Before I Make A Move;; Lulu/Jiyu

814 words.
______________________________
In the past, at least when considering around the last decade or so as the past, she would have never attempted something for the reason she was attempting this. Why in the world was she taking such a huge risk for something so simple? Jiyu laughed slightly as she sighed out briefly, even if she would keep asking that question, honestly the woman already knew the answer to it! Her bare feet traveled down the rough sidewalk of Talonia heading towards the black market, a place entirely unreceptive to legal mages, all because she learned to give a damn again. Thanks to the fact her pride had vacated the space it normally occupied, the space that normally kept her from caring about anything except herself, she was out here chasing nothing more than a rumor just because she was that desperate. To be truthful, she hadn’t thought things out well she didn’t even really bring enough money to sustain herself when she left the library all she cared about was that damn rumor. “Damn, how am I going to pay for any hotel or such.” she mumbled the comment to herself, tail swishing back and forth behind her, as she tugged down on her hood slightly to keep her face largely concealed. Once more, she sighed out, it wasn’t like she hadn’t lived on the streets for years, it was just that she was trying to be a better person now and the ways she had once survived on the streets were not exactly moral, actually they weren’t moral whatsoever if she wasn’t working for fishermen or repairing something for someone and in the latter case sometimes they paid her more then they knew until later. Without her old tricks being usable, how was she gonna make it until the auction took place and she could get her hands on the prize she was after.

Jiyu had been wandering the town for some time considering her situation, not even realizing how bad of an area she had meandered into, not that she would have kept out if she knew. “Well, well lookie here.” cropped upward pointed ears twitched and when they did she realized her hood had fallen backward at some time leaving her largely exposed and she hadn’t really bothered using a disguise never before used, she thought that she had time to craft that. How was she supposed to get out of this one?! “Where?” maybe she could totally play this off, she always had been a smooth talker after all. “Not only is the legal mage trespassing but she’s a real smart ass too.” alright, so that had not worked so well, but maybe she could still chatter her way out of this, considering using her magic in such a restricted space could have consequences like you know destroying a building. “Trespassing? Now, now I don’t see your name on anything asshole.” why did she go and say that?! Jiyu mentally face palmed as she stood on her toes making herself taller as she crossed her arms, glaring up at the man who had been speaking. Logically, she knew what she just did meant that she should run in an attempt to get away, but at this point, it suddenly turned into a game and even if she promised to stop using people as pawns lately, she was just starved for a good stimulating game. The way she played with people in the past was not just for entertainment but also mental stimulation, so sometimes she just slipped on her new vow.

It lasted for a good hour at least, the vocal back and forth as the temperament of the conversation changed the second she started treating it like a game. “Legal mages don’t come here.” she had at one time tried to walk away or dance away depending on how one looked at it, but now this left things worse. “No one from your side will come this deep for you.” now she was trapped at the dead end of an ally made by several apartment buildings, surrounded by a small gang of people all much larger than herself. “So you should just come along and be good for me, alright? You’d be much safer than staying out here.” the large man was disgusting and he looked more like some undersized orc or troll than an actual man which was highly possible. However, they had backed her into a corner and they were all armed she couldn’t do anything without wrecking the buildings surrounding them possibly killing dozens of innocents. If anyone knew her? They would instantly know rather the whole area was fucked or she was screwed, there was no middle ground. “Sorry, you aren’t really my type.” she bit her tongue, pressing her back against the wall they had cornered her against, glaring hatefully up at them.

1,885 twc.
______________________________________

She was beyond screwed at the moment, no opportunity for victory currently being presented to her and desperately trying to prevent them from laying hand on her. If those brutes managed to see her fear of them due to their gender? Jiyu had no doubt she would soon be having a very undesirable experience. However, they were getting so much closer and she had run out of places to go, backed into a corner by her own lack of knowledge, navigating a city even with the aid of her wind was so much different than navigating general areas or rose garden. All the tall buildings? Mixed up the signals she received around her, even with her canine senses the cityscape was enough to confuse and overload the abilities that normally gave her an impeccable sense of direction, hence how they had cornered her so easily. She would find her way out of the middle of nowhere, she had proven that the last time they met she was excellent at tracking and such, but the city was not her dominion.

Terror filled her head as the ringleader lifted his vile hand extending the limb towards her face, nowhere remained to run, she was surrounded and against a wall, even if she levitated they'd grab her and throw her back to the ground. Plus with the fear of being touched by something that was of the opposite gender? She was not thinking the clearest. All she wanted was to get that book for Lucius and now she was going to end up having to relive an old trauma at the most or end up dead at the least. With the orkish man's hand taking up most of her vision, Jiyu closed her eyes turning her head away, something like flinching or bracing herself, tears welling up in her eyes beneath the closed lids. Not Again. She didn't want to go through that again.

Snap.

The sharp sound jolted her slightly moist orbs opened, the first thing she noticed was, of course, the lack of a hand in her face. Within a simple breath, she had taken note of much more all of the thugs turned around to see one of their friends held by a pale hand, his neck clearly broken. Had someone come to help her? Why woul- "Oops." the voice that let out the single sound resonated within her head, she knew the melody her gaze trailing up the arm until it landed on his face once more. Lucius. Briefly, she felt a jolt of pain through her heart, he was saving her but it wasn't her that he was saving, it was who she told everyone she was not her. Would he have even bothered if he knew she was Mikka the same girl who went missing on him? Jiyu decided not to think about any of that for the moment, it would do her no good and she had no desire to make a spontaneous confession to him. After all, she was already well aware the assassin would not take finding her again after all this time well as his sister had.

Crimson blood ran onto the cobblestone beneath their feet and for a brief moment, she escaped in her head. Instead of standing in the city at the current moment, she was standing in the forest watching him make another skillful kill of something she had tracked for them. Jiyu let a soft smile come to her face at the memory, simply continuing to watch as he ended most of the other men. Like him? She quickly noticed the body count was missing a single number. This time the sight of blood splashing was much less pleasant a distinct deep primal growl coming from her at the realization they had the nerve to hurt her- what did she even call him now. Could she still say he was her friend even though he had no idea she was still alive?! Jiyu decided not to think about it once more.

Mismatched eyes stayed glued to the victim instead of the killer for the moment, the mans gaze looking to her as if she as a legal mage should save him from the sinner who had suddenly arrived on the scene. Jiyu didn't turn her gaze away for a second, watching as Lucius broke his hand, the large assassins foot on the man's neck, watching the kill with a subtle smirk. How had it ended up like this? She tore her gaze from his kill to the man responsible, optics blinking slowly as she took his appearance in again. She had come here to get something for him, in order to start trying to walk down the journey of telling him the truth. Yet, he had saved her, while she was thankful for that, he had found her too soon, she wasn't ready to tell him.

His harsh unseeing glare was meant with her gaze and everything about her seeming to be unaffected by the fact someone who had just killed so many was now glaring at her assessing if she was a threat or not. At his question, she couldn't hold a soft choked chuckle, if only he knew how much she had to say to him that was caught just beneath her words. Jiyu's feet moved forward as she walked to stand in front of him, gripping the sleeve of her hoodie as she lifted her arm pressing the sleeve clad hand where his own was pressed. "Even if I wanted to tell on you, which I don't; Wouldn't I have quite the hard time explaining what I was doing here, to begin with?" he was bleeding so much, she could feel the substance through her sleeve, frowning at the realization of just how deep he had been cut. "Bastard had some nerve cutting you this deep." she grimaced, her voice bitter at the prospect of his injury. "Come on, lean on me, let me help you home and patch you up, it's the least I can do. I may be a bitch, but I know damn well you saved my ass." She should have been more careful then to come to the city without being properly concealed via her shapeshifting, but at the moment she was now more concerned about his injury then constructing any concealment or figuring out where she was going to spend the night.

2528 twc
Jiyu knew that he had to have a knife somewhere on his purpose, that he was very predisposed to stabbing or at least attempting to stab people. Had she been thinking logically instead of filled with concern at the fact he was injured? Then perhaps she would have eased into the touch more or done something to knock him off kilter before proceeding with everything else that she had done. Jiyu was used to the freedom of touch she had back when the male knew who she was! Not for a second had she considered the natural reflex of the boy she had grown up with. The pain in her shoulder brought it back, warm blood flowing from the wound as he shoved her backward the crimson droplets spraying. So I still bleed? Ever since merging with her element she hadn't been injured, so she hadn't known if blood still flowed when she was wounded, so at the least, his habit taught her something useful about her new state. Instead of being upset over getting stabbed? Jiyu easily recognized that this was no more then Lucius being himself.

She knew him, even if he had likely changed a good deal over the years, she held no doubt of what he was standing there expecting of her. Knowing the tall man? He was expecting her to get upset, become frightened or otherwise have a negative reaction that gave him the control to push her away. Well! Lu-lu wasn't getting his way today, she already knew the game he was playing, easier to think of it as a game she had to win rather than as trauma inflicted upon him that she had to claw past. 'Why do you care' that question reverberated through her but she prevented herself from reacting. He wasn't ready to know why she cared so much, not prepared to know who she really was. Of course, maybe she was just kidding herself and using his clearly distressed mental state as an excuse to save her from herself, delay things.

Jiyu knew what she was doing, this was still Lucius even if he was years older thus as his first question faded off she walked forward. Everything he knew about people? Told him she should back off. However, she very much remembered the effect of defying what he was so sure would happen, taking him by surprise, showing him that she wasn't that easy. Finally, the moment was right, watching his arm spring out she pushed herself forward again, his strike going through her hair narrowly missing her neck, so close she could feel the side of his arm against her neck. "Give me one good reason you shouldn't; Besides for the fact I'm a bitch." Jiyu was not naive as she had been in their youth, much more wise to the world now, well aware if he could have thought of any reason himself that he would have presented it instead of asking her. "Face it, we both know if I was actually a threat to you that you wouldn't have let me live this long." he was capable of killing her, she didn't doubt it, Lucius had no idea who she was at the moment she meant nothing to him. "You're smart, aren't you?" they only had a few inches between them and she closed that almost touching him again. "This." her sleeved hand covered the wound again, applying pressure on top of his. "Would have been a waste if you kill me, and the only way you're going to stop me is if you kill me." she had a death wish, was some sort of fool, was incredibly brave or some such thing. Even if she was normally afraid of the world now? This wasn't the world, it was Lucius and he needed her..... she needed him.

4416twc
_______________________

Her shoulder throbbed and to be honest it kinda hurt that he had stabbed her, it was to be expected sure but she hadn't truly been stabbed by him in direct aggression before. If he had been in a bad mood that would have been the end. Of course, she outright refused to admit the possibility he had missed something vital against his own conscious will because somewhere unconsciously he already knew it was her. The discomfort displayed by Lucius was enough to push back that theory for the moment. Standing there with her hand against his side? How tense he had become was exceedingly clear and she could hear the slightly hitched breaths of an injured animal trying to decide if the help being offered was real and not some trick to swiften its demise. It was painful to see him like this, more then the ebbing in her shoulder, he might as well have stabbed her heart without even trying, she had left him alone and this was what had become of him. Maybe if she had stayed? Things could have been better for Lucius, but she had run away like the selfish and manipulative coward she was. Jiyu steeled herself once more, at the moment she couldn't afford to cry about how badly she'd messed up.

Feeling the weight of him lean against her at last, she fought her emotions winning the battle easily as she was adjusted to doing in order to play people in order to survive. Who thought that the skills she developed in order to rip people of their money in poker or run hustles would come in handy the second she got to hold her friend once more. Quickly noting that Lucius was attempting to get his cane, she chose not to aid him in that endeavor realizing that trusting a 'stranger' to come home with him and tend his wound was already enough of a strain for the assassin. Plus the time it took for the large male to find that cane with his foot and also use that same leg to get the object back into his hand, well it was all just another moment she could hold him for a few minutes more. Jiyu was no idiot, the wind witch was already well aware that simply helping him in this instance wouldn't make holding him once he was recovered alright! Thus she was going to enjoy this while she had it.

At his stumble forward she started moving, doing her best to keep pace with him though it was subtly awkward at points rather due to her lack of height or the fact she was not adjusted to being able to use her body for anything. Prior to merging into the wind? She had no physical strength at all, something like this would have broken her, so clearly she was out of practice. However, after a short time of walking she grew adjusted enough to even take note of their surroundings. Looking around? Was just another reason to feel guilty. The outside of the building was shabby at best, senseless graffiti covered a decent amount of the building, paint peeled off bricks, some windows were broken while other windows literally were made of wooden boards, rust covered fire escapes and some of the balconies didn’t look so stable, not to mention the dirt nor the grime, or forbid the trash laying all over the place outside. After passing a door that was half off the hinges with a broken lock, she glanced at the row of mailboxes half of them rusted shut, rusted open or otherwise unusable. The floor beneath her feet? Was covered in poor grade carpet which was filled with all kinds of unknown dirt worn down in several places revealing buckling water damaged nearly entirely trashed floorboards. Jiyu could clearly see as she helped him through the complex that whoever managed this apartment building didn’t care about it at all, some apartments lacked doors and many of the doors that did exist were not real doors instead made of anything from curtains to wooden boards and anything between. Normally a legal mage would say something about this, rant and rave about laws against making people live like this existed. However, Jiyu had once lived worse, she knew very well that there was nothing to say here because anyone living here likely could barely afford it even bad as the conditions were.

Apparently, Lucius was one of the ones lucky enough to have a true door with a working lock. No, the apartment had likely not come with that, remembering his insistence on locking even his window in a place tranquil as peace village, Jiyu was convinced he paid for that door and lock, she knew he wouldn’t have been able to stand living here otherwise. She could have gone for his keys the second he thudded his head against the door and leaned a good portion of weight onto her compared to when they had been walking, yet she didn't do it. "At least it's better than the street." for a second she humored him with the comment, making sure he had the chance to have his reflexes controlled before she delved her hand into his back pocket for the keys. Normally she wouldn't have given that wiggle room, but she well knew he was likely more dangerous like this injured and almost out of it.

Most legal mages would have been stunned when that door opened to reveal the hell hole contained within, but Jiyu didn't seem to skip a beat, continuing to support and guide him into the apartment. Nearly every inch of the floor was filled with trash piled high enough that it would have her head nearly touching the ceiling, the only clear space being a blackened path of what could have been carpet or some sort of mold lead back towards where she supposed he slept. "Come on, let's lay you down." somehow she had made it back to the mattress with him, crouching herself down slowly to help him lower himself without falling over. At that moment, seeing his splayed out against the mattress slowly turning part of it red, she made her first mistake! Blanked out herself for a second the woman placed her hand on his forehead stroking her fingers lightly through his bangs as she knelt beside him. "I'll be right back, I just have to find something here to use." Jiyu suspected she would have to go out for real supplies to actually do decent treatment but she couldn't just leave him bleeding while she secured such things.

He would be left alone for a little while, though the noise of her digging through the trash and such was clear. All that she managed to truly gather from the exploration which she did not let drag on too long for fear of his health? Was that the bathroom was a biohazard and they shared the apartment with several animal families from mice all the way up to raccoons. Though she did get a tattered blanket for her efforts, which was going to have to do for the moment. "It's not the best, but it will work until I can secure proper supplies." with the comment she went to work on getting the blanket under him so that she could wrap it tightly around his abdomen and thus slow his bleeding to some degree.

Now came the difficult part there was no way she could avoid leaving him alone while securing supplies. Jiyu touched her hand to the side of his neck lightly, a sigh escaping her. "You don't have anything fit to stitch up a beast much less you." one could hear the reluctance to leave him alone in this state from the tone of her voice, a soft fondness seeped into her touch. "I'll be back, but I may be a while I don't have any money on me so I'm going to have to steal what we need." there wasn't time for her to earn some honest money or even hustle someone, she needed to get supplies and treat him swiftly as possible. Resorting to theft once more? Was an odd ideal, but she supposed it was to be expected in this case. With some internal struggle, she managed to tear herself away from him kissing his forehead briefly before leaving. He was so out of it that he wouldn't remember anything anyways.

The sun was down by the time she returned a few hours later but she had no trouble seeing in order to reach the back of the apartment once more, considering she had a dogs vision. "I'm back." Jiyu stood over the bed, lifting her hoodie slightly so some things that she had stored within it would fall onto the bed, digging into her pockets to remove several other items and toss them onto the bed before kneeling beside him. "I'm going to need you to sit up, you can lean against the wall but it's gonna be hard to do this properly if you're laying down." making the comment she moved so that if required he could use her to make the task easier, hand resting on the medical supplies she had gotten.

Working softly she gently undid the tattered blanket from before and folding it repurposed the cloth right beside him "You aren't going to like this, I need to take your shirt off so that I can see the whole wound properly." Jiyu didn't really give him the chance to refuse, lifting the fabric upwards so all he had to was lift an arm or both of them, either way, she could get the shirt off. Now that she could see the wound clearly, she was relieved to find most of the bleeding had stopped while she secured supplies, breathing a sigh of relief as she slowly poured a bottle of water over the wound to wash away some of the blood, wiping a rag here and there to help the process along. His wound definitely required stitches and if she was going to do that she needed to see the wound without all the blood. "You're also not going to like this, I'm going to close the wound now." he likely didn't appreciate the syringe full of antibacterial fluid, and not going appreciate her taking off the jagged skin that would keep her from stitching the wound together properly. Lastly? She was beyond thankful that he was so woozy considering that stitching him up required jabbing that suture needle into him several times, if he was in better condition she was pretty sure she would have another stab wound. "There we go, hardest part over." with that comment she picked up the tube of antibiotic gel she had picked up, squeezing some out onto the newly stitched wound prior to wrapping bandages around him. "All Patched Up!" she smiled and let out a light giggle at the fact he would certainly be alright now.

Jiyu had gotten a few other things, like food and drinking water, but she'd wait to see how he was fairing at the moment before trying to get him to eat. Sometimes after such a wound, someone just needed sleep.

Jiyu had stayed in far worse environments when she first ran away. Several of the places she stayed early on? May have been actual landfills converted by the homeless of Fiore into homeless landfill villages. Learning to run and live in those circles meant she didn't feel as most people suspected any normal legal ace would feel upon seeing this environment. Seeing this she was reminded what those bastards who tortured her had truly taken from her. Back when she actually lived in places like this? She would fix them up, leave them better when she moved on, survived by trading her craftsmanship which had been exceptional in her youngest days. Finding someone who would fix almost anything for just some board and food? Was exceedingly rare, she was a blessing for most thus she got by without a single question being asked about why someone small as she had been was all on her own. Now, she wished someone had at least asked once, that someone had tried to convince her to go back, maybe she would have gone.

Once upon a time, she had been more than what she was now, even if she had been what many would call animalistic. The more 'human' she tried to become in order to keep living, the more she lost herself. Some night's Jiyu wondered if she still remembered how to howl, but she never tested it. Whenever she acted like the dog she was it often felt like a farce, but acting like some powerful mage also felt like faking it. At least an animal knew who they were, she didn't have a single clue to go off in order to finally decide who she was, once and for all she would love to know if she was Jiyu or Mikka, but no one could help her anymore.

Lucius knew there was no reason to truly distrust her apparently and that was part of the only reason she could trust herself when she laid him down. Gone as he was? Something about him must have known who she was and whoever he saw rather it was his new 'friend' jiyu or little mikka, it was someone he thought he could trust. If someone damaged as the assassin could trust her, then she had to trust herself to some extent in return for that. The feeling of him leaning into her gentle touch was exhilarating to her, gave the girl hope that maybe she hadn't done the damage she thought she had. The first impression she had got from him was that he was damaged further than he had been when they were kids, but the fact he could still enjoy such an innocent touch somewhere so vulnerable gave her the smallest shred of hope. Right now, tonight, she needed that hope to make it through herself.

No words were exchanged from him whatsoever, but she didn't expect him to speak to her in his state. Why would he waste precious energy speaking when he could be recovering? Someone practical as the long-haired male wouldn't do that, so she had known from the moment she walked in aiding him that if any voice would fill the apartment tonight it would be her own. "You'll be alright." she needed to say something, the silencing was murdering her and she needed to believe that. If he died before she had the chance to make things right? She might as well die too. Jiyu knew even if she had treated him the male wouldn't be out of the woods until he woke up and if he went downhill she couldn't take him to a hospital it would be the same as sentencing him to death, taking him somewhere like that would ensure the authorities found the sinner. "Please." the woman crouched over him slightly, her head bending so her nose touched to his forehead a second before her lips touched there briefly as well. Jiyu had complete faith he was still insanely out of it, heck he had even grabbed for her before she left. "You have to be alright." so the brief forehead kiss likely wouldn't even be noted much less remembered, even if the tears in her eyes may be recalled. It had been so easy to be strong while she treated him, but now with the waiting game, it was slowly breaking her. She couldn't stand doing nothing.

Over the next several hours of the night, the legal mage occupied herself by going between cleaning the kitchen of the apartment and checking on him. Whenever she found that he could be the slightest bit responsive, had a moment of being functional even if he was delirious? Jiyu made sure she at least tried to get him to drink water or eat something she had made into mush in order to make sure he could consume it easily. Of course, most times this failed and she went to petting his hair until he fell asleep again, then resumed cleaning, but it had to work once or twice across the night. "I wish I knew where your clothing was, I'd put a shirt back on you before you woke up." she grimaced slightly, stroking his hair as he slept, knowing he would not appreciate being shirtless when he woke. Plus, Jiyu felt horrible seeing the male with no shirt, she could pretty much count his ribs at the moment. "Oh mint, you have to eat more." at the very least even if she was letting herself have some liberties counting on him to blame the voices in his head for anything that didn't seem right, she was careful not to use his name as she recalled he had never told Jiyu that yet. Plus, it was nice to be able to use the name she always used for him growing up without it being risky, since she had 'just decided' on the nickname when they took that first job.

Halfway through the night Jiyu had taken the step of tracing his ribs and laying on hand on his chest with a small worried frown on her face. The mage was wondering if he could even keep himself alive if he survived the injury. Of course, Mikka didn't get to debate that mentally long as she was out of energy having run herself cleaning a good half of the apartment through the night on top of caring for him.

The sight Lucius would wake up to would be Jiyu laying against him, one hand over his heart as if she had to make sure the beat remained, covered in his blood-soaked jacketed as a blanket. Splotches of his blood covered her pale flesh and glittering blue hair, it was clear she had not bothered cleaning herself up in favor of his care. "Please, be alright." the canine mumbled it in her slumber, body seeming to seek to cuddle closer to the warmth of his in spite of the clear fear she had held in the ally of touching her assailants. For some reason, the assassin seemed to be immune to the partially evident fear of men she had.

7438twc

---

Mikka would be so thankful for the way incomplete consciousness tended to fog and blur memories for the person who was not fully aware, come morning that was. Right now? The canine was too concerned about his survival to realize how dangerous each move she had made through the night was. All through the passage of the night, Mikka took liberties that no one besides a fool, Astrid, or herself would ever dare take with someone known to be so dangerous, and the fact she had made no move to take him to the hospital proved beyond doubt she knew who he was in some capacity. With her status of a legal ace, she could have explained the deaths as in defense of another mage, and he would have likely gotten away with it, only this was Lucius and the authorities would never believe it. She was the best he was going to get, even if she was far from the doctor he likely needed, her heart sinking as she further realized just how bad of a state he was in, feeling his body so hot against her palm, he was running some sort of fever or something close to one. Very few thoughts ran through her head, except for one, this was her fault, no matter one looked at this situation she was responsible for the whole stupid thing, this was her fault.

She kept a careful watch in spite of her own tired state, as he woke and passed out numerous times through the night. For the first time in forever? She was praying to something, someone, anything, that he would be alright, wishing so hard on any star she could that he wouldn't leave her. It was so wrong to ask that of him after she had abandoned him in the past, but she couldn't stand losing him for good, she wouldn't survive it. "You have to make it." something like this could not be what beat him, that could not happen, he was stronger than this, she knew it! Hopefully, the male could remember that himself as well, sometimes a persons strength depended solely on how much they believed themselves to possess. How many times through the night had she cradled his head, tried to make sure he drank something, wiped the sweat from his body or otherwise done anything she could to take care of him? Mikka lost count of everything, busying herself cleaning where she could whenever he was not awake, she couldn't stand sitting still, it was slowly killing her. If she wasn't a legal mage? She may have just blown part of the town away in her anguish over not being able to do anything further for him. The rain falling outside was torture to her ears.

The past came up so easily right now, and fighting was something she was not the most capable at even if she did it all the time. "You'll be alright." she was a foolish bitch, always had been, scared and weak since the first day they met! Nothing had changed for her at all, no matter how much she went through, the things she should have learned from, she was still weak, and a coward who would rather flee from her problems than fight them. Only what she was fleeing from right now, was what sent her running right to him, a world without him, a world where he didn't even know she was alive was more painful, she had to run from that, which sent her right back to him in spite of her cowardice. Even running right to the one thing she needed to fix the most? She ran once more, fixing his wound, thinking about what she could fix in his apartment, thinking about everything but fixing the one thing she came here to fix, them. Mikka could accept standing by his side without him knowing, it kept her safe from rejection by him. Although worse than the idea of him rejecting her, was the idea that he wouldn't, the idea that he could let her back into his heart and she could hurt him again, she never wanted to see him in pain again.

If she kept this up? Mikka knew what would happen, she knew the assassin he would grow attached to her regardless and she could hurt him once more. Perhaps leaving in the middle of the night again would actually be the best thing for both of them, she could never hurt him again if he never saw her again. Already, she knew it was impossible to stay away, mismatched optics on his face she could see every single memory they shared flashing behind her head, she wanted more, what she held of the past was no longer enough. The pain ripping through her was from the idea she could actually end up with some future to look forward to with him once more. Most times when she closed her eyes? She remembered every innocent little peck she'd given him, how stupid she had been to not notice the biggest reason she had to stay back then, her younger self-had been in love and in some capacity he hadn't rejected her feelings instead allowing them to grow, the world could be so different for both of them if she hadn't been such a coward. She had been a light in his life than simply because she was selfish and scared she had let the light die, let him down. What she wouldn't give to change the reality she had to live in.

Sometime during the night all her pacing, cleaning and care had come to an abrupt stop when her body ran out of energy, drained by her own wound as well, she had needed to sleep. Curling up next to him again? Was bittersweet, and she could take that, it was another memory to be thankful for it because she was no longer content simply remembering. Pale lips turned up in a smile as she felt a rough large hand rest against her bloodstained hair. Mikka found herself wishing this moment could last forever, but she knew it couldn't, especially not headstrong as he was, Lucius likely wouldn't even be touching her had he known she was actually half awake. In a desire not to upset him, Mikka continued to allow him to believe she was fully encased in slumber as he slowly maneuvered her body so she rested entirely on the mattress instead of on him. Couldn't they have stayed like that a few minutes longer? Likely not, just the fact he was letting a 'stranger' touch him was incredible and it would have to be enough for her at the moment because her heart was breaking all over again, she couldn't tell him.

Waiting, she made not a single move until she heard the sound of him collapsing again, making a groan as if she had been rudely awakened from slumber, she was here for him now. "Mint?" she reached her hand to the side, furthering the appearance she had been sleeping by feeling around the bed for a second, before sitting up with a well-acted jolt. The moment she sat up? Was where things went wrong, as a pained "FUCK!" left her mouth and she ended up with her back against the wall, other hand flying to the shoulder she had been laying on, feeling fresh blood. Mikka had forgotten about her own wound. "I really shouldn't have slept on that." it was true, she had her blood soaked into one pigtail, most of that hoodie sleeve was bloodied, she could feel the clothing stuck to her body and wound. Disregarding her wound for a second, she refocused her gaze on the room, trying to figure out where he was as she lost track due to the sudden pain to her shoulder.

"You can move, that's great." she stumbled her own way out of the bed, kneeling down next to him for a second, brushing his hair back out of his face, placing it so that it lay across his back instead of making some inky veil around his face. "Come on, put one hand on my good shoulder, we'll get you to the couch and I'll go get us something to eat, nothing here is even fit for a starving beast." if she didn't get and keep food inside of the assassin he could never hope to recover right, so she was going to have to secure food somehow, likely by theft or trade. Was there anything she could even trade around here? "Don't worry about tripping over anything I cleaned a good half of this place last night." it had been all she could do in order to not blurt out the truth to him while he was sleeping, to keep herself contained. Slowly, she would help him to the couch in whatever capacity he allowed her to before she would turn and slowly attempt removing her hoodie. Trying to secure food with blood all over her? Would not be productive.

One could hear the pained whimper from her lips as she peeled the hoodie from her wound, causing it to bleed anew making her flinch. "Damn." considering she was easy to damage, to begin with, the wound was worse than he likely intended it to be. Just scraping a wall wrong? Could cause her to need someone to treat the wounds for her, a knife going through her was going to do a large deal of damage and she hadn't even considered how injured she could have ended up until right now. "Are you stable enough for your hands to not be shakey?" she made her way back to the bedroom as she asked, picking up the supplies she had secured the night before and carrying them to the living room, flopping onto the couch beside him. "You can't be moved far, I can't go to a hospital but it can't stay untreated." she took her hoodie and wiped well as she could trying to knock the crusted blood from the night before off, she'd have to clean the couch again later. "We have dead bodies in the alley, some of them possessing knives." tally the suspicious point up one, if she went out like this, an overbearing officer could very well possibly get a search warrant for the building from someone telling about her clear stab wound if they found the bodies. "Do you have spare clothing? I'd like to get a shirt back on you and it may not be the best idea for me to go out like this." with that statement she grabbed his arm gently and put his hand against her, showing him that she didn't really have a shirt expect for a bathing suit top on underneath the hoodie she had just removed. If she went out the way she normally went around? She would draw attention for sure. She could likely wear one of his shirts as a dress, considering the vast difference in their height.

8,384 twc

---

Hopefully she had not startled him too much when she shouted, it was just not easy to resist doing when she finally noticed how much her wound actually hurt. Actually, knowing him he would laugh at the fact it pained her if he had any clue what else she had endured and a few of the things she had done to herself. She could stick herself without pain in the past to escape for a little while, and she had been literally tortured. Yet, whenever anything triggered pain she still had the sharp reaction to it that any normal person would, maybe slightly stronger. It should not hurt as if she couldn't breathe, make her shout or sometimes yelp, but still she had those reactions. At points, that fact made her feel vulnerable if she was ever in the hands of someone who wanted to make her hurt again, it would be so easy for them, she had no resistance to the sensation. Of course, pain was the last thing anyone could use to motivate or intimidate her, considering the insanely strong will she could have on her sometimes.

Lucius considered her behaviors selfless, and honestly if she knew that the canine would feel guilty. The motivations of the small woman? In reality were extremely selfish, pushed by the fact she wanted to be close to him. Sure, she would have helped him if he had been some stranger, but she wasn't so sure she would have helped any other criminal apart from bringing them to the hospital to be arrested later. Such a hypocrite and simply because she... What did she feel about him? Mikka had known she wanted to see him again, wanted to be close again and if her fear wasn't so thick she would want him to know it was her. Yet, she had never stopped to consider why, not once let herself think about what she felt for him. Today would not be the day she sorted out how she felt about the assassin, she didn't want to think about how she felt, not when she didn't even know if it was Jiyu or Mikka feeling it. She didn't need any of that, she just needed him at the moment.

Oh she was so incredibly lucky he could not see her, the wind mage had no idea if she had that look in her eye, the same way she had looked at him before she ran away. Even if she didn't know what her face looked like? The warmth in her chest with her hand lingering on his hair for a second, it was the same, so sweet yet now it was also painful. Hearing him speak, a breath of relief escaped her, Lucius could help her keep the two of them safe by patching up the stab wound he had given. "Good, it needs stitched up tight, if I go out and it bleeds that would attract attention to us." bringing any attention to where he lived while the male was in this sort of condition, would be very undesirable. "I'll get what you'll need." with that statement she moved back to where they had slept in order to retrieve the few objects he would need in order to stich up the wound on her shoulder, cradling them in one arm so she didn't have to use the injured arm.

Shortly after, she returned, sitting beside him on the couch once more, laying the objects into his palm. Against his knowledge, the canines optics lingered on his hand even after hers had vacated that spot, focusing so much on how large he was compared to her. In all their time together as kids? How had he never managed to hurt her before now. "Do you want me to lay down or anything? What's easiest for you?" she didn't know exactly how being blind would affect his ability to find the wound, having seen him fight the female knew that he'd be able to sew her up fine after he found it, but finding it she was unsure. Something like the wound on her shoulder, was different from an enemy which moved and had something for him to hear, it was just blood. "No offense meant, I know you're capable, but some things are still harder for those without sight." she'd know, considering after about five to ten feet in front of her she was essentially by human standards nearing blind. Clearly his ailment was much different, he hadn't lived with it forever and his was all encompassing, but she knew part of the world he lived in.

When he mentioned her fitting into the clothing he wore? The canine giggled slightly, hand covering her mouth. "I wasn't intending to fit into them." even as kids she had never been able to 'fit' into his clothing, often utilizing his shirts as night gowns when came crawling in soaked from being outside. If she was to be honest with herself, the reason she didn't generate new clothing from the wind was because she actually wanted to wear something of his again. Even if he didn't fully know it was her? She knew it was him, and she missed those sorts of things. He didn't need to know for her to indulge, a perfect excuse existed, and she would fully take advantage of it. "Mostly, I was hoping they'd fit like a dress, its a fashion these days, not that I understand it." she really did not know much about the world of fashion, none of it made sense especially to someone who was red-green colorblind, thus unable to see all of it.