Re: How Gay Can We Make This (Twin and Blue)

[TwinTigerPaw]

Sing listened to Shiloh quietly. "Well, we could try to find him first... Surly he has a voice of reason by now, that at the sound of dying shiniko has stopped. He may have found one of his kids now. Maybe we should try to find a way out. We can meet him outside..." The fire shiniko offered. "I'll instruct any prisoners we find to lay low for a bit before getting out of here." He added.

~~~~~

Gau gave a soft smile. His poor baby. "I won't risk leaving you here with sleeping beauty over here. We'll get you to Ves' place, theres plenty of medics there that will help ease the pain. You've got a new little brother now by the way, he's worried about you." The dema explained softly as he got one arm under Kovu's legs.

"Alright, just let me know if it hurts, I'm going to try and get you up, okay?" He said, giving Kovu a heads up before lifting him, holding him like a baby.

(Can time skip Singe and Shiloh to Ves if you want.)

[BluePawProductions]

Shiloh gave a sidelong glance to Singe, wondering what he possibly had to go off of to guess at that. His determination? “We have no proof of that,” He replied solidly, “There’s no reason to believe Gau’s found any voice of reason. For all we know, even if he found one of his own, it could have just enraged him more. We might be hearing a quiet before the storm and I, for one, refuse to gamble with lives on that possibility.”

“Now,” Rolling his shoulders, Shiloh backed out the door and looked either way down the halls. “I’m gunna make sure the area’s clear before we hunker down to wait for the man. Alright?”

~~~

Kovu nodded to his dema, silently agreeing to the terms, but it wasn’t like he had much of a choice. Soon as he was moved, his small, tight grunts of pain gave away his injuries. There was, honestly, no good way to hold him or move him. He was battered badly. That woman would have rather had him dead than alive and it showed. He was far worse for wear than he should have been for how short a time they had him.

~~~
[TIIIIMEEEE SKIP!]

Rubbing at his wrists where the cuffs had left bruises and cuts, Shiloh finished recounting, “ and…that’s when we found the room. Aderyn had definitely been there. I’m almost certain of it. He just…. He wasn’t there anymore. That means he’s likely alive though. They wouldn’t have taken him if they intended to kill him. I know that much.” His brow furrowed. “I wish we could have gotten there sooner but… I’m sorry.”

His eyes sought out the familiar faces in the crowd of strangers, but he lowered his gaze back to his wrists again. If only he’d been faster, if they’d been sooner…. Maybe if he’d fought harder when he heard-

“It’s not your fault,” Ves told the boy, “Just like it’s not Kovu’s fault for what happened afterwards.”

Yeah, afterwards. Near as soon as Gau and Ves had met up, Kovu’s distress had drawn in phantoms. It was a disaster. Luckily they got back to the house okay, but no telling what happened to the mercenaries. Ves did try to fight off some of the phantoms, but the number was growing and they were after Kovu. Prioritizing meant protecting Gau and his injured child. That meant that whatever was left of the crew Gau had wanted to take captive was left to their own, possibly escaping, possibly beign consumumed.

“Speaking of Kovu, how is he?” Shiloh looked up to Ves with a million questions in his gaze. He didn’t know the other man well, but he knew it was important to Gau and to his house.

“He’ll live, but he won’t be up on his own two feet for a while,” Ves admitted, “We’ve done what we can for now. It’s all about rest for a while now. Just try not to worry.”

The dark-haired boy nodded, a bit hollow. He had the look of a burdened soul, one work out and still in a bit of shock. He knew he had to get back and start fighting again before he was missed, but-… He sighed slightly and leaned his weight forward on his elbows at the table. He just needed a few more minutes to think, to clear his foggy head.

[TwinTigerPaw]

(I'm just gonna jump into the time skip X'D)

"Gau, just sit down, and relax." Valhalla had told the dema. He was pacing back and forth- no he had been for the past hour. He was restless and worried. All the recent noise had drawn the ice queen out of her room, despite her being sick. She had on a surgical mask to cover her mouth so no one would get breathed on.

Gau sighed, and sat down after Val had told him for the fifteenth time. "Good, you were starting to wear holes in the floors..." She said before looking to Shiloh. The water dema shook his head. "It couldn't have been helped Shiloh, it's alright.... I just should have been there in the first place. They wouldn't have been able to take them if I had been there..." He said, looking down before planting his face into his hands and shook.

He promised Aderyn that he would always keep him safe! He promised to protect him but he failed. Gau felt the sinking feeling of depression and guilt.... Val put her hand on his shoulders. "Don't give up hope Gau.... We'll find Aderyn, and we'll save him...." She said.

"Shiloh!!" Came a small yelp from the back of the house. Yoko came sprinting into the kitchen and gently hugged Shiloh, but firmly enough as though he feared his friend would vanish in his arms. Yoko had been asleep through most of the chaos. He had been in too much pain from rapid transforming that he needed to take something to knock him out while his body healed. "I was so scared I'd never see you again- Shiloh, I'm so sorry- I should never have left you alone in that room, I could have helped you!" He said softly.

Singe had been brought back with the group, and was standing out of the way, he didn't have much to add in conversation, but he was listening... Valhalla looked at him and pointed. "So, who is this guy. I've seen him lurking many times outside both our house and Gau's. So spill it blondey, why are you stalking us. Did you have anything to do with this, because if you did, I'll rip you a new one-" She was spitting mad thunder at this shiniko before he interrupted.

"Chill Ice Queen... I wasn't the one that caused the kidnapping bullshit, I was just caught up in it. Yes, I have been some what observing both Vesuvius, and Gau's house. But my interest is not in the shiniko." He explained. "I however wish to help you locate your missing shiniko. My family and I could be of great use to you in finding him. After all, I would like to be on the god of war, and god of water's good sides." Singe said, giving a crooked smile.

Valhalla crossed her arms. "Alright then, but we'll be watching you like a damn hawk, if you do anything shady we're going to shut you down." She hissed. Val was so done with everything, the Asher shit, Vlad's shit, now THIS shit. Can they just have like, four months of quiet? For real.

Yoko looked over, letting Shiloh go and then blinked. "Wait, he said he was watching us because of something we shared. What do you mean by that?" He asked.

"It's that cat." Sing said, referring to Vlad. "I've only been watching him, so where he goes, I go. It's just a family thing I guess." He added in.

~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, back in a room, Daisuke was sitting in a chair near the bed where they had set Kovu to rest. He knew he didn't have to, but Daisuke felt that he should stay with Kovu and just be there to help him with anything he needed. Though, he felt he was quite worthless with his hands being all shaky like they were. The shiniko in this house were all nice- well aside from a few that were very... Bitter, or just not social.

Daisuke just sat, facing the door while he held his hands to his chest, shaking. He had done what a green eyed shiniko had told him to do, relax and focus. The shiniko's name was Sadin. He was quiet, a little shy, but he gave Daisuke advice. He had told him to just remain calm and focus on his spirit, and to try to figure himself out. Something about finding his powers. He had questions, he didn't know that being dead came with super hero perks.

[BluePawProductions]

Shiloh was going to answer the dema and try to reassure him that he’d help, but his heart sank. He couldn’t. He had to get back and he was probably going to be in deep with his dema now. He was sure they’d noticed he wasn’t home by now. That was gunna be a fun song and dance, eh? Yeah….

He’d slowly settled his lips back together and decided to hold his tongue while Valhalla and Gau spoke when he heard a small voice call out to him. Looking up, a relieved smile spread over his warm features. Good. So he’d gotten out of the mess okay. Getting hugged onto, he held the other and patted the smaller male’s back in a comforting, protective way. “Hey, how’re we suppose to know someone was gunna sling in through the window, right? Can’t hold that against ya.” He gave a small smile, gentle eyes softening. “We’re alright. That’s all that matters. Don’t beat yourself up. Ye?”

As for the new face, Ves had a very, very close eye on him. Valhalla was not alone in her suspicion, though he knew that this face hadn’t been among the capturing forces. He wasn’t a mercenary, not with what he carried, likely. He was caught up, but he was definitely a familiar presence lately. It only served to heighten the dema’s suspicion. When he spoke, it didn’t do much to ease that suspicion either. His comment about wanting to get on Ves and Gau’s good side stuck in his craw like a bad taste. Shady was a light way to describe it. Ves didn’t like being watched. He liked ulterior motives and ambiguous favors even less. When he added in that he was watching Vlad, that just made it worse.

“Look,” The dema rumbled with a deep, serious tone as he took one step forward and leveled his hands against the table between them seriously, glaring into the shiniko’s eyes sternly, “We’ve had just about all we can tolerate with trouble lately. Now’s a real bad time to be shiftily sneaking around and stalking my family. I don’t care what you say. I haven’t a single reason to trust you, yet. At the first hint of trouble from you, we /will/ have a problem. Understand?” He settled his brows firmly, eyes burning as he stated sternly, “That goes for ‘the cat’ too. Don’t be stirring up trouble. You don’t want to cross my house.”

Shiloh could hear the seriousness in his tone and gave a concerned glance between him and the other dema, hoping that nothing would break out and that, if it did, the water dema would handle it before things got out of hand. Everyone seemed on edge of late…

“Look…” He started slowly, remembering what was pressing earlier, “I’d love to stay and I really appreciate the help- honest- but…I gotta get back to my dema. I’m gunna be in a heap of trouble the longer I stay out here.” Carefully, he rose to his feet, trying not to seem as uneasy on them as he was. That blow to his head hadn’t done him any favors… “You all stay safe, yeah?”

~~~

In one of the guest rooms, Kovu was dead asleep. He had been so battered that he had lost consciousness partway through the trip home, despite his best efforts. He hadn’t woken since but seemed stable for how injured he was. Despite his sleeping state, though, he wasn’t the most restful, fingers and face twitching, small sounds escaping his tight throat now and again. He had been through the wringer tonight, but it hadn’t been the first time. He had a lot to work off of in the way of nightmares, and they were giving him a hard time with the newer stress added in.

[TwinTigerPaw]

Yoko wished Shiloh could just stay, but he was right. Market dema would give him a beating for each hour he doesn't make it back. Gau looked over to him. "Shiloh, be safe, I understand you need to get home. Here." The dema had said, digging through one of his blood soaked pockets to pull out his wallet. Dang with Aderyn he doesn't know how much he was pulling out.

"Take this, tell your dema that the water god borrowed you and that I'm paying him off for the trouble." He said, handing over a large amount of yen to him. Yoko smiled, hopping it would be enough to lessen the punishment on Shiloh's behalf.

Valhalla had nodded with her dema while watching Singe closely. "Look, I would rather being on your good sides because it makes it easier for my family, and yours as well. I don't want trouble with you, or the cat. I'm just making sure he doesn't get hurt, and that no one around him gets hurt." Singe explained calmly. Well as calmly as he could, chill wasn't his thing.

Val looked him up and down a moment before pointing to his choice of clothing. "Where did you get that? It looks like a prototype of the uniform Vlad wears." She commented. Singe looked to his shirt and shrugged.

"I found it in the facility that phantom came from when it was run down and not under surveillance. I found a sort of cash that was locked away, pretty well hidden. I found this shirt and some tools in it which I Kept." Singe explained. Valhalla nodded and just turned to Ves.

"I'm going to check on Kovu and that new boy, I think Sadin is asleep in his room, just yell if he gives any trouble..." She said before heading out of the room to go check on Kovu and Daisuke.

Singe watched her go before looking back to Ves and Gau. Great, he'd be alone with these two, aside from Yoko being there.

~~~~~~~

Daisuke looked over to Kovu when he made distressed sounds. He wished he knew what to do. Not long after, Val had softly opened the door and greeted him. "Don't worry... The pain meds are probably just wearing off on him... We'll give him something else if he needs it." She said quietly and sat next to him.

[BluePawProductions]

Shiloh didn’t even know what to say as Gau pulled out some yen and handed it over to him, offering him an excuse to cover his tail. He stared at it in awe for a moment, mouth moving but brain not making words until he babbled out quickly, “th-thank you! Thank you, this-“ he folded it up, thinking it rude to count it but knowing it was a lot. He knew that a more polite man would refuse the money, a more proud man would say it wasn’t needed, a braver man would just take the punishment…but he was just grateful to have any out. He was so grateful that he was offered this, so he just expressed with relief, “I’m sure it’ll help. Thank you. You’re too kind.”

Looking between the two, he gave Yoko a small hug as he parted and said, “see you later, short stuff,” With a kind smile. He wanted to say more, but in the presense of others, he held his tongue. Later. Later, he’d have to say what he thought, what he felt. With a shy sort of smile, he rubbed the back of his neck, gave Gau another bow, and ducked out of the house, thanking Ves as he passed.

Ves, however, didn’t pay much heed. He had a focus now that was more pressing. “I don’t know you or your family, but I don’t take kindly to being watched. Neither, I’m sure, does Vlad.” He kept a hard gaze on the shiniko, recalling the incident with Sadin as he noted, “Doesn’t seem like your presence has prevented anything as of yet anyhow, so I would strongly suggest that you no longer survey those under my protection. You say you’d rather have allies than enemies, so don’t make an enemy of the house of war, understand?”

He couldn’t’ have cared any less about the shirt, though he knew Vlad would, so he merely nodded to Valhalla. He’d keep an eye on the shiniko there until he left, so Val was free to do whatever she saw fit.

[TwinTigerPaw]

Yoko smiled and waved Shiloh off before looking to what was being said with Ves and the others. Gau had done the same. He had told Shiloh not to sweat it. He wanted to make sure that he didn't take a horrible beating for something he couldn't help.

Singe just gave a casual shrugs. "Well, truly. It's not so much him, its his stowaway that we keep our eyes on. We know about Vlad's, 'Other self...' I saw the outbursts in Canada, and I feared I would have had to step in. But we know how that song and dance ended- bottom line, he has something my family are part of. We're not going to let that King of his hop to another body just to make us hunt him down again..." The fiery shiniko said.

Yoko looked between the two dema, and then to Sing. "What? What's the 'king?'" He asked. Gau looked to his shiniko. "The king is a special pericyte phantom that bonds with another phantom host. He takes on a new name, appearance, and power for every body he invades. He gets stronger with each one as well..." He explained.

"Right on the head. And its because of the king that shiniko like me are here. There are fragments left behind of a phantom that he once took over, and those fragments came to us, like my spark here. Some of us had the choice too accept them. some didn't have the chance to say yes or no, so now we're making sure that thing doesn't ever do this again. We don't need more phantoms like the one fused to my spine running around." He added. This was clearly something Sing was passionate about... The air around him felt hot, and dry.

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