Lumi sustained his snarl, drawing a breath inwards with a vicious rasping noise when he ran out of air. He bit down harder on the offending hand between his teeth, his Chakra flaring. Something cracked.

The stark brightness of the room consumed everything, though he heard movement, indistinct and loud, around him. The walls and ceiling were bright white, there was a gleam of light off silver, glowing strips above... and a flash of blue.

His scowl dropped slightly when he saw it. There was something about that colour, that exact shade, that cut through the brightness of the room and through the fog in his head.

Lumi's pupils contracted, narrowing back to their usual slitted form, and familiar eyes came into focus, the brightness withdrawing. He knew he could trust those eyes, that he wasn't in any danger.

Let go,

Should he? He breathed hard around the hand he was biting, no longer snarling, trying to take in the request, convincing himself that it was what he should do, that it was right, all right.

Gradually, he relaxed the pressure of his jaw, almost as if he'd forgotten what he was doing.