kingsroads | inbox for breathofusir

Come over.

[Shura isn’t leaving any room for discussion, and a moment later, she’ll send directions via thought. It’s probably not a part of the city Strange is familiar with, and she’s very helpfully noting that he shouldn’t make eye contact or look too closely at anyone or anything he might see on his way over. But hey, at least she won’t leave him waiting at the door when he gets there! ]

Of course.

[ It takes him a little while to get there, mostly due to Strange double-checking the directions and making sure he's going to the right place. When he gets there, Strange knocks on the door. He's only got one free hand: the other hand is holding Alistair close to him. The little dragon is mostly hidden under Strange's coat, but sticks his head out of the coat and coos happily as he sees Shura. ]

He started crying when I tried to leave him, [ Strange explains, a little guilty. ]

[ Shura is quick to shut the door behind Strange and Alistair, giving the dragon a quick glance before jerking her thumb towards the back of the room. ]

Spike’s back there.

[ Back there by by the foot of a bed with Shishi, patiently letting him groom her. Or was letting him. Both dragon and lion have stopped to look at whoever just walked in, Aconite trying to hide in Shishi’s mane and peek at the same time. ]

You want a drink?

[ She assumes the answer is yes, so she’s already moving to get him a glass. There’s a bottle of something dangerous looking on the table, and it looks like Shura may have already started on it. There isn’t much else besides that in the room, some plants hanging in the window and a few candles burning here and there. And a pile of stuff near the bed that might be laundry. ]

[ When they enter Shura's place, Strange gingerly sets Alistair down on the ground. The little dragon stays near Strange's legs for a bit before spotting Aconite. With a small chirp, he bounds over towards the other dragon and lion. Bell's at Srange's heels: she also heads over towards Shishi, mostly to keep an eye on Alistair over anything else.

But a drink. Gods, how he wants a drink. ]

I'd love one, [ Strange admits, with a nod. ] These past few days were...

[ He trails off. There's no phrase that can accurately sum up the level of chaos the past few days were. So instead, he simply sighs. ]

[Aconite trills at Alistair, but doesn’t get up to meet him. She hasn’t had a bath in days, so this is very important! ]

Mm.

[ It isn’t hard to imagine what Strange might have encountered over the last few days. Shura doesn’t ask for details or specifics just yet. If he wanted to talk, he would do it without prompting. She’ll fill his glass glass full and move right into his personal space to press the glass into his hand. If her fingers linger on his for a moment, so what?]

Sit down wherever you want.

[ Bed or table, it doesn’t matter. Shura will sit at the table in front of her own half-empty glass, taking it in hand and immediately taking a drink. Strange is here, and she doesn’t feel any less stressed, but there’s something almost comforting in his presence. ]

[ If she's not coming to him, then he'll go to her! Alistair chirps again before trotting over towards Aconite, sitting next to the dragon and straight up getting in the way.

As Shura sits at the table, Strange decides that's where he'll sit as well. Taking his glass, he takes a big drink of it as well. This was a good idea. Just being here, by Shura's side, makes him feel so much better than the tense, mess of a man he was before showing up here. ]

I don't know how much longer I'll stay in the City. This chaos, these wolves, getting...dying again, a part of me wants to put this even further behind me.

[ Aconite scoots and makes space for Alistair. Shishi had just been about to start back on grooming her, but now there’s suddenly another dragon? That’s fine, he’ll just start working on getting the second dragon nice and neat. ]

You got caught up in that. [ Of course he did. No one in the City could have escaped the trouble. Shura frowns, setting her glass on the table with a thud. What had happened to him? There is a little bubble of rage in her gut, and she frowns. ]

You’re going back to Didymos?

[ Of course he would. And he should. It was safer for him there. But there was something nice about having him there with her. ]

Let me see your vial.

[ Wordlessly, Strange moves his vial from underneath his shirt. He shows it to Shura but doesn't really say anything.

Yep. It's a lot lower than it was before. He straight up died during the chaos. This should do a good job explaining why he wants to go back to Didymos. ]

[Shura reaches up to undo the clasp on her vial's cord, pulling it out from under her scarf and holding her vial up to Strange's to compare. She would have let Strange know when the liquid increased; he would know that she had no idea why or how, only that the vial had been full. And now it had lost easily a third of the liquid, leaving Shura uneasy.]

This is more than last time. [She says, half-aware of her knees brushing against his as she leans in to carefully look at his. His is even lower, and she definitely doesn't like it.]

[ Strange almost instantly feels angry as he sees Shura's vial. She died as well? Well that's unacceptable. It's unacceptable that she died and unacceptable that he couldn't do anything about it. That hurts just as much as the knowledge she died: the knowledge he couldn't stave it off. ]

Come back to Didymos with me, [ he outright pleads. ] It's safer there, I don't want you to be hurt again.

Strange—

[She can’t go with him, not like he wants. If she thought the bloody chaos would stay contained in the City, she might be tempted by his plea, but Shura doesn’t hold out hope for Didymos staying safe for long. ]

There’s no guarantee of that.

[The vial goes back around her neck, and Shura reaches for her drink. ]

[ Strange shakes his head as he puts his vial back around his neck. ]

Maybe not in the long term, but there aren't any of those wolves there and that water hasn't made it's way to the bay.

[ For now. Strange realizes that much just as he says it. His mind is still too frazzled, too out there to realize if Shura knows this information already, so Strange starts explaining. ]

That's the cause of all this. We saw something similar back in Einjar. If you get wet, it changes you. I can purify the water, but I can't purify all of it, not unless I had the source. But I could purify enough to keep us safe.

That's just it. We can run all we want, but eventually, there ain't gonna be anywhere else for us to run.

[The wilds lands were just as dangerous as anything else at this point. No, there wasn't a point in letting whatever this cult was up to corner them there.]

This has to be contained. Even if the City's in ruins, we have to at least try and stop it here.

[They didn't agree on this before, and they won't agree on it now. Shura takes in a breath, glancing over her shoulder to Aconite and Alistair.]

Leave on the first ship out in the morning. I don't know if they'll shut them down with everything goin' on. I may send Spike on with you.

And then what? Leave you here, by yourself, to fight that thing and die again? [ They won't agree on this, he knows that much already, but Strange wants to at least say his peace. ]

You've died too many times already, I don't want to lose you as well!

[ He’ll get his say. Shura will let him get whatever he wants out. She expects no less from him. And then, whenever she thinks he’s done, she’ll take a sip from her glass before setting it down on the table. She’s feeling hot blooded, from the liquor she had already downed that evening, from the stress and frustration in her bones that had been building steadily over the last months and going out of control over the last weeks, from the emotional high that Strange was starting to give her. It’s calling for relief, and so Shura sees no reason not to rise up from her chair and lean over Strange, ducking her head to kiss right on the mouth. It’s soft but demanding, lasting only a second before she pulls away. ]

Trust me.

[ Oh. That's unexpected.

The emotional high that he had been working himself up to almost immediately gets undercut as Shura kisses him. Strange blinks for a moment but doesn't pull away. When Shura pulls away, Strange starts to speak again. However, his tone is a lot more level as frankly, he's a little bit stunned by the kiss.

That's a lot more forward than he expected the night to go. Not that he's complaining, of course. ]

I do. But I still worry. I don't know how many deaths we can take. I've already given you one of them, the least I can do is try to keep another from happening.

[ Who's still guilty about the fact that his actions lead to Shura's death in the Long Night, this guuuuuy. ]

[ Shura had hoped that Strange might shut up for a moment, but that might help been expecting too much. But it seems to have cooled his temper, and that’s good enough. Maybe it was something to remember for later, just in case. ]

I know you worry.

[ He had tried to protect her that night at the very end, she hadn’t forgotten. Shura sighs, feeling restless. What was she supposed to do with him fussing like that? She straightens, stepping away from the table and stretching her arms up above her head. That was one nice thing, at least her injuries from before were healed when she came back. ]

I'll always worry,

[ Strange says, with a small smile as he looks down into his drink. He's definitely cooling down, less worked up thanks to the kiss, even if he's not actually shutting up (that's a losing battle, Shura). Did she expect otherwise? He cared about her, of course he'd worry and want to keep her safe. ]

That's what people do when they're in love, [ he teases. ] They worry.

[ Even if, as Strange is slowly realizing, there might not be much he could do to stop from worrying in the first place. ]

[Shura feels like she should say something in reply, except Strange just casually drops the L-word like it was nothing, and Shura frankly has no idea how to respond or to reply to that. It was like being one-uped in a terrible battle of affection. A battle that she did not volunteer for!! She glances back at him over her shoulder, her face turning red. All she can do is click her tongue at him.

And since she can't go back to sitting at the table with him, she'll just go to check on Shishi and the dragons. Yeah, Shishi's still fussing over them and making sure both of the dragonets are clean. Aconite doesn't seem to care at all between Alistair's company and Shishi's attention.]

[ As she glances back at him, Strange's expression shifts from a small smile to a confused frown. Wait. Why was Shura blushing so badly? All he said was that he loved her, wasn't that obvious?

Being a naturally affectionate person who wears his emotions on his sleeve, Strange doesn't really know what to do with Shura's blushing. So, he takes a drink as he watches Shura check on Shishi and the dragons. Alistair doesn't mind the fussing: being a spoiled baby, he occasionally moves around a little to make sure that Shishi cleans this part and gives this area of his back a scratch. ]

Alistair Tourmaline managed to do surprisingly well when I was indisposed, [ Strange admits as he tries to change the conversation slightly. ] He did get into a bag of herbs and chew on one of my books, but those hunting lessons paid off.

[ What wasn’t there to be embarrassed about? He just said it so casually! Perhaps in the heat of the moment, maybe she could handle that kind of confession. But no, the windbag just keeps opening his mouth and saying things so naturally. What was she supposed to do with that kind of earnesty? There was being open about your feelings, and then there was Strange.

Since there’s no fur or scales flying, Shura lets the lion/dragon pile be, sitting on the bed for lack of anything else she could pretend to busy herself with. ]

That’s good. He’ll have to start hunting on his own before long. Better to teach him how to do it without relyin’ on magic.

[ Sitting on the bed was a mistake. Her drink is too far away. ]

[ Strange has his drink and continues to drink it, taking a sip as he watches the lion/dragon pile (Bell is on the other side of the room, wanting no part of the lion spit at the moment). ]

I want him to learn how to fly before I take him to hunt on his own. If someone were to spot him now, he wouldn't have any cover. We can come back. They can't.

[Maybe she should let that last bit slide. No, it's not going to slide by her. She's on edge and her temper has always been bad.]

I haven't forgotten that, Strange.

[Shura may have yelled at him before, but she hasn't had this sort of coldness. Both literally ad figuratively, though he's a bit too far away to feel the chill suddenly emanating from her.]

[ It's honestly a bit pathetic how Strange's hare has better people skills than he does. Because while he hasn't noticed Shura's cold tone, Bell certainly has. ]

I didn't say you did. I just— [ He cuts himself off as Bell bounds over towards Shura and attempts to hop in her lap. And hey, why's she so cold? What gives? Bell wrinkles her little bunny nose at Shura but still tries to get some coveted lap time. There's a moment where Strange is surprised by his animas's behavior, but he quickly shrugs that surprise off. ]

I think she's jealous that she's not getting any attention. [ which he suspects mostly because he gets a little jealous when people aren't giving him attention. ]

[Strange is an idiot, and Shura's jaw clenches as he just keeps going--and then there's a bunny trying to get in her lap. Bell hopping up in her lap doesn't settle her anger, but it does distract her and gives her something to do with her hands. Bell gets some pets and some very nice ear rubs for her trouble.]

You think?

[And now she just sounds tired. What was she doing with this guy? The cold slowly slowly starts to dissipate, though the chill itself lingers.]

Shishi will do the same for her, he ain't picky.

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