Oh hey, guess what? Another one!

(Oof, lmao!)

“It can be tiring… getting up every time one falls. I have fallen too many times in my life. Yet… I understand. I also will need help. My strength has waned over time,”he said with a sigh.

De’Tearion flinched at her words, not answering her question, and fleeing via his failed attempt to teleport.

“I understand not what you mean by ‘driving force’,”he mentioned quietly.

De’Tearion smiled softly at her words, then moved their entwined hands to his lips, where he gently kissed her fingers. He, however, didn’t look at her.

“I am grateful, yet… I admit I am skeptical. Convince me, I beg you,”he breathed.

(It’s a 90/10 chance favoring me not liking a dog, so yeah, lol. Yeah, pretty much, lol)

(Damn, lol)

“I appreciate that,”De’Tearion said softly.

De’Tearion wrenched his hand free, glaring defensively at her.

“Why? What be there for me when I stop, except for more of the same horrors I have faced my entire life?”he hissed.

De’Tearion chirped in acknowledgment, then snorted.

“As I mentioned previously, Mercy’s name be quite the opposite of her personality. ‘Merciless’ be a good description of how I used to be,”he said.

He flinched slightly when she freed a hand, concerned. However, his worry quickly turned into surprise when Jackie turned his face and kissed him. When she lifted away from him, all he could do was stare blankly at her until her words finally registered in his head. Then, he was fighting tears.

“Y… you tended to me while I was unconscious?”he asked shakily.

(Long story short, dogs fucking annoy the hell out of me. I’ve only had one dog who wasn’t a total fucking dumbass, but he was a very unique individual. Otherwise, the rest were useless, dumbass nuisances)

De’Tearion snorted,”I have nowhere to go, thus it be of no concern to me.”

“As I said, it describes how I used to be. Currently, I believe… ‘lost’ would describe me best,”he replied with a sigh.

As she traced a scar on his face, De’Tearion almost reached up to remove her hand. He wasn’t used to such attention. However, he didn’t move, instead just quietly savoring the rare gentle touch.

He considered her reply for a moment, finally realizing why she’d been on him. He hadn’t known he was cold either. Jackie had saved his life.

“I…”

A tear slid down his face.

“I had expected not such kindness. ‘Tis such a rare thing,”he breathed shakily.

De’Tearion stared at her blankly. He had no idea how to reply, or even react, to that.

“‘Found’, truly? I doubt that. I am still deep in a maelstrom that I have been trying to escape for decades,”he said.

Jackie pulled him against her and De’Tearion wrapped his arms around her, his hands shaking. More tears trickled from his eyes, and he quietly sobbed.

“I believe we have that in common,”he said softly.

“Why are you vowing such things to me? Why risk your life, in many ways, for me?”De’Tearion asked.

He was a lost cause, or, at the very least, getting that way. Too many had died for him. Too many had died under his care. And, those he loved most were always the ones with the worst deaths.

De’Tearion hesitated. He didn’t know why. Or, at least, he hoped not. If he did, then that opened up a world of thought he didn’t want to explore.

He shook his head, not answering.

“Hmm… when you speak of it like that, it makes some sense,”he conceded.

De’Tearion held her closer, still sobbing.

“That, I believe, be something we share as well,”he breathed.

De’Tearion shook his head again, but this time with meaning.

“No. I only started running after Agatha’s death. I ran from Mina as well,”he replied, wondering if he should’ve stayed and fought for Mina’s love. Likely not, considering her reaction to witnessing him murder her father. But, if there had been a chance for forgiveness, he had lost it the moment he ran.

He snorted at her comment.

With a chuckle, De’Tearion shook his head slightly.

“No idea,”he replied.

De’Tearion sighed, shaking his head.

“I could have stayed not. Agatha had been my only tie to that damned forest. Mina… I cannot return to her, especially now. It pains me to say it, yet ‘tis true,”he said.

“I suppose. Yet… I am grateful to finally have someone near,” he said softly.

De’Tearion chirped at the reminder, having forgotten about the deer. He hesitated to move though.

“Hold me a bit longer, I beg,”he requested, his voice barely audible.

“‘Courageous’? Or ‘survivalistic’? There be no peace in those forests. If one be at war not, then they are about to be. Every random encounter will likely end someone’s life. Every attempt to sleep usually ends with someone’s hand tightening around your throat. Be that courage, when even honor be a mockery of its true form?”De’Tearion questioned.

He sighed at the last bit of her words.

“Nalan, more likely. He and I were always close, much like a father to his son. A true father, in any case,”De’Tearion remarked. He deliberately avoided mentioning Mina.

He chuckled a bit at her words, grateful. Then, he nuzzled into her shoulder, immersing himself in her scent so he could focus on something that would calm him. Though, the minutes seemed to pass by so fast, and Jackie let him go. Part of him wanted to cry at that, but he pushed it away, focusing on reality instead of his need to be held.

De’Tearion chuckled in amusement,”Mothering me now, are you?”

Despite his usual preference to defy orders and traditions, he obeyed Jackie, getting up and moving toward the deer. He crouched next to the creature, staring into its eyes with a calm, intense, and hypnotic gaze. The deer was lulled to sleep within moments. De’Tearion then brushed its neck, admiring its smooth coat of fur, before he let loose his proboscis, latching it onto the deer’s neck and beginning to drain the creature of every last drop of blood.

As he did so, he didn’t focus on food. He focused on the memory of Jackie holding him mere minutes ago. Somehow, it kept him calm, and didn’t ruin his newfound appetite at all. Though, he also remembered the taste of Jackie’s blood, and that seemed to inspire his hunger more.

When the deer was drained completely of blood, De’Tearion methodically cut into it, skinning it, then ripping chunk of meat away and eating it.

A little while later, the only thing that remained of the deer was its skin. Not even a chunk of bone or scrap of meat was left to mark that there had been a deer in front of him. De’Tearion then cleaned himself up before glancing at Jackie, seeming to be in a considerably brighter mood.

“Have you any desire to keep the skin? Otherwise, I shall merely bury it as I usually do,”he asked.

“We were clearly taught very different things. I also know not what an ‘angel’ be,”De’Tearion stated instead of trying to argue with her.

“Indeed. Also a better father figure than his own father. His father and I were rivals in the Forest Council, and we had a mutual hatred for each other. It was rather amusing to see his reaction when I refused to return his son, and when Nalan willingly stayed by my side,”he replied with a chuckle.

De’Tearion snickered at her reply.

“Why should you be? Though, to be serious, if I fall into another sleep like that right now, I will never wake again,”De’Tearion admitted with a sigh.

De’Tearion rose an eyebrow at her.

“You need not,”he said gently.

Sure, his robe was old and had faded to a dark grey, and had many tears that he’d sewn up, but he didn’t necessarily need anything new. He was used to wearing his clothes until they literally fell apart. And, his current robe still had another century left in it, if De’Tearion could manage it.

“‘Opposite of a demon’. The only explanation I need. Angels exist not in my homeland, literally or figuratively,”he hummed.

De’Tearion agreed with a chuckle.

His eyebrow rose in confusion at her words. How would she manage that? He truly had no idea.

De’Tearion just stared. If she insisted, it would be rude of him to stop her, but, it still bewildered him why she would make him a cloak. He didn’t need one.

“Well… I suppose if you need help, particularly with my size, you need only ask,”he said after a minute.

(Lol)

“My homeland be an island. I have traveled across most of it, and only found more of the same petty foolishness,”De’Tearion clarified.

His eyebrow only rose further and De’Tearion shook his head. He still didn’t know what significance this ‘Ōni’ had.

De’Tearion stared in bewilderment at her, but simply shrugged afterward. He had no idea how she could gauge his size so easily, but if it worked, then he wouldn’t complain.

“My offer stands. If you need help, merely ask,”he said softly.

(Not on the island. It’s a very isolated spot. Otherwise… I have no idea. I don’t know what world the island is based in, and I’m stuck on figuring that out, so yeah)

“I see,”De’Tearion replied, shaking his head in confusion again.

He watched her, amazed by the variety of fabrics. He had only seen such a variety in one other place, the castle where Mina lived. Though, Jackie’s choice in color confused him.

“A simple black cloak will be fine,”he commented, his confusion seeping into his gentle tone.

He continued to watch her, fascinated.

(Lol. It’s a bitch. I’ve got several worlds to choose from, but none seem to fit. And, I don’t know if I want to make a new world or not)

De’Tearion looked at her incredulously.

“I understand the coloration now, yet… the enchantments? I am naturally an apex predator. I need no enchantments. I appreciate the generosity, yet I need it not,”he said.

Though, as he considered her words, the spell to protect him against sunlight was intriguing. De’Tearion glanced down at the ring on his finger, remembering the few times that someone had taken it. Those moments hadn’t lasted long, but it was still a danger to him. If someone managed to take it off while he was in sunlight, death might be a mercy.

(Oof. Well, I hope we both eventually figure out our dilemmas, lol)

“I will run not from battle, Jackie. Aye, I seek not conflict, yet I will shy not away from it,”De’Tearion insisted quietly, glancing at Jackie.

Or would he? He honestly wasn’t sure, now that he thought of it. Battle didn’t scare him. Nor did war, or death. But, not all conflict was bloody. Some conflicts were of the mind, of the past, and those… did scare him.

He turned away again, unconsciously fiddling with his amulet.

(Bump)