And as he heaves, out through his mouth comes shallow breaths (and the contents of his stomach). Fiona leans against the tree, arms crossed with the slightest look of concern on her face. Kai stands along side her, silently watching Hurk who's on his knees and has his hands on the ground, trying to support himself so he won't fall into his vomit.
"They're never going to drink again." Fiona comments idly.
Hurk grunts and attempts to make a snide remark but instead retches and hey there goes his dinner.
"Lann deserved it." Kai states. Fiona nods in agreement as she remembers the hilarious (yet pitiful) image of Lann's breastplate covered in Hurk's barf, Evie and Vella gagging at the smell, and Karaok who lay passed out on the table beside them.
"Why the hell are you two here," Hurk slurs. "To make fun of me?"
"To take care of you." Fiona corrects.
"Fuck off. I don't want your help. I don't want anyone's help."
"Drama queen." Kai mutters.
Rage (and alcohol) pumps through Hurk faster than his own blood and he turns around and lurches at Kai, mach speed. Kai is knocked off his feet and is sent flying, flying with another man's arms around his waist and Hurk's outcry for blood. They land on the ground unceremoniously, a heap of two drunken men all legs and arms. After a quick scuffle, Hurk manages to pin Kai to the ground and proudly sits on top of him. He raises a fist and brings it down – hard. Right into Kai's face which still retains its stoic indifferent expression. His fist comes up again but this time Kai stops the fist with his own hand. He then slugs Hurk with his free hand. His cool expression slightly changes and the corner of his lip twitches in a smirk at the sound of Hurk's nose breaking. Hurk howls in pain and retracts his fist, bringing his hands to his face. There's a sharp red glint in his eye and Hurk rears his fist again and it's about to connect with Kai's face and Kai knows that this blow could actually kill him.
But then arms appear around Hurk's waist and the weight on top of Kai is gone. Fiona manages to drag the flailing Hurk away. Once she lets go and walks away Hurk jumps to his feet and charges at her exposed back. However Fiona comes to a complete halt and when Hurk slams into her it feels like he ran into a wall. She uses her heel to stomp on to Hurk's foot and quickly pivots so she's facing Hurk. Her knee connects with Hurk's groin and he falls to the ground and writhes in pain. She strides towards Kai who still remains on the ground and extends a hand. He takes it (biggest mistake) and she pulls him up half way before letting go and watches as he drops to the ground with a thud. She then kicks him in his side and kneels next to him, placing her face just above his.
"You deserve that. You provoked him." She chides.
And this is a familiar scene to Kai.
(A familiar scene, but not the same face. Quite a few years ago Kai would be laying on a grassy plain and a a beautiful woman would lean over and whisper naive dreams and playful thoughts. What if we could befriend the fomors? She would say. What if we could all live together? Then he would sit up and hug her tight, whisper to her, You can do it, I believe in you. Just stay safe, okay? Tell me what you're going to do, and I'll be there with you. I'll protect you and I'll kill anyone that tries to hurt you, because I love... And he'd choke on his words, but she would always finish it for him. I love you too, she would say with a chuckle. And her words were just as beautiful as her. But her actions were as just as fruitless as a pine tree. And unlike that pine tree, she is not everlasting, and quite like humans, fomors can be cruel. You can't befriend a fomor, that is what her death proved. And when she died Kai painted the floors with the blood of fomors, washed himself in rivers of red, and he will do so until every last fomor is dead, because if he was too weak to protect her, then he will make himself strong enough to avenge her.)
And then something unexpected happens. Perhaps it is the alcohol, or perhaps it is the adrenaline, but the emotional barriers that Kai has been keeping up suddenly fall down like a tidal wave.
"I want to feel alive again." Kai grumbles. He then uses his arm to cover his eyes. "She's gone and I've never felt so dead and I miss her, I love her, she was my world and she's dead and I'm dead too. I'll love her, I'll love her forever, and I don't think I can ever love anyone else. " His breath hitches and in the dim moon light Fiona can see the tears streaming down his face, can see the uncharacteristic frown he adorns. She slowly brings herself to the floor, not able to do any fluid motions with the amount of alcohol she's taken.
And Fiona, not one for physical contact, not one for tender touches and comforting pats, finds herself tentatively reaching for Kai's hand, finds her fingers curling around his. Kai graciously accepts and to Fiona and his surprise, he pushes himself up and encompasses his arms around her.
There is silence.
And then.
"Maybe you'll find love again." She whispers.
"Never." He sobs. "She was my first."
"At least it was consensual," Fiona says. Her voice hitches a bit. "At least it was love."
The two break apart and Kai sees Fiona - sees her for the first time. He sees a battered woman hiding behind her shield, desperately trying to protect herself from a different kind of evil. The way she slightly shifts whenever a man comes in contact with her. She hides not from fomors, but from something else entirely. And then he suddenly has this ache in his chest, this need to protect her. To earn her trust.
"Don't worry. I'll protect..." Kai's voice trails off, then he shakes his head. It can't be him. He's seen the small smiles she gives Lann, seen the way that whenever he was feeling down, how she would affectionately ruffle his hair. He realizes she needs someone younger and fresh, not someone as bitter as himself. With this knowledge he brings himself back to the ground and lays there, but his fingers remain intertwined with Fiona's.
"I know how you feel! " Hurk shouts from where he lays, completely surprising the two. "I lost something too..." He gets up to his feet and stumbles to where Kai and Fiona are and drops down beside Fiona. He leans his head against her shoulder and she does not flinch, does not brush him off, and Hurk sobs and Fiona can feel every tremble, can hear the wounds of his heart reopening. She wraps an arm protectively around him.
There is a long deafening silence and the air is pregnant with sorrow.
And one by one, tired eyes begin to close. Hurk is the first to go, his entire body weight pressed up against Fiona. Kai mutters a small thank you and he too falls asleep. Fiona, ever persistent in trying to mother the two, tries to stay awake to watch over them. She cannot sleep, not while she knows they're being watched.