(Basically add this onto my previous post)
Atticus stuck himself further out of the tree, ready to run to Avery's aid if need be. He has finally stopped biting his hand and instead had it propped up against the tree trunk. He barely even noticed the figure sneaking up from around the tree until it was too late. Hands flashed out, getting him quickly into a choke hold with one arm, while the onther hand seemed to hold a gun. Atticus let out a garbled screech as he was dragged the rest of the way out of the tree and onto open ground. He was being lifted up so much that his toes were barely touching the ground and his hands tried desperately to pull at the arm holding him, trying to get some air. He tried to beat the man off of him with his wings, but the cloak hindered his movements enough to make his wings useless. The man kept an iron-tight grip around Atticus as he raised his gun to the sky and shot, getting Avery's attention and signaling to other hunters that he found something. The tall, burly man started at Avery coldly, seeming to not even notice Atticus's struggling, and seemed to also not register any of Avery's noises.
"Atticus!" Avery screeched, disposing of the first man and rushing over to where Atticus was being held. He had a dangerous glint in his eyes, that glint was probably not a good thing and definitely wasn't foreshadowing on Avery's backstory… "LEt gO Of Him" He growled to the man who had taken Angel Boy.
As soon as Avery began to approach him, the man turned his gun on Atticus, holding it firmly against the side of the boy's head. Fear became evident on Atticus's face, which turned to him attempting a reassuring smile to Avery as tears began to prick the corner of his eyes.
Meanwhile, the man began to speak rather loudly to Avery.
"Been warned about you, ya siren freak! Made sure to take my industrial earplugs with me on this trip! Though, this guy is a bit of a surprise." The man jostled Atticus like a toy when he mentioned the boy, making the fallen angel cry out in pain.
"Thought we had already killed him with specialized poison bullets dedicated to his failed kind. Good thing I made sure to still bring them with me." The man seemed to boast too much, either to buy time or to bluff about his situation to Avery.
"I could care less what happens to this fella, but we need you alive. So here's a deal: come with us peacefully–without fighting or protesting–and Angel boy here gets to live. If you fight at any point, I'm gonna pull the trigger on him." His voice raised as he proposed the deal, and to make the situation more serious to Avery, turned the safety off of his gun and forced it so hard agaist Atticus's head that he made a circle indent on the side of his head which started to slowly trickle blood down his cheek and jaw before dripping onto the forest floor below.
Avery thought about it for a moment, finally saying. "Okay, just let him go." His voice was quiet as he looked down at his hands, they were growing into clawlike things as he grew more and more stressed with the current situation. Let me take over Avery, you dont want to lose him like you lost Angel A voice Avery was all to familer with hissed in his head.
(Feel free to take control of the hunters at any time if you want to for an idea)
The man smirked as Avery gave in and raised his gun to the sky to shoot once more as the growl of more vehicles approached. Two quickly pulled up and more hunters unloaded from the vans. Hunters lined up in a half-circle, keeping their guns trained on Avery. One vehicle opened its back up and a few hunters dragged out chains and a muzzle for Avery. Half of them were wearing headphones while the other half wore earplugs. The capture crew slowly neared Avery with the restraints and to make a point, the man threw Atticus onto the ground and stradled the boy to keep him pinned down along with pressing down on the boy's neck with his free hand. Atticus fought to lift his head up to stare at the siren before suddenly calling out to him.
"Don't do this! Please! Fight back, Avery!" His voice cracked as his face was shoved into the ground by the man. The large hunter leaned down to whisper harshly a few words into Atticus's ear before looking back up at Avery and pointing his gun at the back of the boy's head. The words the man told him: I was bluffing about the bullets rang in Atticus's head.
"CLOSE YOUR EYES!" And in a last ditch effort to help Avery, Atticus let out a burst of blinding holy light from his horns, effectively finally splitting the cirlce-horns in half as the broken middle crumbled away.
Avery shut his eyes tightly, turning to the man who held Atticus he raced towards them as silent as the night. I will not lose my friend! He thought as he viciously slashed at the hunter leaving deep and bloody gashes, the good thing about his claws was the lionfish poison in them. The man yelled in pain, letting Atticus go as he clawed at his face and tried to get the poison away from him. "Its nOt thAt EAsy yOU sEE." Avery laughed, the sound was enough for him to use as a bomb and exploding the other hunters in a splattering of blood and bursted internal organs.
Atticus quickly rolled out from under the man as several gunshots went off before utter silence with the man writhing in pain from the poison. "Damn you… freak!" He fired his last four shots, one towards Avery, two in the direction Atticus rolled, and the last one for himself as the poison and the pain were slowly driving him insane.
The forest echoed with deadly stillness. Atticus was making no movement to get up, even as the hum of more vehicles started to move towards them. "Avery…" Atticus called out softly for his siren.
"I'm here Angel boy, we need to get away. Can you stand?" He asks quietly, making his way over to the angel. He could probably kill the other hunters, but his main priority was making sure his Angel was safe and sound.
"Y-yes…" the cloak bundled around Atticus's side was slowly becoming dark and wet with blood. He slowly pushed himself up, staggering to his feet before swaying to turn and look at Avery. Half of his face was covered in blood that was pouring down from a bullet exit wound right above his eyebrow. He tried to blink the blood out of his eye to see and attempted a few steps in Avery's direction before faltering.
Avery pursed his lips and scrunched his nose. "This may feel a bit weird… but I need you to hold still, very still." He instructs, concentrating for a moment then a strange pressure built up in the air. The strange pressure lifted Atticus up and stopped the blood. "I'm going to move you and hopefully get to a pocket dimension for a bit till the hunters leave."
"O-okay…" Atticus stood as still as possible and trusted himself with Avery. A headache begin to arise in him as he was already starting to slowly regenerate, however, it was rather painful for him now he isn't a true angel. "Are you sure…?" He blinked and clenched his jaw, trying not to cry out or move. He was still effectively immortal, though if he was injected with an anti-heal serum or have his head chopped off or his heart ripped out, he would die. If that bullet have been covered in anti-heal, Atticus would be brain dead by now. Instead, he has to deal with his distressing healing method.
"Okay. Fair warning, when we arrive I'm going to be out of consciences for a few minutes." He says, the pressure grew stronger till finally, it stops. Leaving an eerie silence before a loud bang only Atticus and Avery could hear and a flash of darkness, them reappearing in a white room with white couches and a small white kitchen.
Atticus blinked several times, his eyes slowly getting used to the white room. His ears were ringing from the loud bang and his headache was certainly not helping. His pain has spread from his head to his side, causing him to curl up in pain from muscle, bone, and sinew being brought together again after being ripped apart from the bullets. He could feel tears traveling down his face and onto the floor he was laying on. The only noise he made was a small whimper every so often as his only consolation is the knowledge that the pain was from healing.
Avery slumped to the ground, his skin an ashy white and his eyes rolled back in their sockets. He slipped into a sort of dream, one where he could see what was going on in the outside world but couldn't influence anything. He saw the hunters shaking their heads at the man who had held Atticus who was now dead. That's what he gets for touching my angel boy
The major healing is almost over. The pain is almost over, Atticus coaxed himself on as the pain became nearly unbearable as fragmented peices of skull welded itself shut again. His side healed faster, though in the end both wounds would leave massive scars on his body from using his quick regeneration ability. Eventually, he was able to slowly sit up and spot Avery's unconscious body. He carefully made his way over to the siren–his siren–and gently brushed stray locks of hair out of his face. "I know you probably can't hear me, but… This is twice now I owe you my life. You've been so nice to me, and I've been nothing but a burden to you. I'm so sorry…" his own voice was making his head pound, but he continued. "And yet I'm so grateful to have met you, Avery. Thank you. I don't know how to pay you back, but I guess this is a start…" Atticus leaned his face close to Avery's, but hesitated before gently placing a soft kiss on Avery's cheek. He then slowly pulled himself away to go clean up himself and his bloody mess. One less thing to burden him, the better.
Awwwwwww, My aromantic ass has no clue how to respond to this!//
(Lmao xD if it helps just think of it as a platonic kiss or it didn't happen at all if that makes you more comfortable. If not then idk man my only other idea at the moment is Avery waking up and reaching out to grab atticus and drag him back to either explain himself or confess but idk. There are more options but those are the ones in my brain atm)
Avery feels something near to him and immediately pulls it closer to him. He has almost no control of himself when he is asleep and often hugs anything close to him while unconscious.
Atticus let out a small squeak as Avery pulled him closer and into an embrace. "A-Avery?" Atticus looked up for any sign of the siren being conscious and found none. He couldn't really struggle, and didn't want to either. Instead, he let out a small sigh as he moved closer, wrapping his arms around Avery and nuzzling his face against the guy's chest. He closed his eyes, relaxing into the hold and taking in Avery's calming scent. "Thank you…" he breathed out gently, even though Avery probably couldn't hear him.
Avery murmured something in his sleep, it was quiet and hard to catch but it sounded like… "Thanks, Atti." Of course, I could be totally wrong after all, Avery is asleep who knows what he's saying.
(yes Duskie you did great)
YAY I DESERVE A COOKIE!!//
Stuffs face with cookies//
(yes. cookies are good, especially when warm)
"Don't thank me… you're the hero, Avery…" Atticus murmured in response as he slowly drifted in and out of consciousness before finally dozing off in Avery's arms. He finally felt safe, at least for now as he was safely cradled against the siren.
