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After leaving Kara’s apartment, there was a mixture of feelings, but he couldn’t go back and ask her to work on him. He had already shown how problematic he could be when he was in pain and her not understanding his native tongue or behaviors made him feel guilty and like a burden. She did not need that in his eyes and he would be fine. He just needed to get out of Dominion and back into the caverns where he could make his way to one of the chuts with doctors. However, he was bleeding, so he knew his scent would give him away like a newborn cry. 

Holding his items in his hands, he stopped in his tracks when he noticed a crowd of people staring at him, pointing, whispering, and overall shocked. It was probably the first time they had ever seen a burrower. Pilka was trying to process what he should do. He was something strange, bleeding, and half naked with tattoos showing. None of these things were popular in Dominion or at least not in the upper parts like this. 

Deciding his best route was not to interact, he quickly started walking away from the crowd of people, and trying his best to blend into the side of buildings. He knew they would be calling the authorities, but he couldn’t move that fast. The more he moved, the more pain he was in, and he could feel the cooling warmth of blood going down the left side of his back. His thoughts were beginning to race as he was trying to figure out the best course of action. What was he supposed to do? 

That was when he disappeared into the darkness of an alley and began to move towards an uncomfortable path — an old friend's house — and when he showed up there. He didn’t go to the front door, anywhere in public view, but he slipped into the house through a secret way before dropping into the basement and accidentally dropping a few of the items in his hands. ‘[color=C8A2C8]Dammit,[/color]’ he growled while picking up the items as quickly as possible. 

An echo of footsteps could be heard and he became very quiet, pushing himself into the shadows just in case, but he knew he was relatively safe here if his friend didn’t have company. Once the footsteps passed, he looked around the large basement, and he began to move through the area to another secret door. Luckily, he didn’t have to do too many crazy stunts, and he was able to go a back way into a study before popping the wall open and stepping in. This led to a horrified gasp from a woman before her eyes settled onto the frame of the person coming in, ‘[color=white]By gods, Pilka, what are you doing here!? And in the state you are in!?[/color]’ She was in cream-colored lounge wear that was more on the professional side. Not a nightgown or the like. She wasn’t ready for bed, but she was doing something for research purposes in her study and wanted to be comfortable. 

‘[color=C8A2C8]I didn’t know where else to go and I can’t escape Dominion easily at the moment,[/color]’ he explained with a flatness that expressed how tired he was. He was tired. His wounds had never been properly taken care of even in the authority of Dominion where they were supposed to treat prisoners with some form of dignity — he guessed burrowers were exempt from that treatment. 

She stood up and got closer to him, ‘[color=white]Why are you even running around Dominion in the first place, especially with that young girl? What has got into you?[/color]’ she asked while reaching for him but she decided to take her hands back because she knew how burrowers could get about touching. They were very social but she knew Pilka was someone who got defensive when he was hurting and in pain. 

He huffed out, ‘[color=C8A2C8]I came into Dominion to see the riots and somehow got tied up with her, I didn’t mean to,[/color]’ he sounded like he was talking back… like a teenager talking to their mother. 

‘[color=white]You can tell me all about your adventures while I fix you up and how you expect me to fix this poor girl's life. I’ve been trying every loophole that I can when they assigned me to investigate her, Pilka,[/color]’ she sounded like she was scolding him more than anything, but she wasn’t trying to. However, Adeline Gievera Kapin knew all too well how dangerous it could be to have any type of bonds with burrowers. She was a lead researcher that went out and studied for years and she even found the higher ups being extremely suspicious or overbearing with questions about certain things that were heard or written down by onlookers. 

Leading Pilka to a couch, she set him down, and she went and got a medical supply kit. ‘[color=white]You know, you are not much younger than me,[/color]’ she opened something with her teeth. ‘[color=white]I’m honestly surprised that I get to see you again. At this rate, I would have thought you would have been cremated and your bones would have been formed into decorations,[/color]’ she laughed a little while sitting by him. 

‘[color=C8A2C8]Well,[/color]’ he sighed. ‘[color=C8A2C8]That makes two of us,[/color]’ Pilka was honestly surprised that he woke up most days because of wounds or situations he has been in. He knew he was old and lived in a very rough situation outside of the wall. It was normal for people to live to great ages in Dominion or Sevet ul Krav, but he was a nomadic individual. People that were nomadic and loners were known to die at younger ages because of the situations they have been in, however, he was resourceful. Yet… he knew his luck was running out. 

She put some type of liquid onto the open gash and he bared his teeth at her. ‘[color=C8A2C8]Warn me before you do that,[/color]’ he growled while leaning over the arm of the couch and placing his face into the elbow of his arm.  

‘[color=white]You would have reacted the same either way, so do not get uppity about me just going ahead and doing it,[/color]’ she continued to clean the wound with no hesitation. Adeline had been face-to-face with so many different burrowers and was so familiar with their behavior that the growls, baring of the teeth, hissing, snarling, and whatever else because of her research. 

She had him fixed up in no time, stitches and everything, and she allowed some space in between them. ‘[color=white]Now what are you doing here? The last thing I knew you were in a holding cell and then you escaped,[/color]’ she stood up and began to clean up all the items that she used to patch him up. 

Pilka stayed in the position he was in, his face hiding in the crook of his elbow, and his breathing could be heard. ‘[color=C8A2C8]I and Kara escaped and I went to her home with her and she tried fixing the wounds you just fixed up. However, when I reacted badly, she got scared, so I thought I should go,[/color]’ there was slight pain in his voice. 

‘[color=white]And you know people of Dominion are not used to you, what did you expect?[/color]’ she threw the items away and came back over to make sure the bandages were water sealed. ‘[color=white]People do not understand you or your people, Pilka. Even if they want to, Dominion citizens are familiar with… very mild behaviors. They are not used to the natural and ugly aspects of life like you or others are.[/color]’ She tried explaining it gently, but she knew it always bothered him. 

‘[color=C8A2C8]It doesn’t matter anyways,[/color]’ he sat up and looked at her. She opened up her kit again before starting to clean the slash and burn marks. ‘[color=C8A2C8]I’m not coming back here for a while or ever again. Maybe I’ll finally die while my arm is out of commission.[/color]’ He joked darkly. 

Adeline rolled her eyes, ‘[color=white]Or you could lie low here for as long as possible. I’ve hid you in this house before. It’s not like I can’t do it again, Pilka,[/color]’ she continued to clean the wounds before sewing up the slash in his arm. ‘[color=white]And what about that girl?[/color]’
‘[color=C8A2C8]What do you mean?[/color]’ he glanced at her. 

‘[color=white]You know what I mean, you care, so I know you’d visit or do whatever you do. Your check-ups with people and I know you well, so I know you feel guilty, because you know that everything that has happened will cause her life to be flipped upside down,[/color]’ she explained while glancing at him with a stricter look. 

He sighed, bringing his good hand up to his eyes, and leaning his head back on the couch. ‘[color=C8A2C8]I don’t know… I can’t fix what I have done. If I could, I’d make sure her life didn’t change. She seems smart, promising, and everything else. It’s a pity if the government is hard on her.[/color]’ 

‘[color=white]Maybe I’ll see what I can do in the morning. Put in a recommendation and get her on one of the research teams or something. Kind of protect her from the government. I’ll have to think,[/color]’ she sighed with a heaviness that showed her stress while she sewed his arm up. ‘[color=white]I usually can figure things out and I have enough pull in society and in the government that they might ignore everything because she’s young and most of the time. People like her, individuals who take interest in you guys get forced onto the research teams if they are smart. That’s what happened to me when I was in my early twenties,[/color]’ she explained while finishing everything up. 

Cleaning up once again, she came back over with a few blankets and a pillow. ‘[color=white]Now you get some rest. I need to speak with my husband,[/color]’ she gave him the items before walking towards the door of her study. ‘[color=white]And Pilka, please do not run off in the middle of the night and be difficult. You are welcome here. You know that.[/color]’ She turned the lights off and began to close the door. 

‘[color=C8A2C8]One thing,[/color]’ he spoke up as he began to gently and mildly undo the bedding she gave him. ‘[color=C8A2C8]How are they?[/color]’ he glanced towards her. 

‘[color=white]They have done wonderfully. Aksel got his PhD in mechanical engineering and geology. Reina is doing wonderful in her studies and she’s made a lot of friends in school. They have adjusted here very well, but Reina is more like you. Not in appearance… but she has little quirks that I’ve had to sit down with her and have a serious talk about, so she understands that she cannot talk to people about them. Other than that, she’s on the same track as her brother,[/color]’ she explained with a smile before closing the door. 

Lying on the couch, that information was comforting, and he closed his eyes even if he knew he couldn’t go to sleep right away. 
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