pull this plug, let me breathe
#1
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Lev is being a bit of a drama queen in this, sorry for the awkwardness. xD His shoulder wound is probably extremely ugly, and I imagine he's kind half-collapsed not far from her house? Feel free to pp Wils leading her to him.


He walked, bleeding each step, leaving a trail of splatters behind him to mark his retreat. He walked from the hot springs to the borders of his pack, and then he walked some more, the paint mare plodding nervously beside him. He put her away, more blood gushing each time he lifted his arm, wrenched his shoulder. When it stopped, began to dry on his skin, he made a motion that invariably opened it up again. Tissue scarred years ago by fangs had been wrenched open by claws, dug into—claws within his flesh, dirty and twisting. He couldn’t even feel the pain anymore.

Levent looked lifelessly at the horizon, where the sun flamed like a dying candle, swallowed up by the land. He was sure he could follow it like a moth to the bay, watch it sink on the watery horizon like everyone wanted to, and maybe he could swim after it until he drowned. Maybe if he wasn’t so afraid of the sea, he would—maybe if he didn’t look across the road to the house that held all the precious souls in his pathetic life.

I protected you, the pale-eyed wolf told them silently. I didn’t sell you out. I survived. I’m bleeding but I’m alive, and you’re safe, and her words don’t mean anything.

He stood there for what seemed like a long time, closing his eyes. It hurt to keep them open, anyway, after traveling for so long on foot from the northern forests. He hadn’t taken a break coming home, but perhaps he should have—or at least stayed away for another day. Could Amy follow him here? Would she? She wouldn’t be able to step past the boundary, she wouldn’t know about his family, she wouldn’t be able to touch him...

A voice brought him out of his reverie, its accent growing stronger as the pitch grew higher. “Oh bugger me—Levent! Get your arse off the ground—get up!” The last word was punctuated by a distressed feline growl, as well as a set of sharp claws on his face. They scraped the skin, not drawing blood but painful enough for him to blink his eyes open, gazing up at the frantic cat. He was confused as to why he had to look up at Wilson, but he registered that he’d sank down to the cobblestones as absolute lightheadedness took him. He could smell that the wound was bleeding again. It had bled a lot, over the long journey home. How much blood did a wolf have?

“What did she do to you?” The cat seemed to be straining to reign in his volume; his ears were pinned flat and his breathing quick and shallow with panic. “What did I tell you about that—Levent? Levent, love, please wake up—” A paw prodded at his face, but he didn’t feel like opening his eyes again. Maybe he whimpered. But he could hear his friend scampering away, heard him scratching at probably a door, begging for Hotaru to come outside and help him, he wasn’t conscious...


+515


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#2
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couple table!


The comfort veil of sleep threatened to overwhelm the tired female. Aiden and Aysun had become a handful for their blind mother. Ever since their eyes opened, the pups had spent every waking moment wandering around on their weak legs. When they weren't sleeping, they demanded to be fed and would babble Hotaru's ears off. Giving up, Hotaru had settled down with the two infants on the pile of furs that she had cleaned. They were formed into a deep nest on the floor so that Aiden and Aysun could not crawl away if Hotaru did drift off. To make it even harder, Hotaru used her own body as an extra barricade.


Hotaru lay still, enjoying the small silence as the two pups suckled. Her lupus body was curled around them protectively. All seemed right with the world. The sound of scratching caught Hotaru's attention, making her ears twitch as she listened. Wilson's panicked voice drifted towards the blind female. Startled, Hotaru sat up to listen better. The pups, feeling dejected by the loss of food, began to wail. Worried, Hotaru returned both pups to their crib and shifted as fast as she could.


Grabbing her staff, the blind mother raced to the door where she was immediately buffeted by the scent of blood and Wilson's cries for help. Time slowed and Hotaru's heart pounded in her chest. Numbly, she followed the cat to where Levent lay, the scent of blood filling her nostrils. Gingerly, the blind female reached for Levent, cradling his head in her arms. "Levent! Levent! Wake up! What happened. Where are you hurt?" Hotaru didn't know what to do, she was panicking. She didn't dare touch the male's injuries, for fear of making things worse. On him was a scent she recognized, but the name of the dog was lost to her. What had happened? If only Fawkes and Kelia weren't on a hunting expedition. "Wilson, what happened? I need a description, NOW!"

+515


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#3
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Delirious Levent mutters in Turkish yaaayyy.


He had triumphed over evil, over the impulse to give up his family and save himself. Suppressing the temptation had taken all the strength out of him, had taken away everything he could have used to protect himself. He was weak—and weaker still after his long walk and the drainage of blood and life from his body. He thought that, at least, he could die knowing that his blood lived on, not on the street where it pooled now, but in the house of the blind woman. He tried to smile, to let that be the last thing he did, but he heard the frantic cries ahead and let his head dip lower, hunched over the ground.

Inna Lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un, Levent thought. Surely we belong to God and to Him shall we return.

A sweet scent overwhelmed him, calmed him, and he buried his face against soft fur as his head was cradled. He heard the voice calling to him, and his ears twitched in his dark hair, straining forward and hearing a heartbeat. He matched it to his own, finding his ponderously slow, or maybe this other one was just really fast; there was another fast one off to the side. He grasped at consciousness that he may know what the heartbeats meant.

“I don’t know what—he’s—he’s got a shoulder wound, th-the right one,” came an accented voice, still twisted with desperation. “I don’t—it’s the only one, I think, but it looks like a deep wound, and there’s a lot of blood; it has to be blood loss, making him like this.” The cat growled, then his footsteps skittered away. “Keep talking to him, I know where he keeps bandages.”

The wolf’s eyes squeezed more tightly shut, and he tried to remember if he’d left the window open for Wilson to even climb into. More rational thought soon followed, and he pressed closer against the woman’s heartbeat. “Oh, Hotaru, ben batırdım,” he murmured. “Üzgünüm.”


+332


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#4
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ooc


Panic enveloped the blind female as she cradled Levent's head in her arms. What was going on? How had this happened? Hotaru felt like howling in sadness as her chest tightened. Levent was special to her, as special as a mate. Thoughts of regret poured through her as she imagined loosing the Turk. Why had she never been brave enough to call him her mate? Why didn't she spend more time with him?


Wilson's own voice seemed to shudder as he spoke. For once, both the wolf and the tom were on the same page. Their precious male had been hurt. "On the right?" Gingerly, Hotaru stretched one hand out, trying to feel the wound. She could feel his fur become slimy and sticky, and it only made Hotaru panic more. "Pressure... It needs pressure." With a deep breath, Hotaru pushed down on the wound, trying to help slow the bleeding. She nodded as Wilson commanded her to talk to him and listened to the cat's retreating footsteps. "C'mon Levent. Stay with me. If you abandon the pups or myself, the so help me I'll give you the beating of a lifetime."


Hotaru's heart skipped a beat as the male stirred, pushing his head into her body. Yet his words were lost on her. Gently, she gave his face a little tap with her paw. "Darn it, Levent. I have told you this a million times. Say something I can understand." Leaning down, she licked the male's head gently, hoping that he would be fine. She didn't want to move Levent just yet, not until Wilson came back with bandages. They had to stop the bleeding.

+515


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#5
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The injured male protested with no more than a grunt when the hand clasped on his shoulder wound. It was a minor pain compared to the original damage done by the dog, and a minor pain even contrasted with the beatings he’d gotten in London alleyways. Each time, it seemed to be worth it; the world threw him all its terrible choices, and that was to be his crucible for as long as he lived. If he pursued immortality, maybe it would be his trial for the rest of eternity. Life—his own and those he cared about—was everything compared to a little bit of pain.

His ears flicked at the sound of her voice, and he registered groggily that he didn’t want a beating, because he knew that Hotaru was probably serious and that she could totally kick his scrawny ass. He groaned again, his eyelids forcing themselves open when she tapped his muzzle, chastising him for speaking in Turkish, which he hadn’t even been aware of doing.

The lick on the top of his head made him open his eyes fully, and he leaned forward again in an attempt to press his muzzle against hers. “I’m sorry, ’s what I said,” he mumbled, his voice slurred and heavily accented, but at least the garbled English was in fact English. He tried to move his arms, wanting to clutch at her with his paws, but his shoulder was aflame and he hadn’t the strength.

A sharp feline scent tickled his senses from the side, and he knew that if he kept his eyes open he’d see Wilson trotting forward, gauze in his mouth. Wordless, the tom trotted up and pressed the roll against the blind female, and the man tried to smile. “Sen her ciddi görünüyorsun, sevgili arkadaşım,” he muttered, and the cat abandoned the gauze to press himself fiercely against the wolf, purring so hard he was shaking. Or maybe Levent was shaking. He was pretty sure they were both shaking.


+334


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#6
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ooc


It was at times like these that Hotaru cursed her brother. He was the reason why her eyesight was gone. She swore at him in her mind, his existence the trust that he had betrayed. If she had her eyesight, she wouldn't be useless when her loved ones were bleeding out in her lap. Hotaru pushed down on the wound a little harder, trying not to let up the pressure despite Levent's grunt. If she could get the bleeding to stop, then everything would be okay.


At last, the injured male began to move. Hotaru couldn't see his eyes flicker or open, but the simple shift was enough to let the blind female know that Levent had regained consciousness. Letting out a sigh, Hotaru licked the top of his head again. He was her mate, even if neither one of them wanted to admit that fact. "It's fine." Hotaru didn't have the heart to truly scold Levent, not until she knew he would be okay.


Although it took much longer than she would have licked, Wilson's scent began to grow stronger and soon his footsteps could be heard as the feline approached. A firm object was pressed into the wolf's side, and she reached down to grab the gauze Wilson had brought. Hotaru immediately unwrapped a length of gauze and formed it into a pad that she pressed against Levent's bleeding wound. Next, Hotaru placed the end of the gauze on top of her makeshift pad and began to carefully wrap the bandage tight. She passed the gauze across his chest and over his shoulder to secure the wad. Hotaru was no medic, but she had learned a thing or two during the war. The blind female knew that her attempts weren't pretty, but at least they would hold.


"Do you think you can stand? I want to get you inside the house."

+000


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#7
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Feel free to pp them walking to
the house, for the sake of keeping this going. xD

Levent no longer whimpered at the burning flare of his ravaged shoulder, but he knew that the pain would come again and present itself in manifold ways—the sharp stab of a wrenching movement, the throbbing ache of scarred muscle after exertion, the agony of a memory turned nightmare. He needed to conserve his strength to deal with that, and so he ceased wincing when the woman gripped the wound in a last-ditch effort to stop the bleeding, accepting his apology in two short words that suggested that was the least important thing to linger over while he was still hurting.

The injured man turned his attention from her to the cat rubbing alongside him, trying to smile and pass his fingers over the white fur. He was rewarded with larger purring, and he focused on the vibrating sound as Hotaru wrapped the bandages around him, shifting only slightly to make her job easier. His vision swam occasionally, and one point he nodded off into unconsciousness for a single instant before Wilson’s sharp meow brought him back. Now that he wasn’t bleeding, it was easier to keep himself awake, and he nodded uncertainly at the woman’s question. It would be good to go inside; he could only imagine what the neighbors might think otherwise.

“You’ll—need to help,” Levent warned, and grabbed for her as leverage as he pushed himself to his feet. He swayed instantly, not wanting to bring the grey woman down with him but needing her desperately as a pillar. Wilson restrained himself from winding fluidly around his ankles, instead standing with ears pricked and body alert. Trying to sling an arm around the woman, his fingers curling in her coat, desiring her even closer, the man nodded to indicate that they could make the arduous journey back to the house.





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#8
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ooc


The overwhelming scent of blood made Hotaru feel dizzy. It brought back the painful memories of her past. Images of pain and suffering flashed before her mind's eye, the injured bodies of her former pack mates before their fall. Hotaru shook her head as she felt her rage build. Her family was being hurt again, and she did nothing to stop it. No, she couldn't think like that. It wasn't healthy and it didn't help Levent. Hotaru bit the inside of her lip, successfully bringing her back from the past and helping her focus on the bleeding male.


At last, the temporary bandage was fixed to Levent and the bleeding had stopped. Hotaru leaned back a little, sighing with relief before she focused again on her next task. Levent needed to rest inside, not where he was exposed to the elements. The turk's statement made Hotaru's ears go flat. What kind of wolf would she be if she couldn't even help support a packmate on her own. The bind female shook her head slightly and braced herself for Levent's weight. His strong hands grabbed onto her fur, and together they stood. Hotaru, remembering her staff training, planted her feet shoulder width apart so that she could help steady the smaller wolf without loosing her own balance.


The blind wolf could feel the turk sway dangerously as he stood. Hotaru let out a concerned whine as she grasped for him. She didn't want to let him fall. Thankfully, he was able to regain his balance and placed hi arm over Hotaru's shoulder. The female bent down, to make it easier on him and slowly began her way back towards her house. Gingerly, she wrapped her own arm around Levent's waist and half carried, half lead the injured male back. Hotaru moved as quickly as she dared to, not wanting either of them to trip. Relying on her sensitive senses and excellent mental map, she led them both back to her house. With a searching, outstretched hand, Hotaru was able to locate her door without too much trouble and helped Levent to her bed deep within the houses confines.


Aiden and Aysun's loud yelps and hungry whines greeted their parents as they traveled into the master bedroom. Hotaru ignored their pleas for food as she carefully helped Levent into the bed. Taking her place at his side, Hotaru nuzzled the male's head. "Levent, what happened?"


+515


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#9
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I'm terrible. ;_;

The man was thankful for his smaller size; the woman was able to support him without much difficulty as they slowly made their way to the house, Levent stumbling and clinging to her, feeling her gather all of his weight at times. He felt like a burden, but he knew she wouldn’t have let him walk on his own—and he knew he couldn’t anyway, there was no sense in lying to himself. He relaxed only when he realized that Hotaru was able to find her way easily back to the house, his own vision swimming with every other step, though Wilson was there to guide them if needed; the leggy little cat trotted anxiously at their ankles.

Levent whimpered at the sound of his children’s cries, and he wanted to break down and sob with relief. He’d done this for them, bled for them; the empty words of some demon woman didn’t change that. He’d keep the secret again and again even if the woman tortured him out of it. He wasn’t a coward, he wasn’t, and the proof lay in their keening voices as they remained ignorant of their father’s condition. He felt pride, then, a happy blast of emotion after the desperation that had locked in him like the Amy’s claws.

Settling down on the bed, the brown-furred male shivered and lay down on his good side. He reached up with a hand to weakly caress the side of the woman’s face as she leaned in to nuzzle him, and he bided his time after her question, just memorizing the patterns on her muzzle and cheeks. He had a feeling that a muttered “nothing” wouldn’t do it for her, but it took him a long time to gather the courage and strength to actually answer.

“There’s a woman,” Levent whispered, and immediately decided this was the wrong thing to preface an explanation with. He clenched his other fist, though the touch on her face remained ever so gentle. “Another merchant,” he amended quietly. “She thought—she thought that I was indebted to her. She tried to get something from me. I refused to answer her questions. She didn’t like that.”

He could hear Wilson growling, heard the puncturing of fabric as the tomcat unsheathed his claws into the bed sheet. He didn’t look at him, though, keeping his washed-out blue eyes on Hotaru’s face, searching for a reaction after his string of choppy sentences.

“I don’t think she’ll bother me anymore,” Levent added after a moment. “If she does…” He swallowed. “If she does, I’ll kill her. I want to protect my family and I don’t give a fuck if she hurts me again.” His voice turned to steel, and his thumb brushed delicately over one of her ears.





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