Welcome to Gaia! ::

Carefully, but firmly, Smoke pulled the straps around Lonomia and tightened them after buckling him into the seat. They were ready to go now.

He slid into the driver's seat and strapped himself in, then revved the engine and hoped it didn't frighten the Chimerae too much. The jeep shifted into drive, and they were off, tearing across the premises and into the forest. Luckily the tree weren't quite as thick, and Smoke was able to expertly navigate his way over roots and under canopies.

Only until they were a few miles away from the facility did he begin to breath easier. In the few patches of sky he could see from the thickening layer of leaves overhead, R.J. and John followed, John's eyes looking straight ahead, a determined expression on his eyes. Panther's long hair blew faintly in the air currents above, but neither man could let it get to them.

They had a job to do.

((You guys ready for a timeskip to the next day?))

((Yup))

((yup. My character is unconscious. He can't do anything.))

In the jeep, Smoke drove the Chimerae to the farthest hotel he could find, a shabby motel whose owner didn't ask too many questions about the customers he would be sheltering. It wasn't perhaps the most comfortable place to be, but it offered the temporary shelter that they all needed in order to rest. He paid a moderate sum for three rooms, then ushered the Chimerae in through a back door and into the rooms. His room was connected by a door to one room where some of the Chimerae would sleep, and the other room was across the hall from the first two rooms. There was one of him and eight Chimerae; Apsalar, Tobart, Lonomia, Hound, R.J., John, Seiko, and Red. Three rooms seemed like it would fit them all.

Smoke pulled Lonomia aside before they all turned in after the busy night. "Go ahead and sleep in my bed. It'll be more comfortable." He didn't want Lonomia accidentally rubbing against someone with his spines, nor did he want the Chimera to go 36 hours without sleeping. Until he found or bought an antidote to the venom, he didn't want what happened to Jared to happen to him or the other Chimerae.

Besides, he wouldn't be using a bed anyway.

The next day...

Smoke opened the door to his room, where he had asked Lonomia to sleep. Whether the Chimera did or didn't was his own affair, but in the other bed, John was already sitting up, staring at the paper-thin walls, a subjective, morose expression on his face.

The man wanted to check the other rooms to make sure the Chimerae were still in the motel and hadn't wandered off, but even if they had there was little to nothing he could do about it.

A few loaded duffel bags had accompanied him into the room, one of them heavy with hard metal and the rattle of small masses. The two others seemed to have been packaged with cloth, for they were overstuffed but not as heavy as they looked. He reached into one of them and rummaged through the colored fabrics, then pulled out a large gray zip-up jacket, holding it up to compare it with John's frame on the bed. It might be a little too big.

"Here, try this on," he offered John, tossing the jacket to him. "If it fits, great."

John didn't catch the garment, instead watching as it unfolded in a half crumpled heap on the bed beside his feet. Examining it slowly, he stood up from the bed and hung it out in front of him, as if determining the size. He watched as Smoke took off his muddied shirt and replaced it with a cleaner black one from the duffel, then stripped his own shirt to do the same.

The jacket fit him comfortably, but he wasn't sure what the teeth in the middle were supposed to do. The only problem was that he couldn't open his wings very easily, but if he had been able to, that would have defeated the purpose of keeping them hidden.

Smoke left for the bathroom and looked at his face. Bags had grown more prominent underneath his eyes, and his chin was starting to become overrun with short, coarse hairs. His hair was a bit of a mess too, and he was able to pull a leaf out of there. He wondered what that lady at the Goodwill had thought when he bought all those clothes, but on further reflection, he decided it probably helped her judge away that he was just a homeless man buying clothing five and six sizes too small for him.

He closed the bathroom door to take a quick shower and shave, leaving the rest of the Chimerae to wake up at their own pace.

((OOC: So, can we assume that there's three to a room? >.>))

Apsalar opened her eyes slowly. She didn't feel right. Her body wasn't curled up, tight and cramped, and there was no little holes making the floor even more uncomfortable than it already was.

She felt...good, actually.

Sitting up, she took a look around the room. There was no smell of blood and death in the air here, she was pleased to note. No covering scent of disinfectant - as though that really fooled anyone.

Was it possible they had really gotten away?

Standing up and taking slow, careful steps - stitches protesting a little with every movement - she put her hands to the window and stared outside. A small, rusty smile made its way across her face.

It was so beautiful.

She wished she could find a way to move the clear barrier in her way, but accepted that there probably wasn't one. Well, if this was a cage, it was nicer than the one they had left.

Speaking of cages, where was Smoke? Where were the rest of her packmates?

She would check in a minute, she promised herself. Just as soon as she could tear herself away from the window.

It had taken a lot for Lonomia to understand what Smoke had meant. He was supposed to sleep on it? Okay. Oh, sleep in it? Odd.

Once the Chimera had fallen asleep, he would sleep hard until he was forcibly woken up by somebody else.

---

Tobart Jay was wary about the room, the bed, the entire operation. However he was also weary, and after having found a good use for the separations on the bed. (It had gotten chilly, so the Chimera had curled up under them. Ingenious, he thought). The Chimera was curled beyond what seemed humanly comfortable, his scales jagged on his back. He slept well for the first time in a long time.

Red jumped up from her half daze and ran over to Hound, grabbing the sheet in her jaws. She pulled on it, tearing it into pieces. Once her brother was free she growled at what remained of the sheet, thinking it had attacked him somehow. She settled after a moment before she started licking his face to make sure he was alright. "Are you okay brother?" she asked with a whine.