It's hard to find true equilibrium.

[thesilentstorm]

Lindblum was, in Lumi's opinion, a singularly awful city.

Built atop a mountain, or possibly a cliff, it bore the sort of architecture that made it amply clear that it had been added to over time, that it had started off much smaller and had grown, almost organically, outwards and then upwards, like a particularly unpleasant fungus of mismatched brick and tile all contained within the immense castle's fortified walls.

Lumi's nose had wrinkled as they made the approach to the Falcon's Gate via airship. Even from a distance he could see that, without more space for the city to crawl beyond the walls, as most seemed to when they outgrew a castle's ramparts, it had just gotten ... taller. Idly, he had wondered how it would fare in the event of an earthquake.

Once the airship had docked and he and Marluxia had disembarked, he decided that the city was even worse than it had looked from their approach. The winding streets and irregular buildings did little but compound the fact that the city was not purpose-built. Some of the houses leaned like drunkards and some of them had larger, over-hanging upper floors, as though they had been added to at a later date by a less skilled builder. It looked disorganised, ramshackle and untidy.

With any luck, they wouldn't be there long.

They were in the city on a mission, or, at least, a favour. In deference to the alliance he had made with the most recently recruited of his old ... "colleagues", Marluxia had agreed to make a trip to Even's old home to pick up some items that he hadn't thought to bring with him on his would-be temporary relocation to Daguerreo. It wasn't safe for him to go himself, on any front, and Marluxia had the freedom of movement accorded to an established and voluntarily joined member of Clan Khamja.

Lumi stood in the street outside the Air Cab station, a frown on his face at the feel of the uneven cobbled floor under the soles of his shoes. It was a warm day, but it was growing clear that Summer was on its way out in this part of the world. The breeze that blew down the street carried upon it the scent of woodsmoke, hanging baskets and the promise of rain. It was, despite the pleasant day, cool enough to make Lumi stiffen where he stood. He scowled, looking up. The sky was, at least, still blue, though grey clouds were visible in the distance.

He looked to Marluxia for direction. It was he who had the address of Even's old residence.

Comments

[thesilentstorm]

Lumi didn't move as Szayel checked his pulse.

Instead he lay there, still, some of the tension that had been in him gone. The drug wasn't there to knock him out, just kill the pain. His sleep was his own, an effect of the exhaustion and weakness to the Elemental magic infused into the bullet.

Due to bad luck, or poor timing, Lumi opened his eyes, his pupils round rather than slitted.

The room seemed too white, impossibly bright, wide as Lumi's pupils were. The haze of the drug fogged his mind and the lingering shreds of memory pulled at his perception, as though he was waking from a nightmare. All he could think of was the restraints that held him in place, that he wasn't supposed to be there, that he had to get out, to find...

It took a fraction of a second from when he had opened his eyes for Lumi to realise that there was something at his mouth, something that was warm, not a mask.

He turned his head, not much, but enough to allow him to catch Szayel's hand between his teeth. He caught the knuckle of the first digit and the flesh between his finger and thumb and bit down with a snarl.

[sipthehoneylikeabutterfly]

Szayel wasn't paying much attention to the fact that Lumi was waking up, slowly, or not so slowly. The sedative could be like that, Lumi would probably be incoherent for another few minutes before he came round properly, and then someone, Marluxia, would have to explain exactly what had just happened. Until then, he could stay restrained until Lumi was satisfied he didn't need to poke at him further. What he didn't need was an agitated patient ripping a cannula from his arm; Lumi had already lost enough blood if the paleness of his gums was any indication.

The movement was quick, and at first Szayel didn't register any pain. Then he did, and he drew in a sharp breath. Lumi's teeth were very sharp, he realised. It was probably lucky he had his mask fragment out or he'd have to do some reconstructive work, with his off hand.

"Off!" He shouted, eyes wide, preparing to hit Lumi round the face. He wasn't sure he wanted to take the risk that Lumi, with his enhanced strength, and sharp teeth, could bite through hierro, and he channeled his chakra to strengthen it in his hand.

[gracefuldahlia]

Marluxia's attention was caught by the movement, and Szayel's intake of breath. He dropped the kidney dish, reacting quickly to catch Szayel's free wrist in his hand and shoot him a look that threatened instant and brief retribution if he followed through on that movement.

Lumi's pupils were blown, he saw. He probably couldn't see, probably wasn't really looking at what he could see. "Lumi," he said, his voice low, and steady, and firm. He needed to get Lumi to focus for a moment; right now he was reacting as anyone with Lumi's strength would when waking up to find themselves injured, restrained, and being poked by the likes of Szayel.

"Lumi," he repeated, getting close and trying to meet Lumi's eyes with his own, trying to get Lumi to look at him and recognise where he was. "Let go, Lumi."

[declaregamuza]

"Shot?" Nel repeated. She didn't get to follow up on that question, or her thoughts that followed it however, because suddenly Szayel's chakra was flaring and spiking and it was obvious he was being bitten.

She rushed over to the bed, leaning across Lumi, and then stopped at Marluxia's reaction. She didn't expect that to work, no matter how close they were, not if Szayel had sedated him with what she expected he had. Then again, Lumi was a Ryoka, and they might not react in quite the same way.

But she didn't want this to become an outright brawl, so she let Marluxia try and talk sense into him first.

[thechillyacademic]

Even got to his feet when he heard the dish fall.

He watched as Lumi clamped his teeth around Szayel's hand and looked on in mild horror as he heard the decidedly inhuman sound he made as he refused to let go.

He took a step forward when Nel moved to help, but stopped when she did.

Surely Marluxia wasn't so foolish as to think that he would be able to snap him out of this drug-induced fit of madness.

[thesilentstorm]

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.

[gracefuldahlia]

Lumi's eyes had returned to normal, and Marluxia nodded. He didn't break eye contact with Lumi, saying, "Thank you. That can't have tasted pleasant."

He seemed to be calming down, and drifting back to the unfortunate reality of being injured and in the infirmary. He had Szayel's blood in his mouth, and Marluxia had been able to hear the crack, and somehow he didn't think that was Lumi's teeth that had broken.

He put one hand on the top of Lumi's shoulder before he sighed, and straightened to look at the others.

[sipthehoneylikeabutterfly]

Szayel forced himself to retrieve his injured hand slowly, even though every instinct was to snatch it away. He gritted his teeth and cradled it in his other hand, but didn't take his eyes off Marluxia.

So, even with Lumi in a drug induced state of incoherent agitation, Marluxia was able to control him with little more than a word. That was interesting information.

He turned without a word to take himself to the sink, tearing the glove off his injured hand quickly. It was broken, and bleeding, and right now it throbbed horribly. He held his arm by the wrist and kept his hand under the water, rinsing the wound where Lumi's teeth had broken the skin with a hiss.

[declaregamuza]

Nel threw a glance at Even when it became clear that Lumi was actually letting Szayel go. That was an unexpected, and slightly frightening, development. She'd seen people in that kind of confused, defensive frame of mind before. She'd heard of someone biting a finger off another healer, and having to be shot with so much muscle relaxant it could topple Nnoitra.

She hadn't seen someone be talked down from that state before.

She only met Marluxia's eyes for a brief second before she went to attend to Szayel.

"Let me see," she said, reaching for his injured hand.

[thesilentstorm]

Lumi kept his eyes on Marluxia even as he stood up.

He wasn't himself, that much was obvious in the way he pulled weakly at his wrist restraints with a soft and nearly plaintive sound, but he was calmer, and much less likely to bite somebody again.

[thechillyacademic]

Even returned Nel's look, his own halfway between surprise and mild concern. That sort of control wasn't at all common short of Beastmasters and he certainly didn't expect it of Marluxia, let alone Lumi. Marluxia hadn't known Lumi for near as long as he had known all of the Nobodies, and yet he managed that?

He shook his head and sat back down in the seat he had left, giving Marluxia a questioning look that bordered, ever so slightly, on suspicious.

[sipthehoneylikeabutterfly]

Szayel glowered at Nel, his voice peevish and lip curled as he snapped, "I can deal with it." He had his mask fragment out, his hand was broken, and he'd been badly bitten, but frankly he'd attended to much worse injuries, and that was on other people. On himself, between his research, and his Hollow, he had.... ways.

"Go and put a cannula in him," he said, turning away from Nel and waving his uninjured hand in Lumi's direction. "He'll need fluids and antibiotics, and a decent cure spell. I can see to myself."

[declaregamuza]

Nel put her hands on her hips and looked at Szayel, flatly. She considered pulling rank, since she was within her rights, but, well... The infirmary was Szayel's domain, and he didn't want her to look at his wound, she wasn't about to force him.

"Don't take that tone of voice with me," she warned him, before she turned away to go and pick out an intravaneous needle and cannula. Lumi had lost a lot of blood, and he wasn't exactly bouncing back now that the bullet had been removed.

She threw Marluxia a glance when she approached Lumi once more, saying, "I hope he doesn't try to bite me." She, unlike Szayel, didn't have her mask fragment out. She didn't feel as though she needed it.

She hoped that would continue to be the case.

[gracefuldahlia]

Marluxia caught the look on Vexen's face, but his expression remained utterly unreadable in response. It had been a small gamble, as far as Marluxia was concerned, but in betting that he might be able to reassure Lumi when Lumi trusted him enough to actually sleep in his presence, over the potential loss of Szayel's fingers, against the risk that striking Lumi in any way to make him let go would only make the situation worse, he hadn't seen how he personally could be on the losing side of any of the outcomes.

At worst, it wouldn't work and they had to sedate Lumi further. Marluxia lost nothing.

"He shouldn't," he said to Nel, looking back at Lumi and meeting his eyes again for a moment before he murmured thoughtfully. "Can we remove these restraints now? I don't think they're making the situation better."

[thechillyacademic]

Even wondered how wise a course of action removing the restraints really was.

On the one hand, they seemed to directly distress him. He obviously objected, whether knowingly or unknowingly, to being bound. This resistance seemed to calm in Marluxia's presence, whatever that meant, but it still obviously made him uncomfortable. He wondered if it was a vulnerability thing. Everything he'd seen since he'd lost it had suggested a curiously animal-like behaviour pattern, so he could only surmise that Lumi's response to being strapped down was part of a heightened fight or flight reflex.

On the other, could he be trusted not to act like that unrestrained, if he slipped out of consciousness again? His weakened state left him unable to fight his bonds to normal capacity and the magic in the bullet had affected his Chakra enough that even a blast of it hadn't quite been enough to floor Szayel, though it had been a close-run thing, but it didn't make him safe, not if he came to with that level of distress a second time.

It was a gamble, but Marluxia obviously thought it better to err in the direction of Lumi's comfort. Did he really trust himself to be able to head off another potential disaster like that one? Did he trust Lumi that far?

[declaregamuza]

"Uh," Nel made a noise of obvious reluctance and hesitation as she looked Lumi over. He still looked out of it. Calm, but out of it. "Better to ask the doctor on that one." Szayel was the one that had been bitten, and he was the one in charge of treatment.

Nel swabbed the inside of Lumi's elbow before she pulled a strap around Lumi's upper arm. "Sorry about this," she said, reflexively, and she wasn't sure if she was addressing Lumi, or Marluxia with that comment. The tourniquet tended to pinch, and she didn't really want Lumi trying to pull away from her while she was messing about his veins with a needle, so she checked to make sure he was staying very still before she went any further.

[sipthehoneylikeabutterfly]

Szayel glanced back over towards the conversation going on around his patient. His hand still throbbed, but he shut off the water, letting it drip dry with a very gentle shake before he spoke.

"Once the drip is set up," he said, "if you must. I don't want him having another episode and ripping the cannula out," it was said as warning. If Marluxia wanted to unrestrain him, then that was on Marluxia. If he thought he could keep Lumi under control, and Szayel would admit it seemed he probably could, then that was his decision to make.

He hissed through his teeth at the pain again and headed to the back of the infirmary.

[gracefuldahlia]

Marluxia frowned. He wasn't happy to keep Lumi restrained for any longer than was absolutely necessary, but at the same time, he also didn't want Lumi to injure himself in his confusion.

He nodded, silently, and turned his attention back to Lumi. He removed his hand from Lum's shoulder to brush the hair off his face. "We'll untie you soon," he said, "stay still."

[thechillyacademic]

Even watched Szayel retreat, only glancing as Marluxia spoke to his partner.

Szayel was a surgeon, he knew, not a healer. As far as he was aware, he didn't put much store by magical medicine and the fact that Nel was always on hand to administer that made him wonder if Szayel had ever bothered to learn it. He was a half-and-half Selkie who grew up in Home. It was always possible that his upbringing had influenced his Classes away from most magical ones.

[thesilentstorm]

Lumi looked at Marluxia, his eyes barely focussed, and nodded his understanding.

Marluxia's words and attention took his mind off Nel's touch and the application of the tourniquet and what would follow it. He closed his eyes for a moment, turning his head to Marluxia's hand.

He wanted to sleep but he couldn't, not yet.

[declaregamuza]

Nel frowned, sparing Marluxia, and Lumi, and their continued eye contact, a short glance. Then she sighed, and warned, "Sharp scratch," before she slid the needle under Lumi's skin and into his vein. It was a two-handed job then to insert the cannula and cap it off, Lumi's blood visible in the tube as she did.

She walked off to the other side of the infirmary then, opening a cupboard and retrieving a bag of fluid. She worked quickly to set the drip up.

"You can unstrap him now," she said, her voice quiet and directed at Marluxia. She stood back and drew her chakra together to cast a cure spell on Lumi, to help his wound heal.

[gracefuldahlia]

Marluxia nodded at Nel giving him the go ahead, and drew his hand away from Lumi's hair, though he let his fingers linger just long enough. Lumi required reassurance and comfort right now, which was a bizarre set of circumstances for Marluxia, but Szayel had said he probably wouldn't remember this when the drugs wore off.

Perhaps that was why his need for reassurance was so obvious.

He worked the leather restraints loose efficiently, but gently, trusting that Lumi wouldn't have another episode now.

[sipthehoneylikeabutterfly]

Szayel, ignoring his guests, opened a small fridge in the back of the infirmary. It was the sort that would be used for samples, and storage, but the top shelf of this one was filled with neat rows of capped syringes. He took one out, seemingly at random, and swung the door shut, holding the syringe in his teeth as he went to go and perch on a stool and roll his sleeve up.

He had his tricks. As a scientist, it went with the territory, and as an Arrancar scientist, some of his tricks were intensely useful.

He inserted the needle into the vein of his injured arm without delicacy, and pushed the plunger steadily in until the syringe was empty. Then he closed his eyes and inhaled slowly, a smile drifting onto his face.

He removed the needle after a moment, and then something washed down over his arm, looking a little like magic, and yet not at all like magic usually did. He flexed the fingers of his injured hand, and then used it to re-cap the empty syringe and deposit it into the bin.

Then he tossed his head and ran his fingers through his hair a few times.

[thesilentstorm]

Lumi opened his eyes as Marluxia moved away from him, taking his hand away and then lay still as he undid the belts that held him to the bed. He was far from lucid, but he didn't look given to losing his mind again.

He didn't struggle, or try to get up, even once all of them were undone.

[thechillyacademic]

Even watched Szayel, wondering what he had just injected into himself. Whatever it was had a visible effect, rather like a spell instead of a potion, but not one that he had ever seen. He scowled as Szayel flexed the hand that Lumi had audibly broken moments ago.

"What is that?" He asked, not able to contain his curiosity.