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Post by Aiden King on Dec 25, 2010 0:44:40 GMT -5
If any sane person were to enter the alley that night, they'd immediately back out as soon as the first crate was hurled their way. As a matter of fact, most of the crates were being smashed, as well as any ornamentation the Ookami clan had put up over the years. In the middle of the debris was a twitching giant of a man with a slipping grasp on his sanity. Most of the Clans knew him as Aiden King, those who didn't knew of him as 'that scary-as-hell bastard that beat up my friend.'
He was breathing heavily, the pants interspersed with insane laughter that was much much louder than it should have been. The Ookami was bound to draw attention to himself.
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Post by locke on Dec 25, 2010 1:10:41 GMT -5
Locke swooped down from a nearby rooftop and landed behind a figure she recognized as Aiden. For some reason, he was indiscriminately destroying things like some sort of mix between a hedgehog and a wolf, and he looked like he was enjoying himself a bit too much.
"Oy!" called the albino sharply. She was just a hair's breadth away from charging her companion and restraining him, but with Aiden, reason should come first. No need to start a fight if the giant Ookami was mad...
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Post by Aiden King on Dec 25, 2010 1:21:35 GMT -5
Aiden whirled around, chucking a hunk of wood up at the intruder. "A little albatross, fly away birdy! Fly away! Flap flap whoosh!" A laugh, arms limp at his sides, his posture tilted and bent. "I wonder if your blood is red or white? I'll find out if you come down!" He cackled, his attention quickly moved from Locke back to the few remaining items in the alleyway.
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Post by locke on Dec 25, 2010 1:38:56 GMT -5
Locke wasn't quite sure if it was because Aiden was slow, or because he was either drunk or insane, but the attack was so easty to deflect that it was bordering on pathetic. A simple pivoting midair kick smashed the chunk of wood to splinters as the albino finished her descent and came to a stop in front of her sparring partner.
"An albatross, am I?" she huffed, hands on her hips. "Was that your way of calling me fat? I'll have you know, it's all muscle keeping these curves up." Locke wasn't sure why she was bothering to engage in banter with Aiden while he was in this state. Maybe it was her way of hoping that hearing a familiar voice would bring the Ookami back to his senses.
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Post by Aiden King on Dec 25, 2010 2:04:18 GMT -5
Aiden hummed, and shook his head, hand and grin twitching out of sync with each other. "No no no. No meany-mean words Locke. Nu-uh. If you do papa'll get mad and he gets scary when he's mad and then you gotta hide and run and palaver with mousies and if he finds you then you hurt hurt hurt." He was babbling, his senses not working as well as they should have been. "And then the kitty eats the mousies and there's bloody-blood everywhere like mama and it's all squishy." He shuddered, entire body trembling.
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Post by locke on Dec 25, 2010 2:10:28 GMT -5
Locke was about to take a step back when she realized that maybe reasoning could be possible. Now that she was here, Aiden seemed to have calmed down a bit. He was still speaking in disturbing nutter-babble, but he wasn't throwing things.
"Aiden, no mean words, I promise," said the albino in her gentlest voice as she stepped slowly forward. "No blood, okay? Just come with me and get some rest. It looks like you haven't had a wink in days." At this point, she wasn't so much worried for herself as she was for Aiden. Locke made a mental note to find out what caused this later.
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Post by Aiden King on Dec 25, 2010 2:27:57 GMT -5
"NO!" Aiden yelled backing up. "Mama'll be there, mama'll be there and ripped open and gushing and sticky-squishy and no no no no no." He shook his head harder. "And papa took away all the rest of her, where'd she go Locke? Why'd papa take her and every littler-her pictures and treat Jack all nice when I get hit? Jack's better, yep yep yep. Can't hurt Jack, he's just like mama, can't let it die again." He started humming again, louder this time.
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Post by locke on Dec 25, 2010 2:37:45 GMT -5
Locke took another tentative step forward and held out her arms, as if ready to embrace Aiden.
"Nothing bad will happen, dear," she coaxed. "It was your mother's time, but you don't have to relive that anymore. Just come here and I'll take care of you." The albino made sure to stay alert, in case Aiden tried any more attacks. The way he was acting, he'd be easy to restrain, though.
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Post by Aiden King on Dec 25, 2010 2:53:43 GMT -5
Aiden found his back pressed against the wall and slid down, curling up into a ball like he had done when he was little, trembling violently. "You can't take mama away, you're lying. Everyone lies to me. You and Jack and papa and the doctors and the mousies and nobody talks nice to me and I wanna go back home but home's gone 'cause mama's gone and fading into gray and black and white and red like zebras in the newspaper like the joke I learned way way way long ago." He hugged his knees tighter to his chest. "Wasn't funny, not hahas or chuckly-chuckles just papa glaring all mean and nasty and hurting."
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Post by locke on Dec 25, 2010 3:01:55 GMT -5
Locke's movements became a bit quicker as she knelt beside Aiden and placed a hand on his shoulder. Clearly, he wasn't going to attack right now, so this was her chance to calm him down.
"I talk kindly to you," offered the albino. As an afterthought, she giggled a little at the zebra joke. "Home is where your heart is, right? Well, where's your heart, dear?" It was almost too hard to admit, but Locke cared far too much about the Ookami to let him slip away like this. It just wasn't right for such a mighty warrior (even one with such a loose sense of honor) to be reduced to a blubbering, blathering dope.
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Post by Aiden King on Dec 25, 2010 14:07:35 GMT -5
Aiden nodded to the first question though the second question prompted a different reaction. His hands moved to claw at his ears and the hair and flesh above them, drawing blood. "It's gonna stop ticking, Locke. My heart hurts real bad and I'm scared it's gonna stop the ticking-tocking and then I'll get all bloody and torn open like mama. I don't wanna die Locke, I dun wanna die." The shaking seemed to be a constant. Aiden felt like was going to throw up and he probably would have if he had eaten anything that day.
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Post by locke on Dec 25, 2010 21:27:14 GMT -5
In a panic, Locke reached out and seized Aiden's hands to keep him from destroying his cranium anymore. Seeing blood in a fight was one thing, but to the albino, self-mutilation was just disturbing. She knelt there, holding the Ookami's hands between her own and making soft shushing sounds to try and calm him down.
"You're not going to die," said Locke, her voice conveying that it was in no way an empty promise. The only part she left out was 'not here, and not by anyone's hand but my own'. Aiden couldn't just kick the bucket like that. No, he had to go down fighting like a true warrior. "No one's tearing you open, and your heart's fine." Now that was an empty statement. For all the Tora knew, Aiden could be on the brink of a heart attack. THe best thing to do was to keep him calm. "Come on, Aiden. Let's get you somewhere safe, okay?"
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Post by Aiden King on Dec 25, 2010 22:10:23 GMT -5
The shushing noises seemed to help calm him, and at Locke's suggestion he gave a nod and clutched at her hands. He needed an anchor, something, anything to keep him from drifting away. He kept his mouth shut though, he didn't want to make Locke go away by saying something or creeping her out. He waited for some form of direction, not entirely able to decide much of anything right now.
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Post by locke on Dec 25, 2010 22:32:30 GMT -5
Locke squeezed Aiden's hands and smiled at him, glad that he was at least coming to some sort of sense.
"That's a good boy," encouraged the albino. She would have tried something a little more intelligent, but this didn't appear to be the Aiden who spoke more with his fists than with his mouth. Locke stood up, keeping hold of Aiden's hands and gently tugging on them to let the Ookami know that she wanted him to follow. "Do you want to come to my house and stay with me for awhile?" asked the Tora. Maybe if he calmed down enough, Aiden would snap out of it and just go back to where he normally slept, but Locke wouldn't mind letting him use her spare bedroom for a day or two until he was stable.
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Post by Aiden King on Dec 25, 2010 23:00:50 GMT -5
Aiden nodded again, feeling the blood trickling slowly down the sides of his head. He didn't wanna be alone right now, and his dad was home and that would only make it worse. Aside from that, he didn't know if his dad knew about... well, this. And then there was little Gir to think about. The mouse didn't need to see Aiden this way, no not at all.
He let Locke lead him away, kind of glad to leave the alley behind with the monsters in the shadows. He kept a firm grip on Locke's hand, it was the only way he knew which direction to go because while he was looking ahead he wasn't really seeing anything.
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