This is a Sting Operation ( Open! )

[jackelyn]

aries;

Man Aries hated being right. It hurt. On impact all the breath was knocked out of him and Aries lied there, staring up at the sky and gasping for air. It was a pretty blue today, it was funny how he didn't notice until now. A pretty blue that was being covered up by little black specks, buzzing furiously. Aries frowned. He'd never seen any black clouds before, not even during a storm but, he supposed there was a first time for everything... Was it his imagination or was that cloud getting closer, and why was it making him feel so nervous?

Three things happened suddenly. First there was a huge scuffle somewhere behind him, then he heard his name and someone asking him to wake up, which, Aries thought that was sort of weird because he was already awake. Sure, cozy in a blanket but, who didn't try to get a few extra minutes in bed before getting up?

Then Diana poked his tail, right as a vengeful hornet swooped down and stung him on his paw.

Aries snapped out of it.

"Ouch oh God oh sh-" Blanket flew everywhere as Aries scrambled and heaved himself out of the tangled mess. The mad buzz of the hornets above him (NOT a black cloud, what was he thinking!) grew louder, they had clearly identified him as the source of their home's destruction and were NOT happy about it. Luckily adrenaline and instinct were on Aries's side. Shaking his final leg free from the grasp of the blanket he leaped out.

"INSIDE" he roared at Diana, who looked scared and paralyzed. "QUICKLY!" Before she could protest he bundled her ahead of him, using his body to propel them both across the ground and back into the warehouse. Aries didn't dare look back, even when he felt sharp stings on his hindquarters. Together he and Diana slipped inside just in time. Some wasps slipped inside with them but, the rest hit the wall of the warehouse, dispersing into a cloud. Protecting Diana with his body Aries batted away the rest (getting another sting for his trouble) until they flew off.

Finally. Aries sunk to the ground with a groan and shut his eyes. He was still full of adrenaline, he was dreading the moment it wore off. First pulling Diana back through the window, then the fall, now all these stings and, the sprint... Oh, he was going to hurt. Sure he was lucky, he didn't feel any broken bones or sprains, the blanket had cushioned his fall. But Tinsel was probably going to order him on bed rest the rest of the day, plus he was about to swell up like a balloon...

Well did Diana escape unscathed at least? It wasn't much of a consolation but, Aries was used to giving more than taking with this family, he had learned to find the silver linings when it came to them. He opened his eyes again and looked around, he noticed again the distress in her eyes. Well from her perspective it couldn't have been nice either, she'd nearly fallen out of a window, and, then saw him fall out... Poor girl, she already had so much trauma, yes this might be a drop in the bucket but, it was still a drop.

Aries felt guilty even though he was the one with the most injuries. (Also common with this family.) "Mission accomplished" he told her gently. "We've uh, successfully defeated the hive and, uh... the King Wasp. Good job" Ok, the stings were starting to kick in, he tried to hide his wince as he stood up again. "Now I should go check in with Tinsel for these bites, why don't you celebrate with a victory... feast or, something?" His imagination was failing him, "Unless you want to come with, were you hurt or stung?"

NOTES // Poor Aries!
TAGGED // DELAWARE
WORDS // 638

[DELAWARE]

It was too much for her; Diana's legs gave out as Aries surged up, wide-eyed and frantic and most importantly alive, and she collapsed onto the ground just as he began to yell at her to get inside. She tried to force herself to move but it was as if the connection between her brain and legs had been severed completely, muscles unwilling to engage, refusing to obey. She could only flounder helplessly before Aries was shoving her in front of him, alternately bundling her and pulling her along, and she let herself go limp, let herself get dragged into the warehouse. Aries must have taken her entire weight - must have powered her himself, since she had no power of her own - but she wasn't even sure if he realized it, his body a shield between her and the remaining wasps as he drove them away. Distantly she felt a sharp prick on her leg; looking down, she realized that she'd gotten stung despite Aries's best efforts, the culprit already gone, the bite already beginning to swell. She whimpered at the shock of it, but the sound was lost in the final furious buzzing as the wasps departed, and then there was silence - or something close to it - and Diana bit her tongue to stop herself from making a noise.

And then Aries was speaking to her, hauling himself up despite his obvious exhaustion and despite the bites that were scattered across his body. He must be in pain, Diana thought to herself, watching the way he winced and nearly missing his words entirely. He must be in pain, yet he's still checking on me - guilt, and then shame, flooded through her, compounded by the gentleness with which he spoke, like she was something fragile, like she might fall apart at any moment. She wanted, desperately, to say that she was okay, that it was nothing, that she was happy the King Wasp had been defeated, that she was ready for the next battle, that they had taught their foes a lesson and now they'd think twice about returning. It was on the tip of her tongue; she was Axel's daughter at heart, and stories came easier to her than reality. But there were times - happening more and more frequently, lately - that reality was so heavy, so unavoidable, that it crushed the stories entirely, and Diana felt it now, watching this warrior checking on her when it was he who had sustained the injury, he who had done all the work, who was trying to humor her and her silly little imaginings even now, while she'd been helpless and useless from the start.

So what else could she do? "I'm fine," she lied almost before he'd finished speaking; but Diana was no good at lying, and knew it, so she amended, "I was bitten, but-" a bit of false bravado here - "it's nothing, I barely feel it." Half-truth, which meant she would get away with it, even if anyone with eyes would still know how much was left unsaid. "It's okay. You... you go see Tinsel. I have to - I need to - a victory feast." It sounded stupid even to her own ears, but he'd said it first. No matter that she had no intention of eating anything; she felt sick to her stomach. "Yes. That sounds - good." She stood up, unsteady but autonomous, and began to back away from him. "Good job on - it was - a good adventure today. I... I learned a lot. Um," she nodded, vaguely, at his stings. "Good luck with that. I mean, I hope Tinsel can... I hope it's okay." Her nerve broke on the final word; without waiting for his reaction, Diana turned and scurried away as fast as she could, doing her best to look normal even if she felt anything but. She wanted her mom, her dad, her siblings; she wanted safety and comfort and unassailability, the warm glow of Haven, the black-and-white fantasies of her youth. But her dad was gone, her siblings were out, no doubt living their own lives; even fantasy was more gray than she'd realized, and these days Haven was as full of shadows as it was of sunshine. She had to learn to do things alone - to bear it all, alone.

But Diana was no good at that, either, no matter how much she tried. She picked up the scent trail, familiar and thankfully fresh, just a little ways into the warehouse. Her nose was already stuffy; tears were already beginning to form. "Mom," Diana whispered to herself, hiding her face from the curious stares of the few other BloodClanners in the camp, and sped up, heading for her mother; for whatever slice of refuge still remained to soothe her, and to keep her safe.


[ ooc jackelyn, + JAMIE for Sassafras mentions. Di's still just a baby really... my girl! anyways, last post from me <333 thank you for such a fun thread!!!! looking forward to seeing how their relationship evolves, i def think diana's gonna avoid aries for a while though lol. once she gets her bearings again she's just gonna be so embarrassed lol. ]