RP:An Unmasking

Summary: Brand, the more combat-minded personality residing alongside (or inside?) Dominic, is looking for a healer following a fight with a lycan. He instead runs into Krice -- an enigma of a man who's only ever met Dominic before today. Brand tries to suss out Krice's motivations and inner workings as Krice guides him to the healer.

(Chronologically, this directly follows RP:Fire and Blood.)

Kelay Way

Dominic || A man who looked to be in his late 30’s hobbled up the road into Kelay, trailing blood onto the path behind him. He was winded as if he’d recently run a long distance, but that seemed an impossible thing in his condition -- one heel was sliced open to the bone, the gash treading up the ankle and ending somewhere about a quarter of the way up the calf. His clothes and reddish blonde hair were stained with dirt and blood and ash. Emerald eyes searched his surroundings, as if he wasn’t quite sure where he needed to be heading.

Krice smelled the blood on the air before he even saw its source, but given the lack of volume--in other words, since it hadn't been a massacre--his steps were only hasty, not urgent. As the injured man hobbled into view, the warrior squinted his heightened vision onto him and changed his directory just enough to approach. As he drew nearer, the silver-haired enigma looked -past- the victim for sign of his attacker, his nose subtly turned upward to scent the air. Animal or humanoid? Drow, elf, or human? What had caused such a grievous injury to the stranger's leg? Once close enough, Krice addressed the wounded male. " Hey, take it easy." Closer still, he would extend his right arm toward the stranger to offer assistance. " I'll take you to the healer." His words were calm and without firmness, but guarded and distant as was his way. Glancing over a shoulder, the warrior scanned their surroundings, taking another moment to scrutinize for enemies.

Dominic || The man saw the other’s extended arm before he’d observed anything else about the person approaching him -- his attention had been elsewhere. He only stared at the arm for a beat, his expression confused and maybe mildly offended, before hearing registering Krice’s voice and, turning his gaze upwards, his face. The expression morphed to one of mild amusement. “Huh,” was all the man grunted before accepting the assistance and putting some of his weight on the other’s limb. Noticing Krice’s eyes hunting for foes behind him, he added, “Thought I had it handled, but you weren’t kidding when you said those woods aren’t safe. Wasn’t bargainin’ on some half-beast creature.” He spat at the ground off to the side as he allowed Krice to take the lead. “Seven hells.”

Krice returned his gaze to Dominic and realized that he wasn't dealing with a stranger at all. The man's words connected the dots of the various tiny familiarities that he had seen - but not registered - before. Pressing his lips into a thin line of contemplation, the warrior held his silence and continued westward a few paces, leading Dominic at his own speed down Kelay en route to the healer. After a moment, he asked, " What do you mean by half-beast?"

Dominic || The man side-eyed Krice’s expression and grunted again. “Don’t rightly know -what- in the hells I was looking at. The thing had some human features or -- elf, maybe. Can’t say I was taking the time to look too close, what with it tryin’ to kill me ‘n all. But mostly, it had claws. And fur. And a wolf snout. And, uh,” he nodded his head toward a singed arm, “elemental magic? Thought I was good, ‘til the gorram mongrel straight up burned the tree I’d gotten myself into. From the inside out, Krice!” The man shook his head and got out about half a chuckle before cutting himself off abruptly, as if struck. “Oh man, the kid’s pissed I’ve gone and let his secret out. Too bad old man Brand’s got the reins. Dominic says hi, by the way.” He didn’t elaborate. He figured he probably didn’t have to.

Krice wasn't helping Dominic at all, but someone riding in the -vessel- of Dominic. Interesting. He didn't seem too surprised by this, but hardly showed signs of being comfortable with it, either. As he lead 'Brand' along Kelay Way, he recalled the description of his animal attacker and, rather than converse on the topic of his identity, the warrior instead said, " Likely a drow-lycan, then - if you're thinking elf and wolf. Did you see it shift?"

Dominic || A dawning realization broke Brand’s gait briefly. “Hmm. Shift? Not quite. Though now that you mention it, there was some elf lad I -- we -- saw in those parts some time earlier. Creepy fellow, jus’ sitting on a pile of bones. The whole spot looked like death. Didn’t think he saw us, but the timing -- hadn’t been able to ponder it long enough to do the math before now.” Brand clenched his jaw and furrowed his brow, chewing on the thought. “So yeah, maybe. What was that you called it?”

Krice kept his supporting hand rigid as they walked along Kelay, ensuring that 'Brand' did not fall on his injured leg. The questions asked of him were distantly heard because he was already internally contemplating the answers previously given. After some time of silence, possibly just before Brand decided to reiterate his question or leave it alone, the warrior asked, " Creepy fellow? What'd he look like?" Casting a sideways look at the other male, he specified, " Other than creepy."

Dominic || Brand chuckled again, more fully this time. “You have a sense of humor. I’ll be sure to add that to my ‘List of Things I Know About Krice.’ One,” and he held up a finger from his free hand, “There’s a comedian hiding under all that pretty poise somewhere. Two --” he raised a second digit and turned his gaze to study Krice’s face before closing the fingers into a fist and returning it to his side. “-- Nope, s’about it. We’ll have to fix that sometime.” Another laugh. “Along with the fact that I can’t actually write, list or otherwise. But anyway.” He exhaled slowly before continuing. “Hmm. Tall fellow? Short black hair, half an ear missing. Why, you keep a book of ‘creepy wolf-people’ to check him against or somethin’?”

Krice didn't chuckle, or express to 'Brand' any sort of amusement. His focus was on their surroundings without actively looking around, and his thoughts were on dissecting the description of Brand's attacker so as to identify him. Half an ear missing... The warrior squinted in contemplation of this little tidbit, as if trying to recollect whether or not he had come across someone missing half an ear. Hrm. " Just 'Creepy People' in general. 'Wolf' is an added plus." The silver-haired enigma nodded northward, turning that way. " The healer's nearby - through the northern forest." Krice nods.

Dominic || Brand looked more than a bit crestfallen at the lack of reaction. Maybe he’d misjudged -- and either way, this guy was a tough nut to crack open. “I assume the northern forest is safer than the southern one,” was all he muttered in return.

Krice answered Brand with a simple, " Considerably." As he turned northward, he glanced down at their contacting arms to make sure that the other male still needed the support, before stepping across the slightly uneven terrain of the forest. " Not too far." With a sideways glance at the injured male, the warrior murmured, " Not that you seem too bothered."

Dominic || In that same moment, Brand grimaced as he misjudged a step on the forest floor and put his foot down too roughly. The extra weight on the injured leg sent signals of pain cascading up his nerves, and he might have buckled if not for the man helping him. He sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth. “Hah. You have funny timing. But, I don’t usually…” he trailed off, eyes peering through the boughs of the trees to the sky above before casting his glance back down to the ground in front of him. “Survived worse,” he said instead, not finishing the earlier thought. “Got a knack for finding trouble.” His lips cracked in a bizarre grin. “And the kid’s got a knack for trouble finding him. Constant work, havin’ ta save his ass from himself.”

Krice tensed his arm to assist Brand through his unfortunate misstep, halting their progress until stability was brought underfoot once more. As they progressed through the forest, the silver-haired man listened seemingly attentively to Brand, never once showing any hint of amusement at his comedic moments. Following along the same vein as begun by the other male, the warrior asked a casual, " So Brand's the big bad tough guy beneath the puppy eyes of 'the kid'. What're you doing in there, anyway?" Tilting his chin down, Krice slid a sidelong stare onto the profile of his pseudo-patient.

Dominic || “Eh?” Brand returned the stare, uncharacteristically wide-eyed and slack-jawed. Despite the physical differences, the resemblance to the sort of naive, bewildered expression Dominic might make was uncanny. It was two more steps forward before he broke eye contact and twisted his lips in thought. And five more steps, before he spoke again, in a sobered tone: “That’s a good frakking question. Never stopped to think about the ‘why’. Don’t know the ‘how’. Don’t even quite remember the ‘when’.” He sighed and scratched at his face with his free hand before chuckling again -- more dryly than before. “Near as I can figure, I’m what happens when a kid’s too weak to fight and has to anyway.”

Krice didn't begrudge Brand his kid-like ignorance, nor grow impatient over how long he had to wait for a reply. When that reply was spoken, the warrior listened attentively, stepping through the northern forest along pathways that avoided larger obstacles for the wounded man's sake. The warrior's answer was a quiet warning, " That's the kid's business." He didn't want to know what had caused Dominic's mind to split into Brand; that was, as he said, the kid's business and thus should be his decision to tell - or not. What he -was- curious about, however, were the following: " So what brings you out? Triggers? Or are you conscious enough to step into control if the kid's in danger?"

Dominic || Brand, offended somehow, had half a mind to limp away from Krice right then and find the rest of the way to the damned healer on his own. But then he only -ever- had half a mind, in a manner of speaking -- and Dominic was still under the surface, protesting the idea. An unheard argument kept Brand silent and sullen for a time, the exchange only apparent by the shifting of expressions on his face. Finally, Brand snorted derisively before addressing Krice again. “Hmph. Listen, you’ve been a genuine help more than once now, and I suppose that’s not nothing. But there’s something you need to understand if you’re gonna keep at… whatever your angle is, doin’ all this,” he gestured with a nod toward Krice’s extended arm, “...and that’s that, whether Dominic likes me or not, I’m here to protect him. He needs help, I help him. You hurt him, you deal with me. I don’t have to think highly of him, and he sure doesn’t think that well of me, but one way or another we’re stuck with each other so… there it is.” Brand huffed post-monologue and took his arm off Krice’s, but maintained his position relative to the other man. Making a point, clearly. “And assistance aside, I know nothing about you. Are you someone I’m going to have to deal with?”

Krice assisted Brand through his little rant, his explanation of his relationship with Dominic, and the concluding question that alluded to the possibility of a problem between them. When the other male moved away, the warrior lowered his arm to his side and halted, Kelay at his back, Northern Sage dead ahead. Those gilded eyes shifted across the facets of Brand's, scrutinizing with thoughtful intensity so characteristic of the enigma that he was. At length, but not because of hesitation, Krice lifted his chin to deliver to Brand a cool, " I'm not a problem for either one of you," he said. " But let's pretend that you don't already have a problem with me, then you -really- won't. I was helping you get to the healer because you look like you needed it. Granted, I thought you were the kid - who I still don't like, but I like better than you - and it probably would have irritated me if I'd let you bleed all over the place and make a target of him. I helped because he needed it." The silver-haired man didn't seem irritable despite the nature of his words, and concluded as he turned to move eastward. "Find your own way."

Dominic || Brand just plain … didn’t have a response to that. Not a fast one, anyway. And not a witty, sarcastic, or humorous barb like he might have liked, either. He’d surely think of a thousand of them later, when it was too late to use any of them. “You -- you don’t make any sense,” Brand finally spluttered at Krice’s back. He still stood in the same spot, arms now folded across his chest, looking for all the world like a petulant child. “Why help someone you don’t even like? For no gain? I don’t understand.” A pause. Then, quieter, “Nevermind. I don’t care.” It was a lie, and not even a good one, at that. But he began to hobble forward anyway, out of a desire to keep up the poorly crafted facade.

Krice was perceptive of others, and difficult to read, himself; the perfect combination for someone who wanted to keep himself safe from all the crap in the world. He didn't need to keep himself safe from Brand, for now at least, and -certainly- not from Dominic, so it was without further ado that he continued on his way. Brand's huffy retort and subsequent limping departure caught the warrior's attention, however, and he slowed to a halt to turn and watch him leave. The gold-streaked eyes of the enigma tracked Brand's hobbled form into the forest, and it was after a disgruntled huff that Krice turned to continue on his way eastward.