A few hours passed, but De’Tearion had yet to wake. Instead, his condition seemed to be slowly worsening. His sickly pale skin was a few shades worse, his breathing was irregular, and his heartbeat was rapid. He also was far colder to the touch than his normal coolness.
Jackie wakes up slowly, looking over at De'Tearion.
Slowly, she sits back up and reaches over, noting how much paler his skin looked.
She feels his forehead and winces; he was practically freezing.
"Gods dammit. . ."
De’Tearion didn’t wake at Jackie’s touch, but he did noticeably flinch. His fingers flexed, and one of his legs bent slightly, his toes dragging on the floor and carving two shallow grooves.
Jaackie jerks her hand back, startled, her hair poofing out slightly.
Slowly, she calms down again, and sighs.
"How am I supposed to keep him alive? I know he drinks blood, so maybe that'll help. . ." she murmurs.
she looks around for a moment to find her weapons and armor. She straps everything on, once again armed to the teeth, and goes out to hunt.
She returns with a brace of rabbits and a deer.
She drains the blood from each with a simple device, and then places one of the bottles to De'Tearion's lips.
While Jackie was gone, De’Tearion was slowly starting to stir. It wasn’t enough to fully awaken, but he was partially aware of his surroundings. When she came back, he smelled the fresh meat, then the blood. That eased him closer to consciousness.
Then, when the blood approached him, and a bottle rested against his lips, it was enough to finally break him out of the depths of his deep sleep. De’Tearion’s eyes slowly flickered open, and his hand grabbed the bottle, his thumb blocking the top before Jackie could pour any of the blood into his mouth.
The glow in his eyes was dim, far more than it had ever been since before De’Tearion and Jackie had met. It allowed the ‘true’ indigo color of his eyes to show a bit, but in a way that was alarming, since he was clearly very ill.
His worsening health was also obvious by the way he held the bottle. His grip wasn’t very strong and his hand shook slightly, and the bottle would normally be nothing for him to hold.
De’Tearion breathed deeply and gently moved aside the bottle without taking it from Jackie. He then sat up slowly, his arms visibly shaking. Nausea crept up on him and De’Tearion took a few more deep breaths. It, unfortunately, didn’t help at all, and De’Tearion teleported out of sight.
Without even realizing it, De’Tearion had appeared outside of Jackie’s home, barely twenty feet away from the front door. And there, the exertion from teleporting proved to be the last straw, and he vomited blood. The fit lasted a few minutes, leaving him in an agonized daze, his abdomen practically burning with pain.
De’Tearion had just enough energy to wipe his lips and crawl a bit away from the large, black puddle he’d left, before he collapsed into a true coma.
(Once again, yes, I’ve written this before, lol)
(Tiny bump)
(I know, I'm trying to remember how to take care of comatose people)
(Ah, I understand. Well… to make it easier for you, I was thinking De’Tearion would be out for three days [for ‘plot’ reasons, sly grin]. And, basically, Jackie wouldn’t necessarily be able to do much. He’ll be completely unresponsive, and it’s also extremely difficult to manually feed him, since he’s built with a hidden insectile mouth. [I’m still working on the rest of his digestive system though, to be honest]. So, more or less, Jackie would just be waiting for him to awaken once she’s figured out he’s in a coma, because I can’t think of anything else for Jackie to do, lol)
(Possibly, though three days, when he's in as bad of a condition as he's in? He might actually die- and that would be bad news bears, indeed. She could at least try to give him water [though how, I'm not entirely sure yet] and that could be the most she does. Sound like a plan?)
(Sly grin. He’s not yet that close to dying. The ‘fit’ he had is a sort of biological last resort thing to keep his body stable [I’ll let De’Tearion explain more]. After the three days, he’ll basically be at death’s door, where, if he doesn’t eat something substantial to stabilize him, then he’ll die in a few more days. Also, De’Tearion can’t have water, lol. He can only have blood and meat [think vampire, lol]. But, otherwise, I’m honestly not sure either how Jackie could keep him hydrated. Though, now that I’m finally thinking of it… heat does play a huge part in his biology, so that could be what Jackie can do. Since De’Tearion’s body temp is way low, she could basically work on keeping him warm, bundling him up in blankets and all that)
(I laugh, thinking Wow. You've really thought of everything, haven't you? So, only meat and blood. Purely a carnivore. I pause, eyes narrowing in thought Well. . . that certainly helps. Jackie, being my special version of catfolk, has a form she can take, about the size of a large bobcat [roughly 5 1/2 feet, which is considerably smaller than any other catfolk's cat form {a normal female catfolk stands at about 7'6", with the female catform being 8'} but a foot bigger than a normal bobcat] Since Jackie herself is so small, this is actually a pretty accurate size differnce in her two forms. And, on top of that, the average body heat of the catfolk species in my world is around 105°F, so they're the second of my warmest species, the top warmest being the Emijet Clan of my Ascended race. A peculair genetic trait of catfolk runts is that they actually have a considerably higher body temperature, at roughly 115°F, so Jackie, in that regard, is well above average.)
Jackie thinks for a moment, wondering if De'Tearion had the strength to even get back to his house.
Probably not, she decided, stepping outside.
20-ish feet away from her door was De'Tearion.
She sighs. She hadn't taken off her armor, which was lucky, since she needed it to get De'Tearion back in the house.
After she gets him in, noting that his cold temperature didn't seem to be helping, she gets him close to the fire, her stew long forgotten.
Thinking for a moment, she strips down, then shifts to her cat form, a bobcat now standing next to De'Tearion's prone body. She gently drapes her body across his, and lays her head down on his chest, doing her best to get his body temperature up.
(Lmao, biology is my favorite science, so yeah. And, yeah, his kin are one of several carnivores, and my ‘vampiric’ race, lol)
(Nice! I hadn’t realized Jackie was a shapeshifter too, lol)
(Ooh… cool)
***
De’Tearion didn’t wake or even react to Jackie picking him up and moving him. He also seemed colder than before.
When Jackie set him next to the fire, it seemed to stabilize his temperature a bit. Then, when she laid on him, it further helped and he started to very slowly warm back up. His breathing, which steadied as he warmed up, seemed unfazed by Jackie’s weight.
(Lol, I can tell)
(It's a particular thing of the catfolk in my world. Few other races in their universe have the ability to shift)
Jackie starts purring, an instinct to try and help heal De'Tearion.
She could tell the heat was helping, so she smiles a little.
(Cool. Most of my races are shapeshifters, lol)
De’Tearion still didn’t respond, but, the purr seemed to help in a way. Mainly, it calmed his heartbeat a bit, as if soothing him despite his comatose state.
He continued to warm up slowly over the next few hours, but he otherwise remained asleep. He was still most certainly ill, but the warmth from Jackie seemed to keep it at bay.
(You want to do a time skip eventually, to when he wakes, just for simplicity’s sake?)
(Also, my phone’s about to die, so if I vanish, you know why, lol)
(Lol)
Jackie eventually falls asleep on De'Tearion, her cat form staying in place.
She's still purring, though. A simple noise, a simple repetitive thing.
(Yeah. It'll be funny to see his reaction to having a big ass cat on his chest XD )
(Okay, that's cool)
Three days later, De’Tearion finally stirred. With Jackie keeping him warm, he had stabilized somewhat during his coma, so he wasn’t as dangerously pale or cold. Though, he was still quite haggard, and he’d also developed white streaks in his hair.
His eyes slowly opened and he glanced around, a bit lost until he remembered where he was. He then started to shift, wanting to roll onto his side. Unfortunately, he had something on top of him blocking his way.
His eyes narrowed slightly and he lifted himself onto an elbow. On his chest lay a large feline. He rose an eyebrow in sheer confusion, not remembering Jackie having a cat, and one this big. After a moment, he sniffed the air to pinpoint where Jackie was, and he realized that the feline was Jackie.
“Mercy have me,”he said in his native language of chirps and clicks.
De’Tearion then settled back down, taking a deep breath and trying to ignore the lingering pain from his recent incident.
(Lol!)
Jackie mrrrps? inquisitively as De'Tearion starts to shift.
For the majority of the 3 days the large man had been unconscious, she'd slept and kept the fire blazing.
Even now, she layed on him, asleep, the fire having been recently stoked.
But after a bit, Jackie raises her head, blinking her eyes open slowly.
Mrrw! she shirps, looking happy.
(Lol. Also, if you couldn't tell, I'm drawing heavy impsiration from my little shitheads at home XD )
De’Tearion heard Jackie’s noises, but ignored them. Being as unfamiliar with cats as he was, he didn’t know what she meant anyway.
As minutes passed, he fought the growing drowsiness in him. He needed to stay awake. That much was clear. If he slept, he died. But, he needed the cat to move as well, because she was making him drowsy. First things first though, he needed context, so he had a better idea of how ill he was.
“Jackie, how long have I been unconscious? And, would you move, I beg,”he croaked.
(I noticed, lol. I have my own little shitheads that inspire me, grin)
Jackie sighs, and shifts back to human, not paying much attention to the fact that she had no clothes on.
"3 days." she sighs, standing up.
"You probably need meat, so I'll go hunting."
(Lol, that's very fair- I only have two, though)
De’Tearion was unfazed by the change in weight when Jackie morphed. Though, when she stood, a part of him was saddened. On impulse, he lifted a hand so that it brushed her calf as she walked away. It was a soothing touch to him, and one he needed as Jackie headed off.
He didn’t say anything in reply to Jackie’s words, instead just watching her and nodding when she mentioned meat. What else could he do? Explain that he’d suffered this before, twice? That would only make things worse, and De’Tearion just wanted a moment of peace. Unfortunately, he didn’t want to spend that moment alone, but Jackie had volunteered to hunt for him, and he needed sustenance more than company.
(Lol… looks toward the nine watching cats in the distance… I’m doomed. Snickers)
Jackie pulls on clothes, then her armor, strapping on all her weapons.
She turns back to De'Tearion, considering.
She walks over and kisses his forehead, smiles slightly, then taps her heels together, vanishing.
(I look as well, and grin 9 of 'em, huh? Must get pretty damn hectic)
De’Tearion fully sat up as Jackie dressed, and avoided looking at her so she’d have adequate privacy. He was staring into the fire, brooding on his health and past, so he didn’t even notice when Jackie approached.
Her kiss startled him and he flinched away, confused. Her smile relaxed him a bit, but he was still completely bewildered. When she vanished, it ripped him apart.
For some strange reason, De’Tearion couldn’t help but remember Mina. The many times he’d kissed her on the forehead. The many times he’d kissed her. She had meant everything to him. She had become his life. And… now, he was roaming lost, with a catfolk woman tending to him.
That part reminded him of an old friend, a sorceress that had healed him and guided him along the first steps to get out of the maelstrom caused by Agatha’s death. She had moved away eventually, and De’Tearion missed her as well.
With Jackie… it was like both of them were combined. The care of a healer combined with the tenderness of a compassionate woman. And more, a woman that was broken like he was. Mina was a princess, pampered from birth, and gentle at heart. But, she hadn’t been broken. Not even the sorceress had been, though, she had known a troubling life.
They had only understood some of his pain. Jackie… understood far more. It frightened and relieved him at the same time. It also brought him to tears. He curled up into a ball, tucking his face into his knees as he cried.
(You have no idea, lmao!)
Jackie returns after a few hours, a young buck slung over her shoulders.
It was still warm, still breathing, but half-dead.
She slings it in front of De'Tearion, who was still curled up, and had signs of having cried in the times she was gone.
"Hey, Tearion. I got you food."
(4 is a nightmare. Hell, two is a nightmare. But 9? Yeah, everything would be torn up within a week XD )
De’Tearion lifted his head slightly, glancing around when he smelled a deer. It wasn’t his first choice for a proper meal, but he doubted Jackie would appreciate his request for a human victim.
After a moment of absently watching, he wiped off his face of his dried, flaking tears. Though, he stopped when she spoke.
“I beg, stop calling me that. I prefer being called ‘De’Tearion’,”he said softly, lifting his head fully.
He gazed at her with sad eyes.
He made no move for the deer, despite the obvious pain he was in.
(2 and 4 are amateur numbers, lmao! But, yeah, it is never a dull moment with these psychotic furballs, lol)
Jackie immediately takes note of this.
"As you wish," she replies, holding De'Tearion's gaze for a moment before looking away.
She now notes how he doesn't make a move for the deer, looking at him.
"What's wrong?" she murmurs.
(Lol, I bet it isn't)