Text

[velocityraptor]

Type: Text
Sender ID: velocityraptor (Hawks)
To: Everyone
Subject: Hitchhiking
Warnings: Talk of severe bodily harm and maybe a bit of murder.





[ Anyone who happens to have one of Hawks' feathers, either because he gifted it, or they just happened to pick one up, will find that three days ago they darkened a shade or two as the connection to the man himself was cut off - they are now disconnected feathers, and would need to be replaced sometime in the future, if one still wanted one. ]

Hello! Sorry to trouble everyone, but I need a favour.

I'm on Eltrut, and I need a ride to either my crew's island or out to their ship, or something. It's not a rush, but if someone's willing to make the trip I can help out with chores on board, or even pay you if you get me back to my place.

[ Hawks has never, outside of MANTA board requests, set foot on a ship willingly for any length of time, in fact, usually he's flying where he wants to go.]

I appreciate it, thanks.

Comments

[velocityraptor]

[ Hawks already had his eyes closed, he's just waiting and drifting in and out of sleep. Him and Best Jeanist had gone running around for awhile which was not exactly advised by medical staff. His hearing is pretty muted for him without his wings. While it could be a sign he didn't have a fresh tattoo, the difference is that he's dressed in black and sticking out of his collar is something that looks like a cross between a neck brace and an oxygen mask, it's the latter. His head is wrapped in bandages, and the front of his shirt is partly open and there are still more bandages.

He doesn't jump up with any amount of energy, he does however smile, it can be seen in his eyes and he waves a little bit. ]

[telepathicignorance]

(Fuck. Fuck!

It's obvious he's badly hurt. They'll try and read his mind to get an idea of just what is going on.)

What the hell happened?!

(Going to text Faulkner that his boyfriend is back and being stupid at the docks.)

[velocityraptor]

[ Hawks is alive, so in his opinion, it's not that bad. Pushing deeper, the biggest sense of what happened is fire. Blue flames. The smell of burnt feathers. His injuries are really bad.

He should probably get up, but he pokes around his phone until he finds the text to speech function. That's better. He's a lightning fast typer, so clearly he texts a lot at home. ]

Went home for awhile. My mission kind of blew up in my face.

[telepathicignorance]

(And of course he's up and asking for a ride instead of actual help or medical attention.)

I can see that. Come on. I'm calling a carraige.

[velocityraptor]

[ Nah, he's cosplaying as a mummy, he's definitely had some medical attention. ]

I'm waiting for a ship.

[ That's Hawks' plan. For however long that will take. ]

[telepathicignorance]

For what, however many days it takes one to dock that's going in the direction you need?

(Fuck that.)

You're on supplemental oxygen, bird brain! You're getting on that carraige and accepting help if I have to drag you.

[velocityraptor]

[ He's tired, he probably isn't really thinking that through. ]

Just easier to be here when I need to be. I guess I can walk somewhere. The oxygen is only temporary.

[ Alright he can get up. He isn't any shorter than he was, but he looks a lot smaller like this. ]

[telepathicignorance]

(They sigh.)

Hawks, you might be stable right now but you won't stay that way if you push yourself like this. Come on.

(Automatically, they move to help him.)

What crew are you on?

[velocityraptor]

[ He's on his feet, all is good. Them catching his arm to help is enough to get a sharper, pained breath out of him, but no complaints. His arms? Also suspiciously padded like he's also got bandages there too.

Because he's being supported instead of tapping away on his phone he chooses to try and say that verbally. His voice is raspy and this sounds rather difficult, like maybe he just should not be talking right now. ]

The...[ A shuddering breath. ] Hideaway.

[telepathicignorance]

...You know how to sign? (They doubt, but they figure they should ask. Talking seems like a bad idea.)

I'll contact Cid. Chances are someone on the crew has a teleportation ring and can pick you up that way. You're getting looked at first, though.

[velocityraptor]

[ A bit of a headshake. He doesn't, which seems like a bit of an oversight really, but occasionally they didn't prepare for everything. It's alright, he'll keep at it with his phone. Shame this voice isn't as cheerful as the one the one at home is. ]

I've had a couple of rounds of healing. I've been doing errands all day.

[ Who let him out of bed?? ]

[telepathicignorance]

I'll teach you. But don't teach anyone else.

(The sign language they're most familiar with is... secret.)

You're getting a couple rounds more if I have anything to say about it.

(They'll have a carraige ready and waiting by the time they get to an actual road.)

What happened?

[velocityraptor]

[ Hawks likes learning new things so he nods slightly, although he's not up to it for the most part right now, but he can force himself to focus if he needs it. He's never napped so much in his life, he already napped in Jeanist's car. Twice. Logically that's probably a sign he shouldn't have slipped out of the hospital yet, but conflict doesn't wait for the top three to recover, does it?

There's a lot to say about that, so he'll wait until he's loaded into the carriage. At least he has no problem walking, from a leg standpoint, but he's definitely got a lot of pain he's just ignoring. ]

I went home for a bit. A couple of weeks, I guess, back to the grind. We planned an assault on the villain group I was infiltrating. It had already been planned before I came here, but yeah, we executed that and it went okay, overall, but we didn't capture everyone. That's a problem.

[telepathicignorance]

(He went home. Fuck.)

And you got hurt in the process.

(They clench their fist.)

...The Commission forcing you to run errands like this?

[velocityraptor]

Yeah, my role didn't go as planned. I underestimated him.

[ Hawks will admit that, he completely overlooked Dabi and his potential role in this thing which not only offended the man, but it was a massive miscalculation on his part. ]

No. The Commission's top members were killed by the villains. They're not in a position to control me anymore. One errand was personal, everything else is...the fallout from everything. I don't like to admit I got outplayed, but I did.

[ There's a feeling of annoyance there, but also respect. There are not many people who tangle with his intellect and come out on top, and Dabi certainly did that. ]

[telepathicignorance]

(And they blink at that, before sagging in what looks an awful lot like relief.)

Good. That you're free.

(And thst there are less people like ...that out in the multiverse. Now they just have to keep him alive.)

Injuries?

[velocityraptor]

[ He doesn't think he's at risk of dying. It was close, it was really close, but that's likely intentional. The same reason that his injuries were applied for maximum pain before getting too deep to kill the nerves to take the pain away. Dabi wanted this to hurt. ]

He burned my wings off, there's not much left of them. The oxygen is just because of the smoke inhalation. The burns are pretty extensive. Guess I'm not going to be on the cover of a magazine anytime soon.

[ He didn't lose his sense of humour. ]

[telepathicignorance]

I'm sorry about your wings.

(Are they gone forever now?

He might notice they're going in a familiar direction.)

[velocityraptor]

I deserved it.

[ He genuinely means that, there's something under the surface, some guilt there. ]

They'll grow back, it's just going to take awhile, hopefully. The doctors seem to think so.

[telepathicignorance]

You think you deserve every bad thing that happens to you.

(Very blunt.)

Not sure if your wings can be helped but I'm pretty sure there's an inhaler that'll accelerate healing in your lungs, at least.

[velocityraptor]

Not always, but I did deserve this.

[ What he did was exceptionally bad, with a level of cruelty he would've liked to avoid, but he was cornered. They both were. It's no excuse. He should've been better. Hawks slumps a little bit more as they get closer, he's very clearly exhausted. ]

[telepathicignorance]

No. You didn't.

(Absolute confidence there.)

Lay down, Hawks. (They can see how tired he is.)

[velocityraptor]

[ A matter of opinion, he's not really in the mood to fight about it. ]

I can rest like this. I slept in Jeanist's car, twice. I should be full of energy.

[telepathicignorance]

Energy your body is using up fighting off infection snd regrowing lost bits.

(They sigh.)

We're nearly there anyway.

(They text Faulkner that they've nearly arrived.)

[velocityraptor]

[ Hawks remains quiet for the rest of the ride, sleeping, or at least dozing on and off. When they get there, he steels himself because he needs to get on his feet again and he does so, climbing out of the carriage with barely a peep.

He's definitely in pain, more than he was a half an hour ago, he's just ignoring it. ]