"Stupid girl, he meant as a hostage." Sneering, the smooth voice was gone now that he was faced with Nec again. "I had plans, but I think I'd rather just be done with things. As Jasper went dead weight, he held tight and lifted, just enough to make her short fall uncomfortable.
Nec took a step forward, a reflex to try and catch her but too slow and too close. He wasn't all too good, slightly dizzy and scared to he'll for Jasper.
"See? He's a coward! Damn nych, I should've snapped your little neck or better yet, put you out in the sun the day you were born! You're a disgrace and don't deserve to call yourself a changeling." Glaring at Nec and spitting the words, Odhran ignored Jasper now, apparently his unfortunate offspring had decided to face him down, which was fine with him!
Nec refused to react, or at least visibly so, other than slumping, though that might as well be from pain. But how much did the man know of his past? Had he spied on him? Or just caught news now and then? What would he tell? Would Jasper care? Nec knew well he'd done some horrible things in his life...
Jasper rolled her eyes. Glad to see necs dad held such high opinions of others. She knew well what nec meant. She wasnt stupid. Or that stupid as she let out a hiss of breath. The dead weight did not plan out well. But it had been worth a try. Finally she couldnt take it any more. Screw the arm. Screw the dress. She turned liquid and shifted to her puma form.
Snarling she twisted and opened her mouth to clamp down on his wrist. Fuck her not being able to fully bite him. It would be something to help at least.
Odhran screamed as Jasper clamped down, puma teeth sinking deep but unfortunately missing the artery. He yanked against her hold, but as if by perfect planning, Apotelesmath appeared from an alley opposite Jasper and grabbed him too! The thirty foot blue mottle dragon didn't clamp down but the older changeling would certainly have marks.
As soon as Apo took hold Nec dove for Jasper to get her out of Odhran's reach.
Go home! I will handle!
Apo would start dragging him away, kicking and screaming and hitting the dragon's nose, but it didn't faze the angry dragon, this one had hurt his N'c!
Nec was already pulling Jasper away around a corner opposite Apo, holding her by one arm under her front legs. "Yep, leaving!"
If anyone had been watching, they would have found a funny sight. Nec dragging away a snarling and growling puma who wore the remnants of a dress. Jasper had only let go when she felt Nec's arm under her, but that didn't stop her from growling as Apo dragged away Odhran. Before they got too much further though, Rissi landed gracefully behind him. Nec, you are hurt. Come. I will take you to the healer. Her grin was just a bit evil and it showed in her mind voice as well. And I would not even try to run. For I will just catch you and take you anyway. Extending a leg, she looked at him, eyes showing her concern.
Jasper looked at Rissi and if she could have paled, she would. "That silver just talked to us...A silver mottle just talked to us." What the hell? She wasn't at Nec's place, so she knew that this wasn't Nec's dragon. But yet, it showed no qualms about talking to them...Okay. She could handle this...Maybe.
With Odhran gone (for now, Apo would keep watch) Nec could finally breathe again, and think, and feel and collapse to the ground on his arse with Jasper still in his arm. His right one was more or less useless for now. With his adrenaline waningvas well Nec could feel himself starting to shake. He was still furious! So angry that that utter bastard had found him and just--! Aargh! He didn't even notice his low, continuous growl but his shoulder ached like he'll and...
"Hi Rissi." She did get a tired smile, when did he get this exhausted? "I'm not even gonna try, but I guess you heard the rumor since you saw fit to warn me?" He'd mentioned it to Kemori once, that he did not like doctors, apparently the grapevine worked just fine. "Yeah, ate you- Jasper you okay?" Why was she so stunned by that?
"Umm...I will be once you tell me why that silver mottle is talking to us! I've never really heard of a dragon talking outside of their rider..." Reaching over them both, Rissi would gently take Nec in her mouth. I would hang on tight to your cat Nec. With that being his own warning, she swung them both up and onto her back. Even if Nec didn't hang on, Jasper would have hung on tightly enough for the both of them. And those claws would transfer to gripping Rissi's rider saddle.
Standing up straight, she would flare out her wings as she waited for Nec to give the go ahead that he and Jasper were strapped in. She wasn't about to play 'catch the idiot rider' in the dark. Not when said rider was already injured. Once she had that, she would take off into the air, winging towards the infirmary and paging any of the healers' on duty dragons to give them a heads up that they were on their way.
"I guess because she herd Apo? And we know each other. A little. A friend of mine is her Rider." Oh right, Nec hadn't really considered how dragons didn't talk much with others than their Riders. Zalanth was pretty talkative, and Apo didn't count, and Rissi was a translator. Of the few dragons Nec had had contact with none had been unwilling to chat.
Oh, wa-wait! "Don't sneeze!" Holding on Nec winced at the light jostling, lucky for Jasper she held on herself, he wouldn't have been able to hold her alone during the short lift. "Fine, on one condition and that's if you get Jeremi, or I'll be out the door before the healer can get on their socks." Or Valariel, but he doubted she was around these days.
Very carefully was that answer. And Rissi just snorted at that before informing that it was Jeremi on night shift duty tonight. Circling in, she would land carefully near the infirmary, Jeremi already moving to help Nec and Jasper down. "At least you avoided my bed this time. But holy hells Nec! What happened to you?" Even as he was unstrapping Nec and Jasper, he was looking over the other, not in the least bit surprised by the puma also on Rissi. It looked like it was going to be a long night and got even longer as the puma spoke with a voice he recognized.
"Oh hey! One half of the love birds! I thought you guys were so cute." Grinning as she managed to slip free and land on the ground, wincing slightly. And trying to hide it from both of the guys for a moment. Nec was the worse one. He needed to go first.
"Didn't feel like scaring a heart attack on you, Jasper could use a look at her shoulder first. And it's just a stab wound." He almost shoved her forward without being too hard, yes, look, dislocated shoulder, you should look at that first, definitely! Oh, and the infirmary should have some clothes for her too, or she could go to his room and get some, Nec had a few spare shirts lying around. He'd rather think about that than himself, thank you, but at least he answered. Jeremi got a wry look and a shrug. "Apparently my father is an asshole, and he threatened to kill Jasper. Apo has him for now-" Suddenly he grinned and gave a short laugh. "Actually 'sitting guard' was taken quite literally, he's lying on Odhran as we speak."
If and when Jeremi decided to look, Nec would attempt to redirect him to Jasper, even if he didn't expect success. Yes he knew he needed a bit of help, he just... really didn't want it. Didn't matter who they were, doctors were scary. But at least it would keep him distracted, unless Jeremi asked more questions Nec didn't want to answer.
"Yeah. I don't think so Nec. Good try. Come on before I get Kemori involved to help me haul your butt inside." He glanced over at Jasper, head tilted. "And I'm afraid I'm not a vet soo..." He didn't know the limitations on her at all. He knew he had seen her as a human and now she was a puma. Maybe it was just something that the illogical field did. Or maybe it was just something she could do. It was answered soon enough.
"Give me a second." Jasper shifted then and there, having some respect for Jeremi and Nec as she held her tattered dress to cover herself. "Just...Umm, need a change of clothes is all." Jasper moved past Nec, tongue sticking out as she walked into the infirmary as Jeremi just laughed.
"I thought you were dating Elz." It was said a bit off hand as he helped Nec inside. "And while I do admire your concern for her, you are first. Not her. Unless she has something worse you two aren't telling me, stab wound trumps dislocation." As soon as he got Nec to a room, he would begin working on checking him out for other injuries and cleaning that stab wound. He wasn't terribly nice about it either. He knew Nec didn't much care for doctors and was sure he wanted quick over gentle. "Let me know if I'm too rough."
"Yeah yeah...", he hadn't really expected anything else. Now that he was here and Jasper was safe Nec didn't have any urges to escape or even refuse treatment. He was in pain, the knife had gone straight through and scraped bone, but the worst part was his still suppressed thoughts. Everything Odhran had said? Nec knew most, if not all of it, was true...
"You can go to my room and get. A shirt if you want." But oh, she was already human and mostly naked. "Or there's something here." A questioning glance at Jeremi and a shake of the he'd at his laughing.
"What?? No we're just friends! Jasper I mean, Elz and I--" why did everyone think they were dating?? Nec gave him a Look, scandalized and sort of insulted but also a bit of humor, followed by a grumble. "Fiiiine... And no, not that I know--Jasper! Jeremi has a question." He called after her as he followed the doctor, anything to postpone things but no such luck.
Incredibly, Nec complied without much fuzz as Jeremi started giving him instructions. A few twitched and growls, sure, but he didn't resist. Odd.
Jeremi worked in mostly silence. Cleaning up the wound and placing the correct bandage on it. "Nec. Are you okay? You usually give me more crap than this." Backing up, he leaned against the counter, arms across his chest. "What even happened anyway? You come in stabbed and bruised up. Your companion, Jasper, wasn't much better. At least she wasn't stabbed." Shaking his head, he moved towards the door. "You don't have to talk to me Nec, but you need to talk to someone, okay?" He would then leave Nec to his own devices for now.
Jasper for her part, had been treated and released. Not liking the gown she was given, she made her way to Nec's room. Slipping inside, she immediately discarded the gown. Finding a shirt of his, she tugged it over her head, letting it come to just about her knees. "Gods. I'm short." A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she found his bed and curled up on it to wait for him. "You better be okay Nec."
"No I don't." Aheh, yes he did. "I'm fine, not the first time someone with a grudge tries to kill me." Despite being 'fine', even Jeremi could tell by his tone he wasn't, but Nec wasn't about to talk either. The doctor was nice, but he was in that weird spot of knowing Nec just well enough that the changeling would be very uncomfortable telling anything personal. Not distant enough that they only had that doctor/patient thing, and not close enough that Nec felt like he could talk without being, at the lack of a better word, judged.
So, he was 'fine', just fine.
As soon as Jeremi left, Nec would grab his shirt and make his way to his room, hoping Jasper was there, and yes, she was! Heh, the gown dropped right on the floor. "You're so messy." Not that his room was immaculate, Nec was a believer in the 'organized chaos' theory. He made his way to the bed after assuring any of his present companions that yes, he was going to live, no, they may not go help Apo eat Odhran, get him to a jail or something instead, now go do that or go to sleep please.
She sat up, keeping the shirt down to keep her modest. Pushing her hair back, she looked up at him, a wan smile on her face. "Yeah...What about you Nec? What was that all about anyway? I mean...I knew some of it. Can take a guess at others...But I would like to hear it from you." Jasper reached out for his hand. "Cause I promise you, you could be the most evil thing out there, and I'll still follow you to the hells and back." Tears started to slip from her eyes. "I don't ever want to lose you again."
Good, she looked okay and he smiled back but it was as Mucha grimace as a smile.
Questions.
He'd expected them and she deserved answers, even if he wasn't very keen on talking about it. Instead he postponed it by climbing into bed and grabbing extra blankets, taking the offered hand and not letting go. His bed was a mess of blankets and covers, some might call it a nest, Nec just called it liking covers and never bothering to make the bed.
"I'm not going anywhere." Once in bed he laid down behind her and wrapped his good arm around her, but she had space enough to turn if she felt like it. "And... well guess it was the truth. Maybe except the stuff about my mother, I can't confirm that." It wasn't unlikely though.