bittybat | (no subject)

[ She... can. Good thing he can't see her cringe!! ]

I just don't think it's fair... that you're always the one doing the hard quests.

But maybe I can ask Sierra to help.  I'm sorry to bother you.

[WHAT THE HECK. NOT THAT DAMN VAMPIRE.]

Meet me at the docks.

[Dammit.]

[ IT'S FINE, SIERRA WOULD BE GENTLE. But--

Oh. Huh. That was all it took? ]

Okay. Thank you, Damian.

[This is stupid. This is AWFUL.

Damian sits and steams for a moment or two, stands and steams for a moment or two more, and then he promptly heads across Flavo and into Bluo for the docks. He honestly can't believe he's agreeing to this.]

[ Now he knows!! How she felt!!! Even though Damian is way more capable at handling things than she is, but all the same. She'd seen the look on his face back then... Kisa's well aware that he wasn't as fine as he acted.

But she's already at the docks, hands clasped in front of her. ]

... Thank you. For coming.

[As he approaches her, looking stern, he's already peeling off the tailored cloth jacket and the folded cloth shirt beneath. It's still cold, but it's fine. It'll be colder in the water.

He folds the clothes and puts them down nearby on the dock. The cold actually doesn't appear to bother him even if his skin prickles with goosebumps naturally.]

This is ridiculous. You're going to be ill, and the rest of the town, including that woman is going to hang me.

No one will do that... I won't get sick. And no one will worry that much, and even if they did... I'd tell them it was my idea.

[ So he won't be thrown under the bus at all! It's perfect. ]

Your claims lack the viable evidence to be believable. I'm not afraid, but I don't have time to put up with everyone else attempting to lecture me about allowing you to do this.

[With an exasperated sigh, he crouches down and lifts and opens his arms. He's shirtless from the waist up, but... it's fine. Get in his arms so he can toss and get her out and be done with it.

He hates this.]

[ Well, either he hugs her and she's a tiger for the toss, or she turns away from him and hopes hat it doesn't quite count as a hug if he just grabs her by the waist and heaves her.

It's going to be delightful either way, so Kisa only nods when she's ready. Look, she lugged a few blankets along, neatly folded on the dock. She definitely won't get sick.

Damian might, though, shirtless as he is. ]

[There is the utmost hesitation when Kisa backs up and he puts his hands on her waist. He really doesn't want to throw her in the harbor, regardless of what he had done the last month.]

The water is going to be frigid. When you hit the water, your body is going to try to make you inhale as a reflex from the shock. Force yourself to breathe out instead.

I'll get you out as soon as you're in. On three.

[His grip tightens. He exhales himself, soft and deliberate.] One... Two... Three. [He pushes up with his legs, pushes up with his arms and shoulders, and hefts her up and over the dock toward the water.]

Edited 2019-03-14 15:09 (UTC)

[ Thankfully, this isn't her first rodeo, and this time, she has advice-- rather than going from a frigid ice palace to an equally frigid harbor. This won't even be as bad, she tells herself, though once she hits the water, Kisa has to force herself to not immediately gasp or suck in air.

She does that instead when her head breaks the surface, followed by a cough as she treads water.

It's... still really unpleasant, but maybe if she can make it back to the dock before Damian gets fussy and hauls her out himself--

Wishful thinking. ]

[Very wishful.

Damian is immediately at the edge of the dock as she flies through the air, and he's there for sure when she lands. He doesn't hesitate. He jumps straight in by the dock, feet-first, with little splash and almost no sign he got in literal ice water.

He grabs her arm, grip firm, holds her up as he breathes forcefully in and out against the painfully clenching chill. Even at thirteen, it's easy for him to lift her up with one arm and toward the edge of the dock so she can grab in, and then he'll push her legs to get her out.]

[ Well, he sure kept his word, and Kisa stays closemouthed against any type of protest she might want to actually voice. Instead, she manages to get back onto the deck through their combined efforts, where she immediately crawls back enough to give him room to haul himself up, shivering and going for the blankets. ]

[Once she's up, he latches to the edge and does the same, hauling himself onto the dock. He moves as if he isn't frozen to the bone, though he shivers uncontrollably out of reflex.]

Wait--

[He goes to grab the clothes he removed; in the end, they weren't for him. He drops them near her but out of the way of water, and then he moves to get a blanket and, like... hold it up to shield her?]

Take off your outer clothes. Sitting in them wet is dangerous. Put those on.

[He'll wait, and then he'll drop the blanket around her once she's finished.]

[ DAMIAN... ]

Wait... y-y-you're the one without a shirt!

[ Though, as it's Damian, she does eventually comply, and once she's dressed a little more similarly to him and the blanket's around her, she's reaching down to pick up the other blanket and press it into his hands. ]

I'm fine.

[But he does accept the blanket, looping it over his shoulders and bunching it around him. He sits down with legs crossed, makes her sit down if she isn't already. He takes her legs and draws them over his knee, rubbing them and her feet briskly through the blanket.]

Rub your arms. Your extremities lose heat first to protect your organs. But it will give you frostbite or, worse, dead appendages.

When you aren't numb, we're going to make a fire.

[ This... is more than a little embarrassing, but Kisa's warming face means she's not shivering quite as hard, even before she obeys and starts briskly rubbing her palms over her arms. ]

Damian... y-you really always put me first...

Tt.

[It's more of an exasperated sigh than a scoff. He keeps rubbing her legs and feet through the blanket to try to get them warm and keep the blood circulating where it should.]

Don't get ahead of yourself. It's... [God. On one hand, he is too tired to care about secrecy anymore in this place. On the other, he doesn't want to say.] ...my job.

... Your job?

[ She shifts one leg, head slowly tilting in perplexity. What kind of 13-year-old has a job? ]

Yes. Back home, my job is to... protect others. [Wow, how is he going to explain this without explaining it.] To make sure they're safe from criminals.

Like... a police officer.

... But why is that your job? Don't you have police?

[ He's thirteen. ]

Yes, we have law enforcement. I suspect my world may not be very different from yours. We have a judicial system and a government; however... Some criminals are not everyday thugs.

[He seems to fail to understand he’s thirteen.]

I work with a... corporation which oversees the protection of the populace against higher-risk crime.

... Corpor... ation...

[ You've lost her, Damian. ]

I didn't think they hired... people like us. [ Kids, she means. ]

[The fact he won't!! look up and meet!! her eyes!! sure is something. He's just making sure both of her legs are warm and circulated, and then he stops to keep them wrapped over his leg near his own body and blanket.]

I have special permission. Some may think it's nepotism, but the... business runs in the family.

Your dad, too?

[ Actually, that makes more sense to her, and it's a little easier to focus on than the fact that Damian is still keeping her legs wrapped and tucked over his leg. ]