We are the Hunted (Invite only)

[Sorrow_Mirth_and_Sin]

Icarus nodded. He withdrew from the boy's space without a word, defying the natural impulse to draw the boy closer and comfort him. As much as he wanted to, the boy was right, they needed to move and Icarus was only meant to belittle more than an acquaintance - it wouldn't do to be acting otherwise. He glanced around the room at the maze of boxes, wary. "What do you need?" He asked, "I can get it for you."  

[Ma Sai The Caged Tiger]

Looking around the room absently, the brunet blinked dazedly. So many things he needed and yet for the life of him he couldnt remember what. His skin felt overheated despite the cool night air and his breath was coming at an alarming rate. The skin around his wound felt tight and painful, and distracted him from thinking straight. "Clothes." He finally managed."Just clothes." It was really all he needed essentially. He couldn't be borring Icarus' large things all the time.

Keeping himself upright was about all he could do at the moment, and he doubted he had the strength to carry anything else. Right now he just needed to conserve his energy for the walk back to his friends' house. Later he would worry about anything he missed.  

[Sorrow_Mirth_and_Sin]

Icarus moved quickly, looking through boxes and trying to find what all the boy would need. He felt a bit disrespectful just going through the boy's things like that, especially since he didn't have the time to be careful or put things back the way they had been but it couldn't be helped. Protecting the boy from what was probably already on it's way was a lot more important than sheltering his psyche from the realization of just how much these things no longer mattered and how much of his life he was going to have to walk away from.

Finding a box that seemed to have more or less everything he was looking for, he snatched it up and went back to the boy, setting the box down to free his hand and picking up the sack of plants the boy had gathered and setting them on top. Picking up the box again, he motioned his head towards the door. "I'll carry this. You focus on walking... unless you need me to carry you."  

[Ma Sai The Caged Tiger]

Shaking his head, Tobin flushed in embarassment. He didnt think outwardly he looked bad enough to be carried. He felt good enough to walk atleast. "I'm fine, let's just get out of here..." Eying the small chip though he paused. But first..." Looking around he saw the box labeled tupperware and brought it close, puling the tape off and grabbing out one. Grabbing a dish towel he made his way to the back door, making sure whatever blood he had lost was following him in a steady trail. That part was easy, he had touched his neck and now most of his blood was dripping from his fingers.

He didnt have much of a back area and soon enough he was wobbling near the rushing river. It wasnt that deep, but it was far wider than a creek, and it moved pretty fast."I think if...if we put this down river, it will send them on a bit of a wild goos chase. Atleast to me it sounds like a good idea." Popping the lid he stuffed the tracker inside it, closing it securely and throwing it to the middle. It floated easily, and soon enough was heading downstream and away. Wiping his hands carefully with the now bloody dish towel, he made sure to blot the remainder gently from his neck, careful to wipe up any that might drio and disturb his false trail.

Turning towards the house he walked towards the front, the first few steps a bit wobbly until he steeled himself and started a more rigid pace. Reminding himself to put one foot in front of the other, he resolutely made his way back towards Icarus house, using the man's sure footed steps as a guiding point to where they were going. The moving air helped a bit, but he was beginning to feel chilled and clammy.

As the house came within sight he sighed in relief, wiping sweat from his face. He was trying harder and harder to push the burning feeling on his neck away but now he felt as though a thousand bees were buzzing right there in the back of his head. Turning towards Icarus with a half smile he nodded at the house, though it hurt to do so. "See, we made it just fine." His heart was thudding rapidly in his ears and it was quite determined to keep it that way. Moving his head back he took a few more steps towards the place before faltering, realizing absentmindedly that he felt weightless and it wasn't his mind playing tricks on him but the world was quickly rushing towards his face.  

[Sorrow_Mirth_and_Sin]

Icarus watched Tobin carefully as they walked home, more than just a little worried that the boy couldn't meet the claim he had made. He didn't look so good and Icarus noticed the mechanical way the boy moved. In all it wasn't that much of a surprise when Tobin collapsed. Icarus set the box on the steps and was already moving towards him when it happened. "Almost," he said gently as he caught the boy and picked him up, carrying him into the house.

He brought the boy straight to the dim of his bedroom, setting him carefully on the bed before disappearing down the hall again. He returned a moment later with a can of pop that fresh from the fridge in his hand. "Here, drink this. It should help," he said, pressing the cold beverage into the boy's hand, "I shouldn't have let you walk."  

[Ma Sai The Caged Tiger]

He watched the ground stop a few inches from his face, blinking as he felt Icarus lift him securely and take him inside. He lolled in the man's grasp, leaning tiredly against him until he was set down in the quiet room. Rolling gingerly onto his side he let out a relieved breath, the pain in his neck easing as the pillow held his weight.

Watching Icarus return with the can of soda, he took it limply in his hand, bringing it to his lips obediently and taking a sip. He winced automatically when the carbonation fizzed against his freshly cut lip, pulling the drink away. He didn't feel much like drinking it anyways, it was cold the drink was colder. "I made it." He managed to croak out, blinking to focus his vision on the man in front of him. "Mostly. Thanks. For the catch."

The pain in his neck was throbbing, but its initial intensity was fading to a dull throb instead of a knife sharp one. He remembered the mess he must have looked and with that realized he was probably getting Icarus' comforter bloody. With a start he moved to lever himself up, intent on sitting upright though his neck protested greatly. "I'm making a mess." He mumbled by way of explanation.  

[Sorrow_Mirth_and_Sin]

Icarus raised an eyebrow when he boy sat up, frowning at the reasoning behind it. He stared at the boy for a moment, obvious concern and something sad flickering behind those dull, black contacts, but whatever was on his mind, he kept his thoughts to himself. "Don't worry about it," he said finally, turning away, "I have almost no use for coverings. I can just throw them out later and get you some new ones."

He walked towards his closet, pulling his own bloodied shirt over his head and letting it drop unceremoniously to the floor. The crude stitching he had managed only days ago pulled at his skin uncomfortably under shifting muscles but he didn't pay it much mind, pulling a new shirt from his closet and slinging it over his shoulder.

"Rest," he said firmly, turning his eyes on Tobin. "I'll be more upset if you hurt yourself than if you destroy my house."  

[Ma Sai The Caged Tiger]

Tobin had been leaning forwards on his arms, resting his hands on the side of the bed so that he could let his head hang forward when Icarus spoke up. His head was beginning to swim, and a vaguely remembered a small bubble of panic flaring as he raised his eyes towards the other male. Icarus sounded distant and the buzzing in his ears was pulling insistently.

His words penetrated the fog in his head though and reluctantly he lay back down. The panic turned into a deep sense of helplessness with the current situation, and even as his eyes fluttered closed, he tried to force himself to voice the subject. He wanted so much to be able to ask Icarus why he was really here, and what next, why had his family abandoned him...why did Icarus care what happened to a stranger? All that came out was the sound of something sounding somewhat like a plea from a lost child. "Why...?"  

[Sorrow_Mirth_and_Sin]

Walking back, Icarus knelt down beside the bed, pulling the blanket up around the boy and tucking him in. He brushed loose strands of hair away from the boy's face, his fingers running over the boy's skin in a gentle caress.

"I promised," he said simply, "That's something I happen to take very seriously. I dragged your friend from the gutter, I won't leave you to fall down the same path."  

[Ma Sai The Caged Tiger]

He barely heard the reply, but the touch to his strangely heated skin was a great comfort. The answer was all he really probably would get for a while, but it was a start. He wanted to ask more but his mind wasnt cooperating with his voice and shrugging it off he chose to fall silent. He was greatful for the blanket, the night air had given him a chill.Letting out a soft sigh he let mindnumbing sleep pull him down.

He slept fitfully for the remainder of the night, sweat slicking his too hot brow as the night wore on. His loaner clothing was soon clinging uncomfortably to his skin but oddly enough he shivered and pulled the blanket closer. By the time the sun rose his hair was damp and clinging to his face, shadowing his pained expression from view.  

[Sorrow_Mirth_and_Sin]

Icarus spent the night on the couch, mostly failing to sleep. The couch was comfortable enough, it was his head that was the problem. Too many thoughts crowded and pressed against his skull, overwhelming him. He wasn't sure what he was doing, what he was going to do. Getting Tobin out and giving him a decent foundation to stand on had been the plan for a long time but he was starting to realise just how basic the idea had been. There was a lot more to it that he should have thought of and prepared for from the beginning. It would have been helpful to consider just how his darker side would interact with the boy and he should have guessed how Tobin's presence would effect the one he had buried. Knowing just how difficult it would be to spin lie after lie and interact with someone he had loved so much as if he were nothing more than a stranger might have been good too, though it definitely would have made him think twice about the whole thing - not the rescuing so much as keeping the boy close.

In the end, he decided it really couldn't be helped now, and he dozed lightly as the sun was just starting to peak through the windows. The light woke him some time later as light sensitivity was not often kind to him. He got up reluctantly and went to check on Tobin, frowning at what he saw. Moving quickly to the boy's side, wondering and doubting that perhaps the boy's apparent illness was merely a delayed reaction of shock.

"Tobin," he said a little louder than normal, touching the boy's face both to feel for fever and to wake him. His frown returned quickly, a bubble of unease growing slowly in him and drifting towards the needle. He swore harshly under his breath, yanking the blankets back pulling his shirt over the boy's head and off him in an effort to cool him down. He didn't wait for the boy to fully rouse, he just picked him up, heading swiftly for the bathroom, intending to get him in the tub and douse him in cold water but he stopped in his tracks before he could do it. Tobin's head may have been burning up but for all the sweat, his skin was horribly clammy and a glance at the boy's back in the bathroom mirror only increased his horror.  

[Ma Sai The Caged Tiger]

The sound of his name came as though a wall were between he and whoever spoke, and Tobin barely responded. His night had been spent sleeping in small increments, waking at the smallest sound only to drop back into an exhausted sleep for mere minutes. A familliar touch to his face should have felt calming, instead he made a small noise and pulled away as it did nothing but intensify the ache that seemed to have taken up residence in his head.

He was slowly coming about when his world tilted and pain arced across his back as he was quite suddenly declothed. It hurt, and he tried to pull away to no avail. Icarus had a tight grasp around him and was already pulling him away from his semi warm coccoon. He whimpered at the loss of heat, already beginning to shiver as the cooler air of the room hit his bare skin.

Icarus now seemed to be the closest source of warmth the boy could find and despite the ache he felt he pressed his head against the crook of the man's neck, seeking as much warmth as possible. " 'carus." He mumbled, small shivers already wracking his frame. His lips were dry and chapped, the very effort it took to speak breaking apart the flaking skin of his lips as he swallowed."It's too cold...."

He couldn't understand what had got into the man's head, or why he needed to be shirtless in the first place, but he couldn't be bothered to try and focus on that. Right now he just wanted to go back to bed and was about to voice his complaint when he was jolted by Icarus' sudden halt in the bathroom hallway.

Turning his throbbing head he cracked his eyes open to try and see what had Icarus stop so abruptly. It was too blurry to see anything and he closed his eyes, unable to see the horrid expanse of his back glaring at them from the mirror.


Centered around his spine and moving out were dark livid spots of black decaying flesh. Circling the larger spots, a few smaller brown areas were slowly forming, a small beginning of what the darker spots had started out as. They lined his spinal column in unhealthy blobs of color, making it look as though a battle had been waged under his skin and the victor was hardly Tobin's body.  

[Sorrow_Mirth_and_Sin]

A laugh crept past his lips, something hollow and strangled, a reaction of disbelief and sudden overwhelming grief. There was nothing he could do for this. The realisation was cold and horrible to accept but that didn't make it any less true. The boy reeked of death, the evidence so plainly spreading across his flesh. He could run him to a hospital but... even if the boy survived long enough to make it through the doors, it was unlikely that any doctor there would know what to do with him. In the end, he would only die with the smell of sterilisation in his lungs - hooked up to tubes and machines, in a cold white room that Icarus would not be allowed in until after the boy slipped away. However good the intention, he couldn't submit the boy to such a fate. He didn't dare and he doubted very much that he would be able to live with himself for bringing the boy to such an end.

Instead, he found himself walking out the back door and sitting on an old rusted lawn chair. The bright sunlight blinded him and made his eyes hurt but he didn't care. He wasn't going to deny the boy sunlight in his final hours, not after how long he had gone without it. He held the boy close, lending him his warmth, drawing slow, long breathes that rumbled in his chest, generating more heat to offer. He wanted to speak, to offer something of comfort but he couldn't trust himself to keep it together long enough to spit the words out. This was one more possibility that he hadn't prepared himself for at all and it cut him deep, everything he was and knew threatening to spill out and drain away.

He sat there in the sun for a long time, brushing his hand gently through the boy's hair - afraid to touch him anywhere else, to cause the boy any extra pain. All he could do was wait.  

[Ma Sai The Caged Tiger]

The sound of laughter so close to his head made the boy flinch, burrowing closer tot he man even though the sound had erupted from his lips. Something was wrong, but he couldnt seem to figure out what was happening. He couldn't remember much of the previous night. He remembered the chip. Maybe the knife they used hadnt been clean? He had gotten a cold from the infection. But hadn't the wound been burnt?

Whatever it was it had Icarus in a frightful mood, but thinking was making him tired. Another shiver coursed through his body and he barely had time to think about it before Icarus turned and fled the tiny room. The jarring movements pained him, and he let out a small whine as he was jostled through the door into open sunlight. It hurt his eyes to be in the bright light after so long staying in the dark.

But his eyes adjusted soon enough and though blurry he looked around tiredly. He was greatful when they finally came to a halt in a rickety looking chair. Icarus was behaving strangely, but he couldn't deny that the extra warmth the sun provided and that which the larger male was making wasnt welcome. He settled comfortably against the man, as much as possible anyways.

It seemed to pain him whenever his skin was touched, but it looked like Icarus had already figured that out, judging by the hand carding calmy through his hair. He wanted to ask Icarus why they didnt simply run to a hospital or drugstore, but he was getting sleepy. The sun was working its magic and making him drowsy like heat often does to a person, and slowly he was drifting off, no thanks to the soothing touch in his hair. His grip on the man lessened, then faded altogether as his hand slipped away and dangled limply at his side, a soft exhale echoing in the quiet as he fell asleep.

He stirred maybe twice at the morning turned to early afternoon, curling up in the lap of the man the held him. His sweatig lessened as the time passed, and his shivers ceased. His skin seemed less pale now, though it might have been a trick of the sunlight now that they werent trapped indoors. Hazy green eyes opened to greet the world well into the afternoon, and they were sleepily delighted to find that his headache was gone, though his bones still ached terribly.

"Icarus?" He croaked, staring in puzzlement at the chest he was laying on. His lips felt dry and thirsty, and he looked around as sleep left his eyes. He had thought this all a dream, but apparently they reallyhad come outside sometime in the morning.