He was more shaken by the sight of the bloodied fox than he had thought he would be. Rory had dealt with blood and gore and death and loss countless times before, but never before had it quite so much felt like his fault. What if he had understood right away just how dire things were, and hadn't taken the minutes to hastily hoist the deer? But—he had caught up with Vai, so surely he had not lost that much time?
But still his hands trembled as the wool fibers soaked up the blood, his throat thick and eyes burning with shame. The fox's head came around, teeth closing around his nearest hand, but instead of bite, it just .. held it. "Ssh, it's okay," he whispered, and the warm tongue came out to lick against his wrist instead. Rory took a steadying breath and pulled the fox halfway onto his lap. It didn't seem to him like it would protest much, and even as he told himself it was to better be able to apply pressure on the wound, it was just as much for another reason: to hold him close, and feel that he was still alive.
Then Vai spoke up, revealing that she had some healing magic. Rory took another second to steady his breathing, wrestling down the voice that kept on insisting that this was all his fault and that he was useless (if Vai hadn't been here, would he have been able to shoot down the wolf? he'd been stunned and shaking, after all). "P-please, if.. if you would," he managed, weakly. He hadn't been able to assess the damage, judging the blood loss to be the worst and focusing on stopping that.
As he asked about Remi it turned out that the frozen-looking thing next to them was a, called a lion and b, was actually Remi. Rory blinked, and looked over his shoulder. At this angle he couldn't quite make out what type of animal it was, but it was tawny and muscular as all hell. A predator, then. "Oh," he said, vaguely annoyed that he had yet another thing to worry about. Remi was just lying there, but he didn't seem injured, so what was wrong..? He threw a glance at Vai, who did not look particularly worried, though.
Well. What did Rory know about anything, after all? "What's wrong with him?"
But just as he asked it the lion shifted back into a man—heart-wrenchingly familiar, snow and frost coating the curls Vai's hands were running through. Strangely enough, he did still not move, though he seemed to be conscious, for his eyes were moving. Rory frowned, and his gaze then followed Vai's to the wolf, and at her question—request?—he just nodded, subconsciously shifting the fox a little more into his arms. "No, go ahead," he said quietly. "You deserve it."
But still his hands trembled as the wool fibers soaked up the blood, his throat thick and eyes burning with shame. The fox's head came around, teeth closing around his nearest hand, but instead of bite, it just .. held it. "Ssh, it's okay," he whispered, and the warm tongue came out to lick against his wrist instead. Rory took a steadying breath and pulled the fox halfway onto his lap. It didn't seem to him like it would protest much, and even as he told himself it was to better be able to apply pressure on the wound, it was just as much for another reason: to hold him close, and feel that he was still alive.
Then Vai spoke up, revealing that she had some healing magic. Rory took another second to steady his breathing, wrestling down the voice that kept on insisting that this was all his fault and that he was useless (if Vai hadn't been here, would he have been able to shoot down the wolf? he'd been stunned and shaking, after all). "P-please, if.. if you would," he managed, weakly. He hadn't been able to assess the damage, judging the blood loss to be the worst and focusing on stopping that.
As he asked about Remi it turned out that the frozen-looking thing next to them was a, called a lion and b, was actually Remi. Rory blinked, and looked over his shoulder. At this angle he couldn't quite make out what type of animal it was, but it was tawny and muscular as all hell. A predator, then. "Oh," he said, vaguely annoyed that he had yet another thing to worry about. Remi was just lying there, but he didn't seem injured, so what was wrong..? He threw a glance at Vai, who did not look particularly worried, though.
Well. What did Rory know about anything, after all? "What's wrong with him?"
But just as he asked it the lion shifted back into a man—heart-wrenchingly familiar, snow and frost coating the curls Vai's hands were running through. Strangely enough, he did still not move, though he seemed to be conscious, for his eyes were moving. Rory frowned, and his gaze then followed Vai's to the wolf, and at her question—request?—he just nodded, subconsciously shifting the fox a little more into his arms. "No, go ahead," he said quietly. "You deserve it."
