when you're feeling lost

HARPER

It is clear she is shaken, which isn't unexpected. Harper has dealt with many victims of shock and trauma, and already old habits are resurfacing as he contemplates the right way to ease her from the throes of it. Pain has so long been part of his daily life that even now, after years without it in Caido, it is easy to push it away into a corner so that he might focus on the girl in his arms.

They float down, and Harper spares a moment of delirious thought to mentally apologize to whoever now has to re-wash their laundry before Seren is collapsing against him, and everything else is summarily forgotten. His gut twists immediately at the sight of her tears and he curls her close with the arm that was around her waist, lifting it so that it lies across her shoulders instead. Only just barely recalling the blood on his arm and keeping it at his side so he won't stain her clothes or hair with it.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me. Are you okay?" Gently he begins to lead them out of the alley, staying as close as she needs but all too aware of the panicked cries overhead of a distraught companion and unwilling to keep them parted for long. "There's nothing to be sorry for, it was an accident." Squeezing her gently, Harper's eyes go to the sky overhead as they stumble to the entrance of the alley, wanting to get out of the way in time depending on the dragon's size and insistence on physical comfort.

if brokenness is a form of art
I must be a poster child prodigy