[Fin] Backup

[TawnyAngel]

After some consideration, consideration that perhaps took a couple of moments longer than it ought to have, Zevran sighed and dumped the bloodied shirt into the trashcan by the side of the trail. “I think it is fair to say that this day has not turned out quite as I hoped it would,” he observed with a wry smile to the worried looking bug clinging to the side of the trashcan. That was putting it fairly mildly but he was still alive and extremely likely to remain so, and thus in the great scheme of things the incident was only really a small blot. Getting home however was probably going to be… interesting. There was no point in putting it off however and so Zevran wandered back to the bench where he’d put his bag down and fetched out his coat.

Getting it on hurt, hurt worse that was, but he ignored the pain and zipped the leather jacket up to cover the webbing Amigo had wrapped around his torso. It was unfortunate that he couldn’t do anything about the blood on the back of his jeans but if he got onto the bus and just kept his back to everyone… Mmmh, it was inevitably going to be noticed when he got back to the city and then somebody would inevitably make a fuss that he didn't want. Even if it wasn’t noticed the prospect of the long winding trip on the bus itself made him feel even more tired than he already did; he would have to stand up the whole way because in order to take a seat he would have to at least briefly turn his back to other passengers and he couldn't do that. Ah, s**t.

Zevran slumped wearily onto the bench and stroked Amigo absently as the Caterpie crawled up into his lap making unhappy sounding squeaks. “Don't worry, I will be fine,” he murmured. “We just need to get off this mountain and get home so I can clean up.” Except he was used to having unlimited hot water, medical supplies, and - perhaps most importantly - help. It was difficult to take care of injuries on your own back. He could ask somebody at The Sanctuary he supposed but things had been strained there recently, romantic relationships could get so messy and in a close knit place like that the tension seeped through to everyone. Perhaps not then.

He sat there on the bench for perhaps a few minutes thinking of what to do next, vaguely of home, of the people who were back there, of those who were not, and of nothing much at all. It really was strange how he had ended up here, he'd never expected anything like this. He'd not expected anything at all by now in fact, or was it better to say that he had expected nothing, nothingness? Mmh.

Abruptly Zevran realised just how much his thoughts had drifted and got to his feet with an irritated frown at himself for letting his mind wander when action was needed. With Amigo tucked under one arm he reached into his pocket for his phone with his free hand, there was one other person he could reach out to for help. All he needed was a ride back to the city and from there, one way or another, he would cope.

//Afternoon! ¿Qué pasa? ¿Are you free right now by any chance?//  

[BlackFireKitsune]

After kicking off his shoes near the door and setting his phone on the counter, Abel picked it right back up a moment later when an energetic buzz heralded a new text message. He'd expected one from Alyssa but found himself pleasantly surprised when he saw Zevran's name instead, and he hummed softly as he quickly typed out a response.

//Yeah, I just got off work. What's up?//

Rather than leave his phone on the counter, he brought it with him as he headed into his bedroom to change out of his work clothes while he awaited a response from his friend - because there would be a response, he was sure. Why else would he have asked if he was free right then? Maybe he wanted to hang out or something, but why all of a sudden?  

[TawnyAngel]

A quick response was welcome but he was not initially sure how to respond to the response. He liked Abel but they had no... no.... He was just used to having a more formal relationship with somebody he planned to ask for help, asking an outsider and having little to offer them in payment felt alien. But he needed help.

Zevran had walked a little way down the path before he finally decided how to reply. He wasn't entirely comfortable with the wording he eventually sent but he couldn't think of anything better so it would have to do.

//I need to ask a favour if I may? I am in the mountains and I need a lift home, I don't know anyone else with a car to ask. I will of course pay for your gas if you can help me out!//  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel sat down on the edge of his bed after he finished changing and Isaac hopped up to join him, so the blond reached a hand over to scratch the Espeon behind the ears. His phone vibrated again with another new message, one he read with a slight furrow of his brow. Isaac looked over the message too, even though he couldn't make any sense of the mess of letters. "Looks like Zevran needs a ride," Abel said for his psychic-type's benefit, then gave him one final pat before standing and texting a response on his way back to the front door.

//Sure. Mind if I ask how you got yourself stuck out there to begin with?//

Maybe he'd ridden a bus there but the bus stopped running now? No, it wasn't that late in the day yet... Had he gotten a ride up there but not one back? Ah, nothing to do but idly wonder until he got some definite response back, he reminded himself as he put his keys and phone in his pocket before heading out of his apartment.  

[TawnyAngel]

Zevran read the message. Zevran sighed. Abel asked a very fair question, he could hardly refuse to answer. But how to answer? He walked on and down towards the highway and tried to decide; giving away that he was even in need of help was quite difficult but he knew he had no other option so he would just have to make his mind up and live with it. The other option of course was not living with it but just staying here would be a very pathetic and unpleasantly drawn out way to die, involving infections and starvation and so on.

//A fair question. To tell the truth I ran into a little trouble with a knife-bird, it was a rather tiring encounter. I could get the bus but if you are able to rescue me your help would be much appreciated!// And repaid of course, when the opportunity arose.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel's phone buzzed once more in his pocket, so he fished it out to glance over the text while walking. He halted in the middle of the hallway to read it a second time, this time with his full attention. What... the hell was a knife-bird? He wracked his brains for a moment or two to try and bring to mind any pokemon he'd seen that would fit that description, but couldn't think of anything. That wasn't really important at the moment though - really all he needed to see was 'trouble' and 'knife-bird' - so he set it aside in favor of typing out a quick response.

//I'll be right there. What part of the mountains?//

With that done, he returned his phone to his pocket and hastened down to main floor before heading out to his car. It should have enough gas to get there and back... hopefully. ...what was a knife bird, and what had it done? Knife-anything sounded dangerous, and if he could take the bus but didn't want to, what did that mean? Nothing good, he was certain.  

[TawnyAngel]

He was relieved to read Abel's next text and a little surprised by the tone of it, it sounded... well it sounded actually concerned. He hadn't expected that.

//About due west of Camphoren, I will send you the location of the place I am walking to?// After the message Zevran sent off a map pin, it was just by the bus stop he'd got off at because there was a bench there where he could sit and wait. He felt as thought he ought to, and he wanted to, thank Abel for just jumping up from whatever he might have been doing to come and rescue him but he didn't exactly know how to go about that either.

//Thanks!//

Well that was something. Was it really the thought that counted?  

[BlackFireKitsune]

By the time the next text reached his phone, the blond had found his car, got in and started it. Now that he had an exact location to head towards, he hummed a moment before texting back.

//Sounds good. See you soon//

With that sent, he dropped his phone into the cupholder in between the front seats and guided his car onto the street before heading towards the mountains.

Given his lack of experience navigating that way - how often did he go to the mountains? Never, that was how often - it took him a bit longer than he would've liked to get there, and every passing minute was spent wondering what sort of trouble Zevran had gotten himself into. Was he just tired, as he said? Was he injured? What had happened? While Zevran probably hadn't meant it literally when he said 'rescue,' Abel couldn't help but want to take it seriously.

When he did finally arrive and spot the other blond, he slowed the car to a halt and rolled his window down. "Hey, need a lift?" While he wanted to think of something witty to say instead, he was a little too preoccupied with worry to think of anything else.  

[TawnyAngel]

Getting back to the bus stop he had arrived at this morning seemed to take a very long time, and he was grateful to sink down onto the bench when he finally did arrive. He felt very, very tired. With Amigo sitting on the bench beside him Zevran sat with his elbows resting on his knees and his head in his hands, leaning back against the bench was not very appealing. Cars passed from time to time, and a bus or two, but he ignored them and they him until one car rolled to a halt before him.

Zevran raised his head and gave Abel a lopsided smile, but one which lacked his usual brightness. "Indeed I do!" he said cheerfully as he got to his feet with the same sort of care as a drunk person trying hard to appear sober, scooping up the Caterpie that had been sitting beside him as he rose. "Thank you for coming so quickly, I was not looking forward to riding the bus all the way back."

Despite the beating rays of the afternoon sun Zevran was wearing his jacket zipped all the way up but he wasn't flushed with heat from it, in fact as he walked towards the car he was looking rather pale.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Head in his hands, pale, worn out, slow and deliberate pace, jacket despite the heat - Abel himself had worn a simple short-sleeved shirt and jeans - oh yes, something was definitely wrong. His level of concern only grew, but owing to the way Zevran had been talking about it, he seemed much more inclined to play it off or pretend he was fine when he so obviously wasn't. While Abel could've tried to walk a tactful line between joining Zevran in pretending he was fine and showing concern for someone who was obviously injured, he saw no reason to do so. If he was injured, that took priority over making him uncomfortable by bringing attention to such injuries rather than passing them off.

Zevran would find the doors unlocked, and as he got in Abel reached over to fiddle with the air conditioning just a bit. Perhaps he was hot with his jacket like that, but maybe he wasn't; it was too hard to tell. "No problem, man. You doing okay though?" The blond asked, not bothering to hide the way his eyes darted from the pallor of Zevran's skin to the jacket he wore in the middle of summer. "What happened? I don't know what a knife-bird is, but it doesn't sound like it was friendly."  

[TawnyAngel]

Getting into the car was also distinctly not comfortable but it was expected pain, something he could prepare for and dismiss as it came. When he sat down Zevran refrained from leaning back into the seat, doing so would probably mar Abel's upholstery and that was not something he wanted to do. As he remained leaning forward with his Caterpie cuddled up in his lap the blood on the waistband of his jeans, seeping down to the pockets, would be visible if Abel looked.

"Ah," Zevran gave a little chuckle and shrugged, "I have been worse! Thank you for your concern, though." He really did sound as though he... cared. Zevran tried to think about that but it was only a moment before he balked from it and shot Abel a grin instead. "It was not! Some kind of sharp, metal pokemon; it tried to eat Amigo so I threw a rock at it, it chased me, and interesting times followed! I would say I came off better in the end however, for here I am while it resides in a pokeball. I don't know quite what I shall do with it now but it is contained and that is the main thing no?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Add to that list a desire to not lean back against the seat for whatever reason, a seat which by design highly encouraged anyone in it to lean back. Did he intend to try and keep that up the whole ride back? Why? Was his back just that sore, or was he bleeding, or... Oh, yep, he was bleeding. That'd do it.

Abel removed his foot from the break and carefully turned it around to head back into the city. "Interesting times indeed," the blond murmured with a frown. "And that was the main thing before you caught it - but now you have, so the main thing now is," he glanced at Zevran out of the corner of his eye - or rather, at the blood visible on his person - for a moment before turning his gaze back onto the road ahead of them, "where d'you want me to take you? If it hurt you too badly you should probably go to a hospital or something." Too badly, as in 'I know it definitely hurt you but I don't know to what extent, just that it did.' Zevran could try to wiggle his way out of admitting injury if he wanted, but he wouldn't get far.  

[TawnyAngel]

Zevran gave another wry grin and shook his head slightly. "What am I, a millionaire? No, if you could just take me home I will...." Be fine? That probably wasn't true; as he had previous thought he didn't have anything in the way of first aid supplies, or even hot water, or anyone to help him.

Zevran considered his rather limited options in silence for some moments, fingers gently petting the Caterpie huddled in his lap. Where did he want Abel to take him? Eventually he let out a soft huff of amusement at himself and shook his head. "Let me rephrase that; I'm not entirely sure where to ask you to take me. I must confess I hadn't quite thought that far ahead. Home is... ah, it is an option but it's not the most ideal place to clean oneself up after a scrap." So where was he going to ask Abel to take him?  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"A millionaire?" Abel repeated with a wry grin of his own, brief though it lasted, then shook his head a bit. "Yeah, hospital bills can be a bit of a b***h.." While 'home' seemed to have been where Zevran was initially leaning, after a bit of thought on his part it seemed to change. So Zev's place was out, as was the hospital. Well, that was lovely...

After a moment or two of thought, the blond nodded his head and said, "All right." All right indeed; there was only one place he could think to take him if both alternatives were out. As he headed down the mountain - taking care not to go too fast or carelessly over a potentially bumpy road in case such actions aggravated his companion's wounds - he hummed a bit before asking, "Why isn't home a good place to clean up in - or would you rather I not ask?" If he didn't want to tell, then he wouldn't pry - though it did make him curious. Personally, he'd much rather go home than go to a hospital if his own injuries weren't too bad, or he knew they weren't too serious, but that was just him. Others, he knew, went to the hospital over every little thing. Either hospital or home; Zevran had opted for neither, and he couldn't help but wonder why.  

[TawnyAngel]

Humm. Well it wasn't as though he minded Abel knowing, at worst he might think it odd and he was no stranger to being thought a little odd. "I don't mind you asking, and I don't mind telling," Zevran replied aloud with a slight shrug, which made him wince internally. "To tell the truth there is no hot water or electricity supply there which makes it a little less than ideal for patching oneself up. Truthfully it is an abandoned warehouse near to the docks, a pleasant enough summer residence but not ideal for the winter or - as I said - for situations such as this. You can't argue with the price though!" Zevran concluded with another grin.

He was going to have to come up with a different solution before the winter; he had looked up the average temperatures and he did not fancy living in a large, draughty, unheated warehouse through those. There was plenty of summer left however, and early autumn, so he saw no reason to worry just yet.