Searching [Chapter 13]

[esp_dragon]

Fandom: Original
Summary: The world of Torpin is open, dragging in xeni from other worlds. The majority of them are monsters, prone to violence. There are some, however, that are not, and are able to live amongst the human population, if allowed to. Marland should know; he's one of them. His job is to hunt and stop the xeni that seek only to destroy what's around them. On one job, a human xeno drops through a portal, an event which Marland has never heard of happening before. And that's not the only thing different about the human...
Rating: R
Notes: Contains swearing.
Jeez… Marland's been shot, and some two days later, it's a 'dull ache'. :P Super healing! Non-human healing!
Genre: Urban fantasy
Word count: 9,638
Total word count: 88,520
Status: Work in Progress (reposting, but is complete)


Marland didn't know where he was. The smells were different, far too different. It smelled of people and cooking food, but nothing that he was familiar with. There was softness under him, and that was strange, an unused to feeling. There was also something tangled up in his toes; they didn’t restrict his movement though, so he carefully pulled his feet away from it, just in case he needed to move quickly.

"And that was when we found out the spines weren't just for decoration - it could shoot them out, almost with the same force as a gun."

Marland had tensed at the first word, his ears swivelling to pinpoint the person talking, but as the person continued, he relaxed slowly as he realised that he recognised the voice. Nillos.

There was a light chuckle. "But I take that you were…" Marland heard the man clearing his throat. "You were all right in the end?"

Marland's ears froze as he eventually placed the second voice, trying to not give himself away. Ronthar. And just like that, everything snapped into place: where he was, why his left wing felt warm and stiff, pain a regular beat there, why he didn't recognise anything around him. He hunched his shoulders, curling in on himself as best as he could in his position. He didn't want them to know he was awake; he just didn't want to deal with anything right now.

"Heh, yeah. A couple of chunks taken out of us, but nothing serious, nothing like this." He could hear Nillos swinging his leg in small, quick arcs on the bed beside him. "You still worried about Marland?"

A sharp intake of breath. "Ah…"

"You just keep glancing at him and uh…"

Marland was pretty sure that sound was Ronthar's hair moving as he shook his head.

There was a drawn-out silence and the only thing Marland could hear was breathing.

"You up, Marland?"

Slowly, Marland cracked open one eye. He did that just in case the lighting in the room was too bright. No other reason for it. Just like there was no other reason for why it took him so long to open his other eye. Both Nillos and Ronthar were sitting on the edge of the other bed, Nillos closer to him. Nillos was sporting a bandaged head, tufts of his blond hair poking through, but other than a couple of scrapes that ran down his right arm, he didn't seem to be injured badly anywhere else.

The blinds at the window at their backs were closed, but Marland couldn't see any light coming through it, and he couldn't hear any wind or rain either, so it was probably well into evening. The only light was from the furthest away bedside table and it was dim enough that it didn't hurt Marland's eyes.

At the sight of Marland opening his eyes, Nillos grinned widely, putting his teeth on display. "Great! We were starting to think you weren't going to." He gestured to the bedside table between the two beds, where there was a glass of water sitting on it. Marland stared at it, and just felt like burying his head under his wing. He was just a little too far to be able to reach it comfortably; he couldn't really drink from it without standing either and he really didn't want to at that particular moment.

"Straw?"

Nillos turned his head to look at Ronthar. "Huh?"

"Do you have straws?" Ronthar clarified, his eyes gentle.

"Hm, think so." Nillos sent Marland a quick glance. "Hang on, I'll go check." He left the room quickly and the sound of him going down the stairs echoed up to them. Marland continued to stare at the glass and Ronthar didn’t say anything either. He could hear Nillos moving around in the kitchen, quickly opening and closing doors before there was the eventual crow of triumph.

"Ah-ha!" There was a couple of seconds of rummaging before Nillos made his way back up, a straw in hand. He handed it over with a quick grin before he settled back in place on the bed.

Marland did a quick test of his limbs to make sure everything was still in order. Apart from an overall stiffness and just feeling weak, he was all right. He edged towards the table, took the glass, stuck the straw in and began drinking. It was a relief to have liquid in his mouth and it made him realise just how dry it had been.

"Ooh…" Nillos exhaled after a few seconds. Marland flicked his eyes to him and saw that Nillos had his head tilted to the side, interest clearly seen in his eyes as he studied his wings. Nillos smothered that look as soon as he realised that Marland was watching him. It was with a start that Marland realised that he hadn't been able to interpret that look before he'd met Sho…Shodin - he'd always thought any kind of attention was a threat (which, usually, it was) but he used to back away with his teeth bared, even from the people he knew, when he thought he was getting looked at more than he should be. Which, apart from Kendal and Laris, usually meant anything more than a quick glance began to set him on edge.

After Marland was done with the water, the other needs of his body made themselves known: he was starving, his stomach feeling like it had already eaten itself, and that he needed to go to the toilet. One other need was that he absolutely stank of blood and other things that he couldn't identify. Yet another was the awareness that he'd been lying down towards his right side of his body for too long; it was feeling a little numb.

"How long've I been out f'r?" His tongue felt thick and still dry, sticking to the roof of his mouth annoyingly when they came in contact.

Nillos shrugged. "It’s nearly been a day now. We, uh, weren't able to give you any food during then ‘cause we weren't sure what we could give you."

That explained the hunger, and people might not have been willing to disturb him while sleeping. Knowing his own sleeping habits, he might have nearly woken up just by people walking into the room. Marland stared at the other bed doubtfully. But if that was the case, with Ronthar sleeping so close to him…and Nillos had obviously gotten in without disturbing him that much either. So maybe he had just been that tired.

With a sigh, Marland settled his head back down on the bed and twisted slightly so that he was leaning more on his left side. His wing protested a little (so that was also probably why he hadn't moved) but he ignored it, sighing again as he felt his blood circulating a little easier on the other side.

"So…" Marland flicked his ears towards Nillos. "I'll just go make something to eat." All right. "Instant chicken pasta all right for you?"

Marland nodded and then he tracked Nillos with his ears as he left - but why was he closing the door?

"Are you okay?" Ronthar asked quietly after a small pause. His ears swivelled around to him.

He shrugged with his right wing. Once it had gone back in place, Marland decided to stretch, his left wing feeling difficult to control smoothly. Slowly, he arched it up, extending it as far as it could go until it started to brush the wall. He held it there for a few seconds and then folded back in, feeling slightly better after that.

He didn't want to have a conversation with Ronthar. Not right now. It wasn't like they were going to talk much after this anyway, what with Ronth… Marland's ears sank down slowly. Ronthar didn't have a place to stay, did he? Not if Ronthar had… But that was him assuming again, wasn't it? He hadn't asked anything about Ronthar, too, well, distraught if he was being brutally honest with himself about Shodin being gone to be able to think about anything else.

"How did you…" Marland began to ask, before he shook his head, cutting himself off. What was the point? And why ask that question first? It wasn't like Ronthar was going to know.

"How did I…?" Ronthar prompted. Marland was fairly sure he could hear him playing with his hair.

He'd already said it, so now Ronthar knew he wanted to know something (but he probably knew without him asking anyway) and then he'd keep prodding him until Marland gave in and just said it. But, again, that was just another assumption, wasn't it? But Ronthar had shown that he was…that he was still Shodin, although more wary, and they definitely had the same stubbornness.

His ears lowering fully, Marland asked the question he should have when he'd first met Ronthar. "How did you get your memories back?" he mumbled to the wall.

Ronthar was silent for the next couple of seconds, not fiddling with his hair either. "I'm not sure…" he admitted slowly. "I remember losing consciousness after one of the sessions, and I had thought that it was only for a few seconds because I woke up being dragged into the room. With you."

So he really had absolutely no recollection of what had happened between losing his memory and regaining it. …Except he did, with things like the medicine. Which then meant what, exactly? Ronthar's memories were more in the forefront than Shodin's memories, or were Shodin's memories just residual now, completely gone? But if Ronthar had gotten his memories back when it had seemed like that for Shodin, then maybe it could be like that with Shodin's memories too. Was it just going to be that only one set of memories could be accessed at the one time?

"But…I do think that it might have something to do with Fion."

Fion? Oh, right, Puzz. Marland's ears lifted and turned towards Ronthar.

"He had been saying something just before I lost consciousness, and when my memories come back, he was no longer there."

…That did make sense. Fion had been really protective of Shodin, but could he really…? They were xeni, so Marland couldn't say what they could and couldn't do. He hadn't really heard of possessing actually happening, so really, he didn't know the limits that they had.

"Fion can do that?"

Ronthar moved his head, humming at the same time. "Yes. We never talked about it, but it's one of the abilities of a laknur."

Marland drew in on himself mentally, not sure what he should be asking, if there was any point in doing it. But…he felt like he had to know. It wasn't a want, but a need to know what had happened, and to know about Ronthar and Shodin when he could. "’Laknur’?"

"It's…" Ronthar blew some air through his teeth. "A laknur is a…being that creates a contract with a human and through that contract, the human is able to use their powers and abilities, if the laknur allows them."

So, the magic that Shodin had was Fion's. And fuck, so if Balt tried to force a contract, then that human would have magic. His ears flattened.

"Fion wouldn't allow that," Ronthar said quietly, fabric ruffling. "A laknur chooses who they create a contract with, and they can't be made to against their will."

Still. Who knew what the fuck Balt was doing with him right now and dammit, they should be trying to get Fion out of there!

Marland made a move to get up, and he quickly turned his head when he heard Ronthar slip off the bed and come towards him. "Rest for now, all right?" Ronthar said gently, and Marland could see his hand hovering over his wing, his fingers flat, maybe about to go closer, to go for his shoulder.

"But…" He trailed off uncertainly. Saying it was redundant; Ronthar knew Fion was being hurt, and he would be feeling it more, if Marland was right about just how close they were.

"And we're both hurt and tired," Ronthar filled in. "We shouldn't do anything if anything we attempt will result in us being captured again."

His ears lowered at that, and Marland growled softly. Yeah. He didn't like it, but it made sense.

There was a knock at the door just then, and Ronthar turned his head towards it, his hand falling away. "Come in," Ronthar said, taking a step back.

Marland looked at Nillos, his ears back in confusion, after Nillos had nudged the door open and poked his head through the crack. Nillos wasn't shy, Marland definitely knew that much, and he'd just shown that he was still the same by the way he had talked to Ronthar. So why was he acting so hesitant now?

Seeing Ronthar settling back on the bed, he came in with more confidence, a plate in one hand and a bar of chocolate in the other, smiling. He paused next to Marland, the items bobbing up and down. "Which one do you want first?"

He eyed the two, and then nearly pointed to the food with his wing out of habit. "The food." And then he blinked, grumbling, his wing half-covering him for a second.

"Uh…?"

Screw it. He brought his wing back and moved so that he was leaning more on his right side again. Nillos peered down at him, his eyebrows drawn in. Marland really couldn't be bothered seeing if his legs could support him yet; he took the plate and fork out of Nillos' hand, placed in front of him and slowly began eating it.

"Ever thought about cutting them off?" Nillos said lightly after he'd put the chocolate down on the table, a small smile on his face. When Marland looked at him, Nillos tried to wipe the smile off his face, his eyes a little wide.

"Where'd I put 'em?" Marland said, making his voice gruff, feeling weird about teasing him back, not making eye contact with him but keeping his ears up, not sure if Nillos would realise he was being teased if he kept the eye contact. It wasn't like he did anything like that normally; he had only just started tentatively teasing Shodin back right before they got kidnapped by Balt. "We don't exactly have a lot of space in the flat." He realised too late that he'd used 'we' out of habit, but he didn't let that stop him, only stumbling after the word, and continued on.

Ronthar chuckled while Nillos didn't comment, and Marland could see his head was tilted slightly. He supposed he couldn't blame him for being confused, because Marland knew that he wouldn't have reacted like that before he'd met Shodin.

Nillos then half-choked and laughed in one breath. "Sorry!" he said, waving his hands -palms vertical, fingers not spread- side to side. "I'm just not used to hearing something like that from you." It took him a while to get it out of his system and Marland used that time to eat.

"I'll go get you some more water." Nillos left the room again, still smiling widely, and Marland only really had enough time to eat a few pieces of pasta before Nillos was back again, a jug of water in his hand. As soon as he had filled the glass and set the jug down, Nillos yawned widely and loudly, using a hand to cover his mouth.

"Well, I'm really tired right now," he announced, "so I think I'll just go to bed."

Marland watched him as he left, one ear down to the side. Nillos hadn't seemed that tired before, but he was injured as well - and he'd just been walking up and down stairs because of Marland. The other ear went down when he realised that.

Sighing, Marland reached over and snagged the chocolate with his claws, bringing over the water as well. He ripped the packet open and broke off a piece, weighing it in his hands -should be just right for the amount of pain he was feeling, and he shouldn’t overdose on it either- before he dropped it in his mouth. He tried to swallow it as fast as he could.

Ugh. Tasted like crap as always and with his ears flat on his skull, Marland drank the water, hoping it would wash away the taste. It didn't, not in the slightest, but he did have the rest of the food to go, and it looked like it would be enough to cover the taste.

Ronthar didn't seem to be looking at him while he ate, but he could just be watching him from the corner of his eyes, so Marland wasn't sure. The food wasn't enough when he was done -he still felt hungry- but he knew better than to push it; he felt like he needed more food, but it also felt like his stomach couldn't expand any more than the point it had gotten to.

He glanced at Ronthar, not entirely sure why, after he'd put the plate on the bedside table. Marland wasn't exactly ignoring him, but he just didn't want to talk to him either. His ears pricked up and faced forward when he noticed something; Ronthar was wearing a different set of clothes, most likely borrowed from someone else, but that wasn't what caught Marland's attention. What had caught his attention was the fact that Ronthar had bandages around his neck again, no bulge under them to hint of them covering something either.

Ronthar saw him staring, and he smiled wanly at him, a hand slowly going up to brush the bottom edge of the bandage. "Kendal called them 'powertool's?"

Marland snorted, one ear flicking down. Yeah, that sounded like her.

"That was what she was planning on using," he continued, his smile melting into something a little more natural, "but I wasn't quite reassured by the grin she was wearing at the time."

Marland wasn't surprised; he normally felt unsettled whenever he saw Kendal grin in any kind of way. But it was good to know that the collar could come off.

They fell into an uneasy silence after that, neither of them attempting to begin another conversation. Or neither of them knew what to say - Marland certainly didn't. Were they going to stay like this until someone came into the room again? If everyone else was asleep and Pai - Marland's eyes flicked to the corner of the room and then stopped when he saw that there wasn't anything there.

"She left as soon as she woke up," Ronthar informed him, his voice soft. "She'd stayed as long as she could but she was feeling uncomfortable after staying in the city for so long."

Pai usually felt like that after a few days - had she been waiting around just to see if he and Ronthar were all right?

Growling quietly to himself, his ears sinking, Marland carefully curled up on the bed, trying to keep Ronthar out of his view. He'd just woken up and while he felt weak, he wasn't on the verge of falling asleep again either.

His bladder wasn't interested in resting either. Ugh, dammit. "Where's the toilet?" Like that didn't sound like he wasn't trying to escape and hide, he realised belatedly.

"Oh," Ronthar said, straightening slightly. He waved to a door that Marland hadn’t noticed before. "It's there."

Did all these rooms have toilets connected to them? It nudged something in Marland’s memory, but that had been from movies, so he hadn’t been sure if that actually happened in real life.

While he was testing to see if his legs were able to hold his body weight, Ronthar continued on. "There's clean trousers on the end of your bed-"

Marland blinked and looked down; he'd thought had been more of the covers.

"-but they weren't sure if they'd fit."

Which was why there were three different pairs. He picked up the first one and checked the label - that was the right size, and the legs were loose enough for his toes to get through easily as well. "Should be okay." Just in case, he picked up the second one as well.

He left without saying another word, and tried to ignore the fact that his ears had been down and felt like they were going to stay like that while they had been talking. His muscles were stiff as he walked into the toilet, like they only had half their manoeuvrability and he could feel every pull, every movement they made. His wing was a warm, dull ache that sharpened briefly with every step, but it was ignorable, up to a point.

The toilet was kind of big, Marland saw once he'd locked the door behind him. With a showerhead over a bath, thankfully - he wouldn’t have fit if it had only been a shower. There were a couple of bottles sitting on the edge of the bath, but he probably wouldn’t need all of them.

Marland relieved himself with a hand braced on the wall, and then eyed the shower. Since he had a clean change of clothes now… He was also aware of just how much he stank. There was still some dried blood on him that he hadn't realised was still there, and he brushed at them, trying to scrub them away. They stuck stubbornly there, in between his scales.

He peeled himself out of his trousers, his ears flattening again at the dark stains that trailed down it, obvious against the tan fabric. He was pretty sure he was going to burn it as soon as he was able to; he didn't want to see it again, and he doubted he'd be able to get the stains out no matter how much he tried. His eyes flicking away, he dumped it on the floor and awkwardly climbed into the bath, trying to make sure he didn't knock anything over. He grabbed one bottle, peered at it long enough to see that it was body gel and brought it to where the taps were. A press of a button later, the controls beeped and water started hissing down on top of him.

His ears had already been down in preparation so the water couldn't get in and he closed his eyes, just letting the sensation wash over him. That…felt really good. Marland sagged a little, wanting to lean on the wall, but that was too awkward, too bothersome to do so he just stood there with his head bowed. He ignored every little thought in his head, ignored everything else and let himself be hypnotised by the drone of the shower and the constant drum of the water as it hit something.

After a few minutes, it felt like his muscles had started to relax and he took a deep breath, pulling himself away from his stupor. He reached for the bottle and opened it; his snout twitched as the strong scent of -he squinted at the label again- lavender attempted to imprint itself into his brain. His movements slow and automated, he cleaned himself, glad that the blood that had stubbornly stayed in place amongst his scales flaked off easily.

When he was done, he switched off the shower and stepped out, feeling a lot looser than before he started. He arched his back and unfurled his wings slowly, revelling just at the feeling of being able to do that without too much trouble. He wasn't able to extend them fully, his left wing only able to move a quarter of the way before it halted, but it was enough to make him feel a bit better.

Drying himself didn't take long, and while the trousers were looser than what he was used to, they wouldn't fall off his hips either. He hesitated at the door though, his hand halting above the lock. He stared at it for a few seconds, his ears flattening slowly before he growled at himself. He wouldn't have cared about the awkward silence before!

He sighed, his ears lifting up slightly. Fuck it. Marland shoved his thoughts to the side and opened the door. He picked up the towel he used, as well as his trousers, hoping there was a bin he could shove it in.

There was a bin in the corner of their room, and Marland gladly dumped the trousers in it. It was quiet when he set himself down. There was then a few minutes of silence, neither of them looking at each other.

Well this was just fucking great.

And then his wound started being itchy. Grumbling, Marland rubbed his knuckles against the plaster, but that just made it worse - and pressed on all the bruising. The plaster had moved a lot while he'd been touching it as well.

Marland brought his wing forward carefully and peered at the plaster - it was completely soaked through, the tape more off than on. It probably wouldn't last very long.

Marland's ears twitched in Ronthar's direction when he heard him hum. The bed creaked as Ronthar slid off it. "Hold on," Ronthar said, his face thoughtful as he left the room.

Okay…? The itchiness flared up and Marland considered biting the wound. He glared at it before he turned his head away. He wouldn't be able to reach it -not with his teeth at least- and it would make it worse anyway if he did that.

He was growling softly by the time Ronthar came back, a small white box in his hand. A first aid kit? How did he know where it was?

"I helped Nillos with his bandages," Ronthar explained with a small shrug. "Do you mind if I…?" He gestured towards Marland's wing.

Marland stared at the box for a few seconds before he sighed, his ears flicking down and then back up again. "No." Ronthar would still push to help him even if he'd said yes and he couldn't be bothered arguing with him.

Ronthar dipped his head, a small smile on his face. "Thank you."

He snorted, turning over some more and shifting to the side so that Ronthar could sit next to him. It felt weird when the mattress dipped, the sound of the first aid box getting put on the table the only thing he could really hear.

There was a small pause as Ronthar opened the box and rifled through its contents. "I'm going to touch your wing, okay?"

Marland huffed as he turned his head away, his ears flattening. Yeah, there really wasn't that much difference between them.

Ronthar's fingers were light, barely even touching him. When the plaster on the back of his wing was pulled off, it was done slowly, carefully. It also made Marland pay more attention to that area, and that just made him more aware of how itchy it was.

"It looks like it's healing well," Ronthar commented as there was a sound of ripping paper.

Good. It was still fucking itchy though.

When Ronthar stuck the plaster on, his fingers lingered before he lifted them away. "I…never thanked you," he said quietly.

Both of Marland's ears swivelled around to face Ronthar. What? He just did a minute ago.

There was a weak chuckle and then Ronthar took a deep breath. "I hadn't thanked you for coming back for me."

Oh.

"You didn't have to, especially after I…" Ronthar lapsed into silence.

"Are you fucking serious?" Marland said incredulously. He lifted his wing away so that he could glare at Ronthar. Unsurprisingly, the man had a hand wrapped around the top part of his left arm. "Why the fuck would I leave anyone there?" Balt was away in his own world without the aid of a portal; who knew what he would have done. In fact, fuck, without Marland there, Ronthar was then 'useless' as a hostage and he would have probably been killed.

Ronthar gaped at him. After a few seconds of staring at him, his face softened into a smile. "You really are a nice person."

Marland stared at him in disbelief. What - what the hell? Where did he get that from?

Seeing his face, Ronthar's lips twitched and he chuckled.

Marland blinked and then his ears went down slowly as he gave Ronthar a suspicious look. Had Ronthar been teasing him? "…You aren't scared of me." It'd been kinda obvious from the start, but he hadn't been paying proper attention then.

"Hm?" Ronthar tilted his head at him, a slight tilt to his eyebrows. "No, why should I - oh, because you're a 'xeno'?"

His ears flicked at the verbal…air quotes, Nillos had called them?

"What are you, really?"

Marland stared at him blankly before he understood what he was asking. He shrugged with his wings. "Can't remember. I just got used to being called a xeno after a while."

Ronthar froze, his eyes going wide. "I - apologies."

He shrugged again. "S'fine. It doesn't bother me that much anymore." It was just another thing that he'd gotten used to over the years.

Ronthar was quiet for a few seconds, fiddling with the plaster plastic. "I'm not scared of you because I'm…hm, I'm used to seeing a lot of 'non-humans' on my world." His eyes became distant, and his hands' movements slowed down. "There's over-" Ronthar waved a hand in the air, and Marland looked away from the familiar gesture "-actually, I'm not sure if we've counted how many different races we could communicate with," Ronthar finished, a small frown on his face. "Humans certainly weren't the original inhabitants."

Marland snorted and flicked his ears towards Ronthar. "And everyone lives peacefully."

He heard Ronthar shake his head. "No - there's always an argument going on somewhere, but we don't kill someone just because they're a different race."

And that just sounded like a made-up paradise to Marland, not something that had a possibility of actually existing.

"You…actually remind me of one of the races there: the drakule." Ronthar's tone was softer and he was talking slower than Marland had heard him before.

Marland turned his head enough so that he could peek at Ronthar from the corner of his eyes. Was he lying just to make him feel better? Ronthar wasn't looking at him again, his gaze fixed to a far corner. It did seem more like he was remembering something, rather than making it up.

"Your markings are different -and they have a tail- but other than that..." Ronthar shrugged, glancing back at him, a weak smile on his face.

Really? Marland stared at him in bewilderment. Was he really that similar to them? Marland had never seen any of the xeni who looked remotely like him - there were hardly any lizard-like ones that came through, and even rarer were ones that had wings, let alone any that were close to the size that Marland had.

"I'm really like them?" The question slipped out before Marland realised he'd even said it, and his ears flattened when he did. Why was he curious about them? It wasn't like he could ever meet them.

Ronthar quirked his lips at him, stretching his back. "In appearance, yes; temperament, no."

Marland's ears twitched back up again. Huh. "What're they like?"

Ronthar's lips widened into a grin, and he chuckled. "They're essentially berserkers - if you were to threaten something that they deem 'theirs' -be it their home, possessions or an individual- that would trigger their protective instincts." Ronthar paused, the grin turning sharp. "There are stories of what drakule have supposedly done to people that tried."

Definitely not like him then. It was still…interesting to find out about them. Which Marland found a little weird; he'd never tried to learn about something just for the sake of learning about them before.

"The rest of the time though," Ronthar continued, "they're rather calm in other situations." Ronthar's eyes flicked to the first aid kit and he snorted softly before he started picking at its contents again. "I should plaster the other side of your wing before it gets tired."

Marland blinked. He actually hadn't been thinking about that since they'd started talking - but now that his attention was back on it…

His wing wasn't tired anyway - he'd just had to lean more to his right to get it out of his line of sight. Marland shifted more of his weight to his right and carefully spread his wing out. It didn't feel sore at least, but it did feel harder to move.

Ronthar manoeuvred himself so that he faced Marland face-on, and then glanced behind himself. Marland shuffled closer to the wall before he said something. With a grateful look, Ronthar pushed himself away from the edge of the bed.

The plaster was put on without much fuss and Marland folded his wing back to its usual position afterwards.

Ronthar didn't move away, and tilted his head at him. "Is there anything else you want to know?"

Too fucking much. Ronthar didn't seem to have any problems remembering his homeworld… "How long have you been here for?"

"Only for a number of months," Ronthar told him, humming. "Saisha took us in when she found us - she said she was worried we'd be eaten by a xeno," he said dryly.

'Us'? Ronthar had been with oth - was he talking about Puzz? He hadn't seemed to realise that he'd slipped into talking about himself plurally, and Marland wasn't sure what to do about that. Ronthar hadn't been saying much about - Fion, right, but…

"What's wrong?"

Marland sighed irritably, lifting his ears again. "Just…" He sighed, not bothering to raise his ears when they went back down. "Fion."

"Ah." Ronthar turned his head away, before looking back at him. "He'll be all right," he said firmly. "I know him."

The instinctual Fion Marland had in his head didn't match with Ronthar's confidence, but maybe what had returned Ronthar's memories had also changed Fion back to what Ronthar knew him better as?

Marland turned his head to the sound of the front door opening. Multiple people entered the house, not really trying that hard to keep quiet.

"I'll go ask them about it." That was Kendal's voice.

"Marland's still in a coma," Helval reminded her dryly as the sound of someone coming up the stairs floated up through the open door.

"Eh. You know him - he's probably already up. I bet Ronthar's had to sit on him to make sure he didn't leave the bed." Kendal's head popped into view, and she grinned when she saw them. "Or cornered him."

Kendal waved a piece of paper at them as she came into the room, an eyebrow raised. "So, what have you two been doing?"

"I took a shower," Marland answered, not sure if he'd been intending for his tone to be deadpan or not.

The other eyebrow went up, and Kendal chuckled. "Well, I was meaning before you found yourself in a police holding cell." Kendal waved the paper again. "There's a notice out for you."

Marland froze, staring at her, barely breathing.

She flicked the paper to glance at the text on it. "It says you've killed at least ten humans and are considered 'extremely dangerous'."

Fucking liars.

"The 'wanted alive' is what we're finding interesting though," Kendal continued, studying his reactions intently.

Shit. Shit. Balt was using the hunters to bring him back. It wasn't like Marland could argue with them.

When Kendal started crossing the room -one careful step at a time, but there was no hesitation in her stride- Marland snarled at her, pushing himself up against the wall, ignoring the flare of pain in his wings.

"So's the price." Kendal flipped the paper around so that Marland could see it.

And that was a fuck-load of zeroes.

"Who'd you piss off?"

"The fuck should I know?" Marland snapped, baring his teeth at her. She was blocking the door -and even if he was able to get past her, there were still another three hunters in the house- and he wouldn't fit through the wind… Marland read what else was on the piece of paper. "Fuck!"

"Yeah, we're not sure why there's a notice on Ronthar either," Kendal said, her voice wry.

Because Balt knew he'd try make sure Ronthar wouldn't end up in his hands again, and that would get him caught as well. If he wasn't caught, but Ronthar was, he'd go back to get him out. Marland hissed a sigh. When the fuck had he started caring this much about a person?

"What?" Ronthar said slowly. He had stood up at some point, and looked like he was trying to stand in Kendal's way. He glanced between Marland and Kendal. "Is a notice like a bounty?"

Marland snorted. "It's exactly like a bounty." Marland peered at the paper. The price was for one of them, so if someone brought in both of them…

He didn't want to attack Kendal, but fuck, there was no other way they could get out, even if the noise-

"Marland," Kendal said, taking a step back, a warmness back in her eyes, "you know we don't do this for money."

He growled at her, his posture still stiff. "It's a lot of money."

"Which is making us wonder what the hell you did or saw to make someone so desperate to find you if they're being this obvious." Kendal crossed her eyes and leaned on the wall. "Everyone knows something's up when a notice like that goes up." She quirked a smile at him. "It also helps that people also know about you and that you don't attack humans."

Marland looked away from her, seeing the two humans' faces flash in his mind.

"…Okay. You two are going to tell me exactly what happened now." When Marland glanced back at her, Kendal's mouth was a thin line as she sat herself down on the other bed, her expression expectant.

"You wouldn't believe it," Marland muttered, watching her warily.

"Oh?" Kendal raised an eyebrow. "We've got our guesses - and Marland," she said, her voice fakely sweet, "we live in a world were portals open up for no reason and dump beings from other worlds on our doorsteps; we can get used to new ideas. Really."

When he continued to stare at her, Kendal huffed and turned her head away. Marland drew his head back when he saw that, and then looked at Ronthar, who smiled at him as he sat back down next to him. He'd told them he didn't like it when he was stared at directly?

Kendal leaned back on her hands, staring up at the ceiling. "Yer both wearing collars when you're found, collars that don't have a simple way of taking off yourself, and under the collars you're bleeding in a pattern that doesn't make sense if they were just collars. The collars also block your magic, which both of you have - or had in Ronthar's case.

"You," Kendal continued, glancing at Marland before her eyes flicked away again, "were twitching in your sleep, which can mean you've got some sort of nerve damage, and that says the collars are more than they seem since neither of you don't seem to have been hurt anywhere else apart from around your necks.

"So. Add this to the fact that we've now got a person who's so intent on finding you that they don't care how obvious they're being and we've got a conspiracy that's about stealing a person's magic." She rolled her shoulders before she tilted her head at Marland. "How close are we?"

Marland stared at her, his eyes wide.

Kendal's face blanked of all emotion. "Right on the nose then."

Marland glanced at Ronthar, realising something. "Except we need to go back."

Ronthar sucked in a breath and didn't look at him, his hair half-obscuring his face - it didn't hide his hand clenching by his side. Because Fion was still there as well.

Kendal frowned at them. "Why the hell would you want to?"

"They took my laknur - he's my…" Ronthar trailed off, gesturing sharply. He sighed, shaking his head. "A laknur is a partner, a protector, a being that stays with you for your life. Fion… We met a number of years ago and made a contract - I'd always felt his presence in my mind ever since."

Until now. Marland couldn't imagine having someone else in his head, but he guessed he hadn't imagined that he'd end up living the life he was now when he was younger; you just got used to it and it eventually became normal.

"Yer both still injured," Kendal pointed out, her frown not moving.

And who knew what the fuck Balt was doing to Fion right now. Marland didn't-

"And do you even know where you'd been kept?"

…Shit. She had a point.

Kendal sighed. "We'll sort it out after you're able to walk in a straight line."

Which meant they were housebound until then, because of the notice. Marland looked at Kendal suspiciously.

"We aren't doing this for money," Kendal reminded him. "You're safe here, all right?" Apart from the new person in her team, but since he was still alive, maybe the new guy didn't want him dead anymore. Or the others were keeping a close eye on him.

Marland looked away, huffing. Inside a house full of hunters was the last place Balt would look, if he was doing any of the searching himself. And Kendal was telling the truth - if they really had been hunting to get rid of xeni, Kendal would have never tried to get to get to know him better in the first place.

"Yeah."

"Good." Kendal grinned and got to her feet. "Do you mind if we put off taking your collar off until after dinner?"

Marland shook his head, remembering that Ronthar had mentioned powertools.

"We'll see you in a bit then." With a quick wave, Kendal left the room.

"…How did they take yours off?" Marland asked Ronthar.

"With pliers."

Which meant someone was going to have to get close to him with those near his face and since his usual reaction to that was to rear away from it… They were probably going to have to pin or hold him down in some way.

Marland's ears flattened. "Great."

* * *
Kendal eyed him critically, the pliers in her hand. "We need to get you a chair you can sit on."

Marland didn't reply, trying to figure out how they were going to cut the collar without him hurting her. If he stayed lying down, his wing got in the way, and even if he pulled it away, as soon as something happened, his wing would snap down. He couldn't lie on his back because of his wings again, and if they tried doing it while he was standing, he'd continue backing up until he hit a corner or tripped over something.

She hummed before she glanced at Ronthar. "Who do you trust more: me or Ronthar?"

Marland blinked at her. He'd known Kendal a lot longer than Ronthar but…

"Okay," she said, snorting. "Who would you trust more if they had a pair of pliers in their hand and they were going to cut something off you?"

"Ronthar." Easily.

One side of her mouth curving up in a smile, Kendal handed the pliers to Ronthar.

"What's the best position for you?" Ronthar asked him.

For keeping still? Probably how he was right then, lying down, leaning a bit on his side. "This is probably the best," he muttered, watching as Ronthar came closer.

As much as he wanted to not watch what was going to happen, Marland didn't turn his head away - he needed to know what Ronthar was doing so that he knew when to not react.

"Tell me if this gets too tight or uncomfortable."

Marland grunted, his eyes not leaving the pliers. He could feel it when the pliers touched his scales and when it scraped against them, but it wasn't that bad. He then felt it when Ronthar started to worm the pliers under the collar.

He growled and continued after that, his claws going in and out every time he flexed his fingers. He wasn't sure how long it took, but Ronthar eventually finished, the collar slithering off his neck. The persistent buzzing that Marland hadn't realised was still there stopped.

Marland stared at the collar, not feeling any different from before, dimly aware that Ronthar had stepped away from him. He turned his hand over, going through the familiar mental processes - he felt the rush of magic come roaring to his call and he clenched his hand before it could form completely.

There was still a miniature explosion in his hand through the gaps in his fingers.

"Okay, one rule in here? No magic," Kendal said dryly, an eyebrow raised.

Marland snorted, relief flooding him. "I'm not stupid." He'd nearly set the bed on fire doing that, but it was definitely worth feeling his magic again, seeping itself through his body again.

"Understood," Ronthar said as he sheepishly dipped his head.

Marland glanced at him. What? "I thought you didn't…" Fion was where Ronthar's magic came from; why was he…?

Ronthar grimaced. "Balt assumed that Fion is my magic - Fion enhances my power and allows me access to powers I wouldn’t have myself, but he isn't my only source of magic; the reason why a laknur is drawn to a person in the first place is because that person has enough magic to make them curious."

Ronthar turned his head to Kendal with a questioning look on his face, who snorted. "I just said no magic in the house, no matter how much you wanna show off."

With a rueful smile, Ronthar nodded.

"Marland," Kendal said, holding her hand out. "Throw the collar over."

He cocked his head at that but did as he was asked. Kendal thanked him and then left the room, swinging the material in broad circles.

It was weird having his magic thrumming through him again, after getting used to not feeling it but… Marland yawned, his wings stretching out carefully. He carefully picked his claws out of the mattress before curling his fingers and toes so that they wouldn't get stuck while he slept.

"Sleep well," was the last thing Marland heard before he felt asleep.

* * *
It was light when Marland woke up, and his wing felt unresponsive and heavy. And sore. Fuck. He must've been out for a couple of hours. Ronthar was sleeping in the other bed, his breathing deep and even.

Grumbling, his ears flat, Marland edged out of bed as quietly as he could, no idea what the hell he was doing. He wasn't sure if there was any more chocolate in the kitchen, but it wasn't like staying where he was would make the pain go away either.

It would still give him something to do rather than staring at the walls and becoming more aware of his injury. He was also a little bit hungry as well.

There were far too many stairs in this building, Marland grumbled as he awkwardly made his way down. He hoped no-one would mind the scores he left on the wall from his wing.

He could hear someone moving around. Marland was glad about that - he could ask them about food and chocolate then.

When he peered into the kitchen though, he didn't recognise the man who was eating a sandwich as he leaned back on a counter - his hair was brown, short; he was probably in his twenties - he looked younger than the other people in Kendal's team, though older than Nav.

He wasn't a burglar -who broke into someone's house and then ate in that person's kitchen?- which left Marland with only a few other options. The first one Marland thought of was that he was the fourth member in Kendal's team, and it stuck there as they stared at each other.

Neither of them moved, frozen where they were. Marland noted at least that the man wasn't armed.

He should go. The pain was bearable at the moment, and he could eat later. Just so long as he was sure that as soon as he turned away he wasn't going to be attacked from behind. Marland would hear him coming, but he didn't want to fight right-

"Dinnow."

Marland blinked at him, not understanding him.

The man looked away, fiddling with his sandwich. "I'm Dinnow."

Oh. "Uh… Marland." Dinnow knew that, but it slipped out as Marland's mind blanked. Now what?

Dinnow continued to fiddle with his sandwich, his eyes not keeping still. "…Are you all right?"

"Yeah…" Marland felt awkward not stepping into the kitchen, keeping most of his body hidden behind the wall, but he knew he'd feel too exposed if he went in properly.

"What do - is there anything you need?"

"…Chocolate." He could get food later.

"Oh, okay." Dinnow glanced at the fridge in the corner. "We got some more last night."

Neither of them moved.

Marland softly growled to himself. This was getting stupid. He turned his head away and sighed before he made his way into the kitchen, keeping Dinnow in his peripheral vision.

Dinnow didn't move, but he did tense. That was all though.

Keeping his ears pointed behind him, towards Dinnow, Marland peered at the innards of the fridge. He found the bright packets of chocolate easily enough and he picked up the smallest one.

"Is it okay if I take one?" he asked, turning to face Dinnow, his hand still on the door.

"Well, yeah," Dinnow said doubtfully, his eyebrows drawn in slightly. "They were bought for you."

They were? Marland glanced back at the pile in a new light. It was enough to keep him pain free for a while, but it was a varied selection, a mix of hazelnut, caramel, biscuit bars alongside plain bars of chocolate. Marland hadn't tried the other kinds before, just in case the affected him differently.

"Thanks," he said as he closed the fridge door. "I'll…" -What? His mind refused to come up with anything- "leave now." Shaking his head at the utter pointlessness of that statement, Marland left the kitchen. Dinnow didn't follow him, but he did hear a long drawn out breath once he'd started going up the stairs.

Going up the stairs was harder going down them but Marland eventually got to the next floor. He half staggered to his bed, his limbs feeling sluggish, and fell on top of his mattress. He fumbled with the wrapper for a few seconds before he finally managed to rip it open. A quick twist of his wrist and he threw in a few pieces of chocolate into his mouth. He swallowed it quickly, and then realised he didn't have anything to wash the taste away.

Marland sighed and eyed the toilet door. He didn't think he had enough energy to get there, run the tap, and go back to bed again anyway.

Curling up slightly, Marland drifted off to sleep.

* * *
Marland woke up with a bitter aftertaste in the mouth, and no matter what he did with his tongue, it wouldn't leave. The hunger had gotten stronger too, and there was a weird smell in the air. It didn't smell bad - just something that he hadn't really smelled before. Ronthar was sitting on the other bed, watching something on the TV. The sound was so low Marland could barely hear it, so he doubted Ronthar could hear what was being said.

"Evening," Ronthar said, tilting his head to smile at him.

Was it? How long had he been sleeping for? Marland grunted, easing himself off the bed. He headed for the toilet, snagging the chocolate bar and empty glass at the same time - he could feel his wing throbbing, a dull ache that seeped everywhere.

Grumbling in distaste, Marland had a few more pieces of chocolate and washed it down with water. The aftertaste still lingered but it was fainter than it had been like before at least.

After he'd used the toilet, Marland went back to the bedroom.

The TV was turned off, Ronthar's full attention on him. "How are you feeling?"

Marland considered the question as he climbed back into bed. "Okay," he said eventually. He could move his body better than before, it didn't hurt -though his wing was itchy again- and he could feel his magic in him like a second heartbeat.

"Heh, good."

Marland looked up to see Kendal leaning on the doorframe. She walked in and perched herself on the edge of the desk in front of them. "When's the earliest you want to leave?"

He blinked at her, not understanding the question. They couldn't leave, not with the notice out on them.

Ronthar straightened up on the headboard. "You found where we were being held?"

Kendal shook her head. "No. I can't ask around without looking suspicious, but you can."

"Right," Marland snapped, sarcasm dripping in his tone. "I'll just go out in the street and ask people walking by - they'll tell me everything they know." The ones that didn't run at the sight of him would be the ones that were frozen on the spot or were going to attack him as soon as he got close enough.

Kendal rolled her eyes. "Or we could hand you two in and then you'll be taken directly to wherever." She waved a hand as she said the last word.

Marland stared at her. "You're going to hand us in." He voice was flat as he tried to sort through his myriad emotions. Fuck. He shouldn't have trusted them; he should have tried to escape as soon as he found out about the notice!

"It makes sense," Ronthar said quietly, his fingers tapping on his crossed arms. "It would be the fastest way to get there, and it would be unexpected that 'captured xeni' would fight back."

"That's what we thought," Kendal agreed.

Marland glanced between them in disbelief. Was it really the best option? Except…he had no idea how else they could try to find where they'd been kept and they didn't have the time to think it over.

He huffed, lowering his head a little. "All right."

Kendal smiled at him, her teeth hidden. "So when's the earliest you want to move?" she asked again.

Marland shared a look with Ronthar, who merely smiled at him. He sighed, looking at neither of them. "I'm still a little stiff," he admitted grudgingly, "but I guess I'd be better in a day." Especially if he had his magic; it wouldn't matter so much then what his physical condition was then.

"All right," Kendal said, nodding. "The biggest problem you have is how you get out."

That was a point. Their cell didn't have any handles or the swipe panels - Marland thought about how they’d escaped the last time. "If we can steal someone’s cardkeys," he said slowly, "we can use those." How they would get them was the problem though.

Kendal hummed, her eyes flicking to the cardkeys. "So that's the plan: get in, get Ronthar's laknur, get out."

"I…guess so." It sounded too simplistic, but they didn't know enough to be able to plan anything else.

They were quiet for a few seconds before Kendal pushed herself off the desk. "We're going to started marathoning an old TV series, if you're interested in joining us."

"What's it about?" he asked, wary. He wasn't sure if he wanted to watch something which Kendal found interesting.

"Heh," Kendal said, one side of her mouth twisting up in a wry grin. "We have no idea - that's why we're watching it again. It makes no sense."

Well, he couldn't go back to sleep straight away… Marland sighed as he realised something, his ear flicking back for a second.

"What?"

"I can't sit on backed chairs," he reminded her. He didn't want to lie spread across the couch, and he didn't want to spend how many hours standing either.

Kendal waved a hand dismissively. "We found a couple of stools in the other rooms - it'll be easy to bring one down."

Oh. Marland considered her offer. The people in the house were -apart from one- people he'd known for years, and they had never tried to hurt him. "Are there xeni in it?"

She shook her head. "Nope."

Hmm. That didn't sound too bad. So long as the windows were kept shut, Marland thought it might be okay. He turned to Ronthar, wondering what he thought about it.

Who blinked at him. "I don't mind," Ronthar said. "Though I suppose," he added a few seconds later, "it would be interesting to watch."

"All right then," Kendal said, grinning. "The popcorn should be finished by now," she told them as she lead them out the bedroom.

Oh, so that was what the smell was.

* * *
The TV series really had been as completely nonsensical as Kendal had said, things happening because that option had the best explosives, the characters made mistakes that should have gotten themselves and others killed, and there had been one person who kept reappearing to be 'mysterious' but her hints meant nothing in the end.

Asking about the plot earned him snickers all around. Ronthar had joined in with his own questions about motivations, with the same result.

But…it had been fun, in a weird way. Marland hadn't enjoyed watching it; he'd enjoyed…making a point about it and others agreeing with him.

His stomach filled with food and popcorn, Marland crawled into bed and drifted off to sleep.

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