Unwelcome Meetings PV Selim, Jack B Finished

@Ruka Tân & @Selim Faust

The red-headed Slytherin was not pleased. He rarely allowed himself to fall into a bad mood, usually distracting himself with something or other, and even on the rare occasions he did, he was very careful not to let it show. However, as he had been sitting in the Great Hall, peering up and down the rows of Slytherins seated at the table, it occurred to him that, yet again, Selim was absent. Evidently, the boy hadn't learned from the last time he'd tried to hide from Jack.

Well, that was a shame, because though Jack had given him a few days to realize the error of his ways and return to their dormitory, the snake had yet to do so. It had been the longest period of time he had gone without seeing Selim around and it gnawed at him in ways he could not even begin to describe.

With first Ruka and then Selim cut out from his daily life, Jack had come to feel hollow. He had tried to fill that hollowness by messing with other students and getting lost in his studies, but it just made Jack feel more distant from his former self than ever. Perhaps that was a good thing. Out of sight, out of mind, right? If he didn't see Ruka and Selim, he could forget about them and not concern himself about their well-being. It wasn't like it was any of his concern, anyway.

Still, it didn't turn out to be as simple as that. While Jack had been able to convince himself that other lions - such as the boy, Alan, who had offered to take Ruka to the Hospital Wing - would be able to look after Ruka in his place, Selim had no one. The stubborn raven-haired boy was careful not to, keeping to himself as he persisted in his unhealthy, sleepless, foolish ways. In fact, Jack wouldn't have been surprised if he was the only one who knew what the Japanese boy deprived himself of each night.

As Fate would have it, though, out of sight did not mean out of mind when the subject was audible. Head whipping toward the direction of the familiar voice, Jack removed himself from his place at the Slytherin table and went to go investigate. It did not feel like any real sort of emotion that caused him to do so; they were more like the automatic, instinctual behaviors of a predator who had just caught wind of nearby prey. He felt compelled to seek out the source of the strange disturbance ringing an alarm at the back of his mind and seek them out he did.

With the impassive expression of a reptile, Jack patiently followed the trail of his targets, waiting for each staircase as they did and keeping an eye on them as best he could from below. Though he was only walking as well, he caught up fairly quickly due to his well-rested, well-nourished body and his lack of having to carry or assist anyone else.

When he eventually caught up to them, the silent Slytherin ducked down and, without pausing or missing a beat, swept up between the other Slytherin and the Gryffindor helping him. By forcing himself between them, Jack attempted to wrench Selim's arm out of Ruka's grip to pull the coughing boy up onto his back. With his right hand, he kept a tight hold of his dorm mate's wrist to make sure he didn't fall off. At the same time, his left hand caught hold of Ruka's right wrist in a wrench-like grip and began to tug him up the stairs.

Throughout the course of events, Jack's mouth never moved. His face didn't change. It was as if he was a flesh-colored stone golem with a mission ahead of him which he would not let anyone impede upon. He didn't look at either of the other boys, only ahead, and his lips remained a thin, hard line. Even his gaze, which stared forward, was distant and cold as the castle rock. There was not a trace of human mercy to be found in their depths.

@Jack Burnett & @Ruka Tân

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“Alright,” Selim faintly registered his upperclassmen speaking, “Hold off on dying just a little while longer please, yeah? Once we get up there you’ll be good as new in no time again!”

He didn't respond to the optimistic words the Gryffindor spoke. By now, he was leaning heavily against the other boy. As they had made their way up to Hogwarts and up every staircase, Selim had had many fits of coughing, at one point he had gotten a bloody nose from them.

Now, he was panting for breath. He had transferred his blades to an inside pocket, needing his free hand to staunch the flow of blood. His sides ached as if his ribs had been fractured, and his hand was now stained red. His head felt fuzzy, which is why he hadn't responded to his impromptu crutch's comments throughout their journey to the hospital wing (He hadn't registered him speaking).

Looking at the ground, so blood didn't trickle down his throat and irritate it further, he repeated a pattern numbly through his foggy mind.

'Right foot forward, left foot forward, right foot forward, left foot forward, right foot-'

He was jerked out of his thoughts as he felt a body separate him and his upperclassmen. A flash of panic burst through him, and he forgot where he was, for a few moments, shoved into a memory. Those moments passed quickly as he felt himself get slung onto someone's back, a hand curled around his wrist keeping him from just falling off whoever had grabbed him.

Despite this, his heart rate spiked with the sudden burst of adrenaline, causing his breaths to quicken, which, inevitably, sent him into another fit. He tilted his head, burying his mouth into his now aching shoulder, coughing harshly into it. His form jerked with the force of the attack, and his free hand instinctively curled around the neck of the person carrying him, hand clenching and grabbing their robe in a tight fist. In an attempt to support himself, he latched his legs around the waist of the one carrying him, despite how undignified the action was. He didn't care about dignity at that moment anyways, he was busy trying not to hack up his lungs.

It took a good while for the fit to end, and now, since both arms were occupied, he couldn't staunch the flow of blood coming from his nose. Unfortunately, it ended up on the clothes of the one keeping him on their back. He decided to think of that as slight revenge against sending him into coughing.

God, everything fucking hurt, he was lucky his arm hadn't been fucking dislocated.

He took a few shallow breaths, forehead resting against the person's shoulder. After he recovered, he cast his eyes up, and immediately after seeing the head of red hair, a small scowl briefly twisted over his features.

Honestly, he wasn't surprised int he slightest.

"Fox," he spoke, voice toneless. He didn't speak further after that one word. Inwardly, he ticked off another favor he probably owed now.

Wearily, he rested his head back on his bothersome dormmate's shoulder. He didn't have the energy to converse, or the energy to deal with whatever was going to happen next. The redhead was stoney, silent, and probably pissed, no need to poke the angry bear.

Besides, he was more focused on the fact that he kept seeing that fucking thing from the corner of his eyes. His paranoia was rising, and his muscles were taunt with stress. His heart was beating rapidly in fear that he would never admit to anyone. His grip on the fox's robes was white-knuckled, and, unlike usual, he couldn't hide his quiet terror.

No, he needed to pay attention to his breathing, needed to keep from having another fit.

Though, a small part of him was relieved he didn't have to walk any more.

@Selim Faust, @Jack Burnett

Ruka had been so focused on Selim and his own feet, that he didn’t really pay attention to anything else. Had he concentrated a little bit more on his surroundings he maybe would have heard the footsteps coming, but this way it took him by complete surprise when a force pressed itself between him and the Slytherin.

For a second he could feel panic coursing through his body, eyes flicking from side to side like in a cornered animal. All he could really think about was the fact that Selim was currently coughing up his insides and needed some medical treatment, and whoever had decided to interrupt their way was clearly stupid to not have realised that they shouldn’t have gotten in between.

“What the hell,” he yelped out when a hand wrapped around his wrist and kept him from stopping in his tracks. 
He stumbled a little as he was dragged along up the stairs, his left ankle giving out for a second and making him drop down on the stairs with a little whine for only a second before he managed to keep up with the other person’s fast pace again.

He was already so out of breath, but keeping up with the other person made him pant heavily, made his eyes water a little, and it took a long moment for him to be able to focus on anything but his own body trying to give out under all the exhaustion.

Once he felt like he had at least a bit of control of his movements back again, he finally dared to check who had decided to so rudely press themselves between him and the coughing Slytherin, and once he saw the familiar face he almost did stop in his tracks.

“Jack,” he rasped out in surprise, his whole body trembling at the sight of the other boy. 

Two weeks he had gone without a glimpse of him, two weeks of carrying Jack’s fedora - which was still perched on his head at this very moment - around everywhere, two weeks of trying to find him just to talk, and here he was, uninvited, his sick dorm mate draped across his back, hand around Ruka’s wrist and looking like he had no intention of even looking at him.

For a second, Ruka tried to shake his wrist free from Jack’s grasp, but he barely had the energy to keep his feet moving, let alone shake off a person taller and more well-rested than him.

“Let me -“ he started weakly but stopped his protests as he realised that arguing would probably not get him anywhere right now. 
Instead he settled into Jack’s pace, eyes watery with exhaustion and bottled up emotions. They were almost at the Hospital Wing, just a little further down that corridor. 

Everything but getting Selim there could wait.

@Ruka Tân & @Selim Faust

The red-headed Slytherin felt his housemate's heartbeat and breath speed up as his chest pressed against his back, sending the other boy into another fit of body-racking coughs. Though Jack was sorry for potentially having caused it, he didn't hesitate on the stairs for long. He doubted the coughing would have eased up any if he slowed down and the faster Selim was gotten to the Hospital Wing, the better.

He made no indication he noticed the tightened grip on his clothes, the legs around his waist, or the blood on his robes. It was only when Ruka stumbled and his ankle gave way under him that Jack finally paused, eyeing the second-year coldly. Still, he waited for the other boy to get back on his feet before continuing on. Though it may have been hard to say for certain, the tallest boy's pace might have eased up just the tiniest bit after that.

The names 'Fox' and 'Jack' drew no signs of recognition. The boy continued on like an unstoppable train, eager to get to its destination as soon as possible with its passengers each in one piece. Selim's coughing also did nothing to deter his dorm mate from his mission, no matter how many germs may have been transferred within their close proximity to each other. Jack simply charged on wordlessly as if nothing else in the world seemed to matter.

@Jack Burnett & @Ruka Tân

___ ___ ___

The fox didn't respond to him, nor their upperclassmen. Selim didn't much care.

He knew the redhead was angry, he could tell by his refusal to speak, his relentless, unfaltering pace, and his cold expression... perhaps pissed might have been a better word.

Still, he didn't bother trying to interact more then that, no, he was too busy trying to breath without falling into another fit. His efforts were largely fruitless. He was being jostled around, and it was aggravating his lungs. His stomach was churning, and he felt like bile was rising in his throat. He couldn't think very clearly thanks to the ever-present fog clouding his mind.

Still he saw that thing creeping in the corner of his vision.

Why wouldn't it just leave him alone?

His grip on his dormmate was growing weaker as he continued to spasm violently as he was attacked by another bout of coughing. He couldn't breathe properly, not having the chance to, and the strain was making it harder to try and keep himself in place on the fox's back.

The wrist being held in a vice grip was throbbing with pain, and his shoulder felt like it was going to get pulled out of it's socket with how much Selim was involuntarily jerking at it.

He couldn't breathe. The hacking kept going. He was beginning to panic for breath.

FInally, it ended. He slumped, wheezing for air, fighting against the sharp pain in his sides. His head was swimming, and he felt like he was going to vomit... of course he kept trying to hold it down.

God he just wanted to get this all over with.

Luckily, he noticed that they had reached the door to the hospital wing. Perhaps his suffering would end soon?

Unless he had been infected by an incurable disease, that is. Honestly, his lick was bad enough for such a thing to happen.