Thwock.
A red rubber ball went flying across the courtyard, three wolves running after it. Keir wasn't entirely sure how he got stuck with Alucard, Kiba, and Solaris all at once, but here he was. He watched as they fought for possession of the round object, only slightly amused when Solaris came out the victor. He was still angry with the turn of events.
There may have been little to do, and they had known that the attack had been a diversion, but still. He couldn't help but think that there could have been something he could have done. Maybe keep Yuki from attacking Aryan...he didn't really know. Maybe it would have been the same outcome, maybe not. He sighed, running a hand through his snow-white locks, throwing the ball again as Solaris brought it back.
These were the times that he wished he were more like Emrys, to be able to act like it didn't bother him. Em was always upbeat, even when everyone around him could see just how much he hurt. Keir couldn't do that. He wore his emotions on his sleeve.
A rather potent scent entered his vicinity, and he corrected the statement in his head. He wore most of his emotions on his sleeve. His anger, anyway.
Leora sighed, running a hand through the silken threads of her dark hair. Aryan had woken the day before, but he still wasnât at full health, which was perhaps to be expected with what heâd endured. She was just as upset as most of them about what had happened, but she refused to blame herself for it. It was unhealthy, and the person really responsible was Freyr. He was the one whoâd stolen their sister-cousin, and he was the one whoâd wiped her mind until only a weapon was left. Leo didnât believe sheâd stay that way, however. Yuki was strong, and besides that, she had plenty of evidence that a person could be brought back from something like that. Her mother had, once, and Helen had as well. It was possible, and Yuki would do it too. Of that, she didnât let herself have doubt.
She wasnât so sure why everyone else was insistent on thinking that they should have done something different. The way she saw it, nobody was deadâthat was already better than most of the possible outcomes. They hadnât done so badly, really, and it left them more prepared for the next time. Theyâd get her back.
Leora noted the presence of Keir along with no less than three of the growing brood of familiars, and she allowed a small smile to turn her lips. He was probably moping, too, and for once, she approached him not with their challenge in mind, but something else entirely. Gliding to his side, she watched the three lupine creatures fight over the rubber ball, and chuckled softly when Solaris came out on topâliterally, as she appeared to have stood on Alucard in order to pluck the object out of the sky mid-bounce. âHey,â she said quietly, cutting a glance at him from the corner of her eye. This time, when Solaris brought the rubber ball back, it was Leo who took it, winding back and chucking it in the fashion of a baseball pitcher. They had to run quite a distance to retrieve it, but she was pretty sure Alucard made the jump first.
âYou okay, Keir?â
Keir stuck his hands in his pockets as he silently watched Leora chuck the ball, this time Alucard claiming possession of it. Something in his eyes flashed as she asked if he was okay. No, he was not okay. None of them were okay. Okay was not even a word for this situation, and yet...
He also knew that what he was doing wasn't helping anything. It would not change the past, or fix what was broken. All they could do was move forward. But the question was, move forward to what? As far as he saw it, they were no closer to getting Yuki back now than they were two weeks ago. He let out an aggravated sigh, throwing the ball Alucard brought him.
"No." He said simply, and added as an after-thought, "But I will be, as soon as we get Yuki back."
Part of her had been expecting that answer, and part of her had been dreading it, because she didnât know what she was supposed to do about it. Though she displayed it seldom, Leora had somehow wound up with her motherâs persistent, niggling need to help people, to fix things wherever possible, and the predisposition to feel rather awful when she could not. Unfortunately, her demeanor was not even half as bright, and so it was not that her mere existence or presence was sometimes enough. She had to actually do things, and right now, there was simply nothing to be done.
So she sighed, her expression fading into something melancholy and a bit unreadable. âWe will, you know. Weâll get her back.â There was absolutely no doubt or hesitation in her tone, though her hands flexed into fists at her side, tightening and loosening with some regularity as she contained her own anger, her own simmering resentment towards that man who found it somehow acceptable to walk in here and try to tear apart her family. âWeâre stronger than that bastard would ever guess, all of us. Heâs already beatenâhe just doesnât know it yet.â Her eyes hardened, the glint in them steel and fire, but she did manage to resist the urge to throw a fist into something. Now was not the time.
If there was one thing Keir knew about Leora, it was that look in her eyes. For the first time in perhaps three days, his usual smirk wormed it's way across his face. The scales on his arm and chest slowly began to creep over his skin, until he was covered from neck to toe, his body glittering. It truly was quite beautiful in the right light, the scales glittering in blues, greens, and purples. He shot a sideways grin at his cousin.
"You wanna hit something, right?"
It certainly couldn't hurt for the both of them to blow off steam.
âHell yes I do,â she nearly growled, but her mouth turned up in a dangerous smile at the sight of his armor. It was certainly some serious protection, and so she knew she didnât need to feel too bad about punching at full force. The no touching rule was about to get temporarily suspended in the least likely of ways. Well, it would have been the least likely if they were anything other than themselves.
Cracking her knuckles in quick succession, Leora prepared herself for the rather likely event that she would break a few, as tended to happen when one punched at speeds extraordinary even for vampire physiology to hit things extremely durable even for that same species. She didnât mindâpain was just another way of being alive. It was with this thought in mind that she stepped back, smacked her fist into her open palm, and bowed slightly. There was, after all, no need to be rude about the fact that they were about to beat the crap out of each other.
Once the formalities were out of the way, though, she didnât hesitate, launching a quick, brutal flurry of hits for his midsection, her hands flying too fast to be properly tracked. She wasnât the strongest by far, but she could pack a lot of force by using momentum, after all.
Keir only smirked as Leora lunged for him, the succession of her blows faster than he could track. He wasn't at all surprised, she was a Pure Blood, he was not. By definition alone, she was faster. But, he was a bit more...durable. The first few blows he didn't even feel.
The two of them went at it for nearly an hour before they both lay on the ground, staring up at the sky. Without any warning, or even really knowing himself, Keir started laughing. It wasn't his normal, manic laughter, either. It was just...laughter. When he finally managed to calm down, he wiped at his eyes.
"Thanks, Leo."
A red rubber ball went flying across the courtyard, three wolves running after it. Keir wasn't entirely sure how he got stuck with Alucard, Kiba, and Solaris all at once, but here he was. He watched as they fought for possession of the round object, only slightly amused when Solaris came out the victor. He was still angry with the turn of events.
There may have been little to do, and they had known that the attack had been a diversion, but still. He couldn't help but think that there could have been something he could have done. Maybe keep Yuki from attacking Aryan...he didn't really know. Maybe it would have been the same outcome, maybe not. He sighed, running a hand through his snow-white locks, throwing the ball again as Solaris brought it back.
These were the times that he wished he were more like Emrys, to be able to act like it didn't bother him. Em was always upbeat, even when everyone around him could see just how much he hurt. Keir couldn't do that. He wore his emotions on his sleeve.
A rather potent scent entered his vicinity, and he corrected the statement in his head. He wore most of his emotions on his sleeve. His anger, anyway.
Leora sighed, running a hand through the silken threads of her dark hair. Aryan had woken the day before, but he still wasnât at full health, which was perhaps to be expected with what heâd endured. She was just as upset as most of them about what had happened, but she refused to blame herself for it. It was unhealthy, and the person really responsible was Freyr. He was the one whoâd stolen their sister-cousin, and he was the one whoâd wiped her mind until only a weapon was left. Leo didnât believe sheâd stay that way, however. Yuki was strong, and besides that, she had plenty of evidence that a person could be brought back from something like that. Her mother had, once, and Helen had as well. It was possible, and Yuki would do it too. Of that, she didnât let herself have doubt.
She wasnât so sure why everyone else was insistent on thinking that they should have done something different. The way she saw it, nobody was deadâthat was already better than most of the possible outcomes. They hadnât done so badly, really, and it left them more prepared for the next time. Theyâd get her back.
Leora noted the presence of Keir along with no less than three of the growing brood of familiars, and she allowed a small smile to turn her lips. He was probably moping, too, and for once, she approached him not with their challenge in mind, but something else entirely. Gliding to his side, she watched the three lupine creatures fight over the rubber ball, and chuckled softly when Solaris came out on topâliterally, as she appeared to have stood on Alucard in order to pluck the object out of the sky mid-bounce. âHey,â she said quietly, cutting a glance at him from the corner of her eye. This time, when Solaris brought the rubber ball back, it was Leo who took it, winding back and chucking it in the fashion of a baseball pitcher. They had to run quite a distance to retrieve it, but she was pretty sure Alucard made the jump first.
âYou okay, Keir?â
Keir stuck his hands in his pockets as he silently watched Leora chuck the ball, this time Alucard claiming possession of it. Something in his eyes flashed as she asked if he was okay. No, he was not okay. None of them were okay. Okay was not even a word for this situation, and yet...
He also knew that what he was doing wasn't helping anything. It would not change the past, or fix what was broken. All they could do was move forward. But the question was, move forward to what? As far as he saw it, they were no closer to getting Yuki back now than they were two weeks ago. He let out an aggravated sigh, throwing the ball Alucard brought him.
"No." He said simply, and added as an after-thought, "But I will be, as soon as we get Yuki back."
Part of her had been expecting that answer, and part of her had been dreading it, because she didnât know what she was supposed to do about it. Though she displayed it seldom, Leora had somehow wound up with her motherâs persistent, niggling need to help people, to fix things wherever possible, and the predisposition to feel rather awful when she could not. Unfortunately, her demeanor was not even half as bright, and so it was not that her mere existence or presence was sometimes enough. She had to actually do things, and right now, there was simply nothing to be done.
So she sighed, her expression fading into something melancholy and a bit unreadable. âWe will, you know. Weâll get her back.â There was absolutely no doubt or hesitation in her tone, though her hands flexed into fists at her side, tightening and loosening with some regularity as she contained her own anger, her own simmering resentment towards that man who found it somehow acceptable to walk in here and try to tear apart her family. âWeâre stronger than that bastard would ever guess, all of us. Heâs already beatenâhe just doesnât know it yet.â Her eyes hardened, the glint in them steel and fire, but she did manage to resist the urge to throw a fist into something. Now was not the time.
If there was one thing Keir knew about Leora, it was that look in her eyes. For the first time in perhaps three days, his usual smirk wormed it's way across his face. The scales on his arm and chest slowly began to creep over his skin, until he was covered from neck to toe, his body glittering. It truly was quite beautiful in the right light, the scales glittering in blues, greens, and purples. He shot a sideways grin at his cousin.
"You wanna hit something, right?"
It certainly couldn't hurt for the both of them to blow off steam.
âHell yes I do,â she nearly growled, but her mouth turned up in a dangerous smile at the sight of his armor. It was certainly some serious protection, and so she knew she didnât need to feel too bad about punching at full force. The no touching rule was about to get temporarily suspended in the least likely of ways. Well, it would have been the least likely if they were anything other than themselves.
Cracking her knuckles in quick succession, Leora prepared herself for the rather likely event that she would break a few, as tended to happen when one punched at speeds extraordinary even for vampire physiology to hit things extremely durable even for that same species. She didnât mindâpain was just another way of being alive. It was with this thought in mind that she stepped back, smacked her fist into her open palm, and bowed slightly. There was, after all, no need to be rude about the fact that they were about to beat the crap out of each other.
Once the formalities were out of the way, though, she didnât hesitate, launching a quick, brutal flurry of hits for his midsection, her hands flying too fast to be properly tracked. She wasnât the strongest by far, but she could pack a lot of force by using momentum, after all.
Keir only smirked as Leora lunged for him, the succession of her blows faster than he could track. He wasn't at all surprised, she was a Pure Blood, he was not. By definition alone, she was faster. But, he was a bit more...durable. The first few blows he didn't even feel.
The two of them went at it for nearly an hour before they both lay on the ground, staring up at the sky. Without any warning, or even really knowing himself, Keir started laughing. It wasn't his normal, manic laughter, either. It was just...laughter. When he finally managed to calm down, he wiped at his eyes.
"Thanks, Leo."