Autumn Twilight

Twilight sighed. An eventful night indeed, nothing really seemed to be going right. It didn't take long for him to see the blood dripping from Amber's arm in the dark with night vision and all. He stared at the wound in shock, but a weird kind of shock that only a Twilight would display. 

She had to have felt that, right? He looked back up at her, and then back at the wound. "... Well." He started, looking back at her quickly then back at the wound. "That might be a problem."

The suspicious shifts of his gaze were just tpp noticeable. So she moved her line of sight to where he looked, and practically flinched in surprise to see the wound. She could see her arm tremble. A certain dread filled her stomach as she lift her other hand and took hold of the piece. That trembled too. The wolf's eyes were as wide as plates, thoughts of infection and loose splinters filled her mind. She couldn't possibly stroll into a hospital to get it cleaned, yet she didn't have the necessary skills to do it herself.

But with a clean yank she pulled it out.

A small, muffled grunt left her throat, despite feeling no pain. Suddenly her arm was as limp as a noodle. The piece of bark was dropped to the ground, and she sat herself against a tree, her tail curling tightly around her form. She stared at the wound in alarm. She'd always been so careful... So careful. Why did that change now? Of all times? Shakily ripping a part of her scarf, she wrapped it tightly around the wound, just to make sure she wouldn't lose too much blood.

Twilight crossed his arms. "Somehow, I don't think that's going to cut it." He closely observed the blood, and the piece of scarf tied around the wound. He then walked a little closer and looked at the charred bark which was now covered in blood after having been yanked out of Amber's arm. He kicked the bark away, it didn't go very far, and looked back at Amber. 

He looked her pretty much directly in the eyes, even if she hadn't been looking back. "You should probably go get that checked out. You know. By someone who's trained to do that kind of thing." He suggested. "I mean, that someone wouldn't be me. I have no idea. Mobian physiology baffles me." He stepped back, real far back, enough to give her a lot of space as he didn't like standing too close either. "Or... Whatever."

A somewhat annoyed look crossed the wolf's face when she heard what Twilight said. But she knew he was right, and she didn't like knowing that he was right. Come on, she was panicked enough already. She could feel his eyes on her arm and that only made her clutch it, just so he wouldn't see. She didn't like people seeing her vulnerable, and the problem was, she always felt vulnerable around this odd fox. 

And just as oddly, she found herself following his foot's movement as he kicked the bark, and for some reason it distracted her from her current worries. Without even realizing it, her eyes wandered back up to his hypnotizing scarlet eyes. Though it struck a certain fear in her now, she couldn't help but look anyway. So imagine her surprise when he looked back.

Her ears stood straight up stiffly, her body froze up and it remained that way as he talked. Hospitals and clinics kept popping into her head when he did, however. She didn't like them very much either. Aside from that, everything else he said was just a random slur. All she picked up was the sound of his voice.

Amber was snapped back to attention when he took a step back. She blinked her eyes once, and looked back at her wound. "Can't you try?" The words left her mouth without permission, and she seemed surprised at the sound of her own voice.

Twilight perked up at this, though he seemed more annoyed than anything. "W-what did I just say??" He shot back in a rather rude tone. A few moments later and he settled down from his immediate reaction, staring at the ground and fiddling around with pebbles using his tails. He looked back up. She didn't exactly seem comfortable. He narrowed his eyes in an annoyed fashion and turned around, waving his hand forward as he started to walk away.

After a few steps, he stopped and turned back, his bright red eyes meeting her amber eyes again. "What're you waiting for? Come." He said, turning back and continuing his average pace forward. If she followed, he would no doubt lead her to a rather sketchy place- but at the same time he'd be leading her to the only place he knew to go to in times of hardship. It was a place he trusted as good enough for him, for living, for getting help, anything.

In all honesty, Amber hadn't been full prepared for Twilight's sudden, rather rude, and loud reply. The wolf pressed back against the tree in alarm and pressed her ears against her head. But then he immediately settled in an entirely different mood, fiddling with pebbles and looking down. This fox was so odd... Or was he normal and she was the one who was odd because she didn't understand that it was normal?

Ah, interaction was so complicated.

Her ears shot straight back up however, when she noticed Twi getting up and beginning to walk away. The wolf was rather confused on what to do for a moment, brows furrowed slightly in confusion. Sure she'd asked for help, but she didn't think he would actually help her... But then, his voice came again, and it never ceased to startle her. She wondered if he had mind-control powers, because her body automatically got up and followed after this shady stranger.

Ah, to hell with it.

Twilight lead her out of the park and started walking down the city sidewalks. His pace was swift, but not fast enough so that she wouldn't be able to keep up- after all, she was bleeding and all and he tried to account for that. He didn't really understand the whole bleeding thing though, a lot of things about mobians confused him. It was all apart of their biology, he knew that much, but the way their bodies work wasn't interesting to him in the slightest. 

He looked back a few times, turning a few corners as they walked down the long sidewalks, the cool autumn air blowing against them. Soon, he turned into a alleyway. A big wooden door that appeared to be kind of rundown was built near a building, it lead downward- presumably into a cellar. That is, until he opened the door. He jumped down into a small room with a door at the right leading down a narrow hallway. The narrow hallway split into a few other rooms but they weren't visible from here. 

From the hallway, a faded brown lynx dressed in blue stuck his head out from one of the rooms. He looked at Twilight and seemed to nod, before popping his head back inside his own room to do his own thing. Twilight looked up, waiting for Amber to come down into the strange place.

Amber followed behind him like a lost puppy, forgetting for a moment how much her wound was gushing, blood leaking slowly seeping, dripping, down from the cloth that held it. The sharp smell of iron brought her back to her senses, alerted her. Amber didn't want to see how bad it had gotten. She fixed her gaze to Twilight and Twilight alone, watched how he moved, distracted herself. Her eyes would flick up to meet his every time he looked back to check up on her. She wouldn't blame him.

Her steps were silent. Muted. She moved like a ghost through the sidewalks and alleyways. Amber followed him without complaint to what seemed to be a cellar door and halted. Cautious. She watched the fox hop in, move in deeper and tensed as a lynx appeared. Suspicious and alarmed, she waited until the lynx popped his head back in his room before looking at Twilight, who waited for her.

And so she jumped in too.

"He doesn't bite." Twilight mumbled, barely loud enough for her to hear. He flew back up and closed the wooden doors, afterward putting a metal bar in between the handles to prevent anyone else from getting in had they found the place. He flew back down and walked down the narrow hallway, turning the corner and then turning again into another room. It was sparse to say the least. A bed in one corner, an end table next to the bed- though it didn't even have a lamp. It just seemed to hold a medium sized pot with assorted herbs growing in it. There was a closet in the corner, but nothing was in it. The bed was also as bare as it could get without being completely empty. It was covered in plain white sheets and a crimson blanket- a single pillow laid at the end of it. 

"You can sit." He said, pointing to the bed. He walked around Amber and out of the room, and a few minutes later he returned with a first aid kit. It looked pretty standard, the only questionable thing about it being how he got it in the first place. He put it on the end table next to the flower pot and opened it. He looked at it's contents with a confused eye, taking everything out individually and reading labels. He probably didn't know what he was doing.

Quiet. Soft. Yes, this is much better now... Amber reached up to her ears and took the earplugs out one by one, ears twitching as air rushed into it. She gazed at Twilight and watched him bar the entrance. She didn't mind. It made her feel secure at the very least. Her legs moved on its own as Twi began leading her deeper into the establishment, into a room. A quick glance of it brought the question of whether this place was supposed to be a hotel. It seemed comfortable enough for her standards. She's lived in worse places.

Sitting down, Amber let out a breath she didn't know she held. Her body relaxed upon contact of the bed, it felt like sitting on a cloud. She hasn't realized how tired her body truly was. Her amber eyes remained glued on the fox as he brought in a first aid kit. The blood loss was getting to her, and she swayed back and forth without balance. The wolf tried hard to keep her eyes open. But she wasn't afraid. There was someone with her, whom she could say earned her trust. And if she died, well, at least someone knew she did.

Twilight picked up a cloth last and looked at the cloth tied around Amber's arm. "Okay, um." He moved a hand to remove the cloth covering the wound. He hesitated. Physical contact wasn't exactly his thing, only really when it was out of violence. But this time, it wasn't an act of violence he was committing- no, this was gentler. Though that was obvious, it made him feel awkward nonetheless. He seemed to move considerably faster after considering the awkwardness, cleaning the wound as best he could. He sucked air through his teeth after seeing it without all the blood covering it. 

He looked at the bottles sitting strewn about the end table and simply reached for the gauze, not knowing what else to do besides covering it up. That he did, and just as quickly as before. It seemed kind of messy when it was done. It didn't seem well done in the slightest, anyhow. After he was finished he put everything way, carrying the first aid kit out of the room. 

Crush raised his head, carrying a tray of food to another room as he saw Twilight walk out with the first aid kit. He stopped in front of Twilight and looked down at the kit, then looked up at him. He looked into the room to see Amber then saw the hastily done bandaging. He gave the tray to Twilight, who took it gladly, and took the first aid kit. Crush walked into the room- the same lynx that poked his head out to see Twilight when they first arrived. He was considerably large, but didn't give off much of a foreboding aura. In fact, he seemed kind of gentle. He walked over to the end table and opened the first aid kit again, looking over at Amber to see if it was okay with her for him to fix the horrible job Twilight did.

Amber bobbed her head up to see Twilight leave, and then turn her head towards the dressed wound. Was it just her or does it look messy? It was probably her. Everything looked blurry right about then. Ears twitching weakly, she swayed from side to side this time, lips pulling into a frown as her scarf fell from her muzzle. She was about ready to go to sleep now...

But then more footsteps entered and Amber forced herself to look. It was the lynx. He didn't seem to be a threat, but Amber was still cautious. She wanted to move away, run, dodge, but her body was so stiff and tired that all she could do was topple over to the side and whimper a wolf-like whine weakly. It sounded like a little puppy calling for help, as if she was searching for Twilight. The wolf was more than wary and frightened to be alone with a stranger, especially in her current condition. But she was too weak to move.

Crush materialized a small knife out of ice, quickly cutting the messy gauze with quick precision so as not to accidentally cut Amber. He then applied some kind of disinfectant, something that Twilight didn't do, and dressed the wound in a more gentle way that looked much neater and probably felt nicer without failing to stop the bleeding. He then stood up and put everything back. He turned back to the door to see Twilight eating the food on the tray silently whilst watching.

Crush shook his head. "Not yours." If it wasn't for him, it was for Pierce. Twilight continued to eat it normally. Crush narrowed his eyes at him and pushed his way out of the room, going to put the first aid kit away and probably make more food for his friend. Twilight looked at Crush walking away with a smug kind of look of victory on his face for having successfully taking Pierce's food. 

Twilight walked back inside of the room and put the tray on the ground. A few cheap foods covered the tray. Some kind of sandwich composed of cold cuts and cheese sat on the tray with a bite taken out of it. A bottle of Chai Cola sat unopened, as well as a frosted donut on another small plate on the tray. In addition to this, there was a hot cup of soup- potato leek to be exact. The only thing on the tray that Twilight had actually eaten was the sandwich, but probably because that's the only thing he had time to bite into. Crush did work fast after all. 

Twilight noticed that Amber looked weak after losing all of that blood. "Do you need something to eat?" Twilight looked down at the tray of stuff he didn't want to give up. He picked up the donut and held it out to Amber. "I don't really want this so you can have it." He said bluntly. He was doing so well, but alas he wasn't the most sensitive guy around. If it had been something he would've wanted, he would have been much less likely to share it, if at all.

The wolf remained in her toppled over position, breathing short and shallow breaths as she furrowed her brows. She hadn't even noticed Crush working on her. Probably because he was just that good and because her skin couldn't feel anyway. Her eyes were half shut but her vision was blank. She could her talking over the ringing in her ears, calming down at the fact that Twilight was nearby. At least that was one person she knew. Her body still felt stiff. She honestly felt like a plank of wood laying there on the bed.

Amber was slowly drifting off to sleep. Eyes hiding behind fluttering lids. But they snapped open again slight when Twilight spoke to her. All of a sudden she could smell a sweet treat right in front of her face, causing her stomach to growl. After a small canine whine, she wolf began tugging at her body in order to sit up. Like a puppet being pulled by its strings. She turned her head towards the doughnut and took a bit, sighing softly at the flavor that touched her tongue, before falling back down again.

After she fell back onto the bed Twilight looked at the donut in disappointment and put it on the small plate. He placed the small plate on the end table in case she still wanted it and regained enough strength to get it herself later- but he figured he wouldn't be doing that again. He looked at the tray of food as he heard footsteps getting nearer and nearer. Unfortunately his room didn't have a door to be closed, so whoever was walking by could look in and see what was going on. He quietly continued to eat anyway. 

A grey bat poked his head into the room, spotting his donut on the end table and glaring at Twilight- who couldn't see him. "That's where that went!" He walked into the room before seeing the bite taken out of it. Twilight turned his head to Pierce and watched him. "You know not to touch them!" He was fuming all because of a donut, funny. 
"Oops." Twilight replied with a mouthful of food. He didn't really care. 
Pierce mumbled as he stomped out of the room, probably going to find Crush who was taking a little too long in getting him more food as he probably had started eating something himself. Twilight looked back at the food and smiled in success.

Amber barely managed to chew without spitting over herself. Swallow. Just swallow. Come on it's not hard. Gulp. Ah, there we go. The wolf managed a sigh of success for a moment before cringing because that bite only stimulated her stomach to beg for more. The sugar was quickly processed into her body and gave her an immediate boost. She could open her eyes wider now. With a small grunt, Amber pushed herself up to a sitting position, despite the wobbly arms and such.

Huffing triumphantly, the wolf began glancing left and right for the doughnut, spotting it by the bedside pot, she was about to reach for it when Pierce came fuming in. The arm that was outstretched for the doughnut instead clutched her ears as she gave a miserable moan in pain. He was so loud... She regretted taking her earplugs out. Amber pulled her legs to her chest and toppled over to her side again, stiff as a board. 

Never mind. She will never touch another doughnut again.

"You can still have it. He sure as hell isn't going to eat it now." Twilight said, still pretty focused on his food. After Pierce had left, it seemed pretty quiet. As far as Amber knew, they appeared to be the only three residents in this strange little base. Twilight actually knew that they were. The place was definitely more quiet when Pierce was out, as he tended to be the loudest out of everyone. 

Twilight picked up the cup of soup and drank out of it directly. There didn't seem to be a spoon on the tray, anyway. He looked at the Chai Cola, not exactly his favorite thing either. He put it on the end table for Amber if she wanted it. He figured they didn't have much else to drink here, they never had much- only what they liked and what they could get their hands on.

Giving a small little grunt, Amber growled along with her stomach. It wouldn't shut up. She snorted a bit at it and finally decided to give in. From her position on the bed, Amber merely had to reach out and grab the said junk food and quickly wolfed it all down. Haha. Puns.

Swallowing in satisfaction, she reached out again to grab the second item presented to her; the chai cola. Amber had to sit up for this one. She brought the can up to her lips and tilted her head back, chugging the entire thing down in almost one gulp. When was the last time she ate? Yesterday? That would explain her appetite. Slowly sighing in relief, Amber placed the can back where she found it and waited to see if her stomach would whine again. It didn't. Placing a finger on her bandaged wound, the wolf moved her eyes to look at Twilight.

She opened her mouth once. Twice. Nothing came out. She looked down. Looked back up again, and finally managed. "Thank you."

Twilight looked up at Amber and nodded in return. He seemed to grow accustomed to the silence in the room and didn't really say anything afterward but he appeared to be content with being thanked. Soon, all of the food was finished and Twilight put the can and the small plate back on the tray. He picked it up and walked out of the room, looking at Amber as if offering to let her follow along in his trip to wherever he happened to be going with the tray.

Her ears perked up as she watched Twilight clean up, listening to the clancking can and rustling plates. They twitched ever so often. Her body was now running on sugar, and she felt much better than before. Her eyes followed him as he got up, and widened somewhat in surprise to see him offering for her to follow. Well, that was what it seemed. But still, it mde her chest all happy like. Which hadn't occurred in years. The wolf pushed herself to a stand and walked silently to his side. She stopped a comfortable distance away and waited for him to move again. It was tiny and hardly noticeable, but she had a smile on her face. Despite her tough exterior, Amber was just a sweetheart on the inside.

Twilight started walking as Amber got up, leading her back through the narrow hallway and into the first room in the base of theirs, the one that Crush had poked his head out of before. This time there was no one in here. It seemed to be a kitchen of some sort, but even it was scarce. There were one or two electrical appliances- a stove and an oven, and a mini fridge in the corner. Wooden counters and shelves held little food, but it was all organized. Bread was kept on one shelf, junk food on another. Non-perishables and other cans were kept on a shelf of their own as well. Inside the mini fridge there were a few different drinks, mostly the sugary kind, and a few kinds of cheeses and cold cuts. It definitely looked pretty stuffed, but if they were put into a bigger fridge it really wasn't anything at all. 

Twilight put the tray on the counter, assuming that Crush would wash it later. He walked over to a box on top of the shelf and flew up to get it. He landed and opened the box. Inside were a few macarons and a piece of cake. They looked like very expensive baked goods, from the looks of the rest of the base it's a wonder how they even got it. He took out a few macarons and left enough for later. He started eating and hadn't thought to offer one to Amber. He looked up at her, and ate another. He looked over at the bread shelf, there seemed to be a few good loafs of regular old bread, a half eaten loaf of Ciabatta and three loafs of asiago bread. These three must be really good at stealing.

By the time Twilight neared the kitchen, Amber could already smell food. A kitchen, she thought. She never considered herself a foodie, but she did like food. Heck she was scared her stomach would start growling again. As they entered, Amber took a good look around, turning 360 degrees to take everything in. The flutter of Twi's wings brought her attention back to him.

He'd gotten a box. Curious, the young- well, young-ish, wolf stepped closer to peek inside. All sorts of sweet goodies were in there. Her ears perked up. Amber never admitted it, but she had somewhat of a sweet tooth. So, seeing him eat the macaroons all by himself tempted her. However, Amber merely watched. Eyes fully open as she watched him eat with her head tilted to the side somewhat. She didn't seem to want it. She was just curious to see his reaction towards the sweet goodies.

Twilight didn't really show it well, but he really enjoyed them. These kinds of Macarons were his favorite, which is why he didn't offer them. They were all his, and everyone in the base knew better than to touch them. He finished them and stopped observing the bread. It was probably common courtesy to ask if she needed anything else, but the question didn't pop into his head immediately. "... Do you need anything else?" He finally asked, rather quietly. He gave her his full attention as he didn't have much else to focus on at the moment unless he wanted to go back at looking at bread.

Amber also had her own share of stealing back in her childhood, so she understood how an item could mean to you. Especially if it was something you really liked. It may not show much, but Amber could see the little twitches and shifts of his face, telling her just how much he enjoyed them. Amber didn't know why, but she always felt glad to see other people liking things she liked. Especially when that thing was sweets. So she rather enjoyed seeing Twilight finish everything.

She hasn't moved from her position when he talked to her again, and she looked away a bit from discomfort of being his main focus. Nobody ever focused on her before, so it was something new and foreign. Instead of replying to the question, she said, "I owe you." Her voice was soft, barely above a whisper. "One day..." She paused, looking at him again. "I'll bring you those macaroons. As thanks."

He was a little taken aback by the suddenness of the deal. He had never asked for anything in return, but the longer he thought about the more glad he was to be getting something out of it. Especially something as amazing as those macarons. They were truly hard to come by, being so expensive and all. He nodded at the agreement, seeming content with everything that had happened after all. Amber didn't seem all that bad, so he was fine with her. 

He walked out of the room and back to the entrance of the base, waiting for Amber to follow. They were going outside again, perhaps to take Amber home if she had one. That was his first thought, anyway, because he did not know how late it was at this point.