spillover from Tu Shanshu fourth-wall thread;

[exsituangelus]

The next thing Angel processed was staggering sideways, away from-- not an attacker, but Jack--

He'd protected her. Of course he had. Whatever else he might be, he still wanted her safe.

Angel regained her footing, took in the changed arrangement of the situation. Only then did she notice that Jack hadn't managed his defense of her unscathed, that there was an uncommonly bright redness seeping through his jacket and that that was surprisingly unacceptable.

Two days ago she wouldn't have objected to this. Yesterday, though, had been strange. Strange, and not altogether unpleasant, and Angel wanted the opportunity to see why.

Today, right now, she was not at all okay with her father having been stabbed. Her tattoos flared again, bright and sharp, and her undirected power made the air waver, hazy with something a good deal more unpredictable than simple heat. "You should go," Angel said to the kedan. The cobbles started vanishing into grass, one stone at a time. She hadn't intended that, but she could work with it.

She narrowed her eyes, firmed up her expression, and pushed now intentionally, opening a hole in the street nearly beneath their feet. Nothing got results like a death threat. "Now."