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[laserhawk]

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[petsthedog]

[Well.

This is...incredibly awkward. He hadn't meant this to be how he reaches out to Laserhawk again, but ultimately -- there's nobody else he'd have felt comfortable asking this of. Dinner party invite notwithstanding, he doesn't know Maruki that well. Guilt still gnaws at his ankles with Qifrey. Aki's recovering himself.

It takes several minutes to actually make himself open the messaging app and a few more after that to type anything into it, but at length he manages:]

i could use a hand getting to the clinic

[laserhawk]

What kind of shit did you get into?

[petsthedog]

got injured by one of those corrupted creatures running around

[That's a misrepresentation at best; someone trained as a soldier like Laserhawk will certainly recognize a gunshot wound when he sees one, but it feels wrong to throw Oda under the bus when he wasn't fully in his right mind -- especially when Shinjiro wasn't even able to stop him.]

it ain't bad but i can't really walk right now

[laserhawk]

All right. Text me your location. I'll be right over.

-> action

[petsthedog]

[Location ping is go!]

[Once Laserhawk arrives to his location, he'll find Shinjiro half-leaned up against a wall a few feet from a small trail of blood; there's a bullet hole in each shoe to go with it -- the only reason he's not actively bleeding now is that he'd finally given in and taken the blue potion when all this mess began.

But perhaps all the more notable is the tattoo marked on his wrists -- in the shape of shackles. A wish made, but for what?

He looks up when he hears footsteps.]

Hey. Thanks.

[laserhawk]

[ dolph frowns. bullet wounds. who even uses bullets in this place? ]

Sure.

[ he moves to pick shinji up. seems easier than making him walk. ]

[petsthedog]

[Shinjiro immediately flusters as he realizes what's happening.]

Y-you didn't ... have to--

[And here he thought the man was just going to pull an arm over his shoulder to support him or something. Ohhhh, this is so embarrassing. The only reason he's not actively struggling right now is because he asked for the favor in the first place.]

[laserhawk]

[ dolph adjusts his grip, making sure he's holding shinji comfortably before he starts moving. all weight is negligible to dolph anyway. a metal arm would do that. ]

Your legs are hurt, right? This is quicker.

[petsthedog]

[God he is. Never going to live this down, ever.]

...I guess. S'just -- real embarrassing...

[laserhawk]

You really fixate on some pointless shit, you know that?

What matters more is you get healed up.

[petsthedog]

Yeah, yeah...I ain't fightin' you on it, am I?

[Just dying squirtle a little! Maybe if he closes his eyes it'll feel less weird than looking up at his face the whole way ??? he's giving it a shot anyway.]

[laserhawk]

You better not.

So what did you do?

[petsthedog]

[Ugh. He doesn't really want to talk about it, but bearing this whole walk in silence might actually be worse.]

Fucked up. What else?

[He told Laserhawk the first time they met. Things don't go well when he tries to help. It keeps being true.]

[laserhawk]

[ hm. ]

That's not what it looks like to me.

[petsthedog]

Oh yeah? What's it look like to you, then?

[laserhawk]

Like you finally gave it a shot.

[petsthedog]

[He squirms a little bit in the older man's grasp, though evidently it's just to rub uncomfortably at his neck.]

Tch...it's been a shitshow from the top, man. I didn't plan on any of it.

[laserhawk]

Sometimes, it is.

[ dolph's been in plenty of shitshows. here and back home. ]

Nothing works out perfectly.

[petsthedog]

[He lets out a little sigh.]

I'd settle for working out at all, I think.

[laserhawk]

And maybe it will. What you do may open up an avenue for someone else to finish it.

[ a pause as he amends, even gently. ]

We always want it to work out. . . . I know that feeling well.

[petsthedog]

[If someone else finishes it, he doubts it'll have anything to do with him. He simply failed, ultimately. Oda was simply way too fast, shot him and escaped before he could even summon Castor.

And what happened to Aki ... it'd been because of him, in a way. His friend struggling with -- grief, or guilt, or something, he doesn't know. They haven't exactly gotten to talk about it yet. Shinjiro's never exactly been the sort to wait at someone's bedside for them to come to, as it were.

He keeps all that to himself. You always think everyone has it easier than you. He doesn't have the energy to argue again.]

Yeah. It's exhausting.

[laserhawk]

It is. It's the most exhausting shit in the world.

[ no question about it. no holding back in his answer. and yet. ]

And it's still worth it.

[petsthedog]

[He goes quiet for a very, very long moment.]

....Not sure that's true with everyone.

[Isn't so sure involving himself in things will ever end up more than a fool's errand, a mistake he keeps making over and over. He really doesn't want to fight again, though, so he adds, quickly:]

But I don't think these wishes come with take-backs, so...hell if I know. Nothing to do but try to make it worth it, somehow.

[He doesn't sound like he believes he'll succeed, though.]

[laserhawk]

Wishes?

[ he frowns. ]

Is that what happened?

[petsthedog]

Kind of, I guess. Put myself in the situation 'cause the wish was already made earlier. Tried to make it count. Failed again.

[Absolutely humiliating things to admit while being carried princess-style to a clinic, but dignity's long left the building, so what the fuck does it even matter anymore.]