DO HER WRONG. KALLISTA!

[JAMES IAN WULF]

His heart had been racing. Not out of fear; oh no, no, he didn’t have any fear of collapsing right here and falling into the cold grip of death. The rate of his heart was simply pumping at the speed it was because of the amount of blood that was falling from the open wound in his over his eye and the undeniable ticking that he could hear in his ribs every time he took a breath and a step. On the outside he looked… okay, so he didn’t look great but he didn’t look like he was on the verge of death either. On the inside though he felt like he had been broken up into a million pieces. He had been in a bit of an accident. You see, when you had a bounty on your head (credit to the Perfect Nation), a lot of bounty hunters suddenly thought that they could try and catch you. Did they succeed? Nah, they couldn’t beat him in a million fucking years. They could beat him up pretty bad but Wulf wasn’t gonna go down that easy.

They had been a fiery bunch. Them and their guns and their fancy fast vehicles. They had really thought that they were hot stuff, flying by and firing away at him and a few others from his crew. Naturally they had picked him out of the bunch and Wulf’s ego had let them lead him out while he motioned for his men (and women) to stay behind. They did. They didn’t give a fuck about him really. He just happened to keep them under a safe roof and alive.

There had been shots and close combat. Then that… that crunch. He could hear it playing over and over again in his mind, each time the sound sent a gentle chill down his spine. The crunch had been something inside of him. Something inside of him had managed to make that crack when he made the error of shooting down one of those numskulls on their bike. They had been coming straight at him. So where else was the vehicle to go when its rider was blown back from the shot? He regretted it now but at least it had left the hunter dead and the others had gotten shaken off beforehand. But shit, it hurt. His insides hurt.

It seemed like hours that he had been walking along the empty lands, his eyes searching for the spot that he had agreed to meet the woman who had saved him so many years ago. Again, she would probably be saving him. But he sort of saw it as meant to be like that. He was supposed to go back to her. He was supposed to count on her and she was supposed to take care of him because their pasts were tied together and she was his savior. He found peace with her and shelter. There was no danger whenever he went to see Kallista. It was one of the many good reasons why he kept their relationship secret. Imagine what people would say. How would the people she knew feel if they knew she was aiding a war dog every so often? How would they feel if they discovered that she had helped keep him in this world to begin with. She had helped let a notorious war dog into this world. She could have let him die… just like every time that he came and saw her. She could let him die whenever she wanted to.

Oh, he was getting far too tired walking through these fields. His back finally hit against an old wall separating what was possibly two property lines long ago. He let himself fall into the dirt and he sucked in a few sharp breaths and closed his eyes, letting the dizziness creep away from him. He could taste blood on the back of his teeth and collecting near the back of his tongue. It was snotty and thick, too hard to just swallow. So he spat it out at his side, sneering as he did so. Then he turned his head back up toward the sky, eyes wandering up to find the clouds of a perfectly bright day.

What a shit day to be in this shit situation.

TAGS?! kallista - arexy
WORD COUNT?! 720
NOTES?! here's your post, lovercakes.

[arexy2]

She got the calls from him every so often. Kallista was used to helping him out, never gave a second thought to her reputation when she scanned his wounds and healed him with grace of an expert. No matter what type of cut or injury it was, she was used to him calling on her, and her only. She didn't believe he trusted anyone else to have his life. The responsibility he gave her made her smile everytime he would sit up, after a day or two of painful healing, and shoo him out her door before people began wondering what the hell was going on. It had been early in the morning when the call had come. Still groggy from sleep, she had murmured sleepily, biting back a not-so-graceful yawn, and heard the familiar voice break through the haze. He was hurt again. She had cursed him out in at least two different languages before saying she'd meet him....Where had she said she'd meet him? She cursed at her forgetful memory, and stopped under a tree.

He took a chance, everytime he came out there for her help. One of these times, she swore, he was going to die out there on the fields waiting for her. She still felt responsible for him, like a mother caring for her child but with a much different relationship. So she had bit her tongue and forced the memories back into place, bit her lip into a bloody mess when she realized she was supposed to be there at least fifteen minutes ago. It took no time finding him, collapsed under a tree he was, and she had ignored the blood on him to slid an arm under his. Using the tree for support, she managed to get him up, lending him whatever her small body could keep. His breath fanned against her shoulder, and she instantly regretted choosing something strapped to fight against the hot day.

She had a hard time keep him up, wholly supported on her as he was, but she somehow got him back to her small house. Once there, she found herself free to scold him, even as she began preparing what he needed to fix his wounds and lay him on the bed. "One of these days, Wulf, you are truly going to hurt yourself beyond repairing." Came her soft voice, even as she dipped a rag into ice cold water and concentrated on saving his life. Turning to face him, she placed the bucket of water beside her on a small table and pushed his shirt up slightly to look at the damage. Shaking her head, she clucked her tongue and glanced up at his face. "What did you do this time, insult the wrong person?" She teased, cleaning away the blood gently, so her touch was barely that of a ghost's.

Before he could reply, she had disappeared in the back room, pulling out various bandages and other such healing things. When she returned, she laid it all out on her table and sent him another glance. "I'm not giving you painkillers, either. You're a tough man. From what I've heard, at least." The subtle hint wasn't so subtle, the question hidden not so well hidden. Had the rumors she'd heard of him being a war dog true? She wished she could scoff, shake her head, tell people she knew him personally and that he was not the man they thought him to be. But she didn't dare, not when so many people found other people's secrets intriguing. Before she knew it, people would be poking into her business, asking how she knew him, and if he came to her often. Besides, Kallista respected Wulf too much to usurp his position without consent.

Consent she doubted she'd ever get.

"What happened, and where did they hurt you?" She questioned, an underlying layer of protectiveness fanning her voice. Her fingers brushed his swollen ribs gently, as carefully as she could, then proceeded to inspect the rest of him. All the while, a sweet smile curved her lips, and she humorously remarked: "If only you didn't come to me half dead, I would enjoy your company."

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[JAMES IAN WULF]

He could only hear his breath and dull heartbeat now. When he stopped moving it gave his body an opportunity to slow everything down and relax, but not too much. Of course not, his body wasn’t going to let him die yet. It was just too damn stubborn to let a bunch of bounty hunters to do him in. This time, like every time, would pass and he would once again be back to feeling normal. The aches and pains would most likely stay with him forever considering this human body could only take so much. Every scar and every pain to remind him of the danger that was constantly following him. The hunters, the war, the backstabbers; it was all there and would never leave so long as he was the leader of Neptune’s Warriors and a war dog. There was no doubting the possibility that he would one day die because of all of this fighting. In fact, the chances were very high that one day he would not make it out to these fields to meet Kallista. There would be a day when his legs wouldn’t let him come here and his body would be too worn or incapable of traveling to this place to find her. That would be the day that he died because he sure as hell was not going to be taken a prisoner to the Perfect Nation or even the Resistance. They wouldn’t take him alive.

When he felt hands reach down to help him the only muscle that jumped was his heart. His eye lashes moved aside and he peered through his lids to find that it was the blonde angel out to rescue him again. He closed up his eyes for a moment and pushed up onto his feet to help her get him to his feet, though he wasn’t sure just how helpful he actually was considering his body had no more interest in carrying around its own weight anymore.

Every step that the two of them took hurt. Every breath that he sucked into his lungs hurt. Every expansion and shrinkage of his lungs hurt. In other words, he just felt like his whole body was on fire while Kallista moved him out of the open land to the safety of her home. Not only that but it seemed like hours before they even managed to get to it. He could feel the sweat starting to roll from his face now, something that had gone unnoticed because of the free flowing blood earlier. Now that was clotting on his head; the blood that is. He could feel it drying up in his dark brown bangs, leaving a hard, crusty feel. Yeah, it was all less than pleasant but so was the life of the people of today. Everyone was used to it by now. Everyone outside of the walls of Peony, that is.

It felt like heaven when he finally got to lay down in the comforts of a home. He laid back and closed up his eyes, trying to get his heart rate to go back down again. He heard her speaking but didn’t give any reaction to the words. He simply tried to listen to what she was doing, rather than listen to the pounding of his veins. It was almost impossible to do though. She was just too quiet and gentle with what she did. It was horribly impressive, but he already knew that. She was always so careful and amazingly soft with her touch. It made him sometimes wish that he could be just so perfect at something. Then he wouldn’t have to come here in such need of repair.

She was gone. He could tell that much when he opened his eyes to look for her. She was searching for some things, he guessed, so he tilted his head to the side and watched for her now. It was not long before she returned with God knows what. Just things that went with her practice that Wulf himself couldn’t completely understand. He would let her do as she wished, just as she always did with him. He trusted her to get the job done and to do it right. She had taken him in and allowed him this chance at life so why would she ever do any wrong and take it away from him? Kallista was too good to ever hurt anyone. She was a healer. She helped people for a living. She was the polar opposite of what he was. It was amazing that they could still trust one another. Maybe he trusted her more than she trusted him. He wasn’t sure. But it didn’t matter. He knew she wouldn’t do anything to hurt him. And if she did… at least it would be her who did it.

When she told him that she wasn’t giving him any painkillers he could not help but smirk at her words. He supposed that he welcomed the pain anyways. He was used to it by now. He decided not to reply to that verbally either though. In her voice he could hear that she wanted answers from him but… he wasn’t going to give her what she wanted. He simply turned his head back and closed his eyes again, prepping for the pain to come.

She had already found his main point of pain while she asked him her question. Where had they hurt him? Where she was touching him, of course. What happened… he was a little slower on explaining that one and was taking his dear sweet time in doing so.

“You may not like me when I’m not half dead,” he mused in a low, cracked murmur. A soft smirk was still on his lips as he pressed through the aches he was feeling in his body. He then raised up his right hand and pointed up at the clot of blood on his forehead. The first spot where they hurt him. Then he let his hand slide down his chest, a sneer appearing on him now as he bit back against the pain. He circled his entire abdomen. “If I told you what happened to me you’d only bitch.” Wulf opened up his eyes, the ice cold color blue looking up toward Kallista. He offered her a grin. “It’s nice to see you again too, Kallista.”

She was lucky. She got some sensitivity out of him. Maybe because she usually saw him in his weakest physical conditions. Mentally he figured he was stunted. He couldn’t let the walls inside of him break down as easily as the ones on the outside. But he could offer her a little bit of caring in return for what she did for him.

TAGS?! kallista - arexy
WORD COUNT?! 1129
NOTES?! -3-

[arexy2]

Kallista winced everytime she caused him pain. It wasn't exactly in her nature to want to hurt someone, hence her being so far from civilization. She was especially careful, trying her hardest to keep him from feeling pain. Everytime she felt him draw in a breath, an attempt to not wince, she had to bite back an apology. When he pointed to his forehead, she frowned and shook her head, causing the blonde curls to dance around her shoulders. Leaning across him, she brushed her fingers softly across the wound, her opposite hand reaching behind her to draw the the table holding her stuff forward. Flicking her gaze away, she quickly grabbed what she needed - a hot towel - to wipe away the blood. She was careful to cause him as a little pain as she could, her thumb following the wash cloth in a soothing, almost caressing motion.

She seemed not to notice his harsh language, although a slight smile turned the edges of her lips up and brought her gaze to his. The reply was in his eyes, and if Kallista were pushy, she knew just how easily she could pick it out of him. But she didn't, instead tossing the cloth into the sink, which was full of hot water. The water splashed onto the counter, causing a small trail to creep along the tile, but she gave it no notice, keeping her attention on the man in front of her.

After checking to make sure she had gotten away as much blood as she could, she grabbed the bandage from the table beside her, placing a hand on his neck to keep in from moving. With her other hand, she unrolled it, using the thumb of the opposite hand to hold onto the end while she wrapped his wound. All the while, his words had gone unanswered, but when she had finished with his first wound, she finally did reply.

“You may not like me when I’m not half dead,”

"Ah, but what a beautifully sensitive man you are." She couldn't resist the chance to tease, or taunt, whatever one it was to him. It was hard to estimate Wulf. He was definitely...different. Unpredicatable, even if those traits often got him in a some seriously painful situations. She couldn't exactly say she regretted having him come to her - she enjoyed his company. It was a simple. Odd, but simple.

Brushing her fingers across his second injury, she replied to his second sentence. Light laughter escaped from her lips, though the sound was slightly muffled as she turned her back to him and gathered more of her healing intruments. "Bitch? I think you just hurt my feelings a bit, Wulf. I only bitch when you're in an angry mood and think that I'm the perfect one to strike at." Although the words were harsh, they were softened by the smile that kissed her lips.

Facing him again, she sent a glance to the area were his ribs lay under the sensitive skin. As quickly as that smile had come, it turned into a frown, and she shook her head, turning her gaze to the wall behind him. "I think I may just wrap your ribs for now, because they are definitely broken. Good, and bad, news for me - they'll take a few weeks to heal. You're stuck with me for some time." Despite the emotionless tone in which she said the words, it was obvious her thoughts were someplace else besides her last sentence.

It was a few quiet seconds before she finally did as she said she would - wrap his ribs. As she had with his neck, she held him still by pressing a hand to his side, slipping the second bandage under his back and tightly wrapping his ribs so they would heal correctly. When she was finished, she tied the ends of the cloth, standing up and moving towards the backroom.

When she returned, she was holding two blankets in her hand, one of which she offered to Wulf. “It’s nice to see you again too, Kallista.” For some odd reason, the words made her smile. Wulf definitely wasn't a sensitive man, and perhaps that one sentence of truth was...well, true.

Brushing his bangs from his eyes, she kissed him on the uninjured side of his forehead, curling up in the chair behind him and wrapping herself in the blanket. "Are you hungry? I was going to make dinner just before I got your call." Her sweet smile still decorated her lips, though her eyes were closed as she rested her head against the cushioned back of the chair. Casual.

In the silence, she wondered if she could possibly be so relaxed around someone else. He was notorious - Kallista sure as hell was not lost on the fact of what, or who, he was. But despite his frightening reputation, she could find no reason to be afraid of him.

Only afraid for him.

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