Do I Know You? | Irajah Ven

[Ra Vizsla]

T A T O O I N E​

​

“As a man, casting off worn out garments taketh new ones, so the dweller in the body, entereth into ones that are new.” ​

​

Epictetus​

[member="Irajah Ven"]

Club Dread. Taungsday. Tattooine was humid as hell, despite the dark of night creeping through the streets of Mos Eisley, the city was well lit. It was a city of crime- a city that was most active after hours. Ra Vizsla walked down the street towards this Club Dread, where his contact wished to meet him. There were only so many doctors with the knowledge of Gurlanin anatomy, after all. This one just happened to service a strong majority of the Underworld.


Wiping the sweat from his brow, Ra approached the Club's entrance, broken flashing neon sign distinctly displaying the words. This place used to seem like it was one of the hottest clubs in Mos Eisley, but the wear and tear of the years gone by and begun to etch their way into the folds. The Club was ancient, really, owned by only small shopkeeper. Ra knew this feeling - no one escaped time. He too was victim to its ever victorious war - but not just yet. He had plenty more decades until he was done with this Galaxy.

Unless the galaxy chose to be done with him, first.

Looking among the patrons for his contact, Ra walked into the Mos Eisley club.

The hottest club in Mos Eisley.

The only club in Mos Eisley.

 

[Kuzo]

"You want me to what?"

​"No, it's professional, I swear. I'm not asking you on a date."

Irajah wasn't sure if she should be more or less offended now.

"Oh. Thanks. That's much better."

​The sarcasm seemed to be lost on the older doctor, but it was probably better that way.

She had been in Mos Eisley for two weeks now. It had taken her almost two months on Tatooine to save up enough credits and scrap enough of her crashed ship to get here. She'd been hoping that with the money left over, she'd be able to buy passage off of Tatooine and go.... well, honestly anywhere else. Somewhere she'd be able to get a real job, maybe somewhere she could start making real progress on her search.

Somewhere with less sand.

But she had underestimated how much it would cost to get her here, how many bribes it would take, how much water would cost outside of the settlements. And she'd also underestimated how much passage off world would cost. But at least here there was a proper medical center, and even without proper credentials, it had been easy to prove her skills and get a decent paying job. She figured even with the usury rates she was paying for room and board she might be able to save up enough to leave Tatooine..... sometime in the next decade.

Mostly, she tried not to think about it.

"Look, it's not, well, it's not official business. If you get my drift. But it's lucrative. And I've watched you work. I don't know who you are, or where you came from. You keep to yourself. I like that. It means you understand the value of privacy. So do my.... clients. And it's clear that you're not a nurse. You've had more training than that. No, you don't have to answer that. I'm not actually asking. But you shouldn't be making the crap wages they're paying you, and working so hard to get it. So. Come with me tonight. I need an extra set of hands. If the work suits you, and you suit me, you can expect more. And I'll pay you. Triple your weekly salary for a night's work. How does that sound?"

That sounded DAMNED fine to her.

*****

Club Dread

Irajah sat at a table toward the back with Dr. Nir, looking around curiously. Despite the heat, she wore her usual white, long sleeved, loose shirt, occasionally absently tugging at the cuffs, a relatively new habit. It hid the bruises that seemed to never really go away on her wrists, but it couldn't hide the deep circles beneath her eyes, or other signs of long illness.

She usually went out in the evenings, rather than be alone in her single room, but she hadn't come here yet. Smaller bars, but this had seemed not really her speed. She wasn't really sure yet if she'd been right or wrong. She had absolutely nothing to compare it to.

Nir nudged her slightly, nodding very subtly to an almost alarmingly large man who had just entered the club.

"He'll be heading this way in a moment," he murmured to her. "Try to look relaxed? But don't be surprised if he knows you aren't."

​"What?"

"S​hush. Don't talk unless he talks to you."

​Nir stood as [member="Ra Vizsla"] approached, and Irajah hastily did the same. It seemed weird to not do the same. Obviously Dr. Nir had a great deal of respect for this man. And Irajah wasn't an idiot. She knew she was in something dangerous. Seemed prudent to be respectful too.

She just had no idea how dangerous yet.

"Please join us," Dr. Nir said, indicating a chair, but not using his client's name. He had already explained to Irajah that with a stranger here, it would be up to his client if he wished to introduce himself. Which was fine with her. She didn't need his name to help treat him. But he didn't seem to have any qualms about introducing her. "This is my associate, Irajah Ven. I assure you, her discretion in this matter can be counted on, m'lord."

M'lord? Oh boy.

 

[Ra Vizsla]

C L U B D R E A D​

​

[member="Irajah Ven"]​

​

A new face. Ra nearly snarled.

He kept mostly to himself and quiet. The Club was full of dust, nearly deserted. There were no patrons here... apparently it had been made into this man's makeshift office. Dr. Nir had treated Ra plenty of times before, and the newly declared Mand'alor trusted the man completely. During the goliath Vizsla's excursions into the Outer Rim and Hutt Space, he would often return to Tatooine to be treated by Nir. This man had saved Ra's life on many occasions, and was the only paternal figure the Mandalorian could possibly claim in his lifetime. They had an explicit relationship, though. He very rarely ever asked for advice from Nir, and Nir rarely ever gave it.

It was plutonic and professional, as were most things with Ra.

"I will always be Ra," he said with an angry glare in Nir's direction. Nir simply nodded as if Ra was an angry dog the doctor knew wouldn't bite. The Vizsla began removing his shirt and shoes.

"My calf," Ra said. A poorly bandaged would stained with dry, blackened blood wrapped around the bottom of his left leg. His eyes would steal a glance at the new assistant, Irajah, as he rose his leg. "Beskar scimitar." Dr. Nir gave Ra a look of disapproval, shaking his head in disapproval while looking at the shoddy makeshift bandage. Surely one such as the veteran Vizsla would know how to perform a proper field dressing. It seems he had been rather hasty in its bandaging.

Dr. Nir shined a hololight in Ra's eyes.

"Stress seems to be taking its hold with the new job," he muttered, looking up at Ra. "Now, let's talk about what you actually came here for - have you had any more... events?" That last part sounded ominous, like both Nir and Ra knew something that was wrong with the Mandalorian. Something that they had known about for a long time. Yet despite the seriousness of the question, when the Doctor had looked up at Ra, he found the goliath Vizsla to be staring at Irajah yet again. It seems the Mandalorian lacked all sense of subtlety in this moment.

​

"Do I know you?" Ra asked the girl.​

​

She looked so familiar, yet most girls in the Outer Rim usually did.​

 

[Kuzo]

[member="Ra Vizsla"]

It had been incredibly difficult to pretend to ignore the man over a foot taller and more than two and a half times her mass staring at her. But Irajah had worked in an Emergency room for years and then spent months on a planet surrounded by dead bodies.

She could ignore anything if she put her mind to it.

She had busied herself doing what she had been paid to do- assist Dr. Nir. She kept her face carefully neutral, handing him tools as he needed them out of his kit (he didn't even need to ask for them, she usually had them ready before he even reached for them) and listening but not talking as the two men conversed. Well, honestly, as Dr. Nir spoke and Ra responded with the least number of syllables possible. When she was working, she didn't think as much about keeping her bruises hidden, she was too busy for that.

In fact, she was trying so hard to obviously ignore the attention on her that when he finally did address her directly it took her a second to realize he was actually talking to her.

Girl? Was he kidding?

She couldn't help it.

Irajah let out a single bark of laughter before getting it under control. Part of it was surprise. Part was honest amusement. Part was nerves.

Dr. Nir gave her a shocked look that turned to outright horror when she spoke.

"Oh, ABSOLUTELY not," she said emphatically with an shake of her head, short dark curls bouncing against her pale face. "I would remember someone like you, big guy."

There was, oddly, something kind of familiar about him too. She couldn't put her finger on it. Not like she knew him. Not exactly that. But like she should have. That was strange.

Dr. Nir cleared his throat, removing his glasses and cleaning them in a gesture that was full of disapproval.

Well krak, thought Irajah. There goes this gig.

She cleared her throat, but didn't apologize. He'd asked her. And besides, he'd been the one being rude to begin with. She didn't know who this guy was, and she was still going to treat him.

"Do you want me to attend to the wound while you continue your examination Dr. Nir?" She asked, trying to diffuse his annoyance a little. She wasn't very good at it.

 

[Ra Vizsla]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

Ra snorted dismissively.

The girl was acting very... awkward. Perhaps she did know him. Ra had been known to visit many brothels in his later years, and she looked like the type. Ra looked to Dr. Nir and gave a nod, lifting his leg to be dressed. The Doctor in turn nodded to Irajah. "Yes, yes. Dress the wound, properly, please," he looked at Ra with a gaze rife with judgement. "Tell me more about the last one." This struck a nerve with Ra. The Doctor was asking about the last time he had an event, and the Mandalorian didn't exactly feel comfortable speaking about it in front of the girl/woman/nurse/harlot. Not often was Ra vulnerable - but not often was Ra in front of his chosen attending physician.

"It uh, it happens very fast," The behemoth Vizsla started. "At night. I was on Dantooine. Surveying turkey ranches. I just.... I don't know what triggers them."

Ra looked at the floor.

"I woke up naked in a field the next morning, miles away from the ranch. Unaware of how I got there."

His eyes rose to look at Irajah, dressing his wound.

"There were... casualties."

 

[Kuzo]

Irajah's motions as she cleaned and dressed the wound were professional and precise. No novice this. She wouldn't have been offended to know that Ra was mentally wondering if she was a hooker, so much as offended that he didn't realize she was a doctor. But that's professional pride for you.

It was impossible to not listen to what Ra and Dr. Nir were talking about of course as she finished removing the old dressing. Spraying liquid bacta on the wound, she gently dabbed away dried blood, studying it critically for signs of infection or poor healing.

Turkey ranching? This guy was a farmer? That was.... not really what she'd been expecting. Turkeys? Really?

Despite the inefficient job that had been done in the field, the initial signs of healing were good and she nodded to herself as she absently picked up a tube of salve and started to apply it to the edges of the wound with a sterile swab.

It wasn't until the words "There were... casualties." were spoken that she felt eyes on her again though.

It wasn't the words that caused her to pause, but the hairs on the back of her neck rising. She didn't look up at him, didn't play that game right now. She could feel Dr. Nir watching her from the corner of his eyes as well, silently judging. She gritted her teeth and slowly and deliberately went back to the job she had been doing, spreading the salve along the edges of the wound.

I'll pass your test Dr. Nir, she thought to herself. I need the money you are offering to get out of this place. If they thought she was going to lose her lunch or otherwise freak out because some people died? Because she was a Doctor (no, the big fella didn't even know that, he was going just based on first impressions, on how she looked, wasn't he? Even better, lovely).

She was so caught up in doing her job to the utmost of professionalism that old habits overcame new habits. She unconsciously pushed back her sleeves, keeping them away from the wound instead of covering her own dark bruises.

After a very uncomfortable few seconds, Dr. Nir's eyes flicking to her forearms himself for a moment before away again, he cleared his throat and polished his glasses again. If he was bothered by the admission, he didn't show it beyond a small shake of his head and a clucking of his tongue. It seemed he was less concerned by the casualties themselves and more by the implications for his patient.

"Can you tell me what happened, right before the event? You say you don't know what triggers them. Was there.... nothing at all of note? Have they all happened at night?" He said. "Even something small may be the key to linking them to.... previous times."

[member="Ra Vizsla"]

 

[Ra Vizsla]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

Ra looked uncomfortable.

It wasn't often he was vulnerable. Even before he had returned to his people on Mandalore, his problems had always been solved the honorable way of the Resol'nare. With brute force. With dignity. With respect. With a mythosaur axe. But now... now he had an issue. For weeks he had had issues, deeply personal and troubling if his people were to learn of this. Ra didn't wish to give these vulnerabilities power over him. He didn't wish to name them. He didn't want to speak, to legitimize them. Put them in the back of your mind, he would have often thought to himself. Block them out. Ignore them. Press on. Fight harder. Use that, against others. Don't let it define you.

But it was beginning to define him. And that definition had been the cause of the end of someone's life. A thousand memories, ended in a single instance. Life was precious to Ra. He was not some senseless murderer - he was deeply religious, but his religion was of honor, of one's self, of glory within his people. To take a life... because he was unwilling to grip the reality of what curse had overcome him... that was a negligent error that he had a duty to resolve.

"The dreams, Nir." He looked up at him, looking as if a thousand banthas weighed upon his shoulders. "I have such terrible nightmares... They always start the same. I feel as if I'm seeing through the eyes of another, walking through a jungle. I recognize it, now, for I've been there."

Another glance stolen at the girl. Her arms?

Ra looked back at Nir.

"Yuuzhan'tar. I see Yuuzhan'tar, and then I awake in the field, and the ...'event' has passed."

 

[Kuzo]

At the word Yuuzhan'tar, Irajah froze, her breath caught in her throat. She had been ignoring him as obviously as he has been watching her, and she didn't change that now, her eyes focused completely on her task, but for a moment, unseeing. Her hands stopped moving on his leg for one, two, three heartbeats before she continued to bandage his wound.

Dr. Nir didn't notice, just looked at Ra sharply. His attention was for his patient.

"You were asleep when it started? Or was it more like a hallucination?


[member="Ra Vizsla"]

 

[Ra Vizsla]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

"I... don't know. There is little to recollect...."

He trailed off into silence, moving his gaze from the Doctor back to Irajah. Ra was staring at her arms again.

"Your bruises..."

Ra showed little concern, if any, but seemed deeply curious.

 

[Kuzo]

Doctor Nir looked frustrated but he was obviously trying to keep it in check. After all, one can't wring blood from a stone. Ra didn't know what was going on, and all of the careful questioning in the galaxy wasn't going to change that. He shook his head and leaned back in his chair, frowning thoughtfully.

"Your bruises..."

Irajah looked up then, locking eyes with [member="Ra Vizsla"] for a moment. She didn't answer right away, instead taking a minute to finish dressing his wound with neat, precise movements. And then, very slowly, she pushed her sleeves back down, covering them again, keeping her face carefully neutral. Or, at least, she thought she was.

"Nothing serious," she lied lightly. The look of the bruises, dark, green and yellow around the edges but purple and angry in the centers, told a different story.

She wasn't the patient here. He didn't need to know about her illness, or how the bruises came from a virus that she could never cure.

There was a pause.

"I was in a crash," she said, telling the partial truth at least. She knew she wasn't a very good liar. And she had indeed crashed her ship on Tatooine, and been banged up right proper in the process. But that had been weeks ago, and those hurts had long healed. Dr. Nir actually arched an eyebrow at her and cleared his throat.

Damn it.

"I'd be more concerned with black outs, lost time and potential hallucinations," she said, her tone a little sharp, finally annoyed enough to lose her patience as she looked at Dr. Nir (the annoyance directly solely at him) "Than with my bruises and what caused them."

Defensive? Oh yes.

Irajah shrugged and looked away then, a little embarrassed, starting to clean up the supplies she had been using.

 

[Ra Vizsla]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

"Hmmph," Ra responded, growing cold and quiet towards the girl. He looked back up towards Nir. The doctor shrugged. The girl obviously didn't want to make small talk, and Ra wasn't all that curious in the bruises themselves. Only that she was somewhat attractive and reminded him of a brothel he had visited years ago.

He turned back towards the Doctor.

"Yuuzhan'tar." The Iron Wolf repeated. "That's when it starts. I see it, I lose control, and..."

Ra looked down to see his left hand visibly and uncontrollably shaking. His eyes widened.

The giant man sprung up to his feet, rushing towards the window of the Club.

"What did you do?" He said, opening the curtain and looking out towards the night's sky.

Both hands were trembling now.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" ​

​

Ra turned around, his eyes glowing a bright emerald through the dim light of Club Dread.​

His hands were covered in black fur.​

​

Black claws replaced fingernails.​

​

​

Ra was changing.​

 

[Kuzo]

Irajah kept her focus on clean up now, though especially with the repetition of the word Yuuzhan'tar it wasn't possible to ignore what they were saying.

She'd never heard it spoken aloud before. She hadn't thought that it was real.

Busy with her task, she wasn't watching at first. But the roaring of the words

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

Cut through the empty nightclub like a blade. Hazel eyes swept up as Dr. Nir put his hands up, trying to speak calmly even while his own eyes were on [member="Ra Vizsla"] 's hands.

"Nothing Ra! We've done nothing! Think for a moment! Breath! Calm down my friend I am sure that we can-"

Whatever else Nir was saying was lost in a swirl of sounds for Irajah. Everything Ra had said came flooding back, repeating over and over in a haze of white heat.

"It uh, it happens very fast."

"At night"

"I don't know what triggers them."

"There were... casualties."

"There were... casualties."

"Dr. Nir!"

​She called out in horror a heartbeat too late. She stood, frozen in place, staring up at what Ra had become.

 

[Ra Vizsla]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

"....-Ra, can you hear us?"​

​

The sound of bones breaking.​

​

"Ra?"​

​

Emerald eyes turning feral.​

​

"R-RUN!"​

Dr. Nir grabbed Irajah by the arm and began running for the back room. An ear-shattering howl pierced the thick night's air as the dust of the ancient Club Dread flew up in the scuffle around them. Dr. Nir was rather spry for an old man, opening doors and hitting lights as he began sprinting his way down towards the basement of the club while attempting to drag Irajah along in tow. He swiped his badge on the last door, it's green dim lights barely able to even turn on before locking into a soft red. The door bolted shut behind them in their hurry as a wide eyed Nir turned to Irajah. His hand darted up to his mouth, gesturing for Irajah to remain quiet as they began to move throughout the basement.

He kept low to the floor. Club Dread was silent.

The Doctor motioned for Irajah to remain low as well.

He held up his hand to stop, and then pointed towards the door at the far end of the basement. A safe room. Its lights were still dimly flickering on and off. Dr. Nir took a step forward.

Scratching began above them, on the durasteel-woven floorboards.

Scritch. Scritch. Scritch. Scritch.

Scritch. Scritch.

A blast of hot air came from the ceiling as an animal snorted. Then, silence.

Dr. Nir moved toward Irajah to whisper.

"He's in his native form. Ra's a Gurlanin. But...he's not... in control right now. We need to get to a safe place.... but if we leave him alone, he might hurt someone."

He looked back at the safe room, then back at Irajah.

 

[Kuzo]

Irajah had RUN. She hadn't needed Doctor Nir to pull her along really, but she had cast one last look back at [member="Ra Vizsla"] .

The rippling of flesh. Fur flowing like water. No. Like blood. Bones breaking and reforming beneath the skin as he grew, twisting and roiling within his own body.

His eyes.

Their eyes met once right before the door slammed behind her.

There should have been more fear in her. But she was calm. She wished for a moment that she'd spent more time looking in to the eyes of the man when she'd had the chance- it might give her a better idea of how truly gone he was now.

Now though, she and Nir crouched in the basement, faces inches from each other but both of their attention on the wooden ceiling.

He can smell us she realized, listening to the snuffling. Or if he didn't yet, he would soon.

She glanced at the safe room, then back at Nir before looking back up at the ceiling. Despite everything, despite his extra 'job', Nir was a Doctor first. Yes, self preservation was deeply tempting. No one could help it. But there were other people in Mos Eisley.

There were... casualties.

Really, there was no choice. Beyond their responsibility to the others in the town, where they lived and worked, was their responsibility to their patient. And letting him add more people to the list of unintended victims simply did not suit.

​​"Is there any way we can trap him in the Club until the episode ends?" She whispered, her lips right against Nir's ear.

He nodded, his own voice deeply hushed as he mimicked her motions.

​"The outer doors are reinforced, I had it done years ago, in case..... Well. The back door is locked, but the front door is unlocked. If we can lock the front door, short of going through a wall, he should be contained. It's getting to the front door that's tricky."

​"Not from the outside. You have the key. You can get out the back door. This is a bar. There's a kitchen right? Is there an entrance to the basement through the kitchen? Get out that way and lock the front door from the outside. I'll stay down here, keep his attention and get myself in to the safe room if he tries to come through the floor."

​Doctor Nir just looked at her for a long moment. She knew what was going through his mind. It satisfied all of his needs. Except one.

"You get out the back and lock the front door-"

"I don't know the building. It would slow me down," she said quietly. "I'll be fine. I've survived worse."

Nir gave her a peculiar look, then nodded reluctantly. "Alright. I'll keep watch from the outside. I'll knock on the door down here four times if it's safe to come out."

She nodded eyes casting up at the ceiling.

"Hurry. Okay?"

He nodded. Leaning over, he gave her a swift, fatherly kiss on the forehead. "I'll see you in a little bit Irajah. Be safe."

"You too Doc."

 

[Ra Vizsla]

Dr. Nir shared one last gaze with Irajah before he bolted. Whether it was his nerves that caused him to run on the expedience of the situation, none could tell at this moment. All they both knew was that when Nir's feet started hitting the pavement harder, the noises above them of the animal had stopped. Nir grabbed the railing across the side of the room, adjacent to the safe room, and began to barrel into the kitchen at full sprint. Though old he was, Nir was quite capable of moving rather quickly when necessary. Movement was heard above them, but it didn't seem to be in Nir's direction.

Swipe.

Click.

Nir's card key it the basement door's keypad to the kitchen. It unbolted, allowing him through.

Swipe.

Click.

It would be apparent that Nir had locked the door behind him.

The doctor's footsteps faded into the distance as Irajah would hear that familiar tone again.

Swipe.

Click.

One would assume Nir had safely made it outside, but the sound was very faint.

And then silence.

There were no sounds in the basement but Irajah's own breathing to keep her company in the dark. There was power in the basement, moreso in the safe room, casting a dim light from the rafters and into the dusty remains of what used to be what looked like some sort of laboratory in the basement. There were abandoned workbenches, desks, furniture and clothes of a sort. A relic of ancient times past. A rusty fan sat on a decorated chair in the far corner of the room, a dim battery on the back of it showing some signs of life still as it glowed a greenish hue in it's own niche of the basement. As Irajah's eyes would inevitably adjust to the dark, she would come across ancient gadgets and gizmos of all flavors. Primitive clocks, masks of the masquerade variety, it would seem as though Dr. Nir was some kind of amateur collector.

Silence. Irajah's breathing sounded a thousand times louder than normal, and would make her aware of every breath. The sound of a speeder outside slowly crawling past whooshed over the room.

There were no sounds from the floor above.

Silence.

How long had it been?

Time was an eternity, in this moment.

One couldn't even tell if it was still night, from the basement.


Silence.

KNOCK. KNOCK KNOCK.​

​

​

KNOCK.​

The sound came from the door Irajah and Nir had used to enter the basement.​

[member="Irajah Ven"]

 

[Kuzo]

Irajah had sat, knees curled up to her chest, arms wrapped around her legs. Waiting. She hadn't dozed. No. There had been no rest. Every breath had been drawn in a certain singing tension as she had listened to the heavy silence, wondering.

Wondering and remembering.

Remembering the dreams. Her childhood place that she had made up. Her mother's voice, singing the song Irajah had taught her and the words that didn't make any sense. How it had become a game, just for the two of them. How disturbed her father had been when he had heard it- the words, the name of the place.

Yuuzhan'tar.

He'd never explained why he'd forbidden the game. Not to her. But he must have told her mother something. Because something had been different after that. Irajah frowned, turning her head to the side. She hadn't thought about it in years. Sure, sometimes she still dreamed about it. But rarely. Until today it had just been that. A child's dreams. And then she'd heard it on another person's lips.

She was cold.

Looking up at the ceiling, she wondered if he had changed back. The silence was deafening. How long had it been? How many hours had passed?

Slowly, her head slipped down, her eyes closing. She was so tired. She would just close her eyes for a moment, she reasoned. Resting her cheek on her knees. Just for a moment.

A faint thread of music. A voice singing in a language she didn't know, but somehow understood. She had always understood in. Warmth, humid and thick, surrounding her like a blanket. She could feel the weight of knowing life around her, familiar and comforting in the twilight-

KNOCK. KNOCK KNOCK.​

​

​

KNOCK.​

Irajah sat bolt upright. She'd fallen asleep. For how long? She hadn't heard the front door open- because she had been asleep? She stood up, rubbing her eyes as she listened, straining, for something, anything-

But everything was silent except for her haggard breathing.

"Doctor Nir?" She whispered. But he couldn't hear her through the door. Of course it was him. It was their signal.

So why did she hesitate?

Slowly she reached out, hand pausing on the door for a heartbeat. Leaning in, she put her ear against the reinforced wood. Silence. It must be safe. There was no way the creature [member="Ra Vizsla"] had become could be that silent.

Right?

With a click, she unlocked the door.

​

 

[Ra Vizsla]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

Doctor Nir's face erupted in the dim light.

He bolted into the room and closed the door behind them, pressing his back up against the wall to reinforce the door as he slid his key card across the panel.

Click.

The door locked.

It was eerily silent.

Nir looked at Irajah, scared. If she looked, the woman could barely make out several stains on his shirt and paints. It looked like mud. Irajah looked terrified, even in the darkness. He forcefully grabbed her arm and drug her to the middle of the basement, motioning to be quiet as they did so. He was panting, hard. The doctor took a knee, beckoning Irajah to do the same so he could whisper to her and not be heard by the wolf.

"The attic," he whispered. "He's in the attic of the club, trying to get out. I barely got away alive... he... it almost killed me." The Doctor gestured down to the several stains on his shirt. It was blood. "You can see him from outside."

Nir looked around, frantic, then back to the door.

"I think we can make it to the kitchen exit if we both go at once."

His eyes then darted to the safe room. They could wait it out, though.

"We have to leave."

 

[Kuzo]

Something here was bothering her. Besides the obvious everything of course. But after being awake for almost an entire night, waiting for a beast to come down through the ceiling, tense, afraid, Irajah was slower on the uptake than she normally would be. Prolonged stress and lack of sleep do that to a person, and the doctor was not immune.

"Wait, wait," she said, trying to gather her thoughts, one hand up between them.

"No, we can't wait," Nir whispered, a certain wildness in the movement of his eyes. "Come on, now."

He reached out, grabbing her wrist again. But unlike last time, she didn't run with him the same way. She stumbled, feeling slow and heavy, tired, confused. His grip on her wrist was like iron, hard and unrelenting as he barreled toward the door up to the kitchen.

But something was wrong. Maybe Nir was just panicking, making bad decisions. But why had he come back inside to begin with? She'd heard him get out of the building- hadn't she? Yes. Something was wrong.

​"Doctor Nir, wait- stop-"

Up the stairs they went, and now Irajah actually started to struggle. But Nir was stronger than he looked (and Irajah (-)weaker than she looked).

"Doctor Nir, you're hurting me-"

He fumbled at the lock, sliding his keycard through with a shaking hand. Click beep.


[member="Ra Vizsla"]

 

[Ra Vizsla]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

Dr. Nir stumbled through the now open door, clamoring onto the counter of the closest table as he forced himself to stay standing. He was having trouble breathing, apparently, as his other hand that wasn't holding him up clutched his chest. Gasps of air escaped his mouth and the Doctor keeled over, landing on all fours on the floor. In the heat of the moment, one might have a little time to observe the surroundings.

There was no beast, at least not here. Granted, Doctor Nir wasn't being the quietest man at this moment in time. It almost seemed as if the Doctor was going into shock or some sort of panic attack. The blood on his shirt was even more visible than before in the light of the Kitchen.

He looked up at Irajah and desperately grasped at her clothes, attempting to pull her close.

And then he puked.

Everywhere.

It sprayed out from his mouth as his clutched the ground and unleashed a massively strained guttural noise. A stream of white and lime liquid escaped his mouth as he involuntarily continued to exhume the contents of his bowels onto the floor. It was over quickly, however.

Wiping his mouth, Doctor Nir gazed upon the vomit on the floor, and his eyes opened wide in horror.

There were... insects. Slugs? Some kind of worms in the bodily fluids, squirming violently. One of them even found the ability to move and sprawled off across the floor, leaving a trail of goo in its wake. There were almost a dozen of the critters. Nir's eyes looked from the putrid bile on the floor, to his wounds on his stomach, and then to Irajah. Pure horror stretched across his face.

What were these things?

THUD.

An enormously loud crash resounded above the couple, emanating from the attic. It sounded like movement.

"Irajah!" Nir exclaimed, looking towards the door of the kitchen leading to the alley.

 

[Kuzo]

Irajah watched Dr. Nir with a kind of detachment that only comes from fatigue and impact shock.

She was dreaming. This must be a nightmare. There was no way any of this was real. Ever since she'd left her homeworld, she'd been plagued by them. This much just be a new and interesting way her brain was lashing out. She didn't know if she was still asleep in the basement, or if the entire thing from the very beginning was a dream. Maybe she had dozed off in the nurse's lounge, or maybe she was back in her single room after a long shift.

Whatever this was, it couldn't be real.

But from long experience, she also knew that, even with that realization, there was no waking from this. Like every nightmare since waking up on a dead world, this one would need to be fought against. And she would win, or she would lose, but she wouldn't wake up until that was accomplished. More often than not, she could not defeat her dreaming. But there was a certain freedom in knowing that this must not be real. It was too much to be.

And it lent a recklessness to her. She actually grinned, a touch wild at the edges.

"I'm not leaving you here," she said with a grimace as she knelt beside Nir, ignoring the filth around him. She was a doctor, and none of this was real anyway.

Grasping his arm and pulling it over her shoulder, she pushed herself up, dragging the other man with her. It was hard- far harder than it should have been, but she managed to get him on his feet. His head lolled slightly, and she grunted as she started to move forward, toward the door.

"You've got to move your feet too Doctor Nir," she said through clenched teeth. "Come on."

​Achingly slowly, they hobbled toward the door.

[member="Ra Vizsla"]