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The sound of a gunshot echoed through the air. The smell of gunpowder blocked out all other smells, except of course the smell of blood—his blood. Then there was the dull aching pain in his side and his eyes going wide before—nothing.
His mind faded into the night.
~
“Are you an idiot!”
Yuliy’s eyes opened, looking up at the ceiling above him. He sat up, his side screaming while he looked at Philip, who looked at him with disdain like usual.
“Yup. You’re an idiot.”
“What happened?” Yuliy muttered, putting the palm of his hand against his forehead.
“You got in the way of Dorothea’s shot, you moron, and boy is she pissed.”
Yuliy flinched, his eyes widening, and then... “Oh.” He let out a groan, flopping down. His mouth pressed together as he covered his eyes. “I’m an idiot.”
~
Dorothea of course gave him the silent treatment—for the most part. She did take the time to say, “You wouldn’t have ended up like that if you weren’t so hot-headed and reckless when it comes to fighting the vampires.”
He didn’t respond. He knew better than to argue with the older woman, simply because she’d withhold the familial affection he would never admit he craved since his mother and brother died, but she was mad like he remembered either one of them getting when he tried doing more than his small body could handle, though that was when he was younger, though the feelings were the same.
“It’s really not that long,” Philip snorted.
“What?”
“That Dorothea is going to ignore you.”
Yuliy blinked. “What?”
“You act like she’s your mother, or older sister even. It’s weird.”
“Do not.”
“Do...” Philip sighed. “Not having that argument, but you know that it will stop when you heal up and you heal rather fast.”
Except, healing fast didn’t make it feel any less of a long time.
“Yuliy!”
His head darted up, his eyes blinking upon hearing Dorothea’s tone of voice which meant she was talking to him again, yet there was something off as if she were taking amusement at his expense.
“Ryoko-san is here to see you.”
“Oh.” Which confused him given the fact that didn’t seem like a torturous thing done after he’d gone and messed up, though he was also still curious why the girl took interest in him and the Jaeger when it would have been better if she distanced herself from what they did. Safer even.
“You’re an idiot,” Philip muttered.
“W...”
“Yuliy! What is this I hear about you getting shot?” the girl asked.
And—something told Yuliy he now had two females mad at him, his mind not understanding why.
“Yup. You’re an idiot.”