- Mar 13, 2015
- 2,410
- Pronouns
- she, her
- Posting Status
- Irregularly, Hiatus
When your only family living with you suddenly wasn’t in the house, well, depending on the situation it usually just meant they were being an ass hole and decided not to tell where they were off to. But that wasn’t how Alaude did things; he was often an ass hole, but never to his sister Adelene, and never in this manner. So when Adelene got up, realized her brother was gone, and found no note or text message or missed call, she felt she had a valid reason to worry.
But she spent her entire day in the house, kept the shop closed and stayed inside, mostly conflicted about whether to go out and look for her brother, which would make it seem that she wasn’t confident enough of his capabilities, or to stay in the house and wait for him to get back, but seem like a very uncaring little sister. She decided in the end that she’d wait for a few more hours before going out.
It didn’t really take too long for the wait to be over, though. A couple of hours have passed, just enough for Adelene to consider the first possibility that for once, maybe Alaude actually forgot to leave a note for her. She heard him unlock the entrance downstairs and also heard briefly Alaude’s bike’s engine before it went silent. She rushed down to welcome him home, and probably to also shout at him for having made her worry.
The yell didn’t come. The moment she reached the workshop and saw her brother, Adelene immediately froze. Alaude was visibly pale and weak, his complexion even worse than its usual lack of color; he also looked like he got soaked in water at some point, but the wind during his bike ride dried his hair and pants off a bit. He wasn’t wearing any shirt. That wasn’t what shocked Adelene though. It was Alaude’s arm, the drying color of dark red all over it, the ripped cloth from Alaude’s now discarded shirt, and the visible gigantic bite mark and the holes it made on him.
An ever so familiar sight.
Adelene quickly spoke, her tone loud and slightly higher with panic. “What happened??”
Despite the injury though, Alaude seemed unfazed, even though he was actually hurting a lot, and yes, the flow of blood out of his wounds actually weakened him a lot. Alaude looked at Adelene, sighed, before taking a seat on one of the stools in the shop.
“Sorry. I didn’t tell you where I was going, did I? I figured I’d tell you when I get back, so… that would be now, I suppose.” Another sigh. His head drooped. For a moment, Alaude looked awfully sleepy.
“That wound… Where—D-Dammit it’s not even important right now!” Adelene rushed to Alaude and pulled his other arm, and Alaude knowing what it was for stood up. “Let’s go upstairs. We seriously need to get that patched up!”
So they migrated to the bathroom, and Alaude sat on a stool the way Lochlann did when he visited their place some time ago. And Adelene, as Alaude expected, moved like a storm trying to get everything they needed to get a first aid treatment on the bleeding holes on his arm. She began by cleaning the surrounding areas with a clean towel soaked in warm water. It stung and hurt terribly, but Alaude kept his reaction minimum with a suppressed hiss.
“Al, this wound,” Adelene started again. Her hands were somewhat trembling, something Alaude noticed as she wiped the drying blood off his skin. “This wound, it couldn’t be… it couldn’t be what I think it is… could it?”
“I have no idea what you’re thinking, but if it’s anything related to that scar of yours, then yes.”
Adelene froze, until Alaude looked at her face and into her wide eyes. Her expression, he realized, was of horror and confusion.
“Why so surprised?” he asked. “I was under the impression you’ve known that Lochlann’s actually a horse with weird teeth.”
“He really did this??”
“I swear we weren’t fighting that badly, we met because I was going to train him how to fight properly, and only because he sucks so bad I can’t even stop cringing at it--”
“AL!” Adelene put her hands on Alaude’s shoulders a bit too forcefully, to which the latter groaned. “YOU ALMOST DIED.”
Alaude’s expression didn’t change much, though. “Oh I wouldn’t know, I wasn’t there.”
“Al, this is serious!”
“YOU DON’T NEED TO TELL ME, I KNOW.”
Adelene flinched and stepped away. Alaude rarely raised his voice at her; to think he’d do so now when he was obviously weak and still bleeding. On that note, Adelene resumed her work. She didn’t have any needle or thread ready, instead she had a lighter and some gun powder. With much hesitation, she began to pour the powder over the bite mark, little by little.
The substance was already enough to cause searing pain, but Alaude kept himself still-- groaning, but still seated on the stool. Once done, Adelene lit the gunpowder up with the lighter.
Alaude screamed—well, rather it was a loud, very loud, tormented groan.
The wounds briefly went afire, and were soon afterwards sealed enough to stop the bleeding, much like when meat stuck to a pan because of some cooking disaster.
Alaude leaned forward limply, and Adelene caught him in her arms. She hasn’t realized how bad her trembling was, but Alaude was fully aware.
“Thanks, sis.”
“Sure thing, brother.”
“You know, thinking how you also had to go through pain like this because of him… It makes me rather angry. But he’s also suffering, I can tell, so…”
Adelene pushed herself away, holding on Alaude’s shoulders once more as she looked at him. “How much do you know?”
“A lot, probably just a bit less than you do,” Alaude replied.
Suddenly, Adelene went quiet, as if in deep thought, only nodding as a response. A couple of seconds passed before she spoke again. “I bet you’re really worried for him.”
“Oh heavens no.”
“But you’ve never talked this tenderly about or towards him. And it’s such a wrong timing.”
“Are you… Are you angry? At me, or at him?”
“Both of you. How can you be so reckless?”
“I swear we weren’t.” Lies. “Was it my fault he wouldn’t tell me why he killed and how and all those other important details?”
Adelene flinched again, and looked away. At this point, Alaude could already tell that Adelene was becoming even more confused, more bothered, more shaken. He didn’t want to ask her how badly she was feeling, and why, afraid she’d have to relive her painful memories. It really was amazing that she still loved Lochlann after everything, this, Alaude realized. But he wouldn’t ever know just how late this realization was, because that love might have actually just now weakened terribly.
“We still need to get you to a doctor or a healer.”
“Yes, well, I actually promised your shitface friend that I’ll keep his secret and I won’t turn him in, so I’ll think of something, but we can’t go to the hospital.”
“Shitface…? Al, don’t be shy. I saw your heated kiss.”
((tagging @ReD bc relevant))
But she spent her entire day in the house, kept the shop closed and stayed inside, mostly conflicted about whether to go out and look for her brother, which would make it seem that she wasn’t confident enough of his capabilities, or to stay in the house and wait for him to get back, but seem like a very uncaring little sister. She decided in the end that she’d wait for a few more hours before going out.
It didn’t really take too long for the wait to be over, though. A couple of hours have passed, just enough for Adelene to consider the first possibility that for once, maybe Alaude actually forgot to leave a note for her. She heard him unlock the entrance downstairs and also heard briefly Alaude’s bike’s engine before it went silent. She rushed down to welcome him home, and probably to also shout at him for having made her worry.
The yell didn’t come. The moment she reached the workshop and saw her brother, Adelene immediately froze. Alaude was visibly pale and weak, his complexion even worse than its usual lack of color; he also looked like he got soaked in water at some point, but the wind during his bike ride dried his hair and pants off a bit. He wasn’t wearing any shirt. That wasn’t what shocked Adelene though. It was Alaude’s arm, the drying color of dark red all over it, the ripped cloth from Alaude’s now discarded shirt, and the visible gigantic bite mark and the holes it made on him.
An ever so familiar sight.
Adelene quickly spoke, her tone loud and slightly higher with panic. “What happened??”
Despite the injury though, Alaude seemed unfazed, even though he was actually hurting a lot, and yes, the flow of blood out of his wounds actually weakened him a lot. Alaude looked at Adelene, sighed, before taking a seat on one of the stools in the shop.
“Sorry. I didn’t tell you where I was going, did I? I figured I’d tell you when I get back, so… that would be now, I suppose.” Another sigh. His head drooped. For a moment, Alaude looked awfully sleepy.
“That wound… Where—D-Dammit it’s not even important right now!” Adelene rushed to Alaude and pulled his other arm, and Alaude knowing what it was for stood up. “Let’s go upstairs. We seriously need to get that patched up!”
So they migrated to the bathroom, and Alaude sat on a stool the way Lochlann did when he visited their place some time ago. And Adelene, as Alaude expected, moved like a storm trying to get everything they needed to get a first aid treatment on the bleeding holes on his arm. She began by cleaning the surrounding areas with a clean towel soaked in warm water. It stung and hurt terribly, but Alaude kept his reaction minimum with a suppressed hiss.
“Al, this wound,” Adelene started again. Her hands were somewhat trembling, something Alaude noticed as she wiped the drying blood off his skin. “This wound, it couldn’t be… it couldn’t be what I think it is… could it?”
“I have no idea what you’re thinking, but if it’s anything related to that scar of yours, then yes.”
Adelene froze, until Alaude looked at her face and into her wide eyes. Her expression, he realized, was of horror and confusion.
“Why so surprised?” he asked. “I was under the impression you’ve known that Lochlann’s actually a horse with weird teeth.”
“He really did this??”
“I swear we weren’t fighting that badly, we met because I was going to train him how to fight properly, and only because he sucks so bad I can’t even stop cringing at it--”
“AL!” Adelene put her hands on Alaude’s shoulders a bit too forcefully, to which the latter groaned. “YOU ALMOST DIED.”
Alaude’s expression didn’t change much, though. “Oh I wouldn’t know, I wasn’t there.”
“Al, this is serious!”
“YOU DON’T NEED TO TELL ME, I KNOW.”
Adelene flinched and stepped away. Alaude rarely raised his voice at her; to think he’d do so now when he was obviously weak and still bleeding. On that note, Adelene resumed her work. She didn’t have any needle or thread ready, instead she had a lighter and some gun powder. With much hesitation, she began to pour the powder over the bite mark, little by little.
The substance was already enough to cause searing pain, but Alaude kept himself still-- groaning, but still seated on the stool. Once done, Adelene lit the gunpowder up with the lighter.
Alaude screamed—well, rather it was a loud, very loud, tormented groan.
The wounds briefly went afire, and were soon afterwards sealed enough to stop the bleeding, much like when meat stuck to a pan because of some cooking disaster.
Alaude leaned forward limply, and Adelene caught him in her arms. She hasn’t realized how bad her trembling was, but Alaude was fully aware.
“Thanks, sis.”
“Sure thing, brother.”
“You know, thinking how you also had to go through pain like this because of him… It makes me rather angry. But he’s also suffering, I can tell, so…”
Adelene pushed herself away, holding on Alaude’s shoulders once more as she looked at him. “How much do you know?”
“A lot, probably just a bit less than you do,” Alaude replied.
Suddenly, Adelene went quiet, as if in deep thought, only nodding as a response. A couple of seconds passed before she spoke again. “I bet you’re really worried for him.”
“Oh heavens no.”
“But you’ve never talked this tenderly about or towards him. And it’s such a wrong timing.”
“Are you… Are you angry? At me, or at him?”
“Both of you. How can you be so reckless?”
“I swear we weren’t.” Lies. “Was it my fault he wouldn’t tell me why he killed and how and all those other important details?”
Adelene flinched again, and looked away. At this point, Alaude could already tell that Adelene was becoming even more confused, more bothered, more shaken. He didn’t want to ask her how badly she was feeling, and why, afraid she’d have to relive her painful memories. It really was amazing that she still loved Lochlann after everything, this, Alaude realized. But he wouldn’t ever know just how late this realization was, because that love might have actually just now weakened terribly.
“We still need to get you to a doctor or a healer.”
“Yes, well, I actually promised your shitface friend that I’ll keep his secret and I won’t turn him in, so I’ll think of something, but we can’t go to the hospital.”
“Shitface…? Al, don’t be shy. I saw your heated kiss.”
((tagging @ReD bc relevant))