xx. my blood

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y e s t e r d a y . . . He'd noticed his phone light up where it was on the side-table, rather than hear it. Inara had asked Andy to pause the movie they'd been watching, snuggled up tightly on the couch and checked the screen. "Oh. It's my brother-," he'd said, curiously."Ten missed calls? Thirteen missed texts?" Inara had felt fear and paranoia spark in his gut - had something happened? He immediately called Ardeshir back, sitting anxiously on the edge of the couch. "What's up, Ardy?" he'd breathed when the phone was answered. "No, I'm at Andy's. Why?" Ardeshir had explained that a super criminal attack a block from Inara's studio apartment had caused some pretty severe seismic upheaval and Ardeshir was worried for his safety. More over, Ardeshir was there at his apartment, checking on him, driven there out of blind fear. Inara had reassured Ardeshir he was fine, hung up with an "I love you," and gently relayed the details of the conversation to Andy. e a r l i e r . t o d a y . . . Inara stepped into his studio apartment, blindly dropping his keys in the dish waiting for them by the door. He rolled his neck and grunted, stiff and tired from a long day over flower beds and stovetops. He trudged into his meager kitchen and turned on the light, checking his phone again. Andy had texted him, confirming what time he'd got off today. Inara smiled at the bubble and tapped it to reply. Halfway through jotting out an answer, though, a strange noise and odor hit him. Inara turned on the spot, confused, and his eyes fell on a box wrapped in brown paper on his coffee table that he'd never seen before. A ticking and whirring was coming from it. BOOM! Somewhere through the wave of force, fire and shrapnel, Inara's body reacted. He threw up his hands, aligning a constellation of stardust to protect him. Too little, too late. Inara was thrown backward by the explosion, struggling to remain conscious. Then a slab of the ceiling gave way and broke across his scalp, sending him into blackness... n o w . . . "...-ust a mild concussion, several lesions we've put butterfly strips on..." Inara's vision bled in pools of disjointed, swirling colors. It faded in and out like the roving beacon of a lighthouse. Sounds looped and wound through the stuttering pictures trying to knit in front of his eyes. Inara saw Andrew in a room that was harshly lit, fear weighing his boyfriend's body down as he bit on his bottom lip, listening to the person speaking - someone that was a white smudge to his left. "...-ole, with the significance of the explosion, he came out hardly scathe-... ... ... -ush the call button if you need anyt-..." The next time the world righted itself, Inara's eyes fluttered. His vision was crooked, looking through a swollen lid on his right side. His lips hurt, like he'd been punched. A hand slipping tenderly in one of his gave Inara something tangible to focus on. Looking sideways, his brows knit together in confusion at the face of the man leaning over him. "Andy...?" he asked, but his voice sounded strange and choked. (OOC: Other character(s) will make an appearance after a few rotations!)

. . . Babe, there's something tragic about you, Something so magic about you, Don't you agree? . . . eos @andy

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earlier today...
[break][break]
After stopping by the flower booth at the farmer's market once more, Andy decided to make good on his plan to pick up sunflowers for Inara. They'd seen each other just yesterday when they'd been watching a movie over at his house, and some might call his efforts overzealous, but he knew Inara would appreciate the gesture all the same. Especially because from the way it sounded he'd worked himself to the bone at HomeGrown today. He sent a quick text to his boyfriend to confirm the time he'd be getting home, doing his best to not sound suspicious but probably failing at it horrendously.[break][break]
As he picked his way down the street, Inara's studio came into view. A small smile broke on his face and he excitedly moved a little quicker only to feel his whole world seemingly fall apart in a moment. A loud explosion rocked him, and he looked up to see part of the building crumble. Panic gripped him, but rather than run away like the other civilians near him, he ran forward towards the blast.[break][break]
He looked around wildly, calling out in a broken voice for Inara. The operator on the phone with him kept telling him to stay out of the wreckage and to wait for the paramedics but he pushed on, finally spotting a familiar figure. [break][break]
now...[break][break]
Andy was a anxious wreck, and sitting in the chair next to his boyfriend's hospital bed had reduced him to a bundle of frazzled nerves. He leaned forward in his seat, arms braced on his knees as the doctor came in and rattled off the damage done. He was thankful that it hadn't been worse, but a pit of fear and despair had rooted itself firmly in his chest the moment he'd seen Inara unconscious, and lying in the rubble that remained of his studio apartment. Chewing his bottom lip, he nodded solemnly to the words the doctor spoke. "Yeah..okay." He answered with a hoarse, broken voice. His throat still burned from earlier, yelling for any kind of answer from his boyfriend. [break][break]
The doctor had left him be, and he scooted himself closer to the bed. For a long while he watched Inara silently. The bruising that darkened his eye and the split in his lip broke his heart into a million tiny pieces. He saw a flicker of movement from those eyes and those pieces fragmenting his chest seemed to jump and twist withing him. He reached out to intertwine their fingers together. When he heard his name, he tried to smiled reassuringly despite his inner turmoil, squeezing the hand in his softly. "I'm here Inara. You're safe. We're in the hospital." He explained, his voice rasping out quietly, "Ardeshir is on his way over as quick as he can."

[attr="class","boxo-notes"]cries

KAY

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He felt like he'd been hit in the head with a bat. There was a pressure and soreness to every square inch of his scalp, and little kernels of pain pricked his body here and there. Inara tried to gather thoughts together, but it was hard. Like trying to catch smoke in his hands. Even more, any time a cohesive thought formed fully behind his eyes, it hurt and the hurt shoved that thought beneath murky waters again. There was no shortage of confusion on Inara's part. But no fear or panic, either. Maybe he would've, under different circumstances. But Andy was there, holding his hand and staring at him in a way that put Inara at peace, no matter how sluggish his mind was. Odd, drunken sentences drifted into, then quickly out of focus at Andrew's words. Of course he was safe, Inara thought. Andy was there. They were in a hospital - that made sense. The too-bright room, the odd, sterile smell in his nose, the strange way that only hospital sheets could feel swaddling him. "I don't-?" Inara started and knit his brows again. He brought up his free hand as he spoke, and touched his lip, testing the hurt there. Doing that made Inara notice the IV tapped in place on that arm, and that was what made him finally understand that he was in the hospital. He swallowed, throat dry, trying to articulate his words but it was so hard. "What happened?" he asked, whether rhetorically or not wasn't very clear. Inara sifted through his most recent memories but they weren't any clearer than his discordant thoughts. A clicking, a spike of instinct driven through his chest, heat, light and a force that rattled his bones. Inara's questioning eyes focused on Andrew again, innocent but flummoxed, pleading for him to explain.

. . . Babe, there's something tragic about you, Something so magic about you, Don't you agree? . . . eos @andy

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Watching Inara struggle to put his thoughts and words together twisted Andy's heart in the worst way. It didn't just make him sad this time though, it made him angry, and a surge of fierce protectiveness came over him. He felt rage boil up, a rare feeling for him, usually so calm and collected through all things with the patience of a catholic saint. He squeezed Inara's hand, both as a comfort and also as a mechanism for cooling the anger bubbling just beneath. The overwhelming mix of emotion sent a tear cascading down his cheek and that only served to heighten his wrath.[break][break]
Outwardly, he patiently waited for Inara's words, bringing his hand up gently to kiss at their entwined fingers. At the question of what happened he struggled to explain, only having half of the story and a few partially formed theories that died in his throat. He opened his mouth to speak and paused, reconsidering his words for a moment before finally speaking. "There was...there was an explosion in your apartment, the police are still looking into the exact cause of it. They think it may be related to the bombing from the other day." He answered shakily, reliving the moment of terror as he explained. He pressed their hands against his cheek, remembering what he'd told Inara just a moment ago. They were safe. His boyfriend was alive, thank goodness. [break][break]
He collected Inara's other hand, to keep it for himself, and away from the cuts and bruises. His heart hurt again and it set of a cataclysm within him, a dawning realization that ran him down like a bus. Fear and excitement mixed together momentarily as he realized that he was feeling it too. He loved Inara. Reflexively his mouth opened to relay this information but a part of him spoke against it, saying this wasn't the right time. His voice died in his throat once more and instead he gave his best reassuring smile to Inara. "I'm happy you're okay. The doctor said your injuries aren't as severe as they could've been." In his head he was still angry that the injuries had happened anyways, but he would take what good he could get from this situation.

[attr="class","boxo-notes"]he angery

KAY

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The way Andrew was looking at him soothed as much as it hurt. Inara could see the emotions there - the adoration and earnestness - and that they were angled toward him. But those more tender feelings weren't alone. Andy was anxious and worried and had a hollow, haunted look fizzing on the edges of his eyes. Inara didn't want him to feel those things, and the way that Andrew clutched at him like he might crumble to dust in his hands made a weird flux of feelings in Inara. Andrew pressed a reverent kiss to Inara's hand, then tried to answer his questions. His eyes were heavy with swelling and exhaustion, but they narrowed even more, trying to make sense of Andy's explanation. In Astaria, with the superhuman activity rampant, things like exploding apartments were unfortunately not as rare as they could have been. But it still didn't make sense. Inara's powers were a family secret. His work was at HomeGrown. Why had his studio been intentionally bombed? Was it a mistake? A random act of super-terrorism? Inara would've had difficulty fathoming at the best of time. Just then, with his head throbbing and fatigue leeching at him like a parasite, he gave up trying quickly after he began. Andrew reached over and gingerly took his free hand, minding the IV tubes, so that he held both. Inara stared up into Andy's eyes. The mixture of pain and gladness made a pang of pain that had nothing to do with the bombing skip down the inside of his ribs. Inara was still out of it, but there was no way he would've missed the line of moisture that Andy's tear had scuttled through his stubble. "I'm sorry. I must've worried you," Inara murmured. He retrieved one of his hands to reach up and brush the lingering tear track from Andrew's cheek. He lowered his arm right after, because his strength was failing just with that motion. Inara put all of his energy into keeping his hand from quivering or collapsing, for fear of distressing Andy, as he slowly lowered it to his boyfriend's grip again. Inara tried for a small, apologetic smile, but doing that reopened the scabbed split in his upper lip. Copper tanged on his tongue and Inara shrugged up one shoulder, tilting his head to wipe it dry on the collar of his hospital gown. "I'm fine," he reassured weakly, because Andrew looked distraught at even this little, baby injury. "Really," he added, but the exhaustion in his tone undermined him greatly.

. . . Babe, there's something tragic about you, Something so magic about you, Don't you agree? . . . eos @andy

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A pained smile stretched across his lips hearing Inara apologize for worrying him. He looked visibly exasperated for a moment but tempered it with the love that was circulating his system in that moment, and he shook his head. "No. Inara, stop. You don't need to apologize. It's not your fault." He answered, sounding more rattled than he wanted it to. He bit his lip to stop from rambling on anymore, and softly squeezed his boyfriend's hand once more. He nearly turned the hand away from swiping his face, seeing the effort it took for Inara to just to do that simple movement.[break][break]
The attempt to smile split Inara's lip open again and Andy tried to stop himself from looking completely crestfallen. The younger man tried, and failed, to convince Andy he was fine. He shook a little at that and closed his eyes for a moment, thinking of the words to say to his boyfriend that would convey just how not fine this whole situation was. With a frown, he reopened his eyes and stared with a protective passion at Inara's. "You don't have to pretend sweetie. I was the one who found you. I was in the ambulance ride over here. You could've been seriously hurt, or worse, killed. I'm sorry," he paused, swiping away a few angry tears that threatened to fall. With a deep breath, he started once more. "I'm sorry. I just. I really care about you and you need to know that you don't have to play tough for me. I know you're tired and that even moving hurts right now. Don't worry about me though. I promise, I'm alright."[break][break]
He let out a shaky breath, looking up at the door as a knock sounded. Placing a last kiss to Inara's hands, he released them and stood up, straightening his clothes as he did and moving for the door. "That should be Ardeshir now. Ashem and Arnim should be over too, I'm not sure when though." He said, moving to open the door for Inara's younger brother.

[attr="class","boxo-notes"]he protecc

KAY

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Giving this kind of news to someone you loved was one of the hardest thing a person ever has to do. The only way Theo had been able to do it so quickly was because time was of the essence. "Quickly" didn't equate "easy," though. He'd looked up from the call at Aegis HQ and met Ardeshir's gaze. Just with that, the questioning smile had fallen off of his boyfriend's face and panic had flooded his eyes. Ardeshir'd known something was wrong. "He's fine," Theo had prefaced, "but there was an explosion at your oldest brother's apartment. He's at Oregon State Hospital. C'mon. I'll drive." Ardeshir'd been unresponsive on the ride, but the grip he'd had on Theo, riding behind him on his motorcycle, would've bruised if he'd not had his powers. Questions and fears and anxieties and panic pored off of Ardeshir as tangible to Theo as the stardust that he conjured. Theo had sped and weaved through traffic with flagrant disregard that was utterly unlike him. The hospital rose up in front of them uncannily quick. "I'll be right in-" Theo called, because Ardeshir had vaulted from the back seat before they'd come to a halt. By the time Theo'd made good on his word and pushed into the lobby, Ardeshir was just finished getting Inara's room number. Theo caught his boyfriend's hand and felt it shivering and cold with anxiety in his much broader grip. "This isn't ICU," Theo pointed out gruffly on their way through the halls. "That's good." Ardeshir stopped at a door and knocked. An unfamiliar face answered it, but Theo could spy Inara through the slivered door. Something squeezed Theo's chest, his ordinarily protective nature blown to extreme proportions with Ardeshir and anyone that the younger man held dear. "I'll wait out here," Theo said. He let go of Ardeshir's hand, but his boyfriend had tunnel vision, only focusing on his brother. Theo drifted aside, leaning his back against the harshly lit hallway wall. (OOC: I can only toss Theo posts in as needed. We can skip him for rotations and things!)

. . . I won't deny I've got in my mind now all the things we'd do So I'll try to talk refined for fear that you find out how I'm imaginin' you . . . herakles @selene @andy @inara

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He'd just gotten out of his costume and changed into what he thought was an outfit Theo would very much appreciate - he'd picked it out for that specific reason. By the time he was finishing putting his earrings on, the call came. He watched Theo curiously, a small smile on his face. However that smile didn't last as the phone call lingered. He knew Theo well enough that he could tell when something was wrong. Then there was the hesitation, just enough to tell him that whatever was wrong was going to upset him. His heart felt like it stopped in his chest when Theo's eyes met his. When the news reached him, it took a second for his mind to register it, to fully understand what he'd been told. Then the world felt as if it had collapsed inward. He wavered on his feet and quickly found Theo's arms steadying him. His vision seemed to blur. He wasn't sure how he got to the motorcycle, he didn't remember putting the helmet on his head. He held onto Theo tightly, stardust occasionally sputtering from his fingers, reacting to his emotions. This was his fault. This was all his fault. The other day, when he'd gone to Inara's studio - He'd gone in costume. What if someone had seen him? What if they assumed he lived there? His grip on Theo tightened. This was his fault. Why hadn't he been there? He should have seen it coming. He should have... He should have done something - anything - to prevent this, to protect his brother. What good was it being in Aegis if he couldn't protect those he cared about? God, this was all his fault. He ripped the helmet off, leaving it perched on the bike and was moving off it before it had even fully stopped, not caring about any danger there was to that, not caring that he wasn't invulnerable. He barely even registered Theo's words, calling after him. "I'm looking for Inara Aria," he said as he got to the front desk, "I'm his brother." He stressed the word because he knew if Inara was bad - God, please don't let him be bad - that immediate family would still be likely to be allowed visitation. By the time he got the room, Theo was there. He registered his own hand grabbed, registered Theo's warmth, registered that his own body was shaking. He knew he should have felt comfort when Theo informed him they weren't heading to the ICU, but all he could think about was how this was his fault. He knocked on the room door even though all he wanted was to open it himself and check on his brother. He startled for a moment when it was opened and it was most definitely not either of his parents or one of his other brothers - his mind reminded him that they were still on their way though he couldn't recall where he'd gotten the information from; he assumed Theo had taken care of contacting them. It took him a moment to recognize the other man. They'd met briefly before and he simply knew him as Andy, Inara's boyfriend. The fact that Andy wasn't in a bed told him that he hadn't been at Inara's when the bomb went off. Something flashed across Ardeshir's face - brief but noticeable if one were to look. It was pained, agonized. His brother had been hurt and he hadn't even been the first to arrive. He hadn't been the one to find Inara, to call 911, to get him help. What good was he to his family if he couldn't protect them? He barely registered Theo's words, his hand no longer grasped, that warmth sucked away as quickly as it had come. Without a word, he moved to push past Andy and get into the room. His breath hitched, his throat feeling constricted when he saw his older brother. His fault. Ardeshir was quickly at the bed's side, a shaking hand reaching to gently grasp Inara's. His eyes stung. He opened his mouth to talk, to apologize, to say anything but his words sputtered, his breath rattled and all he could do was hang his head, his shoulders slumping, his forehead resting against the hand he desperately clasped in his own.

... take me to your only garden, i wanna see the world you found. just sit me underneath the trees, i wanna see what you believe ... selene @inara outfit 724 words I assumed Inara was next to post, lemme know if I assumed wrong LOL.

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Andrew's eyes flashed with fear and hurt; his expression soured in a kind of very intimate pain. They'd not been dating too terribly long, and Inara realized he'd not seen his boyfriend grappling with emotional hardships in their time together. Seeing the helplessness and conflict in Andy drove a lance of the same emotion through Inara. And he was the cause of Andrew's quiet panic and heartache, and there was nothing he could do about it. Inara was trying to form words when Andrew pushed on, scorning him for playing tough. He said how he'd been the one with Inara since the explosion. First, Inara suffered another sharp pang in his chest. He imagined, briefly and terrifyingly, what it would be like if their places were reversed, and his soul thrashed like a skewered creature. Through the haze rolling along Inara's thoughts, something emerged just when Andy reluctantly got up to see who was at the door. Andrew'd been the first one there, he'd said as much. Inara couldn't resist the automatic series of thoughts that that gave way to. If Andrew had been there- If he'd been in the explosion- What if Inara wouldn't have been able to protect him? What if Andy had gotten hurt or worse? What if-? But Inara couldn't bear to think any further. If he was any less tired, tears would've welled in his eyes, but it was a blessing on all sides that the ducts couldn't manage to work. Inara's whole body was shredded in a numb, cold, terrified horror. That would have to wait. Andrew had answered the door and Ardeshir stood in it. Inara loved all of his brothers equally and differently, but he and Ardeshir always had a kind of rapport and understanding, probably because their more similarities. Just like Arnim and Ashem had theirs. And it wouldn't have taken an older sibling half as insightful and attentive as Inara to notice just how distraught Ardeshir was. The younger Aria moved wordlessly into the room past Andrew to stop at Inara's bed and take his hand. The cocktail of emotions rose like fumes from Ardeshir, who bowed his head to Inara's head and began shuddering. "Hey," Inara interrupted. Switching into big brother mode was as easy as breathing and a welcome distraction from the unique kind of self-harm he'd just been going through, imagining what-if's about Andy and the explosion. "I'm not dying. Or dead. Just a concussion and some scrapes. 'Kay?" Inara reached over with the hand not being held captive and ruffled Ardeshir's hair affectionately, gritting his mental teeth against the hollow fatigue filling his bones and how much harder that simple movement was to do.

. . . Babe, there's something tragic about you, Something so magic about you, Don't you agree? . . . eos @andy

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[attr="class","lyr1"]cause andy

[attr="class","lyr2"]you're a

[attr="class","lyr3"]⋆

[attr="class","lyr4"] star, in nobody's

[attr="class","lyr5"]★

[attr="class","lyr6"]eyes but

[attr="class","lyr2"]mine

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tag: @theo (or @selene ) // wordcount: 365

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As Ardeshir moved into the room, Andy stepped back and out of his way, allowing the two brothers to reunite. He held his tongue, thoughts about drifting back over to one of the seats at Inara's bedside crossed his mind, and only then did the wave of exhaustion hit him. It was slow at first, and then a raging tsunami of fatigue penetrated his skin and bones and he moved out into the hallway to give Inara and Ardeshir a moment alone. He did his best to contain it a little bit on his way out, but if some clues he was tired slipped through, he hoped they would be lost in the distraction Ardeshir provided for him. As his back his to wall, he slumped down out of view, allowing the exhaustion to move over him without fear of Inara seeing it.[break][break]
He stewed on his emotions for a minute as he collected in a puddle against the hospital wall, feeling the terror begin to recede momentarily, giving him just enough time to start formulating a plan. Inara's apartment was...gone. At least, mostly. It hit him with a certain sadness, mourning for his boyfriend's things, desiring to fix it best as he could. He glanced to the side, noting the other man there who he assumed to be Ardeshir's boyfriend. He gave an weak friendly wave, working in his mind the logistics of moving Inara into his own apartment and trying to stifle the worry that his boyfriend wouldn't accept his offer.[break][break]
Realizing his lack of conversation could be seen as rude, the well-mannered part of him faught tooth and nail through the other fragments of his nerves and emotions, bubbling up in the form of a short greeting. "Hi, sorry. Just a little overwhelmed right now. I'm Andy." His voice came out a little hoarse, and his throat was tight with unfelled tears. He ran a hand through his hair, doing what he could to collect himself once more. Shakily, he got to his feet once more and mimicked the other man, pressing his back against the pale wall of the hospital, struggling to not just sink down to his feet once more.

[attr="class","boxo-notes"]he tired

KAY

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