bloodbound. (earinor & akira)

"I wear a watered down version of my usual clothes, but ... adrestian clothes just feel so different? I mean, the fabric isn't probably that different, but it's really tight fitting and all that stuff, which doesn't exactly make it comfortable if you're used to loose clothes." Sure, not all of thrians wore traditional garb, or as many layers as someone that was as pompous as him would, but the argument still stood and if he was frank, even if that fabric was soaked, it wasn't too much of a hassle to move around in - likewise, however, it also seemingly was easy enough to shed whenever he needed to. "But I'm still appreciative, don't worry", was all he added onto that, as if he wanted to make sure that Richard wasn't going to get that into the wrong throat. Actually, there were plenty of things that Richard had misunderstood before or that just came out odd when Yujin had uttered them, but really, who could blame him? Somehow, he was trying, but the best of his efforts rarely seemed to be good enough for anyone, let even alone someone like the blonde. For now, however, he slipped out of Richards room - Yujin felt rancid and the faster he'd get to take a dip in a bath, the sooner he'd feel better about himself.

Right about now, it would have been sensitive for him to shut up, but he didn't and so all of this turned into a bigger mess - one that it didn't have to be and one that had an angry, adrestian dog bark something back at him, or at least Yujin thought he would, when he, in fact, actually have a pretty curt answer. "Sure", he replied to Richard and looked after him as he walked to the table and took the paper they'd been left with. The instructions on said piece of paper seemingly weren't what they'd wanted to hear, not from Richards father that wasn't even there to begin with. "What on earth is he even doing out there?", he suddenly asked, then used his free hand to slap it against his mouth. "I ... forget about that, none of my business", he mumbled through closed fingers and set aside the bundle of stuff that he'd gotten from the blonde, watched him actually do the work that he wasn't supposed to do and now, well, he felt bad. "I'm going to fill up your bath later anyway, why the hell would you keep all the work to yourself? ... Anyways, thank you", Yujin inquired, confused by the sudden act of kindness. What was this going to turn out to be? Some stupid allegory to the fact that nothing in life would actually turn out the way it should? Or that sometimes, people were too stubborn for their own good? "Hm, so, are you hungry or more in the mood for tea? If we just need to heat water or reheat some food, I think I can manage."

"Because they don't want you to freeze to death. Adrestian clothes are hardly made for the temperatures out here, as much as thrian clothes aren't made for some venturing into Adrestia." Actually, Fhaergus and Alster would probably be fine, but anything beyond that in those clothes, or at least as many layers as he wore, would be sufficient to kill him through overheating or at least have him sweat like a pig. Yujin, on one hand, wanted to see what was beyond Silesse's cold and unwelcoming exterior and yet, he would never set foot into most places of Adrestia and their odd, not at all cold climate. Eugh, disgusting. "No, I don't mind, besides, they do fit me pretty well", he commented, tugging on his shirt one more time as if he was trying to prove that, as odd as it looked, the wolf in adrestian clothes, he was fine in some sort of way and had nothing against the sudden and foreign wardrobe change and he wouldn't be the one that complained about any of that to begin with, not from here on out. "I just don't want to seem like I don't appreciate the gesture, that's all", he informed the blonde with a sigh - there was no other, actual reason to that - and there didn't need to be to begin with.

Yujin felt, first and foremost dumb and now that he'd slumped down at the table that was there, he was prodding his head up on his arm, trying to avoid those unfamiliar brown eyes. "No idea, I just don't want to snoop into something that I don't even need to know", he elaborated and then, well, he still listened to Richard and let him go on about what his father might have needed, or what he wanted to do out there, but that that really justify leaving two sick idiots alone, banking on them sleeping most of the day away? To the wolf, that sounded like an invitation to be unruly, then again, his head and body were already complaining about the lack of warm blankets. "I could have fixed my own too, you know?", he suddenly insisted, looking up at Richard eventually and yet, he should be the one that got to do what he wanted to, no matter what, why was he even trying to complain about anything like that? "Forget about it, if you don't want it, I have no reason to insist", Yujin bit back a scoff and instead, found himself coughing his lungs out in the next moment. Fucking stupid cold. "Hydration first and satisfaction later, I guess", he replied, eyeing the big pot that was now sitting there. The snow would take time to melt and the water would take time to cook, therefore, their tea was also going to take some time. "Guess I will once the water is good to use - any preferences?"

"I'm not forcing them onto you, no need to get mad", Yujin made clear, as if he suddenly was the one that had been urging Richard to get into clothing that wasn't his, but ... he was the one that was braiding his hair and not letting that go, wasn't he? Now, he felt stupid, almost pathetic and watched on as Richard took that thing out. Right, he didn't want to be here, therefore, there was no reason for him to feel like he belonged and that, among other things, was one of his flaws. Neither of them had anyone they could currently turn to, beside each other and for now, he watched on as Richard went on about a few things that he wasn#t even sure he wanted to hear. Whatever gave him a confidence boost might've been the right thing, right? But alas, who knew, because he didn't and figuring all of that out sounded like it was going to be a major pain, one way or the other and once he'd get his hands on any viable information, it would turn to sand that was rinsing through his fingers. "So just the same old stuff, sort of", he replied to what Richard had said about his father and wondered what that really meant. For all they knew, this madman could be out there somewhere, trying to wrestle a bear into submission or something even more ludicrous, wasn't it that?

"I may act stupid, but I'm not that stupid." Or was he? His idea of oh so many things that common folk had to endure was somewhat skewed, that much he knew himself, but what was even more important was that, well, Richard was right to some degree, wasn't he? Yujin was nothing more than a guest, an uninformed one and someone that, while he was trying to help, would probably just burn down something while making the futile attempt, which, in itself, was a damn shame, wasn't it? "I really don't need a blanket, but thank you for your concern." As it seemed, whatever Richard had gotten, he had it worse and now he felt like shit because, well, he didn't want to have it worse, he wanted to best the shrimp that called himself Richard and that ... all went down the drain, just like his ambitions for a rivalry between the two of them. "Agh, fine, I give up. Do what you want, but don't look at me like you're a cub that just got kicked", Yujin said, averting his gaze from Richard and forcing himself to stand up - bad idea. For a second, he felt dizzy, which - right about now - was the last thing he wanted, but he cought himself pretty soon thereafter and waddled over to the herbs that were hanging from the ceiling, trying to see if there were some tea leaves among them, but there weren't. Instead, he went on to investigate some of the storage containers in that small kitchen, until he eventually found a small can with dried up leaves hin them. Yujin knew how a tea ceremony went and how to properly brew tea, but that still meant he'd been presented with the tools - the means - to do it, not the actual process he had to go through. "How do adrestians drink their tea, actually? I don't mean out of cups or some stupid shit like that, I'm just curious how you prepare it."

Had he pissed off the dreamy lad yet again or was all of this just in his head and he was making baseless assumptions because Yujin was like that? Though, right now, it didn't appear to be the latter. How ... annoying. "Did I say something wrong?", he suddenly asked, as if a verbal bandaid was going to actually help physical wounds heal, but what did he know? For now, all he could do was try as one might and attempt to salvage this conversation. Why was it, that whenever they found themselves worn out and tired, they could converse much better? Was it because he stopped saying stupid shit or was it because the stupid shit that he said didn't matter anymore, once they both had overstepped a certain boundary of being and were happy only when they fell asleep? Then again, Richard probably wasn't even happy when he was asleep and that, yet again, meant that the chances of actually ever impressing that guy were shrinking to a somewhat insane degree. Yujin huffed, seemingly upset about something that he didn't voice, before scratching the back of his head just pinpointing whatever he actually could do with all those herbs he found himself presented with and how much of it was going to be drinkable, as opposed to the garbage he could produce.

"Oh", he exclaimed upon hearing the ice prince's revelation - and that actually wasn't that much of a big deal, was it now? Frankly, he'd expected something like that or at least thought that Richard would have some sort of idea, but in the end, he didn't even have a single fucking thing to his name, not even the art of brewing tea. Theoretically, wasn't he just some sort of blockhead that crashed headfirst through a wall whenever he wanted something? Did that make two? Odd. But instead, he found himself presented with a kettle full of boiling water, a small "thanks", spilling from his lips and once the blonde rushed out of the door, he found himself eyeing the fucking kettle just for a short second. If Richard took over all of the hard work, he could at least act like he knew how to housewife his way around some things and make drinkable, not disgusting tea - that shouldn't be a challenge. Therefore, he grabbed the tin, took some of the tea leaves and put them inside the kettle, which's lit he lifted, before grabbing onto some of the herbs that he recognized as part of different tea mixtures, only to throw some of them in there - and then procure two cups, sat them down at the table with the kettle and play the waiting game. "Actually, can I ask something? Why are you so eager to just push your body like that?", was, what spilled from his lips once Richard had finished bringing in more snow. Was this going to hurt?

Like this, he would gain nothing from pestering the poor guy about any of that so, in reality, he should probably give up, admit that none of this was going to work out and that he had to be going home right about now, but there was no yelling, no impact, frankly, there was nothing and by now, he was confused as to how well Richard was at hiding the fact that something was, in fact, not right. Yujin knew nothing, that much was for certain, but if he pretended to, he might as well be able to figure things out on his own accord, or at least if he tried to make sense of things that never had needed anything of that anyway. "That's good", he simply added, not wanting to rouse more than necessary and definitely unwilling to be part of the impending shitstorm that would eventually come his way, should he actually anger the guy that had shown him nothing but ... what, actually? Mixed feelings? Yujin let out a deep sigh, then eyed him from where he sat and heard what came out of his mouth. "That's not what I mean. You're sick and you could give two fucks less about me, but for some reason, you aren't." Yujin wasn't wrong, for all Richard cared, he could have just thrown him out by now and told him to fucking suck it up, but for some odd reason, he hadn't done that just yet.

Why was the world the way it was? None of that made sense and they both knew that, most likely anyway. In the end, they'd find something they could disagree on and then they'd start to methodically accost each other again, or at least tear at their outer shells until one of them broke down and felt like the other was worth murdering - at least that was, what it had been up until now, wasn't it? But unlike him, Yujin had the odd feeling that Richard - once he flew into relentless rage - wouldn't be able to control himself and he'd, most likely, bash his head in until there was nothing but a bloody, messy pool of things left that, before the unfortunate rendezvous with his fist, had been blood, flesh and bone. "It never does, but it's fine to slack when you're sick. That's also why I don't want you to do everything on your own." There was no way he actually, knowingly, wanted to sabotage Richard but what other choice did he have anyway? For now, he knew next to nothing about the guy that he spend his time with and whatever he could gather would, eventually, be useful for him, but only to some degree. Yujin, on the other hand, reached for the kettle after Richard did, poured himself some tea and once he actually drank it, swallowed whatever that was and shoved the kettle aside. "Okay, wrong herb", he admitted, looking disgusted at the only thing he didn't want to fuck up today. "Sorry to subject you to that, I confused something."

Yujin was, for better or worse, just trying to help, wasn't he? His big brother never slowed down, despite being told to and then, he felt like, maybe if his older brother took a break for him, Richard might as well do that too, wouldn't he? At least that was his farfetched theory, woven together with a lie that might as well have become reality if he kept telling himself that everything was, as he envisioned it. Good gods, not only was he skewed, he also barely knew what he really wanted to do, wasn't it that? Besides, he also figured that it might as well be something that, by all means, would only end in a disaster too large to actually comprehend. "Both, kind of. Look, I know we had some fever-induced conversations and we do know one another a bit better by now, but ... why would you even do something for me to begin with?", Yujin wanted to know, tilting his head like he was a confused puppy and not quite understanding the command he'd been given by his master. Surely, there had to be some sort of explanation for that and it couldn't just be that Richard wanted to stay on his feet and go back to where he had been a few days ago - staying active and not letting himself be held back.

In reality, he already had a hunch that Richard was the one lying to his face right now, but he just acted dumb, as if he knew nothing and as if he'd heard nothing out of the ordinary. This world around them was everchanging to begin with and in all honesty, he'd rather have those chunks of peace around them instead ofbeing faced with violence right about now. "Just don't overdo it, that's all I'm asking", he answered the blonde, then looked away, back into his cup and the concoction he'd brewed up instead of tea. This wasn't poison, the only thing that had happened was, that the herbs themselves definitely didn't mix well with the tea levels and while the color was fine and the smell, somewhat too, the taste was ... "Eugh. Sorry, I'm no help with anything." That was the bes tthing he could muster and once more, he felt as if he was nothing more than a little kid that was trying to fish for someone, anyones, attention - but why did he? Where was that going to get him? Why did he try? "You sure?", Yujin suddenly asked, almost sheepishly. This was a genuine mistake, nothing to cry about and yet he sat there, confused and disappointed in himself and ... this wasn't something he'd have to do infront of Richard, not right now anyway. "Drown? I doubt I will", Yujin answered, still not looking up from that stupid cup that sat right there. "I can do that if it soothes you."

A pathetic display was still a display of some sorts and that, much to his chagrin, meant that he was still in Richards view, that the blonde still could see him, but he couldn't see his eyes - something that didn't serve as comfort, that didn't stop him from wondering where he fucked up and if he even was good for something and then, he suddenly started coughing, again. Enough of that, wasn't it? Why was his body reacting like that? At least it served as a way to rid himself of those stupid thoughts that had taken root in his head and it served as some sort of reminder that he wasn't the only one here and Richard wouldn't exactly be appreciative of a man that cried over ruined tea, just because he felt like he was currently having a shit day. "That's actually not even a shit idea", he confessed, knowing fully well that it wasn't that it never had been and that the sole purpose of his little questionaire was to take his mind off of things, at least right now. Whatever else the blonde decided to do, however, was none of his business and as long as he just tried fooling around, that wasn't going to get him anywhere. "Fine, I guess you're right", he sighs, somewhat in disbelief, somewhat in acceptance over the fact that he was the one that looked worse for wear when comparing both of them with one another.

"I'm glad to hear that", Yujin admitted, peering up from where he sat and wondered if he actually could catch a good glimpse of Richard like that, now that he brought bread over and he was invited to take some bites. Did he actually feel like eating? Would it taste like something or was it going to not have any flavor at all? "Mhm, please do", he implored the blonde that would have thrown out the tea anyway and just watched after him, asking himself if the two of them could really get along like this. Actually, why was he sitting there, not eating anything he'd been offered and why did he let himself be shut down when he wanted to help? Because it was more comforting to just be who he was, to just try and be where he was, all in all to uphold some sort of stupid farce? "There's room for plausible explanations, I wouldn't worry too much." Then, he finally dug into his bread, or at least a piece of it that he'd ripped from the one that Richard had already cut in pieces anyway - for some reason, this was just how he'd always done it, so why not now, too? "You know, you're kind of odd.", he then spat out, after having swallowed the bread in his mouth and actually trying to make eye contact with the blonde. What the fuck was that about. "I don't mean that in a bad way, you're just full of surprises."

In fact, he felt horrible, but what else could he do except sit here and then sink into the hot tub of water that was currently being prepaered for him? In all honesty, he still felt like crap, not only because his body wasn't up to speed but also because said body was hindering from giving Richard a hand. Bullshit, wasn't it? If one of them could force their bodies to do their bidding, why not the other? Many thoughts crossed his mind, a lot of them explanations for things that made no sense and yet, as nonsensical as all of that sounded, whatever else was he left with? Yujin let out an exasperated sigh, then looked up at Richard and took what he'd been handed into his hands. Sure, his father also had a variety of plants that he grew, but in truth, Yujin would never dare to even side-eye any of those, lest he accidentally gave himself a lethal dose of something that he wasn't mean to touch. In this case, however, he opened his mouth and put the leaves in there, before starting to chew them. Eugh, they were as disgusting as he'd expected them too be, but whatever else could he bank on? Frankly, this was what he had asked for, one way or the other and he'd not complain about that right now.

"I mean, they're disgusting but I guess it helps", he added, despite not even being sure if they had any effect on him to begin with. For all he knew, Richard could be the one feeding him lies, but it didn't seem like that, much less did it seem like the blonde was trying to kill him either, actually because he seemed to be concerned about him for some reason, or was he? "None, but they're not satisfied whether I'm alive or not. It's all part of the act", he explained to Richard. People lost things, much like themselves, during their lives and if he had to guess, his father wasn't doing an exceptional job at keeping himself together either - surely, both of them could do something for one another, but at the end of the day, all of that was just meaningless bluffing of two people that barely had one another figured out. "Yes, sort of, I guess. At least I don't intend it to be an insult." Yujin was good with words, unless his brain felt like it had been ground down to become soup and had, erroniously, not done much work - instead, they all were running on some odd hours of sleep and he already felt like shit again. "Thank you", he mumbled, swallowing the leaves he had taken into his mouth earlier, just to grab another slice of bread and silently eat away at it. "Do you want any help, though?"

Yujin wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep all of a sudden, with or without Richard didn't matter, he'd just drag him into bed and then act like that was something completely normal to - and yet, they were both hungry and both exhausted, feeling like shit and in need of a bath. Instead, he was munching away on bread and sitting in a desolate kitchen, being berated for wanting to do things that - in his state of mind - were probably a shit idea, but not only that, he wouldn't benefit from helping, as much as he would find himself to be struggling with the easiest of things. His head felt like it had been filled with soup and if he was honest, he wasn't sure if his eyes had filled with tears because he was despairing over some tea that he'd fucked up or because his entire system was taking a toll - still, he didn't look Richard in the eye, he kept his head where it was and waited for something, anything, but that wouldn't get him anywhere either. Instead, he realized of stupid it must look for a piece of bread to disappear behind a curtain of hair, never to be seen again and almost immediately, he looked up - Yujin didn't care how he looked, he was looking like shit either way.

Instead of responding to something that wasn't even a question to begin with, Yujin shut his mouth for now, shoving the last of the bread he'd been banded into his mouth and wiping the crumbs from the corners of his lips. Now, he was already looking like he hadn't bathed in days - which he, arguably, hadn't, but at least he could give some hints that he, theoretically and actually, gave two damns, didn't he? "No need to", he replied - there was no need to thank him when the person that he should be thanking was the blonde, wasn't it? But right about now, all of those things on his mind felt slow, almost painful and the truth was, that happiness didn't persist just because he wanted it to, but rather because ... this was stupid, wasn't it? "Isn't preparing a bath a good reason though? Wait, no, forget about that, the last thing I want is to piss you off. I didn't say anything." Yujin should watch his mouth before he spoke, but instead, he pushed himself back onto his legs and watched as Richard finished up their bath. Well, at least he wouldn't feel disgusting after this, wouldn't he. "Uh, alright", he responded, before walking over to the bathroom and leaving the door slightly ajar. "Is this fine, can you hear me?"

"That's good to hear, me too", he replied and started slipping out of the clothes that Richard had given him yesterday. Actually, he could just let them hang out on the floor for now, he was going to wear other clothes when he got back out of the tub - and that meant, that he'd have to test the water before him now. Richard had been right, it was still somewhat hot, but Yujin didn't even care, as long as he wasn't going to burn his skin off, it didn't even matter. "Don't worry, I won't." One step into the tub and he let himself sink in there, pulled his legs up to his body and, instead of actually getting to washing himself, watched the many strands of hair on his head soak up the water before him and float atop before they got a tad bit too heavy and started to sink. Yujin leaned back, still mulling over all of that, his head on his knees and said head stuck in the clouds high above. He was the one that had tried to help Richard, so why on earth was he the one that Richard helpedd now and why did he just let all of that happen? Hell, there was no good reason and the sole thought of it was something that was quite saddening - he sank down deeper, let go of his legs and yet, none of this was satisfactory.

His eyes hurt, so he rubbed them, washed his face that he let sink into the water, that covered his mouth - the warmth got to his head, which already hurt and his short-lived ideas of blowing bubbles into the water never came to fruition, not when he didn't feel like it. Would a softer approach help? But, surely, Richard didn't want to be belittled about the things he was feeling and the stuff he had to endure while he lived on and on and on, out here, in white nothingness, none of this was even remotely interesting, was it now? To the blonde, he just was another face, someone passing by, someone that wouldn't leave long enough to be of importance and if he was honest, he didn't even mind - there was no reason to and the sole thought of it didn't even hurt, no, why would it? Yujin submerged himself in the water for a while, just to wet all of his hair, before actually coming up to wash himself - before he could, though, he heard the blondes voice call out for him. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. I don't need anything, what about you? Should I get out?" Was he wasting too much time in there? Or was it just that the warmth of this water and the false sense of security that he experienced where slowly pulling him under a spell and lulling him in?