Before Nevin could reach the duo - something was happening, he couldn’t see what at this point - a large crowd of people had formed. There was a mixture of sounds - some voices disgusted, some amused, some - and Nevin shot a glare at this source - aroused. What in the hell was happening? He pushed closer, trying to get where he could see -
The bastard. Eteri might be a Nekojin, but she was not an actual cat. She was more in touch with her animalistic side, but she also still didn’t like drinking just from bowls. Nevin tried to push closer, to see what was happening - and a pair of large shoulders slammed together, cutting him off as the two large men talked.
“Damn, he really has got another one, and this one’s a damn looker too.” This voice came from the left, and Nevin froze. The one on the right nodded, his head bobbing in Nevin’s line of sight.
“Yep. Pretty little thing, isn’t she? Shame, right shame. Still, I think she’ll look nice in his -”
“Shh, you fool, we are in public, we don’t need someone hearing you!” The first man cut off his friend with a hard jab in the side with an elbow. And Nevin really, really wished the first man hadn’t been smart enough to cut the other off. Still - he had to get forward, had to see what in cobalt was happening. He gave up trying to get past them, and went around, using his lean frame to his advantage.
He got back to where he could see in time to see Stefan, stroking her hair as he invited people to come up and have a closer look. Eteri was smiling vacantly up at him, a mockery of her normally cheerful smile.
Rage shot through Nevin. There was [i]no way[i/] Eteri was doing this of her own free will. Nevin was immensely glad - and furious. Glad that he now thought that he had confirmation that Eteri hadn’t left him on her own volition - and furious at himself. He was the fool who had gotten Eteri into a situation that drew this man’s eye.
His feeling for this Stefan? That could only be described as pure, murderous rage. Nevin’s tendrils went perfectly still beneath his cloak. This was not a shocked stillness - but a deadly one, like a predator waiting to pounce. He judged the distance mentally - he was twenty feet away. At furthest reach, his threads could reach eight feet. That meant, to kill this fucker, he just had to cross twelve feet of distance. That - he could do that, especially with Stefan encouraging people to come forward. Only a few were - including, though he couldn’t see it, the two men who had been talking.
“Yes, I think I’d like a closer look.” Fury ripped through Nevin’s words as he shouted, shoving people aside. Eleven feet. People looked at him, shocked - even those who were going along with this more were not exactly vocal about it. Ten feet. Long strides carried him forward as Stefan turned to face him. The bastard - Eteri was now facing him, with a vacant version of her normally happy smile on her face. Nine Feet. Someone got in his way, trying to slow him down - it seemed people had seen the rage on his face.
Eight feet - seven sixfivefourthreetwo- Shoving the person aside had given the redhead a clear line, and he had broken into a sprint, his eyes flashing crimson as his magic coursed through his body. His threads tensed, ready to strike -
And he paused. A fatal, crucial pause. The bond between them - he finally saw it. It was strong, it was sturdy, it was powerful - and it was broken. Their strings of fate reached out for each other, desperately trying to connect - but when they did, something dark and oily slid in between them, getting in the way. Instinctively, he knew that this was impossible, or so very wrong. So, without thought, he tried to right it - he didn’t know he could do this, but magic pulsed through his connection, his string of fate, and it surged forward, trying to latch onto hers. For just a moment, he thought he was successful - and then two things happened simultaneously.
Strong arms wrapped around Nevin, one around his throat and one around his waist, halting his forward progress. He was dragged backwards, just in time to see that oily sheen sliding in the way of the string of fate, preventing it from connecting. It stretched out, futilely, and then coiled in on itself, wrapping up into a tight circle.
“Sorry about that, Boss. Don’t know what got in this one’s head. We’ll take care of it.” And with that, Nevin’s vision went black as something hit him up the back of the head, hard.
