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sergeantsporks · 2 years ago

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Dadrius Week 2023 Day 7: Safe

Darius didn’t stop flying even as the clinic doors approached at frightening speeds, he just sent an abomination ahead to hold the door open so that he could soar right through, finally skidding to a halt at the nurses’ desk.

“Help him,” he ordered.

The nurse jumped up, yelling back for assistance. “Cause of wounds?” he asked briskly, taking Hunter’s pulse.

“What?”

“What hurt him? We need to know in case it was something poisonous—”

“No. An Oracle spirit.”

“Okay. Understood.” The nurse pushed him towards a gurney that two healers had brought from further back in the clinic. “Thank you. We’ll take it from here.”

Darius trailed after the cart, but the nurse held up a hand, blocking him from following them further. “What’s your relation to the patient?”

“He lives with me.”

“I see. And are you his parent, legal guardian, or family member?”

“Not officially, but—”

“Then you cannot go with him past this point. Family only.”

“I—” Darius sputtered, gesturing to the doors. “I’m responsible for him. I brought him in, I take care of him, I—”

“If you’re not his legal guardian, then I cannot let you through,” the nurse said gently, “Please wait out here. If there are no complications, he will be able to come to you shortly.”

“Complications?” Darius echoed, his heart thumping wildly in his chest, “What complications?”

“Hopefully, none.” The nurse put a hand on his shoulder. “Please. Wait out in the lobby, sir.”

Darius paced the small space like a trapped slitherbeast, earning him nervous looks from a Hexside teen with a broken arm and a mother whose child had a potion bottle cork stuck up his nose. Ava hopped along next to him, bobbling her head.

“Complication?” Darius muttered, “What complications could there possibly be? It’s a clawing! He’s probably shrugged off a mauling before!”

Somehow, thinking about Hunter getting mauled in the past did not make him feel better.

“Sit,” Ava ordered, “Scaring people.”

“That’s probably the blood,” Darius told her. His legs wobbled, and he sat down in a chair with a whump, staring at the bloodstains on his white gloves. “Titan.” He turned Hunter’s belt over and over in his hands. He’d stemmed the bleeding. He’d gotten Hunter to a clinic. He’d done everything he could—it was out of his hands.

Well. Not everything you could, a little voice whispered in the back of his head.

Why didn’t you protect him?

“Why would he do that?” Darius demanded, looking to Ava as if she could answer that, “Idiot! Jumping right in the way like that?! I could have taken it.”

You’re supposed to protect him from injury, remember? He scolded himself, What a fine job you’ve done these past couple of days.

Ava nudged the belt pouch, dislodging a crumpled piece of paper.

“What’s that?”

Darius smoothed out the paper. It might have been scrunched up, but a single, crisp fold along one edge told him it was supposed to be a card.

Happy Father’s Day, Darius.

Horrible, aching grief stabbed at Darius’ stomach, and he clutched the card tightly in his hands. Blood stained the white paper—Hunter’s blood, which, if he’d been paying more attention, wouldn’t be there.

Darius slowly opened the card, almost dreading reading more words. The inside bore even more red, nearly covering up the words.

Thank you for letting me live with you. –Hunter.

Ava nudged him with her head. “Okay?”

“No.” Darius put his head in his hands. Thanks for letting me live with you. It sounded so unemotional, nothing that he’d ever expect to see in a father’s day card, but coming from Hunter, it felt so painfully earnest. He could practically see the kid hunched over the card trying to think of the perfect message and eventually landing on a practical thank you.

A Father’s Day Card. No wonder Hunter had been so anxious about Father’s Day. And he’d… Darius groaned. He’d told Hunter not to worry about it and had lit off to see his own father, dragging Hunter along with him to go see his old family, rather than spending time with his new one. That had to have stung. If Hunter had been ready to take another step towards family, it must have felt like Darius was giving him a full push backwards. Even if it wasn’t what Darius had intended.

“I’m going to make this right,” Darius told Ava, “Once he’s come home, I’ll…”

Do what, exactly?

Did he even know how to start? With Ava, with Hunter—what was he supposed to do to gain their trust again?

A scream echoed from the back of the clinic, and Darius knew, from the way that it seemed to tear at his heart, that it was Hunter. He jumped up, storming towards the doors.

“What are they doing to hi—”

The same nurse from before barred his way. “I can’t let you—”

“Move.”

The nurse, to the credit of either his bravery or his stupidity, did not step aside. “Sir, you can’t.”

Behind him, Darius caught a glimpse of Hunter, sitting straight up on the gurney, his eyes glowing purple. “What is going on?” he growled, seizing the nurse’s collar, “What are you doing to him?!”

“It’s… a complication. We’ll sort it out, please wait outs—”

“I’m done waiting.” Darius pushed the nurse to the side, marching through the door.

Hunter vehemently swatted a healer away as they attempted to take a look at his side—which had been uncovered so that they could work. Blood still dripped from the wounds, but Hunter, completely blank-eyed, didn’t show any signs of slowing down. Another healer approached, this one drawing a golden circle Darius knew to be a sleeping spell, but Hunter uncannily twisted to dodge the spell, leaping off the gurney to tackle the healer with a roar.

That’s not Hunter.

Darius couldn’t say how he knew—the glowing purple eyes would usually be a good indicator, but Darius had given up understanding the extent of what Hunter could do the first time he’d warped into the kitchen for breakfast—but he knew, deep in his gut, that there was something else there instead of Hunter.

The nurse grabbed his arm again. “It is dangerous, and you are not authorized, the only people who should be with him right now are—”

“What’s happening to him?!”

“Happens sometimes with oracle fights,” the nurse said in a small voice, “If the caster isn’t practicing proper restraint, a particularly malicious spirit can sometimes… slip into a wound and take control of the victim.”

Not again.

Not after the Collector, after Belos. This couldn’t happen to Hunter again, it couldn’t have happened when Darius was around—he’d always told himself if he’d just been there those other times… but he had been there this time, and he hadn’t been able to stop Hunter from having all control ripped away from him again.

Well what did you expect?

You never managed it in the coven, either.

“Let me go,” he growled.

“Sir—”

“He will tear your healers apart,” Darius said in a low voice, “This isn’t some silly fight, this is a strong oracle spirit in the body of one of the best warriors on this floating corpse. He will destroy your healers if you do not let me go.”

As if to emphasize Darius’ point, Hunter threw a flawless right hook that sent a healer careening into the wall. The nurse hesitated, looking at Hunter, then back to Darius.

“Please,” Darius begged, “He is going to die.”

The nurse released his arm, and Darius rushed down the hallway. He caught Hunter’s fist as the boy attempted to deliver an uppercut straight to his chin. The oracle spirit hissed at him, snarling and snapping, but Darius just gently turned Hunter around, holding him against his own body and gripping his wrists crossed against his chest so that he couldn’t lash out. Hunter might very well be one of the better fighters on the Isles, but Darius was much bigger and at least matched, if not surpassed, his skill in hand-to-hand combat. Hunter stomped at Darius’ feet, but he couldn’t get the force necessary to do any real damage. At least the spirit didn’t seem capable of using Hunter’s flash-step ability.

“Hunter,” Darius said urgently, “If you can hear me in there, I need you to fight back.” He nodded to the healers, who approached the two of them cautiously. “These healers are going to help you.”

The spirit used Darius’ grip to haul itself up, planting his feet in a healer’s chest and kicking them backwards. All the while snarling at Darius. The other healer eyed Hunter warily, and came at him from the side where he couldn’t kick as easily.

“I know you’re hurting right now, and I’m sure you just want to rest,” Darius continued, “I know—” his voice cracked. “I know you’re probably scared and confused. But I’m right here. I’m right here, and I swear that nothing bad will happen to you.” Nothing else, anyway.

Hunter slowly stopped kicking, his whole body trembling in Darius’ grip. The spirit still growled at him, but it sounded more strained, like it was struggling to keep awake.

“That’s it.” Darius didn’t know if it was really Hunter fighting back, or if the wounds were finally taking a toll on the spirit, but he had to believe Hunter could hear him. “You’re going to be alright, Hunter. You’re safe with me, I promise. I promise.”

The healer held one hand in front of Hunter’s face. Their fist sparked with flame, and smoke drifted out from between their fingers—sleeping nettles, if Darius had to guess. He held his breath, and the spirit slowly, slowly went limp in his arms. Darius gently swept him up in his arms, bringing him back to the gurney. The healers who’d been knocked over slowly got up, resuming their place, one of them holding a pendent much like Odalia’s. They drew a circle that was pinkish purple with another outside circle around it that glowed blue.

Wild witch, Darius noted on instinct, before shaking his head. That wasn’t really relevant anymore. In fact, it was definitely a benefit now.

The stone in the healer’s hand glowed. Hunter coughed, twitching and seizing up. Darius found Hunter’s hand, giving it a tight squeeze.

“You’ll be okay,” he promised, “You’re going to be alright.”

You have to be.

Hunter’s eyes flickered open and shut, alternating glowing and their normal brown. Instead of a angry hiss, a strained whine came from his throat, a whine that cut off in another cough and a whimper.

And his hand squeezed Darius’ back.

The healer with the stone shouted something that Darius didn’t quite catch, and the spirit pulled out of Hunter, lashing out with insubstantial claws to hold onto its control and tugging Hunter towards it. The healer tugged, and it let go, slithering back into the stone with a howl. Hunter thudded back to the gurney’s surface; the other healers immediately started their own work, holding glowing blue circles over Hunter’s side while pushing him to another room. Hunter’s hand slid out of Darius’, and Darius started to walk after them, his legs wobbling underneath him, but a gentle hand touched his arm. The nurse.

“Sir…”

“Please,” Darius whispered, “I almost lost him.”

The nurse gave him a long look, then sighed and let him go, walking back to the clinic lobby. Darius wandered through the hallway in a daze, trailing after Hunter.

If the nurse had been bigger…

If he’d thought to use magic to stop me…

If I’d been a moment later…

If, if, if…

Darius spotted a crow tree, and he picked two of them up, staring at the recipient pad.

Not Eber. He’s out with his ratworms.

Eda and Raine were busy building the new university. Who did that leave?

“Jasmin Deamonne,” he told the phones, throwing one into the air. It flew out of the window, and he waited anxiously, tapping the surface of the phone.

“Yyyyyyyyyyyyello?” Jasmin’s voice finally said.

“Hi. Jasmin. It’s me. Darius.”

She gasped so loudly he almost dropped the phone. “Darius? When did you learn how to use a phone?! Was it recently?”

“Jasmin,” he said quietly. His throat closed up, and he struggled to find words. “It’s Hunter.”

“Oh.” Jasmin’s voice immediately dropped all the teasing pretense. “Is he alright?”

An overwhelming wave of numbness swept over Darius, and he leaned against the wall for support. “No,” he whispered.

“Are you two safe?”

“Yes. We’re at the Bonesborough clinic.”

Jasmin didn’t say anything for a long moment, as if she were waiting for Darius to continue. Finally, she cleared her throat. “Do you… wanna talk about it?”

“What’s going on?” Darius’ father’s voice said in the background, “Did you say it’s Darius?”

“You’re still with Mom and Dad?”

“I forgot my bag last night. I came to pick it up. One second.” Jasmin’s voice came out muffled, like she was holding one hand over the microphone, but it didn’t stop her voice from coming over entirely. “Yeah, it’s Darius. Something’s happened to Hunter—here, you talk to him.”

Scuffling noises, then, “Darius?” his father said gently, “Are you alright?”

“I’m unharmed.” Darius slid down the wall, putting his hand to his head. “Thanks to Hunter.”

“Okay. But are you alright?”

“Hm.” Darius chuckled breathlessly. “I don’t think so. Hunter’s hurt badly. I let him get hurt, I—”

“Darius. You cannot prevent every injury. And you have to accept that sometimes… your kid is going to do something outside of your control.”

“I should have prevented this one,” Darius insisted, “If I’d just been paying attention—he was injured saving my life, Dad, I—” Darius groaned. “I’m supposed to be looking out for him. But the last couple of days, I’ve done nothing but fail him.”

“Do you remember your mentor?”

What kind of question was that? “Of course I remember him.”

Darius’ father sighed. “I didn’t want you to go through with the mentorship, as you know. I thought it would get you hurt, or even killed. But the last golden guard came to our house personally one day. He sat down with me, and he told me that he would be honest. He told me that the career path you were headed towards was dangerous, and you might get hurt.”

“I’m sure you loved that.”

“He also told me he would do his utmost to protect you as long as you were in his care. He promised me that he would guard you as if you were the emperor himself. He said he might not always be able to stop you from getting hurt. He said that sometimes he might fail you. But he promised that despite any failures, he’d never stop trying. He reminded me that you were growing up, and I wouldn’t always be able to be there to protect you. And at some point, I had to let you go and trust that you could take care of yourself, and that there would be others to take care of you.”

“I just got Hunter.”

“And you want to protect him, I understand. From outside danger and from yourself. But you can’t stop every mishap, no matter how careful you are. You have to let go and just… see where the two of you land.”

Darius took a deep breath.

He wanted to keep Hunter safe. But Hunter obviously felt the same way about him, or else he wouldn’t have jumped in the way. Not that that made him feel particularly better, but he knew that if their roles had been reversed and he’d gotten hurt, he wouldn’t want Hunter blaming himself.

It happened, and there’s nothing you can do to change that.

Let go

See where we land.

“Darius?” Jasmin’s voice asked again, “You need me to swing by the hospital so that you can take a second to eat?

“No.” Darius cleared his throat, pushing up to his feet. He wasn’t going to leave Hunter’s side for one more moment until he woke up. He’d promised he’d be right there, and he’d already taken too much time in this hallway. But there was another thing he needed to do at the same time, something that would mean more. “Jasmin, listen. This is very important. There’s something I need you to bring me.”

Xxx

The ceiling was white.

That was wrong. Hunter’s ceiling was currently painted dark blue and dotted with constellations (and the occasional explorer-class starship).

A thousand other details were wrong, too. The familiar weight of surrounding plushies was missing. The air smelled sterile, like cleaning potions. And unless Darius had decided to throw a small party while he was asleep, there were far too many noises outside for this to be his room.

Hunter blinked slowly, but the white ceiling did not disappear.

Something’s wrong.

He wasn’t in the right place.

His body wasn’t responding, and he recognized the sluggish feeling from sleeping nettles.

Odalia

She said she wanted a carver—

I’ve got to get out of here, I’ve got to—

What happened to Darius?! Did she get him, did she get Ava, did…

Hunter managed to turn his head slowly to one side, and almost all of the tension left him in an instant. There was Darius, sitting in a chair, one leg bouncing anxiously. He was staring at his hands, not Hunter, and Hunter watched him for a moment to reassure himself that he was there.

Not Odalia.

He wouldn’t let her take me.

Hunter blinked, trying to remember what had happened. He’d saved Darius. And he’d been hurt—he remembered trying to hold on to consciousness, but thinking, blearily, painfully, but with absolute certainty, that Darius would take care of it, and letting go.

And then…

“Is it gone?” he whispered hoarsely. Surely they wouldn’t let him be so free if not, but then again… maybe that was the reason Darius was here.

Darius jumped, fumbled, reached out, then pulled his hand back. “It’s gone,” he promised, “You’re alright.”

Hunter relaxed back into his pillows with a sigh. “Good.”

Darius hesitated, then pressed forward. “Are you alright? I mean, besides the…” he gestured helplessly at Hunter’s side.

“Um…” Hunter slowly reached up to rub his eyes. “I’m… I don’t know. Did I… hurt anyone?”

“No. Well, you punched a couple of healers, but nothing they can’t handle.”

That was a relief. Hunter nodded. “Good. That’s… that’s good.”

He fidgeted with the covers, twisting the fabric in his hands. “I’m sorry.”

“What? Hunter, what on titan’s red corpse could you possibly have to be sorry for?”

“You asked me to fight back,” Hunter said softly. He kept fiddling with the blankets, as if to prove to himself that he still could control his own limbs. “I’m sorry, Darius, I tried, I really tried, I just couldn’t—I couldn’t—” his hands clenched into fists. “Am I just easy to control?” he whispered, “Is it me? Am I just—just weak? Do I make it easy?”

“No—No.” Darius shook his head, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Hunter. It took control of you because you saved me. If you hadn’t, I would have been the one with the glowing eyes kicking doctors. It’s not because you’re weak, or easy, or whatever else you might think. It’s because you, little prince, will not stop taking care of others, even when it puts your life on the line. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

“Not necessarily?” Hunter squeaked.

“What you did today… you saved my life.”

“Oh—well—you would have been—”

“You saved my life,” Darius insisted, “Don’t downplay it, it was very brave.”

“Oh.” Hunter’s ears burned. “Thank you.”

Darius looked him dead in the eye. “It also frightened the everloving daylights out of me.”

Hunter winced. Fair. “Sorry.”

“They wouldn’t let me in to see you. They almost didn’t let me get to you in time.”

Hunter started twisting the blankets in his hands again. Almost another death by possession. If he had a snail for every time… But this time, things had been different. Even with the spirit controlling him, he’d felt… oddly calm. Or, at least, less desperate than the other times. He’d heard Darius’ voice bursting through, and he’d known, somehow, that he would be alright. That Darius would get him back.

He hadn’t known what a close call it had been, though.

“O-oh.”

“We got lucky,” Darius continued, “We got lucky this time, but in the future, we might not be so fortunate. And I almost—” Darius’ voice broke, and he gulped. “I almost lost you,” he whispered, “And I realized that… I realized just how much I didn’t want that to happen. I didn’t know—I suppose I knew unconsciously, but this—I can’t have what happened today happen again. I can’t be locked out like that again. Even if it’s not serious next time, even if it’s just a scrape, or a broken arm, I want to be there. So.” Darius plopped a stack of papers on the bed. “Here.”

Hunter slowly took the stack of papers. It was the adoption form that had been sitting on the kitchen counter for months—and Darius’ name was filled in on the first page. He started to flip through the pages.

“I signed every box,” Darius told him, “You can check. And—and you don’t have to sign yet if you’re not ready, you don’t ever have to sign, but I know I am ready.”

Hunter kept flipping as Darius spoke. At the very end of the packet lay a crumpled card.

He saw it.

“Whatever the case,” Darius continued, “I—”

“Do you have a pen?”

Darius stopped. “What?”

“Do you have a pen?” Hunter repeated.

“You’ve lost a lot of blood. Are you s—”

Hunter held out his hand. “You nearly watched me die today, Darius. But I almost watched you die as well. And… I got scared, too. I got scared that I’d lose you so soon after really getting to know you. And… I realized that I don’t want to just be your ward. I don’t want to just be some kid who lives in your house. So, yeah. I jumped in the way. I wasn’t trying to get hurt, but I knew it was possible.” Hunter opened and closed his fingers until Darius finally put a pen in his hand. “You don’t get to be the only one having revelations,” he joked. He signed his name at the end of the document.

It’s official.

Well, not technically. The papers had to be filed and finalized, of course, and anything could happen in transit. But it was a big step forward.

And Hunter was finally ready to take it.

“Okay,” Darius said quietly, “Now what?”

“I get released from the hospital?” Hunter suggested, to the snort of a healer who’d just entered the room.

But an hour later, he was leaving, with a list of prescribed potions a mile long, detailed instructions for taking care of his wounds, and an appointment in two days to check up and completely seal the wounds. A nurse watched him all the way out, hovering just inches away. Hunter wobbled on his feet, his limbs weak from blood loss, but stayed upright on his own.

Ava wove around his feet in the lobby, warbling. “Whoa—” Hunter picked the bird up before he could trip over her. “Hey, girl. I’ll get you home—” The nurse cleared his throat. “—in a few days,” Hunter finished lamely. “Oh, Bat Queen must be so worried about you. Would you be okay staying with Darius and I for a few days? I know you and he—”

Ava jumped, fluttering her wings enough to land on Darius’ hands, then swarming up to his shoulder. She preened, cooing smugly.

“She says it’s fine,” Darius assured Hunter. He wrinkled his nose at the bird. “Oh, you’ll tolerate me for Hunter’s sake, will you?”

Ava warbled at him, gently whacking her former witch in the head with one wing.

“Fair enough.” Darius raised one eyebrow at Hunter. “What’s that goofy grin for? You’re not about to pass out from blood loss, are you?”

Hunter hadn’t even realized he was smiling. “Nothing. It’s just nice to see you two getting along.”

Darius smirked. “For your sake only, of course.”

Ava smacked him with her wing again.

Hunter’s knees buckled, and Darius lunged forward to catch his forearms. “Ah. Alright. That’s enough standing around. “I’ve got you.” He waved off the nurse, who hovered even closer now. “Let’s go home.”

Home.

Hunter leaned against him, grateful for his warm stability.

I made the right choice.

Familiar purple washed around them, comforting and calm and cool. The abomination wiped away the sterile, unfamiliar clinic and replaced it with the welcoming sight of Darius’ beautiful front yard and the front of the house Hunter called home.

Which was now decorated with a banner hanging over the porch railing. Bubble letters in every hue of the rainbow read “It’s A Boy!” with nursery images of a toothed hornbill bird carrying a baby in its second beak.

Hunter’s mouth twitched upwards as Darius sputtered. He could guess who’d put it there, but his suspicion was confirmed by Darius’s yell of indignation.

“Jas-MIN!”

#not me almost being late with the last prompt to my own event lol #toh #the owl house #dadrius #darius deamonne #hunter deamonne #toh hunter #dadrius week 2023 #day 7: safe #my writing #toh fanfiction #sonter

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