Jin Guangyao's own internal ire begins roiling at those words. He didn't deserve blame for it, not when he hadn't really wanted to hypnotize Myr. The whole situation had just spiralled out of control in a way that wasn't acceptable.
"Has everything in your own life been so perfectly foreseen, then?" he asks, eyes shining in the moonlight. The chill in the air is getting more unpleasant as well, but only serving to highlight the heat coming off L himself. "Were you a diviner even before coming here?"
While L's eyes are closed to that sheen in Jin Guangyao's own, his ears aren't closed to that tone. He's heard it before, felt this before, and years of being a detective churning through cases and stripping away human deception have only made it second nature.
To back away further, and put more distance between them, he would have to step around the fountain or into it.
"That depends. Were you a snake, even before coming here?"
The churning of complicated feelings settles... and not in a good way. 'Snake', put that way, isn't the worst insult he's had levelled against him. But already in a questionable frame of mind under the twin moons, and never settled well with the unhappy association between that and his form as a monster, hatred mixed with the urge to hunt overwhelms him in that moment.
The hiss of hardened scales against cobbles is sharp as he lunges forward, with fangs bared -- though the speed is not what it would be, if the air were not so chill.
A few things become clear in the several seconds L has to react. The first is that Jin Guangyao has been successfully provoked into attacking him. The second is that he has to open his eyes. The third is that, by the time he does, the naga is upon him, fangs bared, striking with speed his human body can't counter. He raises a hand toward his face in reflexive defense, and his bony forearm takes the piercing bite.
It hurts less than it seems like it should; the fangs must be incredibly sharp. Panting, dark eyes wide, L considers his next move... but his soul, in the end, has already decided.
A chilled rush of vapor seems to cut through him; his phylax, turning immaterial to pass through the fountain and her witch, solidifies again just in time to ram into Jin Guangyao in a deliberate, missile-like rush.
The bite is quick, sharp, and that expression of hatred and reptilian instinct feels good and satisfying in some weird fusion of both snake and man -- for an instant anyway, before a more conscious mind kicks in and causes him to release in the moment before the phylax slams into him.
Though bulky himself, that weight is spread out across a longer form. Without legs to catch himself, Jin Guangyao goes sprawling at the impact. It's hardly the first time he's been flung a distance; it hurts, but more the force of the blow itself, moonlight-hardened scales too tough for even cobblestones to scrape up.
Before even rising, his tail curls like a whip around him in a defensive coil, casting a quick glance between L and his phylax, to better judge the situation before reacting further.
L crouches beside the fountain, using his phylax as a wall of shelter just as much as a magical retaliation. The bite that should have hurt more makes up for it now; he rolls his sleeve to observe that the wound is already red and swollen, the venom no doubt on its way to his heart.
A head rush prevents him from standing immediately; is it shock from the suddenness of the injury or is this another effect? He's small, for a human; his mass is on the lower end of what's physically possible for an adult male. He can count on feeling everything sooner and stronger, which is why he uses the moments Jin Guangyao is dealing with the orca phylax to tie off his arm, uncap a needle that he carries for this precise purpose. He's better than most phlebotomists at finding a vein, thanks to all the blood magic, and not squeamish about it in the least.
The phylax doesn't immediately charge Jin Guangyao again. Instead, she positions herself between her vulnerable witch and the would-be attacker, head down, teeth gleaming in the glow of the street lamps and the moons alike.
L's voice, laced with pain and contempt, can be heard through her pearlescent presence.
"You changed your mind about thinking it was wiser not to attack me, then. That's a shame... you were right the first time."
As polarizing as L is, the people who care for him tend to really care for him, to a fervent and protective degree. The naga is already well-acquainted with possibly the most notable ally of this sort.
The phylax doesn't waver with the injury; with unblinking slit-pupilled gaze flickering back to it briefly, more of his focus on Linden. Jin Guangyao pulls himself partly upright with a small cough, the air knocked out of him mostly back, and straightens his hat on his head.
Of course Linden would have something on hand to deal with venom. The man isn't stupid. Though everything inside him wishes the he would drop dead in the next couple minutes, the reality is that it would likely be even worse for him, and ending up seen as a murderer is to be avoided.
Perhaps... even avoiding being a murderer at all would be the ideal of this new life. It would be nice, if such a world existed.
"You should know, having been here so long, what effect the moons have. I was trying to make peace, and you provoked me," Jin Guangyao says with apparent chagrin. It's not that far from the truth, hazy in his mind. Intent had been less clear, driven only by the desire to pursue something.
Likewise, L's attention stays fixed through the mist on the naga. Straightening his hat while the detective pierces his skin, empties his syringe and feels the burn of antivenom. Vain thing, aren't you...
"Provoked you." He speaks the word derisively. "I got rich off of provoking people like you. It's just another way of giving one coils of rope and seeing what their pride and anger do with it. Usually... it's something stupid."
In front of him, the orca phylax weaves in place, as though swimming... or taunting.
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no subject
"Has everything in your own life been so perfectly foreseen, then?" he asks, eyes shining in the moonlight. The chill in the air is getting more unpleasant as well, but only serving to highlight the heat coming off L himself. "Were you a diviner even before coming here?"
no subject
To back away further, and put more distance between them, he would have to step around the fountain or into it.
"That depends. Were you a snake, even before coming here?"
no subject
The hiss of hardened scales against cobbles is sharp as he lunges forward, with fangs bared -- though the speed is not what it would be, if the air were not so chill.
no subject
It hurts less than it seems like it should; the fangs must be incredibly sharp. Panting, dark eyes wide, L considers his next move... but his soul, in the end, has already decided.
A chilled rush of vapor seems to cut through him; his phylax, turning immaterial to pass through the fountain and her witch, solidifies again just in time to ram into Jin Guangyao in a deliberate, missile-like rush.
no subject
Though bulky himself, that weight is spread out across a longer form. Without legs to catch himself, Jin Guangyao goes sprawling at the impact. It's hardly the first time he's been flung a distance; it hurts, but more the force of the blow itself, moonlight-hardened scales too tough for even cobblestones to scrape up.
Before even rising, his tail curls like a whip around him in a defensive coil, casting a quick glance between L and his phylax, to better judge the situation before reacting further.
no subject
A head rush prevents him from standing immediately; is it shock from the suddenness of the injury or is this another effect? He's small, for a human; his mass is on the lower end of what's physically possible for an adult male. He can count on feeling everything sooner and stronger, which is why he uses the moments Jin Guangyao is dealing with the orca phylax to tie off his arm, uncap a needle that he carries for this precise purpose. He's better than most phlebotomists at finding a vein, thanks to all the blood magic, and not squeamish about it in the least.
The phylax doesn't immediately charge Jin Guangyao again. Instead, she positions herself between her vulnerable witch and the would-be attacker, head down, teeth gleaming in the glow of the street lamps and the moons alike.
L's voice, laced with pain and contempt, can be heard through her pearlescent presence.
"You changed your mind about thinking it was wiser not to attack me, then. That's a shame... you were right the first time."
As polarizing as L is, the people who care for him tend to really care for him, to a fervent and protective degree. The naga is already well-acquainted with possibly the most notable ally of this sort.
no subject
Of course Linden would have something on hand to deal with venom. The man isn't stupid. Though everything inside him wishes the he would drop dead in the next couple minutes, the reality is that it would likely be even worse for him, and ending up seen as a murderer is to be avoided.
Perhaps... even avoiding being a murderer at all would be the ideal of this new life. It would be nice, if such a world existed.
"You should know, having been here so long, what effect the moons have. I was trying to make peace, and you provoked me," Jin Guangyao says with apparent chagrin. It's not that far from the truth, hazy in his mind. Intent had been less clear, driven only by the desire to pursue something.
no subject
"Provoked you." He speaks the word derisively. "I got rich off of provoking people like you. It's just another way of giving one coils of rope and seeing what their pride and anger do with it. Usually... it's something stupid."
In front of him, the orca phylax weaves in place, as though swimming... or taunting.
"How much do you want? Rope, I mean."