[Only a half-step more technologically apt than a Luddite, Akira couldn't really rely on the bells and whistles of the communicators, not having the ability to track Ryo through the network in the same way he had always been able to find him when the need arose. Instead he functioned on a loose check-in system, always having at least a vague idea of what his plans might be, sometimes agreeing to meet with him in a given place at a given time. So he knew that Ryo was at the bar, or at the very least planned on being there, because he'd asked earlier. He was actually planning on heading in that direction in the next hour or two, but he's distracted from his meandering about the station when his communicator barks at him with a sharp, demanding sound.
He glances to it and his heart leaps into his throat. His jaw clenches and he tries to contain the feeling of panic that threatens to possess him, typing out a quick message to try to make sure this wasn't a bug in the system:]
@dabil: @r.asuka: youre still in the bar, right?? you okay?
[After about half a minute (he counts the thuds of his heart to keep the time of it), he's already tearing off down the hall. It was too out-of-character for Ryo not to answer with a speed that seemed impossible, and it only confirms and feeds into his fears. Up until this point, Akira has been putting careful limitations on what he did, how quickly he moved or how strong he appeared to others. Now he drops all of those. A bystander might have seen him running by as little more than a blur through the hallway before it disappeared.
Not even a minute has passed and he's shoving open the bar door, feeling the adrenaline and instinct altering his body without him even actively thinking about it. His skin has melted into a greyish color, fingers sharpening honing into claws, teeth sharpening into fangs. As the door to the bar swings shut and he's shouting into the confrontation that he has just arrived to,] Get away from him! [Part of him recognizes that it's Venus, but the rest of him doesn't care. As he rushes towards them, the sharp sound of fabric shredding sounds in the air as his wings tear their way loose from the prison of the station coveralls, spreading wide and shaping the air beneath him so he can make a flying leap to land right next to where Venus was attempting to grapple with Ryo.
He doesn't want to hurt her (even though there's a part of him that really wants to hurt someone that he thought might've harmed Ryo). He uses his wings again, filling the space between them, cutting Venus off from where Ryo was slumped onto the floor and blocking them from one another. He turns his back to her, and though the demon instincts within him that had been through thousands of years of kill or be killed are screaming at him for such a stupid move, he crushes them with the single overpowering impulse of: make sure Ryo is okay.
And he's not. He's - Akira doesn't know, he seems scared shitless, or freaking out, or something? He's never seen Ryo like this, and that shakes Akira down to his very core, frightening him even more than the thought of him having been hurt. It seems something deeper than that, something which elicits from him a confused dread that crawls up his throat from the pit of his gut to settle between his jaws. He sees (smells) the blood immediately, eyes focusing with laserlike precision on the glass in his hand. He reaches out in a fluid motion, first grabbing his wrist in a strong grip before placing his thumb into his palm, moving upwards with it as he squeezed at the joint, coaxing him to relinquish what he held.] Drop it. [His voice is markedly different now, almost gentle in a way, though flush with nerves that he couldn't manage to keep completely separate even if he'd tried.] Ryo. [Where once he'd furled his wings to create a curtain, now he draws them in, curving forward to partially encircle them, blocking out the light falling off of Venus. He searches the wild blue of Ryo's eyes in that manufactured shadow, desperate to find a shard of something to cling to, to use as leverage to bring what he knew back.] Ryo, it's okay. It's okay.
[Other than the blood flowing from the cut on his hand, now staining his own, he couldn't find any more injuries. Where he had reached out to disarm him swiftly, without thought, he reaches out with his other hand after a moment's debate, the stutter-step of hesitation evident in the movement. If allowed he would reach out to snake his arm under his friend's shoulders, leveraging him up and into his arms, as close as he would allow. It's the first thing that springs into his mind, regardless of situation or potential dangers, something that'd followed him ever since he'd found him out by the cliffs on that dreary overcast day.
Don't be afraid.
As for Venus... his brain is very slowly catching up to the decisions his body has made, so once that has happened and he's assured Ryo's safety, he'll address her part in this.]
no subject
He glances to it and his heart leaps into his throat. His jaw clenches and he tries to contain the feeling of panic that threatens to possess him, typing out a quick message to try to make sure this wasn't a bug in the system:]
@dabil:
@r.asuka: youre still in the bar, right?? you okay?
[After about half a minute (he counts the thuds of his heart to keep the time of it), he's already tearing off down the hall. It was too out-of-character for Ryo not to answer with a speed that seemed impossible, and it only confirms and feeds into his fears. Up until this point, Akira has been putting careful limitations on what he did, how quickly he moved or how strong he appeared to others. Now he drops all of those. A bystander might have seen him running by as little more than a blur through the hallway before it disappeared.
Not even a minute has passed and he's shoving open the bar door, feeling the adrenaline and instinct altering his body without him even actively thinking about it. His skin has melted into a greyish color, fingers sharpening honing into claws, teeth sharpening into fangs. As the door to the bar swings shut and he's shouting into the confrontation that he has just arrived to,] Get away from him! [Part of him recognizes that it's Venus, but the rest of him doesn't care. As he rushes towards them, the sharp sound of fabric shredding sounds in the air as his wings tear their way loose from the prison of the station coveralls, spreading wide and shaping the air beneath him so he can make a flying leap to land right next to where Venus was attempting to grapple with Ryo.
He doesn't want to hurt her (even though there's a part of him that really wants to hurt someone that he thought might've harmed Ryo). He uses his wings again, filling the space between them, cutting Venus off from where Ryo was slumped onto the floor and blocking them from one another. He turns his back to her, and though the demon instincts within him that had been through thousands of years of kill or be killed are screaming at him for such a stupid move, he crushes them with the single overpowering impulse of: make sure Ryo is okay.
And he's not. He's - Akira doesn't know, he seems scared shitless, or freaking out, or something? He's never seen Ryo like this, and that shakes Akira down to his very core, frightening him even more than the thought of him having been hurt. It seems something deeper than that, something which elicits from him a confused dread that crawls up his throat from the pit of his gut to settle between his jaws. He sees (smells) the blood immediately, eyes focusing with laserlike precision on the glass in his hand. He reaches out in a fluid motion, first grabbing his wrist in a strong grip before placing his thumb into his palm, moving upwards with it as he squeezed at the joint, coaxing him to relinquish what he held.] Drop it. [His voice is markedly different now, almost gentle in a way, though flush with nerves that he couldn't manage to keep completely separate even if he'd tried.] Ryo. [Where once he'd furled his wings to create a curtain, now he draws them in, curving forward to partially encircle them, blocking out the light falling off of Venus. He searches the wild blue of Ryo's eyes in that manufactured shadow, desperate to find a shard of something to cling to, to use as leverage to bring what he knew back.] Ryo, it's okay. It's okay.
[Other than the blood flowing from the cut on his hand, now staining his own, he couldn't find any more injuries. Where he had reached out to disarm him swiftly, without thought, he reaches out with his other hand after a moment's debate, the stutter-step of hesitation evident in the movement. If allowed he would reach out to snake his arm under his friend's shoulders, leveraging him up and into his arms, as close as he would allow. It's the first thing that springs into his mind, regardless of situation or potential dangers, something that'd followed him ever since he'd found him out by the cliffs on that dreary overcast day.
Don't be afraid.
As for Venus... his brain is very slowly catching up to the decisions his body has made, so once that has happened and he's assured Ryo's safety, he'll address her part in this.]