(Untitled)

[king_en]

Who: entaiho and king_en
What: A homecoming.
When: Late on the 2nd
Where: House 31
Summary: Shouryuu comes home after the draft. Rokuta's less than happy about the state he's in.
Rating: PG?

Comments

[entaiho]

Of course he'd immediately known when Shouryuu returned to the enclosure, when the sense of the king's presence abruptly jumped from far away to not too far and he could pinpoint where he must be. It had been all that Rokuta could do to not immediately run to him, check on him, or at least summon Rikaku back to report on what had happened. Shouryuu had asked him to stay away, though-- he'd promised to return as soon as he'd been cleaned up, and the last thing he needed was to fall ill

[king_en]

"Ah, there you are, Taiho," Shouryuu said, turning immediately from the shirei, who sank back into his shadow (probably to escape Rokuta's reaction when he finally saw the injury, the traitor) and giving Rokuta a careless little grin.

Rokuta looked worse for wear. Maybe he should have ordered him away from the village as they'd all come back. Though Shouryuu himself couldn't smell it, the blood had to be in the air still; no matter how hard they scrubbed or how thoroughly they washed, it took longer than this to fade away.

[entaiho]

"Yeah. Here I am." Rokuta pushes off the wall and stalks a little closer, eyes narrowed (to hide relief) and posture stiff (because he can't just let himself relax) as he looks the king up and down. Nothing visible from the front, but from that comment and the way Rikaku vanished, there's clearly something he isn't being told.

Actually, there was probably something he wasn't being told before, too, even if he hadn't pried into that. The same thing? Had Shouryuu just been injured early in the fighting? "So what'm I supposed to be mad about?"

[king_en]

"We got a few bumps and bruises." Meaning Shouryuu had, for the most part. Rikaku, like all shirei, had an unnatural ability to heal fast given the time to do so. Everything else on Shouryuu had healed, in his defense, except the damn wing.

And if he could help it, he wasn't ever letting Rokuta know about the blindness on the first day.

[entaiho]

Rokuta halts just in front of Shouryuu, one hand resting on his hip as he scowls up at the king. If it was that simple he'd be much happier, but from what he'd heard from those who were out on the battlefield things had been pretty bad all around. As if it wasn't enough that they were dragged out to fight in the first place....

He'd been fretting for days over the king, at any rate, and now that he was back and whole (well, relatively speaking, it seemed) the kirin just wanted to basically collapse in relief. And possibly fever, as well, but that part didn't need to be mentioned, even if he could sense Yokuhi stirring a little with concern. "Yeah? That's interesting. 'cause I could swear I smell blood, too."

[king_en]

"I got rid of as much as I could." It was always like this when he came back from battle, all the more so that he didn't have people helping him bathe to make sure he got all the blood off him as he usual did.

Rokuta was, however, looking incredibly pale. He stepped forwards and put his hand lightly on his cheek. "You look like you're about to drop. Perhaps we should go elsewhere while the smell fades."

[entaiho]

It was true, Shouryuu had certainly made an effort to clean himself up-- after all, after centuries in close proximity to a kirin he understood the necessity. The scent still clung to him, though, and nobody else in the village had taken quite so much care. As those drafted returned it was almost impossible to go anywhere without encountering one of them, though he'd tried to stay in the house as much as possible.

There was still... something about Shouryuu, though. Like an injury not bleeding but still not yet healed, and that was unusual for one such as the king. What was he hiding?

Rokuta flinches away from the hand, though not quickly enough that Shouryuu wouldn't be able to feel that his skin is a little warmer than usual. "I'll be all right, I'm just tired. What about you?"

[king_en]

"Five hundred years and you still think you can lie to me?" Shouryuu reached his hand out again. He knew he couldn't lie to Rokuta either but right that moment, he was more concerned about his kirin. "Don't be stubborn, Rokuta. Do we need to leave the town itself for a while?" Even if Shouryuu didn't feel quite up to it, if it was what Enki needed, they'd find a way.

[entaiho]

"You just got back." Rokuta grimaces but doesn't move away this time. Okay, so he's not feeling absolutely wonderful right now, but it's not like he's going to die from it or anything. He just needs some rest and less worry and he'll be fine, he's quite certain. "If you're hurt... you shouldn't be out wandering around, especially not in the winter."

[king_en]

Rokuta"s caught him out too. Five hundred years really does go both ways, even if he's never exactly been injured before. Not like this. Ah, he misses the healing - and can't quite understand why it won't work on the wings like it does everywhere else.

"You'll be glad to know you were right, of course." He slides his hand behind Enki and nudges him to start walking. They can talk somewhere that's not the middle of the corridor.

[entaiho]

Rokuta makes a face but doesn't resist being prompted to walk. He'd much rather see Shouryuu sitting down, if he really is hurt-- hurt how, though? He shouldn't be that susceptible to injury here, so what had happened? How? Where had Rikaku been when it happened?

"Why would I be glad to know that?" he demands, covering the worry and questions with more irritation. "You are actually going to tell me something, right?"

[king_en]

"The wings are susceptible to injury," Shouryuu says quietly as he leads Enki into the kitchen and sits him down at the kitchen table. "Even for us." It probably wouldn't have happened if he'd been able to see - and it'd only got more aggravated as the days on the battlefield had passed.

[entaiho]

At first Rokuta lowers himself into a chair at the table, blinking a little up at Shouryuu. Of course the wings were a weak point, he'd warned the king himself, after all that he'd heard. Even losing a feather could hurt more than it should, but losing an entire... wait.

The kirin shot to his feet again, his own wings unconsciously twitching in their concealment under his clothing. "Your wing? You hurt your wing?" If they'd caught both wings, then... then Shouryuu would've broken his promise. Wouldn't be here. It was close enough to make Rokuta dizzy to consider, and he moved to look behind the king's back to try to see what had happened, as though that would do anything now.

[king_en]

"It's already healing." Shouryuu knows just the words won't be enough though, and he sighs, shrugging the light coat he's wearing off, before he slips the shirt off too so Rokuta can see for himself. "Careful, Rokuta." It's a wound; there's going to be lingering blood there no matter what he tries to do.

They hadn't got both wings. They hadn't even got one whole wing, but they'd taken the tips - more than enough for it to hurt.

[entaiho]

The warning wasn't really necessary, for no matter how much Rokuta wanted to see for himself what had happened, the actual sight leaves him frozen in place, unable to move or react or even think. Had there actually been blood visible he might have been worse off, but as it is he only stares for a moment with his expression reflecting how sick he feels inside before he manages to look away, taking an involuntary step backwards. That had been so close, too close, he tells himself as he focuses on drawing long breaths.

"I told you I should've sent Kibou as well," he finally mutters, lifting a hand to rub at his forehead. "Nothing happened here at all. And if Rikaku wasn't enough to prevent that...."

[king_en]

Shouryuu shrugs the shirt back on before he turns around, sitting down and reaching out to draw Enki back again. He's likely feeling sick - worse than before, Shouryuu knows - and he needs to sit down or something before Enki hurts himself.

"Rikaku is enough. You will keep a shirei with you, Rokuta." Shouryuu glances down at Enki's shadow. "We just had a few issues."