Darcy, still in wolf form, limped painfully slowly down the sidewalk, not bothering to keep out of sight. This was the shortest route home, and he was taking it. Blood slicked the fur of his right foreleg, having seeped down from the stab wound in his shoulder. And thanks to that, and the cuts on his head, all he could think of was the scent of his own blood.

Can't wait to get home... he thought, blearily blinking his golden eyes as he wove a way down the street. And sleep. Can't wait to sleep... I'm tired...

Sombra was headed...somewhere, probably nowhere in particular, with a purposeful stride. He was also limping, but that wound had stopped bleeding many years ago, and he had a cane for dealing with it.
Overactive paranoia kept his peripheral vision perpetually sharp, and it wasn't long before he spotted Darcy. If he'd seen a human in a similar situation, he probably would have dragged them to the nearest doorstep, rung the doorbell, and left. But a nonhuman thing was something else entirely.
He stopped walking, then clicked his tongue to get the wolf's attention, bending over and holding out one hand for a sniff (if Darcy even had the energy).

Darcy always had the energy to be friendly.
When he encountered Sombra, he stopped , briefly sniffing the man's hand before giving it a feeble lick. Hello, he thought vaguely, looking dazedly at Sombra and completely forgetting that he'd been headed home. His ears pricked up a little as he tried to smile and look friendly for this stranger.

"Come."
He stood up and jerked his head in the direction he'd been going. But the walk to his house was rather long, and trying to shove a bleeding wolf into a taxi (and he hated taxis) would probably not be met with smiles.
"Or take me somewhere I can help you."
Yes. Sombra is offering to help someone. This is a marvel indeed.

I think I was going... this way. I was going home, he remembered. Darcy lowered his head and nipped Sombra's sleeve, then nudged his hand. I'll go with you if you don't pull a knife on me. I'll just follow you. You seem nice enough...

He nodded shortly, and continued walking in the direction of his trailer, trusting that Darcy would follow. Such a long walk, though...well, if Darcy couldn't make it, Sombra would just have to drag him. Couldn't leave him to bleed to death or be eaten, or whatever happened to wounded animals these days.

Darcy padded obediently after him, wobbling uncertainly, but set on following along. Sombra had, as far as he could tell, offered to help him. Help sounded nice, whatever it was supposed to mean. Darcy wasn't quite sure. At this point, pain and blood loss had made him dizzy and confused, and as long as he didn't realize that he should feel tired, he'd be able to make it to Sombra's home.

Sombra travelled at a sufficiently slow pace for Darcy to keep up; he hadn't even had to alter his usual pace much, because of his limp.
So, eventually, assuming that Darcy didn't collapse on the way, they made it to Sombra's place. It was a trailer, and by its very nature quite small.
Sombra opened the door, stepping aside to let Darcy in. The inside was pristine, and completely impersonal. Sombra slept here, and that was all. It wasn't a 'home' of any kind.

Darcy scrabbled his way into the trailer, looking guiltily at the small splotches of blood he was letting drip onto the clean floor. He hurriedly found a corner and lay down, curling up and resting his head on his paws. He blinked slowly,feeling oddly tense. At the back of his mind, he was half-expecting the human to attack him or something.

Sombra was digging through drawers, and though his face was devoid of compassion (or anything else), he didn't look like he was going to attack. He picked out such things as needle and thread, bandages...a surprising amount of medical paraphernalia.

He watched, bemused. This guy was very well-prepared for this sort of thing, it seemed. Darcy almost winced when he saw the needle, though. What's he going to do with that? he wondered. I guess I already know the answer to that question, don't I. Drat.

Water, some iodine...et cetera. Placing all these things carefully into a basket (which he'd emptied of its useless contents moments before, in the sink, although it wasn't stuff that belonged in sinks) he limped over to Darcy, kneeling beside him...all wordlessly.
He examined the shoulder wound first, as it seemed to be worse than the one on his nose (and all those little scratches from Cass' fingernails would probably heal up on their own), and frowned. He could disinfect it and sew it up, but it would probably just get infected afterwards, which could get ugly...
Suspiciously, he glanced around the room, as if he suspected that Alexander might be hanging upside-down from the ceiling. Then, with a darting, secretive movement, he sent magic into the wound, a simple little thing to ward off infection and keep it clean--he'd always been a hopeless healer, but that at least he could do.
Then he began the process of sewing up the wound.

Darcy watched him sleepily from the corner of his half-closed eyes, feeling a weird tingle go through him but not knowing quite what it was. It was familiar, but he wasn't lucid enough to figure it out. Then he closed his eyes and clenched his jaw, expecting that this was going to hurt.

A vetrinarian would have shaved the area before sewing, but Sombra didn't have the equiptment; he simply bent over, his long nose nearly touching the wound, and was very careful to keep stray fur out of it. While he kept medical supplies in his house, he wasn't the sort of person to think much about pain relievers, and he sewed up the stab wound without so much as a numbing salve.
Without waiting to see how Darcy felt about it (hesitation might get him bitten), he began to dab iodine on the would on Darcy's nose before pulling the edges together with a couple butterfly bandages. It would probably hurt when those came off, too, Sombra suspected, because of the fur underneath.

Ow,... okay, ow... that hurts... Darcy shut his eyes and tried to be quiet, not wanting to annoy Sombra by being noisy. After a short while, though, he couldn't help it, and began whimpering rather pitifully. He tried to keep the volume down, at least, but he couldn't keep the sounds from escaping.

It wasn't until he'd finished dabbing iodine on the remaining small wounds that he seemed to notice Darcy's whimpering. He stared blankly at the wolf for a moment, then, twisting his mouth in an expression one would not normally associate with kindness, began to scratch gently behind Darcy's ears.

Darcy gave a long, whistling sigh. Getting scratched behind the ears was good for a distraction at any time, but especially now. Still not opening his eyes, he tilted his head toward Sombra and nuzzled his head against the man's knee. He sighed again. Thank you. That's much better.

Sombra almost smiled, but as usual, the sentiment never quite made it to his face. He kept scratching with one hand, using the other to put his bandages and iodine back into their basket.

Mmm.. I could almost go to sleep right now, he thought. He was still in pain, but the ear-scratching had overridden it surprisingly easily. His ears gave a sudden flick as he realized something. But I can't sleep. I'll have to get out of here before morning, before I change. Too bad. Oh, well. I'll have to stay awake.
He opened his eyes, intent on carrying out the new plan to Stay Awake. His eyes drooped closed again, almost immediately.

Thinking that Darcy wanted to go to sleep, Sombra got to his feet and backed away, still watching the wolf.

Aw, don't go... Darcy opened one bleary eye and whined plaintively, already missing the distraction. Please...?


((Bleh. I'm being dragged off to the beach. xS Seeya later.))

The corner of his mouth twitched. Damnit, responding would be almost like having an emotion, and he simply couldn't do that. But...
Sighing softly through his nose, he approached Darcy and started to scratch behind his ears again.

Darcy scootched over a few inches and gave a deep, approving sort of growl.
Sorry to bother you,... but this really, really helps, he sighed inwardly. He'd lifted his head to meet Sombra's hand, but his chin drooped slowly back onto his paws and he closed his eyes once again.

Sombra stared piercingly at the wolf to make sure that its eyes were completely closed, making sure that he was unobserved, and then he smiled. Barely. It wasn't really a happy smile, or a kind one, but it was an improvement over his usual blankness.

I'll sleep for five minutes. Or ten. Or maybe at most an hour. But then I really have to leave,... he told himself firmly, knowing that he wouldn't really be able to remain awake. And it would be ungrateful of him to just dash away,...
Just a short nap can't hurt, Darcy thought, and let himself drift off to sleep.


((OMG Sombra /smiled/. The apocalypse will be next!))

((F'real. He does not do that often.))

The smile (faint though it had been) faded, and once he was certain that Darcy was asleep, he let the motions of his fingers lighten gradually until he was no longer touching the wolf.

Darcy, now fast asleep, didn't stir. He was snoring very quietly. Occasionally, his ears or paws would give a twitch, showing that he was actually asleep and dreaming. Five minutes went by, then ten, then an hour, then another hour. And then he woke with a start, sitting straight up and looking like he'd been shocked.

Sombra blinked at him, one eyebrow slightly raised.
"All right, then?" he inquired.

Just a dream, Darcy thought, relaxing, but looking faintly embarrassed. I should probably be going... It might take a while to get home. And I don't want to wear out my welcome here.

He got to his feet and limped purposefully over to the door, which he started lightly scratching. He blinked at Sombra over his shoulder, and nodded to the door. Let me out?

Not bothering with his cane, he shuffled over and opened the door, holding it so that the wolf could get out.
He paused for a moment, thoughtfully. Finally, he said "Fair travels." and shut the door between the two of them.