We are the Hunted (Invite only)

[Ma Sai The Caged Tiger]

An egg to his face was Tobin's initial reply. The boy stood in the fridge's open door, light falling out onto the kitchen floor. His hand was still partially in the air from the throw, face filled with indignant anger. "How dare you say such a thing. I don't 'jump' anyone and certainly not you or Icarus. I have tried to be polite and courteous to you, and have recieved nothing but...but foul words and actions." The boy normally kept to a very calm demure amannerism, but some things could bother him enough to send him into a full swing of mood. And this seemed to be one of them.

"I am grateful to you for your liberation of me from that place, but If this is how you interact with people than I have no wish to be aquainted with you. I will wait until Icarus makes an appearance." He paused, eyes narrowed with a derisive snort. " Not to do anything of the sort your mind must be concocting, not everyone has sex on their brain all the time."

With that last seething note he turned and scurried into the hall, Senna sprinting to catch up as he plopped down onto the bed with a huff. "What a rude thing to say.I'm not useless." He mumbled to himself. He felt a bit off. He didnt usually go so far as to throw things, and that made him feel a bit guilty. He had probably just spent too much time away from normal human interaction. Then again, this was anything but normal. SStaring down past his folded hands he grimaced. He made a mental not to ask Icarus for some trousers, it was gettig downright chilly with only the shirt and his modesty was demanding more covering.  

[Sorrow_Mirth_and_Sin]

"I dare to say and do a lot of things," he hissed, nearly nose to nose with the boy. "And if you want to survive, you'd better grow a spine and a hell of a lot thicker skin pretty damned fast because you're not going to make it any other way. It's never going to get easy. You are never going to be safe again. Not from them, not from me, not from anyone. You think I've carved out some kind of safe haven - think again. I threw that out the ******** window when I went after you. Sure, I've taken them on before, took down a couple buildings, slaughtered some of their drones, but that was all stuff I could handle - piddly little strikes I could make without losing the pathetic illusion of a life I have managed to make for myself. Stealing you was a whole other level. It changes everything. I just stuck my neck under the guillotine, and sooner or later, that blade is going to drop. So let's get a few things straight. I don't expect you to like me. You were never going to like me and frankly, I don't want you to. Basic psychology, Tobin. You want people to stay the ******** away, you lash out at every ******** turn."

He paused, breathing hard as he tried to reign in his anger. When he spoke again, his tone had changed. Not exactly softer but... different. "I can't be your friend. I can't be anything to you but this - not if I want you to survive."  

[Ma Sai The Caged Tiger]

Rearing his head back the boy looked up at Tithe with a face full of mixed emotion. The man had sacrificed his own safety for the smaller brunet, and it sounded as though there were no chance of him ever getting his normal life back. He immediately wanted to apologize to the man, but right now his anger at being so thoroughly out of control of his own life was clearly outweighing everything else. Instead he glared right back at the man, pushing him away. "Stop getting into my personal space!" It was starting to bother him how this persona had a complete lack of knowledge about the term ' personal bubble. And in the back of his mind he was frightened about his constant space invasion.  

[Sorrow_Mirth_and_Sin]

"Why? You didn't seem to mind this morning," Tithe snapped back, retreating half a step as Tobin pushed him. He didn't let go of his hold on the boy. Instead, he pulled him against him, his lips brushing against the boy's ear as he murmured, "you don't like it, do something about it."

He pushed Tobin roughly away then, putting ground between them. He circled around the boy, blocking off his path to the door, his strange eyes burning in the dim.  

[Ma Sai The Caged Tiger]

The smaller brunet shivered mildly, swatting at his ear as he scrambled to further himself from the man. His ears and neck had always been a weakpoint for the boy in his previous relationship, they were quite senstitive and he didn't want that to be used against him so he tried to remain unruffled. "I was asleep, alright? And I thought at the time that yo- he was sick. He probably thought I was his pillow." He felt more like a trapped animal than a human. Eying the door, he glanced at Tithe, judging the distance between himself and the road to safety. He didn't want to pass by the other male yet, maybe if he kept him talking he would move.  

[Sorrow_Mirth_and_Sin]

"No," Tithe said firmly, "you thought he was someone else. He wasn't sleeping. He doesn't. Part of why he isn't allowed control for long - and I happen to know there was no confusing you for a pillow."

He moved slowly towards the boy, his movements nothing if not predatory. His eyes never left Tobin, taking in his every breath and twitch. "Pillows don't call out to ghosts in their sleep. They don't have heartbeats that drown out the s**t only you can hear and they don't snuggle up to you quite like that. He knew what you were. He knew exactly who you were - And if you stand there like that in a real fight, you'd be dead already. Chatting you opponent up distracts both ways and I doubt you have the experience to pull it off. Move."

This wasn't a game to him and he wasn't playing around. He wanted to know just how capable Tobin was of defending himself, because one way or another, he was going to have to learn a whole lot more.  

[Ma Sai The Caged Tiger]

Stumbling backwards, Tobin put distance between himself and Tithe. He still didn't understand what the man was playing at, and he was starting to lose the nerve that had been with him so shortly.Gulping nervously, he eyed the taller man and cleared his throat. "I've never been in a real fight, cut this out." Scooting back once more he reached back, wobbling in the air before tilting backwards with a yelp. Apparently he had found the end of the bed. Hitting the floor with a small thump he scrambled back up, staring up at Tithe with growing anxiety." Look, this isn't funny at all alright? So quit it."  

[Sorrow_Mirth_and_Sin]

Tithe growled, the sound something that definitely shouldn't have come from human vocal chords. "Oh, I agree," he snapped darkly, circling around the boy in a slowly shrinking arc. "I don't think it's very funny either. You think I'll be laughing when they kill you? Maybe you should shut up and learn. Or did you want your first fight to be with someone who will tear you apart?"  

[Ma Sai The Caged Tiger]

Blinking, Tobin stares at Tithe in disbelief. The other man's intent dawned upon him and he scoffed incredulously. "You realize I havent had one single physical fight my entire life? Hell, I didnt even have a chance to fight back when they took me. They just were there when I turned around one night." He watches the man continually circling him, taking a step towards the door. "Listen, I know you're trying to help...in your own way, but really I am not the fighter type. I realize that by being here what little life you had is now in jeopardy and I'm sorry about that. Give me a couple days to recover and I'll be out of your hair a.right? I'm sure I can find somewhere I can go without putting anyone to any trouble."

Turning his back on the man he strode towards the bedroom door, wishing to put as much distance between the situation and himself as possible. He felt very threatened from Tithe right now, and it was bothering him intensely. Clasping his hands loosely behind his back he tried to think about something else, anything but the man that was currently making his hair stand on end. Just ignore him, he thought to himself. He won't do anything to hurt me, not if he went through all that trouble to save me.  

[Sorrow_Mirth_and_Sin]

Tithe rolled his eyes, grabbing a handful of the boy's hair and pinning him bodily to the door. "You're not going anywhere," he snarled, tightening his grip harshly. "You won't make it three days on your own, recovered or no. Wherever the hell you run to, they will hunt you down and drag you off just like the last time and they'll have an even easier time of it too, considering how much weaker you are than you were before. You're still alive - don't you understand what that means? Whatever they did to you, it took. You are worth something to them now and they will not stop searching until you're dead and useless to them."

"I don't give a damn about this life," he growled, pressing the boy harder against the door, "it was the real thing I cared about. That's why I never dared to go back. Everything I was, everything I had and knew... once they get ahold of you, everything you touch is doomed. There is no where you can go without hurting everyone around you."  

[Ma Sai The Caged Tiger]

Yelping at the savage move, Tobin thrashed under the man's grip, cryingout when it tightened. His smaller form wasn't exactly dwarfed by the man behind him, but he still couldnt wrest himself from the man's hold. He wasn't used to such people and these types of situations. Nothing could have prepared him for someone like Tithe, not even his time spent in those tanks and other areas of the facility, he had never run into anyone like him. The other male ranted behind him and all the while he struggled to move. "Get off of me you b*****d! You can't hold me down forever, sooner or later you'll need your arm."The boy knew he had atleast a one up on Tithe, still having both of his appendages attached.

"I couldn't care less what they did to me, whatever it was it sure as hell isnt anything like what they did to you or I'd probably know what it was by now." The rough grain of the door was pressing painfully against his face and he grimaced, sqweezing his eyes closed in an effort to block out the pain. "You don't thinkI realize that as well? My family has long since ceased to care about me, before I was taken. And now that I know-..." He let out a huffed breath, dismissing the partial statement. "Now all I have is my cat, and a man I know next to nothing about that put everything on the line to free me all for the sake of a promise from someone he barely knew."

His thoughts were jumbled, he tried to hide behind a false bravado but inside he was shaking. He hadnt realized how drained he felt but lack of food and so much movement after such a long time immobile was taxing on the smaller brunet. He tried kicking at the man, anything to dislodge him but his movements were weak and had little fight in them. He really hadn't been lying, this was not his forte.  

[Sorrow_Mirth_and_Sin]

Tithe laughed coldly. "Yeah, that's the shitty thing about only having one arm but I happen to doubt very much that I'll have to hold you down that long. You'll crack first." He jerked the boy's head back against his shoulder as he said that, his grip on Tobin's hair slacking just enough to staunch the pain he had been causing. A low growl rumbled through his chest as he leaned in, breathing hot air along the column of the the boy's exposed throat.

"What exactly do you know, Tobin?" Tithe said quietly. His every word kissed against the boy's skin, his voice all but a seductive purr now. "Weren't you the one who was just bitching that no one would give you a straight answer?"

The manner with which he was restraining the boy changed, the brute force of the act giving way to something more sensual. His hand was still tangled in the boy's hair, holding him in place as he scraped his teeth down the boy's throat, nipping lightly the hollow of his neck and then moving on to trace his collarbone with his tongue. He was getting a little more carried away than he'd intended. It hadn't missed his attention that messing with Tobin like this ruffled his feathers. He wanted that spark back or whatever it was that had made him chuck an egg at a man who had just admitted to a tendancy towards cannibalism. That had not been a gutless move. He knew Tobin was not a fighter and he wasn't interested in making him one. The last thing he wanted was to see Tobin following in his own footsteps. He did, however, want him to know how to save his own neck and if Tobin was going to be stubborn about it, god help him. If he had to do this every time he wanted to teach him something, he wasn't about to complain.  

[Ma Sai The Caged Tiger]

Alarm bells sounded throughout the boy's mind as he heard Tithe's statement. The pain in his head ceased but the hold was still strong and he squirmed, breathing in a ragged gasp as the man's breath trailed along his neck, sending up goosebumps along his flesh. The feel of the hot wet tongue sliding down his neck was a catch twenty two. Alarm bells continued to ring louder as the other male continued his caress, he had been skirting around these close calls quite a few times already and apparently was now moving in. Tobin's neck was a main source of weakness, sending little shivers throughout his body that he tried desperately to control.

His struggles renewed their vigor, yanking at his arms in an attempt to dislodge them. " What the hell do you think you're doing?!" His voice was strangled, a tinge of panic lacing it as his squirming continued. He ignored Tithe's questions, trying to focus on wriggling free. It felt as thought the temperature in the room had risen, and the growing panic the boy felt was starting to kick in the adrenaline.  

[Sorrow_Mirth_and_Sin]

Tithe grinned against the boy's neck. "Pissing you off," he replied, amused and almost casual about it. He chuckled, his grip relaxing on Tobin's hair as he released him. He could smell the boy's fear, could taste it on his skin and as much as that roused the darker parts of his nature, the sudden headache that throbbed behind his eyes quickly reminded him that pursuing this much farther would never be tolerated by the finer aspects of his being. "Among others," he added for the benefit of the other two personas, backing off. He sat on the edge of the bed, giving the boy his space. Again. This was going to get old soon.