[ therion is SO rude to this nice old man, wow........
no, jiaoqiu can sense the no nonsense sort of attitude from heathcote, and it kind of amuses him, actually. this is therion kryptonite. jiaoqiu is unfortunately too polite to let this go without thanking their savior - he's not too proud for this. so, with a little bow of his head, he makes his way out the door and towards the car, sticking close to therion. not just because he's worried about him, but because even though this man is obviously trustworthy, considering therion is going anywhere with him willingly, he's a little paranoid. this city is a wreck. jiaoqiu feels... a little poorly, leaving it behind in such a state. but there's not a lot that one person can do. even if he wants to go find that one guy that stabbed therion and poison him to death.
so, he gives another little thank you at the door being opened for them, and then slides into the backseat, leaving a lot of room for therion to get in. he doesn't crowd up against therion once he's inside, but he settles close, quietly reaching to hold onto his arm out of habit. softly, to therion: ]
Everything alright?
[ how are you feeling. where are we going, what's the plan? ]
this is one of the places that therion and jiaoqiu don't really match - in that this city, to him, is already a lost cause. there's no saving something like this, and he's not really the type to care. sucks for the people who do live here, but therion wants to put northreach into the rearview mirror and never, ever come back, like half the other places he's been. he's spent his whole life in shitholes like this one way or another, and though northreach is maybe the worst he's seen in a while, his focus has always been on his own survival.
(well, mostly. therion has a few people he'd upend the world for. and his soft core means he's suckered into helping others more than you'd expect, even if he's sneaky about it, but he's practical enough that something like this is beyond helping.)
therion slides into the car, shuts the door, drops himself into the seat. his body hurts, but the adrenaline of escaping matches jiaoqiu's paranoia, and he keeps his head on a swivel, glancing out the window, up at the rearview, even as heathcote comes back around and puts the car into drive, heading out through the streets.
the touch to his arm does catch his attention. he glances over at jiaoqiu, glances up at the mirror again, and after a moment... accepts it, huffing softly and turning back towards the window. truthfully, he doesn't feel great, but it's probably just the exhaustion, and if he leans a little more into jiaoqiu's touch than usual, it's probably nothing. ]
'm fine. [ which is not necessarily untrue - he's not any worse than he was a few hours ago. ] Think we're heading to the next town over to catch the train.
[ heathcote's left them be, with all the gesture of a man who is used to driving a car with a fancy lady inside around, though he does comment, from the front: You really ought to take a night before you return. Lady Cordelia would be pleased to have you.
therion scoffs, as therion does, rolls his eyes. ] Yeah, well. She can get over it.
The less traveling we do while you're injured the better.
[ jiaoqiu says, voice soft but insistent. but he's not going to pester - he really does want to go home. he's exhausted, he wants to sleep in his own bed. if therion can make it, that's what they'll do, but if he doesn't feel good, jiaoqiu isn't going to risk his health just because the two of them would rather be back in sunshade. he's keeping a close eye on how therion's moving, what he's doing while they're mostly at rest.
a beat. ]
Lady Cordelia is generous to open her home to us. We'd like to be back as soon as we can, but we'll keep it in mind.
[ there's that military general's right hand coming out, there. his fingers wrap around therion's wrist - nothing more than just holding onto him because he wants to. it makes him feel better. focus on who you can save, he reminds himself, putting northreach out of his mind for now. therion is his priority. ]
[ you know, therion knows jiaoqiu is smart. he knows he's good at navigating complexities, but there's something nice - something attractive, really - about seeing him utilize those skills. for therion, who would rather not talk in most situations, it's especially nice to be able to trust jiaoqiu to handle it, because whether he trusts heathcote or not, he doesn't really want to deal with him right now.
his glance flicks from the rearview mirror to jiaoqiu, as they peel out of the town and off into the night. the hand around his wrist is allowed to stay there - he leans back a little further against the seat, feeling some of the weight and exhaustion of the day starting to weigh on his shoulders, dizzy in the rocking motion of the car.
therion closes his eyes, indicating an I'm Done With This Conversation - his wrist turns just slightly into the fingers pressed to it, and he trusts jiaoqiu to handle it. whether he talks to heathcote a lot or doesn't, he can handle it.
heathcote hums a little in response. "There's hardly a need for the train, then - Master Jiaoqiu is correct. We'll head that for Sunshade directly."
cordelia can wait, because she'll get a full report of everything that happened here anyway, so. off they go. heathcote's as quiet as you might expect as a butler, polite and elegant, and he doesn't necessarily start conversation unless jiaoqiu wants to ask him something of him, but it seems he's fine to take them all the way back. ]
[ he can tell that therion is starting to waver, which is why once heathcote goes quiet, jiaoqiu hums, and shifts so he can be a better pillow. carefully, he nudges therion to lean on him if he wants, and - either way - settles his tail so it's settled over the both of them. comfy. it'll be a decently long drive back, so he's content to rest. he only had two hours of sleep, after all.
and he's a little hesitant to do so only because he doesn't always like to be affectionate where other people can see, but he rests his head against therion's shoulder, and closes his eyes. he's exhausted, so he's going to be out in seconds if nobody talks to him.
he figures he'll need the rest for when they get back. ]
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no, jiaoqiu can sense the no nonsense sort of attitude from heathcote, and it kind of amuses him, actually. this is therion kryptonite. jiaoqiu is unfortunately too polite to let this go without thanking their savior - he's not too proud for this. so, with a little bow of his head, he makes his way out the door and towards the car, sticking close to therion. not just because he's worried about him, but because even though this man is obviously trustworthy, considering therion is going anywhere with him willingly, he's a little paranoid. this city is a wreck. jiaoqiu feels... a little poorly, leaving it behind in such a state. but there's not a lot that one person can do. even if he wants to go find that one guy that stabbed therion and poison him to death.
so, he gives another little thank you at the door being opened for them, and then slides into the backseat, leaving a lot of room for therion to get in. he doesn't crowd up against therion once he's inside, but he settles close, quietly reaching to hold onto his arm out of habit. softly, to therion: ]
Everything alright?
[ how are you feeling. where are we going, what's the plan? ]
no subject
this is one of the places that therion and jiaoqiu don't really match - in that this city, to him, is already a lost cause. there's no saving something like this, and he's not really the type to care. sucks for the people who do live here, but therion wants to put northreach into the rearview mirror and never, ever come back, like half the other places he's been. he's spent his whole life in shitholes like this one way or another, and though northreach is maybe the worst he's seen in a while, his focus has always been on his own survival.
(well, mostly. therion has a few people he'd upend the world for. and his soft core means he's suckered into helping others more than you'd expect, even if he's sneaky about it, but he's practical enough that something like this is beyond helping.)
therion slides into the car, shuts the door, drops himself into the seat. his body hurts, but the adrenaline of escaping matches jiaoqiu's paranoia, and he keeps his head on a swivel, glancing out the window, up at the rearview, even as heathcote comes back around and puts the car into drive, heading out through the streets.
the touch to his arm does catch his attention. he glances over at jiaoqiu, glances up at the mirror again, and after a moment... accepts it, huffing softly and turning back towards the window. truthfully, he doesn't feel great, but it's probably just the exhaustion, and if he leans a little more into jiaoqiu's touch than usual, it's probably nothing. ]
'm fine. [ which is not necessarily untrue - he's not any worse than he was a few hours ago. ] Think we're heading to the next town over to catch the train.
[ heathcote's left them be, with all the gesture of a man who is used to driving a car with a fancy lady inside around, though he does comment, from the front: You really ought to take a night before you return. Lady Cordelia would be pleased to have you.
therion scoffs, as therion does, rolls his eyes. ] Yeah, well. She can get over it.
no subject
[ jiaoqiu says, voice soft but insistent. but he's not going to pester - he really does want to go home. he's exhausted, he wants to sleep in his own bed. if therion can make it, that's what they'll do, but if he doesn't feel good, jiaoqiu isn't going to risk his health just because the two of them would rather be back in sunshade. he's keeping a close eye on how therion's moving, what he's doing while they're mostly at rest.
a beat. ]
Lady Cordelia is generous to open her home to us. We'd like to be back as soon as we can, but we'll keep it in mind.
[ there's that military general's right hand coming out, there. his fingers wrap around therion's wrist - nothing more than just holding onto him because he wants to. it makes him feel better. focus on who you can save, he reminds himself, putting northreach out of his mind for now. therion is his priority. ]
no subject
his glance flicks from the rearview mirror to jiaoqiu, as they peel out of the town and off into the night. the hand around his wrist is allowed to stay there - he leans back a little further against the seat, feeling some of the weight and exhaustion of the day starting to weigh on his shoulders, dizzy in the rocking motion of the car.
therion closes his eyes, indicating an I'm Done With This Conversation - his wrist turns just slightly into the fingers pressed to it, and he trusts jiaoqiu to handle it. whether he talks to heathcote a lot or doesn't, he can handle it.
heathcote hums a little in response. "There's hardly a need for the train, then - Master Jiaoqiu is correct. We'll head that for Sunshade directly."
cordelia can wait, because she'll get a full report of everything that happened here anyway, so. off they go. heathcote's as quiet as you might expect as a butler, polite and elegant, and he doesn't necessarily start conversation unless jiaoqiu wants to ask him something of him, but it seems he's fine to take them all the way back. ]
no subject
and he's a little hesitant to do so only because he doesn't always like to be affectionate where other people can see, but he rests his head against therion's shoulder, and closes his eyes. he's exhausted, so he's going to be out in seconds if nobody talks to him.
he figures he'll need the rest for when they get back. ]