[Closed] Judged By the Company He Keeps

[effiomsfavorite]

Who: Huvrye effiomsfavorite and those close to him
What: Guess who's finally getting shot!
When: April 14-15
Where: Jason's safehouse, Huvrye's apartment
Content Warnings: Violence, gore, probably some PTSD, further CWs marked in threads as needed

Birds of a Feather (Narrative)

For all that Huvrye has been warning people against associating with the Red Hood, citing just how dangerous the gang leader can be, the consequences of his actions sure do blindside him.

Because he's been associating with the Red Hood - three times over a span of months, but two of them very visible and the third well known in crime circles - and people have noticed. Specifically the D'Amico family, who are only on Huvrye's radar under 'organized crime; do not interact.'

Which is why he's not prepared to find half a dozen of them waiting for him as he lands in an alley just outside of neutral territory, demanding he come with them and brandishing guns when he refuses.

Great. Wonderful.

The fight, such as it is, is mercifully short. There are no metas among the people the D'Amicos sent - they'd probably thought he couldn't do much more than fly, and weren't prepared to face down everything a Lasardhin homunculus is capable of bringing to combat. Two of them are down from broken spines or broken skulls, brick walls cracked and broken from where they'd died on impact. Three are torn apart, missing limbs or chunks of chest or half a head as a result of Huvrye bringing his alchemy to bear. The last has been shot with his own gun.

Huvrye stands, leaning heavily against a wall, covered in blood both his and not, with a pair of gunshot wounds in his gut for his trouble. Great. This is exactly what he needs tonight. With that much gunfire, someone's going to investigate sooner or later, which means he needs to get out of here soon. Neutral territory is close, and with it the Descendant. He can hole up in the safehouse overnight and heal for a bit. He shrugs his jacket off, wraps it tightly around his waist, around the wounds, and ties it off as best he can, and activates the magical disguise hidden under his sleeve. Wings hidden, hair and eyes and ears different, and a full foot shorter in appearance, he heads out of the alley looking like a normal human, walking quickly, pushing through the pain until he makes it to the safehouse (carefully, carefully, making sure he hadn't been followed) and slips inside.

1. Jumpscare (Closed to Dylan)

Thankfully, there'd been no one in the safehouse when Huvrye had arrived, and he'd set about taking care of himself - laying out towels in the corner, cleaning out his wounds as best he can, and applying pressure. He'll heal - it'll take a bit, but he's got enough energy that it'll happen sooner rather than later - but he's not going anywhere else tonight. After a couple of hours, the bleeding stops, and he passes out on top of the towels, fully intending to sleep the wounds off.

He's still very much asleep in the morning...lying on the floor, on bloodied towels, in bloodied clothes. Not the best impression to give anyone heading into the safehouse without context.

2. Just a Flesh Wound (Closed to Huvrye's friends)

He spends the morning recovering in the safehouse (charging his phone, apologizing yet again to Dylan, doing his best to make sure the D'Amicos don't know where he's gone to ground) before he heads home in the early afternoon. He leaves in disguise, drops it to fly back to his neighborhood, and activates another disguise to get in the front door of his apartment building. He sighs heavily when he walks in the door. He needs to clean up. He needs to get something to eat. He needs to rest - the bleeding may have stopped, but it'll still be a bit before his wounds are fully healed. And he needs to talk to quite a few people - he hadn't realized so many people had noticed he'd gone missing.

(It'd only been a day. They cared that much?)

He closes the door behind him and heads towards his room.

[I'm open to Huvrye's friends having heard from other friends about his situation/injury - if we haven't already talked about it and you think yours would know/care, let me know and we'll do a thing!]

Comments

1

[codicies]

Later on, when Dylan looks back on this moment, he'll crack a joke — something along the lines of Maybe this was a sign to find another hangout spot.

In the moment, though? Dylan enters the safehouse, and sees the all-too-familiar sight of red on white.

Panic slams him like a semi. There's ice in his veins and hot coal in his gut. He stands frozen, staring down at the injured figure —

white hair, pointed ears, blood everywhere —

— His phone is in his hands. When did he grab his phone? He should text Jason — he glances at the screen to find he's already sent one.

Dylan grabs one of the clean towels and kneels next to Huvrye, scanning him for the site of the wound, then extending tendrils to press the clean cloth to it. It looks like the bleeding may have already stopped but — he has to do something.

Dylan feels floaty and detached, like he's watching the scene unfold from outside his own body. He extends more ooze to make sure the towel is pressed evenly to the wound without getting too uncomfortably close himself.

[effiomsfavorite]

Huvrye has never been a heavy sleeper, even less so when he's sleeping specifically to heal. If something has injured him badly enough that he needs to pass out in order to take care of the injury, then he needs to remain ready to wake in case it's still around.

The pressure on his stomach is painful, and he startles awake to see black sludge on his open wound-

corruption it's corruption he's going to be corrupted he's going to die there's a corrupted here he has to kill it before it gets anyone ELSE-

He has his feet under him in one fluid movement, an awful snarl on his face as alchemy lights up his body, an array forming over his outstretched hand, ready to tear the face off of-

He freezes abruptly as recognition crashes through his panicked thoughts, upending his instincts and training.

"Dylan?" It's choked, pained, and utterly shocked.

[codicies]

As Dylan tries his best to tend to the wound, there's a moment where things seem to be... okay. Huvrye doesn't actually seem to be bleeding that badly. Maybe this wouldn't be a disaster.

Then before Dylan realizes what's happening, Huvrye is on his feet. The look in his eyes is ferocious. A magic circle appears at his fingertips — With a spell that appears to be aimed right at Dylan.

Dylan retracts the ooze quickly, scrambling backwards until his back struck the wall. Logic would dictate that he should probably dodge to the side somewhere, but his brain freezes at the choice between left or right, and so he just... stays right where he is, fearfully staring into Huvrye's terrifying gaze.

...Until it softens, and Huvrye seems to recognize him. It's barely a comfort. Dylan's heart is still hammering in his chest, his ears are ringing, and he can't seem to calm the adrenaline rushing through his veins. Despite being conscious of Huvrye calming down, he can't seem to get the rest of his body to acknowledge it.

"I, um," He's nearly hyperventilating but tries to speak through it. "I was just — first aid. Blood. Just trying to..." Instead of finishing the sentence, he looks to the pile of bloody towels on the carpet.

Dylan feels his eyes start to burn. He tries to blink them back, but he can't stop the tears from rolling down his flushed cheeks. "I — Sorry, I'm just..." He wipes them away with his arm, and then sniffles — No he does not want to start crying here, but it seems to be too late.

[effiomsfavorite]

Oh, no. Oh, no, he nearly attacked Dylan-

He drags his hand through the array, dispersing it, and the glow of alchemy fades from his skin as he drops his augmentations. He's not in a fight. Whatever that was, it wasn't corruption - not the way he knows it. It was Dylan, trying to help, and now he's terrified, because who wouldn't be scared for their life in the face of Effiom's butcher-

No. No, Dylan doesn't know that - doesn't know him like that. Huvrye takes a breath, tries to steady himself, and another piece clicks into place: Dylan was the one who'd found Hunter, in this safehouse, shot and bleeding out. It doesn't help that he and Hunter look alike-

Oh, no.

"It's okay," he says, leaning forward out of his crouch and onto his knees, unable to keep the wince off his face or the pain out of his voice. His adrenaline jolt is fading, and while his wounds have stopped bleeding, they definitely haven't stopped hurting. "I'm alright. I heal fast. You don't need to be afraid." It's a stupid thing to say - he has every reason to be afraid, when Huvrye had nearly taken his head off seconds before - but he can't think of anything else with his mind spinning the way it is.

[codicies]

Dylan nods. "It's okay," he says, despite feeling not at all okay. He tries desperately to steady his breath, but the words still come out shaky. "I know I... I know I just startled you. And you didn't actually hit me. So it's fine."

If only he could convince the rest of himself of that. He's trembling, and thank goodness he's already on the floor, because he's not sure his legs could support him right now.

But Dylan can't focus on himself right now; He's not the one with the open wound, after all. He's pretty sure the added stress of almost attacking one of Hunter's friends isn't helping his healing process at all.

"We don't have to tell Jason about this part," he assures, then offers a small grin. "I promise that would have looked really cool from literally any other angle."

It would have been a great quip if he could have delivered it with any stability in his voice. He wipes at his eyes again with his palm, maintaining the grin regardless. Even if it looks a little forced.

2

[badbutsadboy]

[It takes some time for word to get around. Perhaps Huvrye even has time to get cleaned up a little. (Or maybe he doesn't.)]

[Either way, there's the sound of the window in his living room opening because it's the most direct way into the apartment.]

Huvrye!

[Hunter comes running in, looking for him. Not seeing him in the living room he heads towards his room. If the door is closed, he'll knock, but if not, he practically skids into view because of how fast he's moving. He actually overshoots and almost hits the wall.]

[He's slightly anxious about intruding on his private quarters. It was something his uncle hated. But Huvrye is different, and right now Hunter has even more anxiety about his condition.]

[He needs to see that he's okay.]

[effiomsfavorite]

[Huvrye had cleaned himself up and set up on the couch - Leo had been panicked enough that Huvrye has been staying where he's easily accessible - but had gone back to his room for a minute to grab a blanket and a book. He hears his name called, sees Hunter skidding down the hall towards him, and drops both book and blanket to reach out for Hunter, trying to catch him before he hits the wall.]

Hunter?!

[badbutsadboy]

[He was anxious until now, worried that even if he'd seemed stable there might be some complication or sudden decline.]

[He wants to hug him but he doesn't know where the gun shot is so he takes one of Huvrye's hands in both hands instead.]

What are you doing standing up?! You should be resting!

[effiomsfavorite]

[He holds Hunter's hand and puts his other hand on Hunter's shoulder.]

Hunter, I'm fine.

[There's a tightness in his voice that belies his words - he's in pain, and he's going to be in pain until the wounds fully heal. Unlike the last time he was shot, however, he actually has the time and space to rest in order to facilitate that healing.]

[He leans in, voice barely above a whisper - for Hunter's ears only.]

I heal a lot faster than you do. It's how I'm built.

2

[faceguy]

He's not going to make it to his room. At least not immediately.

Leo's in the kitchen, though he's been moving restlessly around the apartment all morning. When he hears the door open, though, he comes out fast, his eyes landing on Huvrye as he makes his way for his room and...

"Dude."

Leo is at his side in an instant, skidding across the floor. There's blood everywhere. Leo has no idea if all of this blood is Huvrye's, but if it is he doesn't know how he's still standing.

"I thought you said you were okay! What the heck!?"

[effiomsfavorite]

Honestly, he's not surprised that Leo's on him the second he gets in the door. He'd missed check-in, missed calls, had his phone die and not been able to charge it for a while...and walked in the door covered in blood. Of course Leo is worried.

"I am okay. I heal fast." There's a tension in his voice - his wounds definitely aren't fully healed, and he is in pain - but he's standing, and he's definitely had worse. He's not in any danger of collapsing. "It's not as bad as it looks."

[faceguy]

“The bar on that is pretty low - it looks really bad.”

Has Huvrye even seen himself? He looks like he just walked out of a horror movie.

“Is this a fairy thing?” Because if he were human, he’d be dead.

[effiomsfavorite]

"Yes." Leo bringing it up makes it easier to explain. "It's gonna take a day or two to fully heal, and then I'll be fine. This is all just from when it happened." He gestures up and down at his bloodied clothes. He can't quite summon the heart to say it's not all mine - he can wait to worry Leo more until after he's cleaned up, right?

2.

[atypical_echo]

[It takes a few hours after Leo's contact for Mark to arrive, but arrive he does. He's definitely upset enough to tap nearby Metas for the abilities he needs to get in, and he'll apologize later. Far later.

For now he just walks straight to Huvrye's room and knocks on the door.]

Open up you great winged mess!

[effiomsfavorite]

[Huvrye has cleaned himself up and had a talk with Leo, enough to let him know what exactly had happened last night. He'd since retreated to his room for a little privacy; he's used to recovering alone, and while he likes having Leo and Donnie around, he just...needs a minute to put his thoughts in order. (It's not working, but he's at least trying.)]

[The knock isn't unexpected; the voice is. He opens the door.]

That's a new one.

[atypical_echo]

[Don't, man. Just don't. Mark's stressed and worried and on his last nerves of course.]

Yeah, well, you haven't gotten shot around me before.

[effiomsfavorite]

[He's not trying to joke - it was honest surprise. His expression falls a bit - he's not surprised that Mark knows, when he'd set Mark up as Leo's emergency contact in case he disappeared at any point, but it's still not a good way to find out. Not when he'd hoped to tell as few people as possible.]

I'll be okay in a day or two. I heal fast.

[It doesn't solve the problem, but it needs to be said.]

Some time after 2

[purplexing]

Donnie did not miss the angry shouting. This wasn't even an instance between his brothers, but one of them was still involved, and from what he could tell of the conversation he'd picked up, completely understandable why Leo would respond that way. But he still didn't like it.

He wasn't nearly as familiar with Huvrye's schedule as Leo was, so it was only from his brother's cues that he'd figured something was wrong. In hindsight he wished he was a little more helpful there, but he'd gotten himself caught up in trying to work out this weird new computer ability and if he wasn't losing track of time swimming through codework then he was dozing off from overdoing it. And then Huvrye was back and not log after, the arguments started. It hadn't been something he had been too keen on stepping into the middle of.

He's not sure if there had been a resolution. Leo is stubborn, but Huvrye hadn't sounded like he would budge from his position either. But it's another day and Donnie will take the quiet over shouting any time. Sort things out later. He's hungry- he really needs to remember to eat- so he pokes his head out of his room before slipping out to head to the kitchen so he can see what he can scavenge.

[effiomsfavorite]

In between the conversations - and arguments, as at least half of them become arguments by the end - yesterday, Huvrye has managed a couple of meals and a good night's sleep. He'd even slept in a little - not on purpose, but he's not about to complain. The wounds have mostly healed - there's the occasional twinge when he moves wrong or twists a little too far, but they should be fine by the end of the day. Good.

He's in the kitchen, making coffee and scrounging up a late breakfast when Donnie comes in. He's not the turtle Huvrye had been expecting to see; that said, he's honestly not sure whether Leo had gone to school today, and he hasn't tried texting yet. He fetches a purple mug down from the shelf and places it next to his - both empty, as the coffee isn't ready yet. "Good morning."

[purplexing]

There is a very brief deer-caught-in-headlights moment when Donnie finds out that the kitchen is occupied. There was a very quick internal debate over whether or not to about-face and retreat to his room again before Huvrye greets him and effectively aborts that line of thought.

"'morning," he manages to reply, shrugging off some of the awkwardness as Huvrye sets out a mug for him. He can't help but cast a look towards the main room for any signs of Leo.

As much as they've welcomed him into the apartment, Donnie seems hesitant to go rummaging about for something to nibble on. He looks back towards Huvrye, who looks perfectly fine despite all that something bad had clearly happened prior.

"...so...everything okay?"

[effiomsfavorite]

It's been nearly a week, but Donnie still isn't acting like he lives here, and it's starting to worry Huvrye. He'd known it might be a while, but still, he'd hoped having Leo here to help would make for a smoother transition.

Though the chaos over the past two days probably hadn't helped with that.

That train of thought seems to be the correct one, as Donnie goes right for the conversational deep end. "I think that depends on your definition of 'okay.'" Some things are better; some are worse; and nothing changes the fact that he'd disappeared for a night and come home with two bullet holes in his stomach. "How much did Leo tell you?"

1.5

[demigoth]

In the space between Huvrye being found a bloody mess and leaving the safehouse, Nico arrives through the window. It's early - he has maybe forty-five minutes before the school bus makes its closest stop to Jason's bar - but that's plenty of time to raid the fridge.

Fruit loops in chocolate milk and Mountain Dew Berry Monsoon is a good breakfast, right? Fruit x 2, corn, milk, and caffeine. Yes. He'll park himself on a stool and cronch away. He's not really expecting anyone else to be here - maybe Hunter, maybe Dylan, maybe Jason. But just as likely no one.

[effiomsfavorite]

After the initial scare with Dylan and Jason, Huvrye had retreated to the bathroom to clean himself up a little. His shirt is still soaked with blood and his pants are spattered, but at least he's gotten it off his arms and face. He heads back into the common area to pick up the bloodied towels he'd bedded down on last night and put them in the wash, only to see Nico sitting at the counter, eating breakfast.

Facing him.

There's no way Nico missed him here, right? He's too twitchy for that. Still, Huvrye stops where he is and just...waits, for a moment. To see what Nico does, if anything.

[demigoth]

Nico’s spoon is abandoned in his mouth, sticking out like a lollipop.

He waves one hand at Huvrye’s head and the other at the blood on his clothes. And the towels. Nico’s concerned, but not overly. Huvrye is up and about. “Do I want to know what happened?”

[effiomsfavorite]

Yeah, he's not surprised that Nico saw him. That sure is a way to phrase the question, though. "Probably not," he says after a moment. "I heal fast, and I didn't lead them here."