet felt like being electrocuted with the awareness that if they'd been caught, they probably would've died.
so - he doubles down on being protective. he cares, more than anything, about therion, and his safety and his comfort, and of course he caught him. of course. he will never let anybody he loves fall again.
he presses his nose to the side of therion's head, ignoring the hissing, and carries him out to the bed they made, looking to see if the stupid thieves stole his blanket. ]
[ therion opens his mouth, and shuts it. maybe because he's scolded - and frankly, rightfully so - or maybe because he's embarrassed, or maybe it's because he picks up on that little thread of fear. it's hard to say, but he shuts his mouth, the little spitfire dying like someone threw a wet blanket on it.
speaking of. thankfully, jiaoqiu's blanket is still there, though it's mussed up now, thrown halfheartedly on the floor, and the pillow features a stab mark in it, a few feathers on the mattress. it's not a warning so much as it is a thief that was looking for hidden treasure, and there are signs of the cut on the pillow being felt around in, though clearly the thief who was searching through it found nothing but feather down.
therion is still dizzy, and now he's a little mulish on top of that. all the blood in his cheeks makes his head hurt a little further, and he grumbles a little, sliding his good arm across his chest to make some fascimile of folding it with the other one, defanged, declawed, and now a little worried about jiaoqiu, too.
after a beat, he mutters - ] Bed's out of sight of the windows because it's low to the ground. [ it's a good thief hideout, is what he's saying. they'll be okay if they can hunker down, but they need to get down quickly. he's likely not going to be able to sleep no matter what pain he's in after all of that fuss, because the paranoia is going to beat out the need for bodily rest no matter what, but they do need to get down and get jiaoqiu curled up against the cold. therion's not that worried about it himself - he's been through worse with far less, at least in terms of weather - but between that and the injuries and let me take care of you, he's feeling a little more cooperative than usual. ]
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[ it's sharp, but like usual, its his way of worrying in return. though, his sarcasm is seriously limited by how downright sleepy he sounds tucked in here, all of his remarks starting to lose their usual bite when the painkillers take hold. but, now that he's comfortable - bundled up with jiaoqiu's tail draped warmly across his lap, his injuries tended to, and alive, and safe, the adrenaline crash finally hits him properly. what starts off as a doze lapses easier than he'd ever expect.
with the help of the medicine, and the help of safety, he's out. stone cold asleep, unbothered by a movement, by jiaoqiu adjusting or shifting - like being chosen by a particularly fussy cat, therion falls asleep curled against his chest. though he fusses occasionally in his sleep, this time, his free hand comes up and curls, unconsciously, in jiaoqiu's clothes, and holds there. ]
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eventually, in an attempt not to fall asleep, he reaches for his phone, and starts slowly tapping a message. primrose gets an alert - found him, injured badly, recovering now, laying low. will look for way out tomorrow. and that's about when therion reaches up to curl into his clothes. jiaoqiu hums, and carefully rests his hand on top of therion's, keeping it there.
the absolute knocked out nature of his sleep is satisfying, honestly. it makes him feel warm - it almost means as much as all the feelings they exchanged, today. and those - all of that, he thinks about too. he drifts, absently, thinking about finding a place when they get back. making therion dinner, and insisting he stay home for a week so he can nap in therion's lap like a particularly spoiled housecat. break in the new bed, too - that thought amuses him a little, because he's sure he can think of a few ways to make that happen.
somewhere in there, though, his ear twitches as he hears shouting over the wind outside. it's getting dark, and, nervously, he makes sure his phone is hidden, and they're out of view of any windows. no light, no nothing. he holds therion close, eyes open, just a little tense.]
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an hour or two passes. it's starting to get very dark indeed, which is not necessarily as much of a blessing as you might think, because thieves and bandits tend to make their best at night - therion is certainly much of the same. streetlamps flicker on, and with it, the town starts to get a little louder, a little rowdier. you can practically hear the sound of doors slamming shut and locking across northreach.
sure enough, jiaoqiu's hearing picks up on the shouting. it's not too close, but it's getting closer, the sound of yelling, pushing, thudding footsteps. as the voices close in around the house, he'll hear snatches of their conversations. "Shit, you got humiliated, huh?" "Shut up and keep looking!"
that can't be good! distantly, there's the sound of someone banging on a nearby door, and yelling at the people inside about harboring fugitives.
if jiaoqiu looks down at all, he might feel that therion's also gone completely still where he's being held - good eye opening quickly, roused almost immediately out of his deep, deep sleep. he makes eye contact if he can, but he says nothing, dead silent. ]
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carefully, he says, so, so soft right against therion's ear: ] Stay?
[ do they stay, try to hide? or do they go? ]
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jiaoqiu's voice is as soft and smooth in his ear as silk, and he shifts a tiny bit, enough to lean further out of the way of the window, pressing himself to jiaoqiu's chest. it hurts his arm, but the ache is just an afterthought, as he pays close attention, and turns his head closer. just as quietly - ]
How many?
[ trusting jiaoqiu, here, and especially trusting his hearing. can he tell how many voices there are approaching? ]
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he rests his hand on therion's neck again, at the nape of it, just holding. he's still, eyes closed as he focuses. how many voices? he's not sure, it's hard to tell. but - he picks out one. then two, then three - if there are more, he can't tell the difference between them.
so, soft: ] Three. Might be more.
[ he's not sure they can knock out three fast enough to not alert the others. but he's willing to try. ]
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his eyes track to the windows, pulling a bit of an annoyed face. ]
Down to the ground to crawl. [ with a slight move of his head towards the closet. ] Keep your ears down.
[ crawling is. going to be bad for his injuries, but therion's already prepared himself for whatever pain he's going to feel. it's fine. better to feel pain than to be alive. ] Avoid the confrontation if we can.
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it upsets him a bit to think that therion's going to reopen his wounds this way, but. they've got to. so, carefully, he lets go of therion - not before pressing a kiss to his forehead - before sliding down the the floor, keeping his ears down like he was asked.
he's not injured, so it takes next to no time for him to crawl to the closet and open it just enough for them to get inside. the voices get a little louder, and he has to grab his tail to stop it from anxiously swishing across the floor. he'll check to see if there's an attic pull, just in case. ]
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anyway. down they go. therion's watching the window from where he's settled, ignoring the way his head is pounding to watch jiaoqiu safely traverse the small space, watches him hold his stupid fluffy tail - serves him right for all the times therion's ended up practically eating it when they share a bed, he would think in a much less dangerous situation - and then slowly eases off the bed himself. it hurts, trying to get down, every muscle and injury screaming in protest, but he tests the floor with one foot to make sure the boards aren't squeaky, and then carefully lowers himself down.
this is what he did before jiaoqiu showed up, so frankly, it's easier to do it now that he's warm and bandaged. in that cold church, he pulled himself off that shitty altar and dragged himself into the corner to survive. that's all he's ever wanted to do - live, survive, like the cockroach that he is - and his stubbornness serves him well because of it. he moves without wincing, even if he feels stitches pull, even if his arm hurts where it touches against the ground briefly, but he slides under the window with relative ease and makes it to the door, where he pauses.
"Oi. We check this one yet?"
"Nah. Didn't even know it was out here. Might have some loot we didn't take yet. Forget the little guy."
despite this extremely concerning series of conversation and chatter outside - there's the sound of a fist banging into the door, loud and violent - therion seems mostly unbothered as he pulls himself around and inside like liquid, letting the closet door creak shut behind them. it's a very small closet, but above their heads, dangling, there does appear to be an attic pull. there's also some moth-bitten clothing in here. it smells bad! but hey. at least it's something.
while the thieves outside are making a ruckus, therion, still on the ground, mutters just loud enough to be heard by jiaoqiu - ] Think they'd at least learn my name by now.
[ because apparently he can still be sassy? like this? but he jerks his chin up to the attic pull. ]
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jiaoqiu watches him pull himself across the floor with an expression that is absolutely Unhappy. he does not like that therion is having to hurt himself to get safe. but - it'll be okay. he'll fix it, once they're safe. he can do as much as he can to make sure that therion doesn't make it that much worse, in the meantime.
the voices get him to tense, ears flicking violently. therion, at least, doesn't look like he's having that bad of a time here, but jiaoqiu knows it's mostly just because he's used to this sort of thing. with a little sigh, he rubs at his face as the door closes, and then jumps and slaps a hand to his chest like an old man at the fist banging on the door. jesus.
there's a little jolt, as he thinks about how he left the blanket and pillow out there, but. he brought his bag with him, at least. they can't steal that much, and they hopefully won't know that someone was just in the building.
therion gets a little huffy look at the sass, and then very, very carefully stands up in the closet to try and pull the attic open. slowly, quietly as he can. it's pretty decently soft, considering he's not built for stealth, and though it creaks slightly when he eases it down, it doesn't seem to alert anybody. with a deep breath, jiaoqiu glances down at therion, and then shifts so therion can climb onto his back. he'll help him on, of course, but - there's no way he's going to be strong enough to lift him up above his head.
they can get up into the attic. he'll figure out what to do with the pull once therion's up and safe. ]
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in the meantime, therion's pride thinks he can get up the ladder perfectly fine by himself, at the moment - he gives jiaoqiu a little bit of a look when he offers his back. there's not exactly room to complain, though, and honestly, it shows even more how much he trusts him, to allow for this. putting himself on jiaoqiu's back leaves him very vulnerable in case that door flies open, and he does not like that, but carefully, he props himself up against the door, and then climbs onto jiaoqiu one handed, lowering his head near his ear. ]
Step to the back of the ladder steps. [ therion murmurs, his voice barely a whisper. less squeaking, that way. less chance of making more noise. sneaking 101 from a thief.
there's the sound of a door opening - his grip tightens on jiaoqiu, a nonverbal hurry. ]
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but he trusts therion to hold on, and takes his advice easily enough. back of the steps - there's less noise, and he's decently quiet as he makes his way up to the top of the ladder, into the dusty and damp attic. the door opening out in the main room freaks him out, his fur sticking up on end and his expression tense, but he manages to reach down and pull the ladder up and close the trapdoor without any banging or clatters.
it's cold up here, and dark, though he can see alright considering his foxian senses. he shifts to let therion down, wrapping an arm around him to support him. there are boxes in the corner of the room that seem like decent cover, but mostly, he's hoping the thieves don't even bother checking up here at all. that they miss it. ]
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he can feel jiaoqiu's fur puff up near his ear - unlike jiaoqiu, he doesn't seem that bothered, and there's a puff of a laugh, something a little wild no matter its quiet volume, near his ear, as they get up and into the attic room. therion can't see their surroundings well, and as he's set down, he gingerly unpeels himself from jiaoqiu in the small space, and shifts his good hand down, reaching into his bag and feeling for his switchblade. he'll let jiaoqiu get adjusted for the moment, moving through this like an old hat, and though he's supposed to be the one being protected, he still makes sure jiaoqiu stays close by, already thinking through a plan of where to go, how to get out if they get caught. he'll just turn himself in. shitty as that is, he'd rather jiaoqiu get out.
in the meantime, there's a loud cacophony from downstairs - it's more muffled up here, with the distance of the closet and the attic panel. the sounds of drawers being opened and shut, rattled around. the contents of the kitchen silverware being raided, any semi-useful electronics ripped out of the wall. occasionally, they can hear a swear, or a hell yeah!, but for the most part it's just noisy.
"Man, place's already been picked clean." grumbles one of the thieves. "Check everything," says another voice, grumbling, "Bout fucking time we get to take loot for ourselves."
therion rolls his eyes where he's crouched. thieves. egotistical, selfish. darius has bad taste in goons. a doorknob nearby rattles - the main bedroom door. ]
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they stick close to each other in the dark, and even as therion's reaching for his blade and settling in to wait, jiaoqiu's tail comes around him anyway. big, fluffy, and warm - trying to stave off the chill. he listens to the thieves raid the area downstairs, quiet and absently resting his hand on therion's back, just to sort of... ground himself. it's kind of funny. in a situation where therion wasn't beat to shit, he might also find this sort of exciting in that horrible sort of way, but right now, he's genuinely not sure they won't just stab him and take therion.
the loot chatter gets jiaoqiu's ear to flick in annoyance, if only because he's going to be pissed if they take his blanket. the rattle of the doorknob, however, gets him to flinch, and he ducks down a little, ears pinned back. all he can do is be quiet and hope they don't bother.
the closet is obviously a good place to check out, though. footsteps get louder as the thief comes to dig around for valuables, and jiaoqiu's fingers curl into therion's shirt as the closet door below them opens. he's about holding his breath, here. ]
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he's used to it, anyway - hiding like this, staying put away. the only worry he has is that he might have gotten blood on the floor, but that's the nice thing, he doesn't even have to, because he knows jiaoqiu took care of him. because again, he can trust him, and he's proved it over and over.
so, he holds his own breath too, utterly still, listening. there's grumbling downstairs, the voices right underneath their feet.
"Just a bunch of fucking moths." one of the men grumbles, and slams the door shut. this woul dbe a good time for a moment of relief, but there's some more bickering, too muffled for therion to pick up but likely easier for jiaoqiu. "Don't be stupid, there might be a fake floor." "In a regular house? Are you shittin' me?"
more bickering. the doorknob turns again, the door opens again. therion's hand curls a little more, tensing, tensing. there's a little bit of a scuffle, as the leader of whoever this group of little thieves is bangs through the door and starts rifling through the coats. therion grabbed the pull and hid it on the way up. maybe that'll be enough. ]
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he holds therion a little more tightly, listening as the thieves ruffle through all of the coats, as there's banging sounds and rattling across the house. he can hear one of them using a knife to open a cabinet, another one kicking something around. there's rustling below them, and then - it stops. silence, for a moment.
and then the leader calls out, "Ain't nothing in here," as he shoves a couple of loose coins in his bag he found in the coats. he slams the closet door again, and stomps off, and jiaoqiu, who had completely frozen, slumps against therion with a sigh that is mostly muffled by his hand over his mouth. god. there isn't much more of the damn place that they can search, so - theoretically, they should leave soon.
he's absolutely freezing, so he hopes so. ]
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he holds perfectly still as the noise starts to get further away, hand still resting over jiaoqiu's mouth, letting him sink closer against him and pressing a little more into his tail, too, until they're practically melted into one. it's another five minutes before he's the one that finally, slowly, pulls his hand away from jiaoqiu's mouth, and shifts to lean over, pressing his ear to attic door. listening, as the sound of arguing disappears.
he gives him a look, meaningful, from where he's settled - there's a little glimmer of something almost mischievous to it, the sense that he is absolutely judging the other thieves, and he says, lowly, a casual sort of roguish lilt to his tone - almost... flirting? ] Missed one hell of a treasure.
[ lmao. and then, because he is therion, he goes to start pulling the trap door down one handed, completely intending to ascend down there and check first by his damn self because that's who he is as a person. ]
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thankfully for him, also, therion pulls his hand away so he doesn't feel how fast jiaoqiu's face goes red at that flirting. a beat, because he's not even sure that he heard that right? is he the treasure? he doesn't want to assume... he'd feel really silly if he did assume and therion was talking about... something else... jiaoqiu is a moron. he kind of splutters a little, ear flicking.
and then therion starts opening the trap door like he's going to climb down on his own with a concussion and one arm? jiaoqiu hisses, forgetting about all that for a moment. he scuttles over to him, grabbing for the trap door. ]
Don't go down by yourself. Let me go first.
[ so he can catch you if you fall!! or like, break your fall with his body, that's more how that'd go. either way he's going to bully his way forward so he can climb down first. ]
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of course, he is not allowed to go down the door by himself. therion makes a complaining noise as jiaoqiu pushes past him, rolling his eyes and scoffing - ] I'm not an invalid. [ because he's FINE he's had WORSE but whatever, he knows jiaoqiu is going to be jiaoqiu about this so he just lets him have it. rolling his eyes makes his head hurt which is a dramatic debuff to therion's general attitude.
down the door goes - hopefully just as smoothly as before - and he sighs, watching jiaoqiu clamber down and putting his chin in his hand, staring down at him with an expression akin to a pout. his voice is still lower than it needs to be, just in case. ]
See anything? Or are you gonna stand there and wait for me to jump out.
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he sighs, ears falling back, not pinned to his skull but clearly displeased. and then he looks up at therion where he's watching, and eases just slightly. the pout, funnily enough, makes him feel better. it's cute, and... well, therion's alive. injured, but alive, and here, and that's all that matters. they can figure it out.
he reaches up. holds his hands out. come on down. ]
They're moving away from us. We should be careful, regardless. [ ... ] It's inadvisable to leave the house, like this. Come down. You're not an invalid, but you are injured, and I need to make sure you didn't open your stitches.
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[ that it was inadvisable. in fact he did!!!! therion just grumbles this to himself, pulling a face, but otherwise seems mostly unbothered. it's fine. honestly, he thinks they should stay up in the attic, but it's cold up there, and he probably doesn't need to add hypothermia to his list of problems. suddenly, he's itching to have his scarf back, and he thinks it even more so as he looks down at jiaoqiu, at his outstretched hands. something about it makes his heart skip, which is stupid, and embarrassing, and he huffs to himself and slides out from where he's placed himself and onto the ladder. ]
Yes, mother.
[ little shit. as usual! but, as he descends the stairs, the heavy weight of his body and the ache of his head swells a little - the world starts to spin again from the change in direction from horizontal to vertical. he makes it three steps down the ladder, and then he missteps on the second to last rung, too dizzy to properly land, and he slips.
it's not a fall so much as it is a stumble, only a foot or so away from the ground, and in a position to be easily caught by the person down below, but it's something where gravity gives up and he feels his heart leap in horror, expecting - therion's going to fall, he's falling again, falling -- ]
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jiaoqiu watches him like a hawk as he makes his way down, ignoring the snark. it's just like a teething puppy gnawing on his hand. it makes therion feel better, and it doesn't hurt jiaoqiu. it's kind of cute, even, and it rolls off him easily enough. he barely even hears it, because he's distracted by the way that he can almost sense that therion's dizzy, with how tuned in he is to his injuries.
so when therion stumbles, and falls backward, jiaoqiu immediately moves forward and catches him, stops him from hitting the ground. he wraps his arms around therion and, while his arms aren't exactly like falling down onto a pillow or something, he's solid. there's a little give. and most importantly, it doesn't hurt, not like hitting the wood floor would've. there's no second thought to it. there's no realization of the significance, on his part, not just yet - he just instinctively moved to save therion from even the smallest of hurts.
jiaoqiu curses under his breath - it's low and distinctly xianzhou in flavor, muttered strings of another language that sounds a little like being grumbled at by a fussy parent. ]
Are you alright? [ there's a tinge of worry to his voice, as he scoops therion up. he knows therion's not going to like being picked up, but he nearly passed out just crawling down a ladder. jiaoqiu is no longer giving him chances to fuck himself up worse. he holds him close, protective, and pushes his foot out to try and open the closet door, eyes on therion entirely. ]
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it's the difference between the nightmares he has of past and present, and reality. there's someone standing at the bottom of the cliff, someone there to make sure he doesn't crash into the ground and shatter for the first, second, thousandth time. that's reality as much as the first push was, and it's a reality he's starting to come to with a startling amount of clarity. jiaoqiu saved his life today, and maybe that's to be expected of a doctor, but it's so much more than that. for the fist time, for the first real moment, he doesn't feel a shred of doubt in the trust that they've built, because for as stupid as this is, he fell, and jiaoqiu caught him, and his first instinct was to do so instead of to let him fall on his ass and laugh.
it's beyond significant. it's so much so that his fingers curl in jiaoqiu's sleeves on his arms, first loosely, and then tighter, like he's a lifeline. his heart feels like it's going to leap out of his chest. therion looks up when jiaoqiu swears, single visible eye wide. stunned. ]
I -
[ - and, well, thankfully, jiaoqiu picks him up. this is much more normal because now he can be offended. he flusters, two beats too late, cheeks turning red, sputtering like a pilot light trying hard to stay on. a hissing, spitting cat. ] -- I can walk, fluff, I'm fine - put me down!
[ embarrassing!!!! embarrassing, he got all fluttery and now he's being carted out of here like - god, he feels like a maiden, that's the worst!! what the hell!! ]
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[ he says, sharply, ear flicking. he will not put therion down, he is in Full Fuss Mode, and if therion's looking, he can probably tell it's because jiaoqiu is a little terrified. they're being hunted down by thugs, therion's in poor shape, they can't access food or water, and it's cold enough that he's not sure their body heat and blanket will be enough. he's been in worse conditions - he lived on a battlefield for most of his life, he knows how to rough it, but the thing about that is it puts him in that mindset.
but it isn't so much the situation as much as he's just afraid to lose therion after everything. he won't, they're both resourceful and they'll make it out, but the thieves right below their feet felt like being electrocuted with the awareness that if they'd been caught, they probably would've died.
so - he doubles down on being protective. he cares, more than anything, about therion, and his safety and his comfort, and of course he caught him. of course. he will never let anybody he loves fall again.
he presses his nose to the side of therion's head, ignoring the hissing, and carries him out to the bed they made, looking to see if the stupid thieves stole his blanket. ]
Let me take care of you.
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speaking of. thankfully, jiaoqiu's blanket is still there, though it's mussed up now, thrown halfheartedly on the floor, and the pillow features a stab mark in it, a few feathers on the mattress. it's not a warning so much as it is a thief that was looking for hidden treasure, and there are signs of the cut on the pillow being felt around in, though clearly the thief who was searching through it found nothing but feather down.
therion is still dizzy, and now he's a little mulish on top of that. all the blood in his cheeks makes his head hurt a little further, and he grumbles a little, sliding his good arm across his chest to make some fascimile of folding it with the other one, defanged, declawed, and now a little worried about jiaoqiu, too.
after a beat, he mutters - ] Bed's out of sight of the windows because it's low to the ground. [ it's a good thief hideout, is what he's saying. they'll be okay if they can hunker down, but they need to get down quickly. he's likely not going to be able to sleep no matter what pain he's in after all of that fuss, because the paranoia is going to beat out the need for bodily rest no matter what, but they do need to get down and get jiaoqiu curled up against the cold. therion's not that worried about it himself - he's been through worse with far less, at least in terms of weather - but between that and the injuries and let me take care of you, he's feeling a little more cooperative than usual. ]
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