"Didn't care for you?" He repeated, his voice almost as acidic as the poisoned blood dripping onto the stones beside you, "Then what do you call this?!" He asked, his fingers trailing up and down the burn marks on your back, causing you to cry out in pain each time he applied even the smallest bit of pressure, "I haven't kill you, have I?" He asked, whispering the question into your ear before his head suddenly shot up, and you didn't even have to look at what caught his attention; The way the world seemed to silence itself around the two of you giving you all the information you needed.
Salem's Seer.
You don't even bother to act dead; Salem would know better than that, so when Tyrian grasps your hair and forces you to face the grimm you don't seem to react, instead staring straight into the head of the monster in front of you. You're met with the ghastly face of Salem, though you yet again force yourself not to recoil in horror as you stare at her, "False God." You eventually mutter, and the statement causes Tyrian to shove your head against the ground, and you curse loudly when you feel a gash open on your head thanks to the impact. The force of the blow also makes your head fuzzy, so you barely hear it when Tyrian says he was just 'playing with his prey' in reply to being told to hurry up. The psycho stays silent until the grimm is gone, and as soon as sound returns to the world, he moves off of you, knowing you were too weak to stand on your own.
"Now that is caring." He snarled, looking down at your body and hooking his foot beneath you so that he could flip you over, watching your body carefully, then he slowly sunk back down beside you, a single hand cradling your face as you narrowed your eyes at him, "Why such an ugly expression?" He asked, bursting out into giggles when you wrenched your face away from him, only for him to grasp your chin tightly and pull you back to look at him. "See. I'll even leave your body where they'll find you." His voice grew dark as he picked you up, relishing in the sound of your screams of agony.
You had thought that the removal of the barb on his tail would incapacitate him, but now you cursed yourself for your own stupidity- Of course it wouldn't hurt him, he was a sadomasochist after all, and this entire fight had only delighted him. You let out a muffled groan of annoyance as he hefts you over his shoulder, a hand planted firmly on your thigh so he could carry you, already knowing you wouldn't fight back. For some reason, this all felt familiar, taking you back to the days the two of you would fight one another, and if you were too weak he'd always carry you back to your dorm. The thought makes you shudder, and you attempt to move until the sharp, stinging pain fires through your body, the source of which coming from the large burn on your back.
It was fucked up, yes, but you knew for a fact that this was his version of caring. If it were anyone else, he would have melted off your face or killed you there in front of Salem.
What was he getting at?
"Why haven't you killed me yet?" You ask softly, your voice strained since your throat hurt from your screaming earlier, "I cut off your barb- I complained about Salem- Why haven't you killed me?" You ask, genuinely flabbergasted. You didn't want to die, no, but you knew that Tyrian would rarely take mercy on people, whether or not he was friends with them. Salem had even ordered for your death, and he still hadn't killed you.
He doesn't answer you, instead happily humming to himself as he makes his way towards where you had been staying, only to stop when he got outside, giggling to himself. You attempt to ask what he was giggling about, but before you can get the words out he turns around to show you; and you curse loudly, glad that Tyrian had the two of you mostly hidden. One of Ironwood's robots stood outside the house, and usually that was a sign that the man himself was there. "On God, Tyrian, if you care about me don't make me go in that fucking house." You eventually mutter, finding yourself conflicted- You and Tyrian had just been fighting to the death but now you were begging him to protect you against a man who had technically done you no harm. However, you knew he wouldn't, as this was the perfect way to torment you.
And so, with a laugh, he dropped you from his shoulders before yelling at the robot guard to come and grab you before he skittered off, and before you knew it a metallic arm had grabbed you and dragged you to your feet, your body instantly shooting pain anywhere it could as the burned flesh on your back moved, tears brimming your eyes as you were taken to the door and escorted inside.
That's when you heard him say your name, and it sickened you.
Your eyes slowly drifted up towards his face before they went wide, realising how beat down he looked after all these years. His expression matched yours, but soon enough he was running to your side to support you, able to see that you were wounded thanks to how you were holding yourself. Qrow soon moved to help and the two of them were able to get you to the sofa, laying you down on your stomach.
"What happened?" You hear James ask, the man sitting in the chair across from you, and despite his concern you still narrowed your eyes at him.
"So now you're concerned?"
