❝ childish innocence.

   ( he’s always cared about the well being of    tai. somehow, he’d crawled into the void,    where his heart had once been, made that    hole his home, changed it for the better. but    how could anything be changed if nothing    was there in the first place? he feels empty,    empty, and he realizes that it’s been too    long since tai had loved a living man, a     living mink. )

   There’s a shudder that runs up his spine,    unaccounted for at facing his words. On any    other person’s lips, the words would be silenced    forever, without a trace, with less than certified    haste. ( but he’s always listened to this boy,    even when it never seemed as such. perhaps    that is why he wishes he would leave, run    for the stars and never look back for mink,    because this boy, kitten, love deserved so    much better. )

   ( and then he feels him. )

   He can’t control the shuddering, up & down    his body, a tense effort to control any signs    of emotion showing on his countenance. It’s    a fight that he’s winning, with a blank expression    as ever, if one ignored the fact that Mink’s    piercing eyes were screwed shut, his lips    were pursed tight ( to hold in his pain, such    regret ), and that his body was trembling    ( with controlled rage, at what toue has done,    that he couldn’t even cherish properly the    one light that had fallen into his grip. )

   He can’t help it. His fingers curl under Tai,    hands moving from their place by his side    to supporting the kitten that sits on his lap    ( hands on the bottom, where bruises lie,    bruises that he dares not regret inadvertently    placing there ) & just rests in silence.

   ( nearly over. )

His body, weak; bruised from his regretful actions this past while - shivers, trembles in the elders hold & small fingers come to grasp at his shirt almost desperately. He's breaking. ( but how can he break when he's already in pieces? ) His hands tighten, white knuckled & desperate in their hold on Mink's shirt. This man, this man who'd hurt him so very deeply - this man who'd broken his heart, his trust, his soul beyond repair, this man who'd made him so happy he was truly happy for once in his life -- this man who showed him a compassion like no other before him.

This man who'd picked up all of his b r o k e n pieces & put him back together; allowed him to be as innocent & childish as he wanted to be -- Because Tai felt truly carefree when he was with Mink, the man was not only his lover, not only his one & only, but his best friend, his savior, his protector..

❝ Please.. Please come back. For me.. If you love me at all..        I need you.. I love you, more than anything. I don't care about          anything that's happened, I don't care how much it hurts to remember            what you said, I don't care how much it hurt to see you with someone            else.. You're all I want. Please.. Please come back to me.. ❞

He knows it's a moot point to argue this, but he HAS to try. He can't let Mink go without at least making him realize just how much he's come to mean to the feline. His face hides in the others neck with a soft mewl, it's a weak sound, it tells of pain & heartache - & it repeats as he wriggles into the elders warmth; soaking up every second of this mom- ent -- as he knows, he more than likely will never feel the others hands on him again, he'll never get to touch him or kiss him; he'll never again writhe beneath large hands that know his body better than even he, himself, does.

❝ I'll.. I'll go to the safe house.. I'll be there..       I-- I'll wait for you. I don't want to hear you        argue with me about this, I'll wait as long       as it takes. I don't care, I'll wait. ❞

咲     Of course he was red. Tai was hardly wearing any clothes at all. And Lingerie at that. He tried to turn his face away further, it reddening more as Tai pointed it out. “Oi, I’m fine Tai. You should get warmer clothes on.”

   ( he knows what he has to do. he’s always    known his mission; to accomplish peace,    for those who had passed without justice,    for the land that would never be inhabited    by familiarity again, for a family lost. he knows    that his mission means death. )

   ( he knows what he has to do. he’s always    seen this day coming; where he would have    to release the strings attaching him to his    kitten. to finally break the chains that had    controlled the kitten, and to even, perhaps,    cruelly break any chance of anyone ever    being trusted by tai. because he trusted to    easy, trusted a dead man H I M H I M H I M    with love. )

   He will complete his mission.    But hurting Tai, that was…

   “…”

   He doesn’t reply, letting the words wash over    him, affirming the fact that he should let go of    tai, even if he didn’t want to. There’s a tension    in Mink’s bones, muscles, skin, veins, one that    wasn’t there barely a month back ( it was tai,    it’s always him who gave him life ), & he’s tired,    tired enough that the Scratch Members had    noticed & backed off to give him space. Out-    wardly, there’s no injuries on Mink ( but he can    see the bruises on the other, and knows that    he’s not the only one with a bruise around their    heart. ).

   He sighs ( deep ). ( he feels more than ready    to die. soon. )

   “ There’s a safe house.    It’s been prepared for you. ”

He's not used to this level of anger, he's not used to feeling so mad he could bite someone & break the skin with no remorse whatsoever, being so utterly angry that he wants to use his magic to break every bone in someones body; put them back together & then do it all over again.

& then, like pouring water on a candle. It fizzles out at the mention of the safe house, he'd heard the others talking about ' one final mission ' when they helped him prepare his place to live in -- so did this..

He knew Mink far too well at this point to not notice the signs, this is for that one last mission, isn't it?

Mink has no intention of coming back.. & The worst thing -- is Tai can't stop him.

But before he can think of anything else to say, the pain of the betrayal he'd suffered comes to bite him once more; refuels that anger to no end.

❝ Safe house? -- Take it & shove it..     Do you suddenly care what happens to me now?     You didn't care when you had some slut on your cock,     you didn't care when you told me I was a burden. You     didn't care when you sounded exactly like the person     you once told me you would NEVER become. So why,     why do you suddenly want to send me to a safe house?     Why are you suddenly worried about my safety!? ❞

As he spoke, he'd been stepping closer slowly. One step, two steps.. until he was close enough to touch -- & yet.. even with every ounce of his restraint telling him not to -- he failed, forcing his way into the large mans lap; straddling his thighs & fisting small hands into his shirt.

❝ Nyah? ❞ Attention turning to the person speaking, he jerked slightly upon noticing the mask; natural feline instinct telling him to hiss ‘ what the fuck ‘ -- but he refrained, instead giving a happy grin. & admittedly, a twirl. ❝ Thank you! ❞

Random fact #4;

   Something of a sigh escapes him, eyes staring down    at the sight below him, contemplating the request. He    could understand the sentiment ( having faced years    in the dark&empty space of a containment cell, body    tensed for the next bout of torture that always appro-    ached at unsuitable times ), but the frailty & innocence    & childishness of the boy had never failed to pause    his attempts at giving back the kitten it’s freedom. ( b-    ecause he knew, deep down, that this was tai’s true    face, untainted. & mink, somehow, felt as if it had be-    come his duty to protect the small light, even if in the    end he would have to throw tai away, like… the tool,    that he is… )

   “ I get it. ”

   ( he answers, almost absentmindedly, but stiffens    in an almost imperceptible move; the shifting of    lower bodies and the wanton mewling of the boy.    he’d almost growl back, but he couldn’t, shouldn’t. )

   He lifts his hand after that moment, disguising it    by lifting ( tai’s ) weight off him, facing him in the    direction of the closet.

   “ If you’re not ready by the    time I leave, then you’ll    be left behind again. ”

Despite the loss of the larger mans warmth, the feline is still smiling as he's faced in the direction of the closet. He got his way, & so he is more than happy. He's essentially very ecstatic to be going outside the hide-out, & even more so to be going with the one man who makes him feel as if he can be as hyper & as child-like as he wants to be & no harm will befall him. Not as long as Mink is around.

❝ Hai. ❞

& then he's opening the closet & digging through the numerous outfits he's gotten since Mink had taken him in. Pausing for a moment to strip off the shirt he'd been wearing, along with his shorts. Grabbing out a dark maroon dress; he worked it on over his head & reached behind him to work the zipper up the line of his spine.

His dresses may have had spaghetti straps or none sometimes, but most of them still came up enough to cover most of the various scars on his torso & back.

Reaching for a pair of black pumps; he slipped them on & took a seat with his box of make-up & hair accessories -- pulling out a pink headband with a big red bow on it, he set about combing his hair back, sliding the headband in to hold his bangs back.

Random fact #2;

Tai is one of those that falls very easily forsomeone; he won’t hesitate to tell them ofhis feelings, either. He’ll make it apparentin everything he does, from dressing up insomething he knows they’ll enjoy seeinghim in, to learning a new skill: like cookingto show them how much he cares. Oddsare, he’ll never say no to anything his loverasks of him because of his need to please.

Random fact #3;

Random fact #1;

    –Whatever memory his words had triggered, whatever emotions were welling in the other, Noiz remained unaware. Sensitivity had never been his strong suite- simply because it was not a skill he’d ever been taught to have. In his eyes. He knew what tears meant, though- he knew he had said something disturbing to his waiter. 

      This was…perplexing. It’s not as if he’s never made a stranger cry before with the force of his words. Rather, what the boy said. Didn’t want to, huh? A bad situation, maybe. He’d never known anyone who worked at this kind of sleazy place from anything other than choice. Then again, he didn’t know a whole lot of people.

   He said nothing, waiting out Tai’s tears for the turn around. And it came. With the same look of dislike he’d seen in many others eyes. He had nothing to say for it. He’d just been speaking the truth, after all.

   “Don’t give me free things. It’s not like you work here for the costumes, right?” He  picked up his menu and gave it the first look over since he’d entered the establishment, pale eyes flicking over it disinterestedly.

   “I think…there isn’t anything on here to please my appetite.” Closing the menu, Noiz turned to look at the provocative actions of the other with disinterest.  

   “I’m going to give you a number. When your shift ends, you can choose to call it or not. I’ll take you out to eat somewhere where everyone’s fully dressed and the Chief has a five star review.”

     He reached into his pocket and pulled out a note card. From looking at Noiz, it’s hard to believe he even knows how to write on paper, considering the amount of electrons he has equipped with him. Yet, he still pulls out a pen and scribbles down his coil number- holding it out to Tai as he stands up.

     “Don’t keep my waiting, yeah? It’s free food. So think carefully about what you want before you say no.” 

      Noiz didn’t wait fro a response before he took his leave.

Confusing.. That was the only word to describe the blond - one minute he was slinging harsh words at the feline; & the next he didn't want free things & now he was giving him his number & asking-- no.. telling him they were going somewhere to eat.

Honestly, the flip was a little strange & had a flush on the petite teens face. He wouldn't say no, of course not - hell, his managers would probably only give him whatever food they couldn't store away which, some nights wasn't much. His money was all being saved towards getting himself an apartment so he wouldn't have to sleep in a box in the alley.

The card was taken with a hesitant hand, small fingers holding it as if it were tainted; he still held an intense anger towards the taller male. But soon, his fingers curled more firmly around the card & he tucked it in the corset of his dress; having no time to respond before the other was suddenly gone.

Tai stood, right there as if he were rooted in that spot; they were in the dead of night now so not many customers remained - trotting off into the back, he waited; thinking thoroughly on whether or not he wanted to call the number. However, ultimately -- he clocked himself out; used the bathroom to wash up as best as he could, despite the fact his female manager had taken him to her apartment to shower just that afternoon before his shift.

& he dressed in his best clothes from his backpack, avoiding his feminine outfits in favor of tight jeans & a turtle neck sweater. Both black along with his boots ( great, he looked like he was goth. he honestly wasn't. ) -- & stored his backpack inside the restaurant. Telling his manager he'd get it in the morning.

The coil he'd saved up to buy a few months prior was opened, tapping in the number. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves, hitting the green button to dial the number as he fiddled with his hair. Ugh, he needed to cut it again..