Hopeless ((open))

[Jadyn Amethyst]

Let the dam break.

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He was the king of making things awkward it seemed poor Ithica looked as though he’d swallowed a frog or something. He should never have let the man help him or taken his pastries. All Jadyn had done was be rude and take from this poor man, and now he was pouring out his heart on him. Though he didn’t have really anything to give Ithica to make up for this horrible first impression he might be able to find something to repay the man for his constant kindness. Speaking of kindness.

“Not that kind? You give me food without expecting money. You help me find the park, you are going to help me find the school, and you haven’t said one negative thing to me. Hugged me, kind words, and smiles. How are you not that kind?” Yet again it felt like he was lecturing. “I’m not trying to be condescending with all that I just don’t want you to think less of yourself. You’re an extremely nice person, and I’m trying to thank you.”

After a bit more rambling he chuckled sadly when Ithica admitted he knew nothing about being tough. Honestly he didn’t know all that much himself, sure his father had tried to pound things into his head, but not many of them stuck. He knew ‘how’ to be tough but it didn’t mean he was any good at it, if he had been he wouldn’t have a price on his head. Sighing he rubbed the back of his neck wondering how long it was going to take to get to the school. It felt like he’d been walking for days.

More rambling ensued before Ithica spoke again and Jay nodded in agreement to his statement. It all was pretty sh*tty but none of it was something that could be helped. Not as long as his father was alive and in power. He glanced at the half demon after a moment of letting him speak before sighing sadly. “I can’t go home really. My brother sent me away because…like you guessed my father was a little violent with me. It got so bad that Jeremy feared for my life. So off I was sent. Which only infuriated father to the point that if I so much as step on Amethyst soil again I’ll be killed.”

All of this should not be told to a random stranger in the middle of the night, but something about telling your troubles to a stranger came to mind. He wondered if Ithica really understood but didn’t bother to ask. He was pushing it as it was with all this talk and his previous actions. But still his tongue waggled on still his troubles poured forth with nary a second thought. Finally when it had all poured out he stood there quite shaken and feeling even more drained than from before it that was at all possible. If only he knew how to teleport or something now that would be useful. Unlike breathing fire, how useful was that? Unless you needed to cook something and didn’t have a stove or matches.

“Those are just my father’s words. I don’t think you’re stupid, weak, or useless at all. Well, maybe weak, but that’s okay. You can’t be weaker than I am.” He pushed a small grin up at Ithica noticing the wringing of the hands and scraping of skin. It spurred worry in his chest and he reached out to touch the hands. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have ladled all of my burdens out to you like that. Please don’t distress over a runt like me. Eat a pastry or something. Please not for me.”

Dropping his hands he hugged himself his brain suddenly dry for words now that he’d ranted like that. He didn’t do things like that, sure he had a mouth on him and he often used it, but he didn’t spill his guts like that. “Keep me? Like as a pet? I promise you I’d make a horrible pet.” A tad confused and groggy as all get out he rubbed his eye lifting the eye patch to rub the blind one as well. Runnig his hands through his hair the eye patch in his hand for a moment as he fought to stay awake he blinked not really thinking about the milky blue-white eye. Then he was in another hug and words that he’d heard maybe twice in his life before now made a wall break.

Jadyn choked on the air going into his lungs and he wrapped Ithica in a tight hug, but not overly tight just a tight hug of desperation. He missed his brother so badly and this was exactly what the stronger dragon would do for the runt. Make him feel safe and not so worthless. How did he find this in a stranger?

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[Ithica Pettineo]

Well, when Jay put it that way, he didn't feel like such a terrible person anymore. "I... get violent sometimes." He admitted nervously. "But I haven't for a long time!" Ithi rubbed his hands, chewing sheepishly on his lip. "It gets... bad. I-I broke my aunt's jaw and threw her across a park.." He wasn't very proud of that, even though he despised that particular aunt with all the hatred an Ithica could possibly have. "I didn't mean to! She just made me so angry, talking about my mother the way she did, and she tried to the last of the mashed potatoes!"

He released his lip and substituted the wringing of his hands for curling his hands into fists. He'd never hurt anybody else intentionally, but sometimes, mainly when he was at home, he'd see things his mother had left behind and he would feel all these unpleasant emotions pouncing on him. And it just wasn't fair. How was Ithi supposed to react to the barrage of emotions if he was only used to one or two? Not fair, not fair, not fair. He uncurled his fists, feeling a bit happier and more relaxed after his internal tantrum.

"You sure you don't want me to carry you or to get a cart?" He asked. "The carts really won't mind if I ask them nicely. Bit of chatterboxes, though. We could ask them to be quiet.." Ithi mused, wondering where he could find a cart that wouldn't try to kill him or Jay. He could only carry the dragon so far, because despite the boy looking light, Ithi's muscles were nonexistent and would drop him after about thirty minutes. That probably wasn't the best idea then.

As Jay talked about his father, Ithi wasn't sure what to say. He had been raised where his father had loved him. Sure, they had an occasional argument, but for the most part his father was one of his best friends. Only once had they had a severe fight, and that was because of his mother. "Your mother? She didn't do anything?" He asked. Ithi did feel grateful that at least Jay's brother cared enough to do something about it, but he didn't understand why he was treated like that just because he wasn't the prime example of a dragon.

"Amethyst?" Ithica stared at him, because he had no idea what quartz had to do with anything. Maybe he was allergic or something. He lowered his gaze, still searching in his brain for why that comment had to with anything. After a few more moments of complete cluelessness, he smacked his head. Duh.. it was a name of some sort. He wasn't sure if it was his last name, or perhaps his father's name, but it really didn't matter at the moment. Perhaps after wards he could learn all about Jay's name, but at the moment his mind was foggy from the confusion and lack of sleep.

Ithica's small smile turned into a wide grin. "What we lack in strength we make up for in sheer coolness." All right, so Ithica wasn't cool. At all. He was accident-prone, clumsy, and awkward. He came out of his thoughts to see Jay's hands on his. Ithi stared at him, unsure of what to say. "You're my friend, why wouldn't I worry about you? And don't you ever call yourself a runt again." He felt like a jerk because that last part came out more forcefully than he had intended. "Please don't. Because you're so much more than that."

Like a pet? Well, that was what Ithi had been implying, but the word choice made him suddenly not so keen on the idea. Because being a pet would imply that Jay was somehow beneath Ithica, and that just wasn't true. "I was.. I meant it.. not like that." He stumbled over his words, embarrassed. Because he wasn't sure how he meant it if not like that.

"Why do you cover your eye?" He inquired. His grandmother had been blind, but she didn't wear an eye patch - which Ithi was partly grateful for because his granny had been terrifying enough. "It's beautiful." He said truthfully. It reminded of lagoons and the pictures of the universe that were in a book his father had given him for his birthday. He would have explain why he thought so further, but he averted gaze, worried about insulting Jay. He probably didn't want some weird half-demon fawning over his eye, especially not when it looked like he was about to fall asleep standing up.

At the tightened hug, Ithica frowned, wondering what was wrong. Was it because Ithi wanted to keep him? "When I said keep you, earlier.. I was asking if you'd like to come over to my dorm. Because I have food. Decent food." His cheeks flushed, not wanting to admit that he didn't want to go home alone because Rosie would kill him unless he brought proof of why he was late. And it would involve him having to walk to the university alone. "You could meet somebody weaker than you, and I have mashed potatoes and chicken." He bribed, pulling away from the hug with a grin.

[Jadyn Amethyst]

One word: Chicken.

A bit shocked to hear such words coming from such a sweet guy he grinned a bit trying to picture the guy beside him doing such a thing. It didn’t work very well but it was somewhat humorous in his head at least. He couldn’t really picture the guy getting violent or at least not in the way he described it to Jay. To him throwing someone like that wasn’t all that violent but he also knew he had different levels of being violent than most people. And to get mad over mashed potatoes was something that seriously needed laughter, but he kept his mouth shut. The mom thing though he understood completely and stared up at Ithica with that understanding.

At Ithica’s offer yet again to carry him he shook his head yet again not even bothering to open his mouth. Sure he looked, felt, and acted tired as a dying man but he wasn’t going to sink that low. There were certain things that his father had succeeded in ramming into his head, and refusing help to a certain extent was one of them. It would be stupid to never accept any help whatsoever but being carried was just plain pathetic. Unless he was unconscious or dead. Seeing as he was neither of those he thought it best to keep on keeping on. Besides Itihca had done enough for him already and carrying a dragon, however small he was, was not easy or fun.

Then it clicked. “Wait, chatterboxes? Carts…don’t…talk.” Ithica talked to inanimate objects? He just knew it was too good to be true. Maybe it was a gift or something? Maybe the objects actually talked back? As weird and insane as that sounded to him it might be normal for Ithica. He really was trying to not judge so quickly with his walking companion, though he found it hard. When you were used to judging people and insulting them constantly it was hard to shut that off.

He continued to count doors as they walked along not liking the conversation but not seeming to be able to stop it either. Family was usually something he avoided talking about like OCD people avoided germs. “My mother practically encouraged it. It was making me a man. Making me worthy of the name. Some days I saw that it broke her heart to see me…like that….”

Dropping the sentence he shook his head trying to push those memories away. “But she never stopped it. Heh, if people said she was being too soft with me she even participated in making me strong. Believe me getting slapped with one inch claws hurts almost more than fists.”

That had slipped out before he could stop it and he snapped his mouth shut clenching his hands into fists. One hand around the stone he kept in his pocket to help with stress he could feel the stone’s grit bite into his skin. It brought him back to reality if only for a moment.

“My last name, surname, name of the family. My father’s land.” He spit out the words like a robot regenerating stored information. Words came and words went from his mind and mouth, in his ears and out. Even though Ithica was most likely attempting to cheer him up with his words sometimes when a person is set on being depressed there is no lifting their spirits. Even so he was rather surprised to hear the practical stranger call him friend. He didn’t have friends especially not after meeting them less than three hours ago. With the somewhat abrasive tone with that command he grinned glad to see Ithica actually did have a back bone.

“Why? I am a runt. Tiny, delicate, easily sick, weak, and was supposed to die when I was born. That is the definition of a runt.” He grinned innocently starting to walk once more knowing what he was and knowing that that fact would never change. At Ithica’s hesitancy about the pet comment he stopped again almost laughing. It was fun to see how one question or statement could make a person all twisted up. “Don’t worry about it. I’m not upset.”

He forced a grin to reassure the half demon then rubbed his eyes again. While rubbing he paused at Ithica’s question finally realizing what he’d just done. “Beautiful? It’s a mark that will forever define me as not good enough. It makes people uncomfortable. People stare at me then look away in shame for staring. It’s easier to just hide it. But even the patch marks me for what I am.” He spit out the words building up to a crescendo his hands shaking at his sides. Bowing his head he bit his lip hard hating that he’d just exploded when Ithica was just being curious. “I’m sorry. I just…not used to talking about such personal things. If I don’t like the emotions I’m feeling I get angry. At least I understand anger.”

Once in the hug he did his best to calm down to breathe, and to stop shaking. He listened to Ithica speak so kind so giving. It hurt to hear such words. “You…you want me to go home with you?” He leaned back from the hug gazing up at him without the mask of anger, without his eye patch and he just felt raw. When he leaned back he barely caught sight of Ithica’s face flushing but he guessed it was because of the emotional conversation. “Chicken?” Meat, one of his many weaknesses.

Hug over with Jadyn rubbed his left thumb staring at the ground trying to decide what to do. He’d never gone home with anyone before. Sleepovers were not in his childhood history. Biting his bottom lip again he could feel the skin break somewhat in his mouth and the taste of blood flooded over his tongue. He closed his eyes and nodded. “Okay. I’ll go with you. But tomorrow I have to go back to the school.”

Again and again he swallowed wanting the taste to go away. Because it was something he should hate, something that should make him sick, but instead it made his veins sing. He outright loved the taste of blood, but he’d never admit that, to anyone. Because to admit that was to admit that he truly was a monster.

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((ooc. um..length...uh that was an oops...please do not try to match that... >.< ))

[Ithica Pettineo]

"I'm not...I'm not crazy!" He defended, shaking his head. "I do talk to inanimate things, b-but they talk back! I mean, most of the time.. well, sometimes.." Ithica frowned, deciding that the statement hadn't helped his case against schizophrenia. "My Trait.. thing. I bring things to life. Which is rather useless since I can't control it and they're always mean to me! Ooh! This one time I brought an angel to life and it hit me because I was a demon!" He crossed his arms angrily.

It was useless for the most part. It did come in handy when he was lonely, or when he was bored and trying to find anybody to talk to. When he was younger he'd sit back in his father's car and talk to the seat belts. Seat belts weren't happy things. His gift wasn't exactly helpful either. "And my gift is just annoying. I just remember things. And not just things I want to remember." All in all, Ithica was just useless. Without a use. Lacking a purpose. And some more depressing adjectives that he used to think about often.

Encouraged? How could somebody encourage child abuse? How could a mother support that? Ithi still couldn't stop the feelings of doubt that came flooding in after hearing about mothers like this. What if his own were like that? "I..." He paused in mid-apology, not wanting to apologize and get lectured again. It had hurt his feelings a little. But what else could he say that expressed the sympathy he was feeling? 'that sucks, man' or 'what a witch'.

But then he said that. Ithi bit his lip angrily, trying desperately not to say anything about Jay's mother. "I..." He tried his sentence again, wishing that he thought about what he was going to say before he said it. The way he trailed off made him sound like a flopping French finch in Finland. One inch claws? Ithica looked at his own raw hands, his fingernails chipped and slightly bloody from Ithi chewing and at one point scratching the nails off. Did dragons clip their claws?

"I hate that." He finished his attempt at the sentences, trying to keep his voice from rising. Because then it would be obvious there was a lump in his throat, and when that was obvious he felt pathetic. "I hate that they.." They what, Ithi? his brain demanded. Why couldn't he be more eloquent? "Did.. those things to you. Because you're not anything like what your father says. I-I don't think so.. it's kind of a subjective thing... and I can't think objectively." He finished lamely.

Noting the anger, Ithi almost started to rub his hands together. He chose instead just to stare down at them nervously and run a finger down the backs of his hand, feeling the cracked flesh and the surge of pain he felt when his finger passed a patch of raw skin. He needed a new habit, because this one hurt, and Ithi wasn't a huge fan of pain. But he knew he'd never stop making his hands raw. It had been happening since he was six, as had all of his other quirks. The severe resistance against stepping on a crack, playing hopscotch, and his hands.

Ithica quickened his step, pouting at Jay's technical use of the word. "Please just don't say it. Just because it's true doesn't make it...right." He had trouble with that word, because it was opinionated. He bit his lip, not wanting to be serious when his friend was grinning like that. He smiled timidly, forcing the unpleasant word choice out of his mind.

"Not good enough?" He asked curiously. "It's a part of you, and you're brilliant, so therefore your eye is amazing." Ithi normally would have said that a lot nicer, but it was too early for him to be too sentimental. "I do think it's beautiful." He raised his gaze back to the eye, figuring that if he didn't necessarily dislike people staring at, he might as well take advantage of it. It was his own form of revenge for the 'runt' comment. "It reminds me of happy things. My mom's favorite coat, the lagoon in Iceland... it was our last family vacation. You're other eye is nice, too." But he wasn't going to ramble about eye color now. That's kind of awkward.

Ithica tilted his head. "Well yeah I want you to come over. I asked, didn't I?" He teased, his grin reappearing. When Jay accepted, Ithi could have jumped up and down and squealed. He could have. He wanted to, because it meant Rosie wouldn't yell at him too bad, and it was an excuse to eat chicken. "Of course you'll be back. I don't want to disrupt your education."

[Jadyn Amethyst]

I think I'll sleep, here...thud.

He covered his mouth as he fought off laughter. It was weird feeling so depressed and still the littlest things could still make you laugh even if you fell right back into despair. Odd feeling and extremely tiring. Shaking his head at Ithica’s protesting that he wasn’t insane he wobbled a bit while walking feeling a bit dizzy. He needed to get someone soon to sit down and sleep, and hopefully eat something and drink something as well. After regaining his ability to walk in a straight line he glanced up at his guide finding him very intriguing. “You’ll probably gain control over it as you age. And you never know when you might need to make an angel come to life to bite a mean demon for you.”

Thinking that the half demon might have noticed the wobbling act he’d just performed he lifted a hand and gave him a look. “No, I do not need to be carried.” Even if the guy hadn’t noticed or if he didn’t care he didn’t even want to possibly go down that road again. Not until he passed out at least. The gift that was described didn’t sound all that spectacular but it could be useful if one used it correctly. He didn’t want his possible new friend to feel like his gifts were useless, but they weren’t, because he wasn’t.

“If you ever go on a game show you’ll know facts no one else does. Studying won’t be as hard for you. And many say knowledge is power. Remembering things can be extremely handy.” Grinning a bit he tried to look reassuring to the guy. “I can’t do anything. Can’t breathe fire: never eat charcoal. No gifts. And I don’t even remember the last time I was in my dragon form. So I’m basically human only I get claws and fangs when I get ticked.” With a shrug he continued on slipping back into talking about his family like slipping into a vat of acid.

It wasn’t a shock that Ithica didn’t know what to say to Jadyn’s family history. A big reason as to why he tended not to share his past with people. They always felt bad for him. “It’s okay. I got…used to it. Mostly.”

Yeah, used to being beat up, bruised, bloody, and hated. There were millions of kids out there who faced the same kind of life so why should he make a big deal about it? Some kids were raped by their families, or drugged. Only once did an uncle touch him like that and he had gone crying to Jeremy. Two days later his uncle was dead. No one ever touched him like that in their town ever again. He didn’t know who did the killing but a part of him knew he was protected in that sense. Now it was time for shock to take over. Staring up at Ithica for a moment he bowed his head and hugged himself once more.

“It’s okay…really. It made me who I am. Ya, know?” Moistening his dry lips he suddenly felt cold turning his gaze to the sky. The feeling of wanting to disappear washed over him and he closed his eyes stopping for a moment to let the feeling take him over. Sometimes he thought if he wanted it bad enough then he would simply poof! and be gone. It never worked out that way every time he opened his eyes and he was still there. Ithica was talking again so he opened his eyes as once again his wish was denied. Somebody who kept track of wishes in the vastness of the universe sure did like ignoring his.

With a sigh he shrugged and nodded. “If it’s the correct term to describe what I am then it is right. It might not be nice but it’s right, but if you don’t want to hear it then I won’t say it around you.” Another shrug and he ran his hands over his face trying desperately to keep awake. To listen to this stranger defend him constantly was just mind boggling. The guy didn’t even know him and he defended him. Weird. “Oh, belive me I am not brilliant.”

He gave the half demon a look then at the compliment on his eye once more then the force of Ithica staring he blushed. It wasn’t intentional, he couldn’t stop it at all. Then he went on to compare it to all these wonderful things and he lifted a hand to the worthless eye. No one had ever said such things about his eye, ever. Most people tried to ignore the fact that it even existed.

Whereas this man went on and on about it as though he were about to write a song or poem about it. Face completely red he dropped his hand and started hurriedly walking away. He wanted to get angry to lash out for getting embarrassed like that, but he didn’t. Instead he slipped his eye patch back on without a word desperately wanting to punch something.

“Puh, education. Load of crap that will never be used in the real world. Most of the ‘teachers’ there are degenerates, with very tiny brains.” He growled glancing back at Ithica. “So how far do you live from here?” Because he really wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep...the dizziness returned full force. The ground was suddenly springing up before his face. He didn't even feel the cement when he hit it because by that time the world had turned to black.

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[Ithica Pettineo]

Wobble wobble. Ithi bit the inside of his cheek as Jay stumbled around looking like a drunken midget. How long had he been awake? Fan of sleep as he was, Ithi had never been about to pass out from exhaustion in the city. He never really was in the position to pass out in the city, but that was beside the point. "Yeah. That's why my daddy says." He shrugged, beyond the point of caring if the dragon teased him for using a childish word to refer to his father. "Personally, it gets rather tiring when I'm putting on my clothes and bring them to life on accident." He did not like hearing about what his pants had to. "It gets awkward quickly.." He muttered sheepishly.

"I know, I know." He waved off Jay's comment with a small smirk. He ruffled the dragon's hair happily, wondering vaguely if he was getting too close for comfort. And who wanted Ithi's filthy hands touching them anyway? Ithica pulled his hand back, his smirk broadening into a smile. "You're so stoic." He teased, putting his hands in his pockets. Even so, Ithi resolved not to take his eyes off of him just in case.

That resolve was broken as soon as Jay said his next words. He was dumbfounded. "G-Game show?" He stuttered, the idea taking him off guard completely. Out of the weird ideas he had heard on how to utilize his gift that had never come up. It seemed like a good idea, since Ithi had practically thrown the television across the room because the contestant hadn't known an answer. "Knowledge is power..?" His grin twitched as he contained his amused laughter.

Can't breathe fire? "Eww." He stuck out his tongue in displeasure as Jay explained about charcoal. "That's gross. Does charcoal taste different to dragons than to other species?" He had never tried to taste charcoal, so he didn't want to judge too quickly, but charcoal looked and smelled absolutely disgusting. "Claws and fangs?" He would have made a comment about never wanting to tick Jay off, but then was reminded about how easily that was accomplished. What if the next time he was angry he remembered those words and.. clawed him and fanged him? Or something of the sort.

Mostly? He got used to it mostly? "Getting used to physical pain doesn't mean you stop hurting." Ithi wasn't speaking from experience, so his words probably shouldn't be taken seriously. He did know, however, that mental anguish had a pesky quality of making itself physical. He wanted to stop talking about all of this pain, but at the same time he wanted to know as much about this strange little dragon as he possibly could.

He had only known physical pain from others a few times in his life. The earliest he could remember was when he had dropped a frying pan on his foot and the babysitter slapped him to shut him up. It had, but Ithi had stayed in his room to sulk for the next few days, his appetite completely ruined. The others were bullies that used gym class as an excuse to pummel the half-demon. Ithica didn't mind it at the time, but looking back on it he wanted to slap his ten year old self. He was just so gullible.

The half-demon nodded, resuming to chew on the inside of his cheek. "I suppose, then, that out of every bad situation something good arises." Ithica shrugged lightly, not wanting to press his luck any farther by saying blatantly that he liked Jay's personality (he seemed rather touchy when it came to that) and annoy him further. Sometimes, though, Ithica just couldn't help what came out of his mouth - especially when he hadn't taken his medicine for a little over a week. "You're very strong. A lot of people would have given up after what you've gone through."

That was as much of a speech as Jay would get, considering he went back to the runt topic. "It's just...the word 'runt'. It reminds me of Wilbur, that pig from Charlotte's Web." He admitted, feeling a little lame. Jay was a T double-E double-R double-R double-I double-F double-I double-C, C, C dragon, and the word 'runt' did not summarize him well enough. "I know you're brilliant."

At the blush, Ithica stepped back wards a bit too quickly, and stumbled over his own feet. Luckily he didn't fall, and, relieved at his sudden good luck, turned his attention back to his Jay. "I didn't mean to embarrass you." He bit his lip as the dragon hurried forward. Gah! He pouted sulkily as he caught up, walking a few steps behind him so that he didn't see how flustered Ithi was.

"You sound like you're enjoying it, then." Ithica had never really minded education, contrary to the way he acted in class. He often fidgeted, whimpered from boredom, and other such things when he had to sit still. It wasn't that the classes were terrible, it's just the... why was Jay falling? Snapping out his thoughts, he caught the dragon before the head hit the ground. Well what was he supposed to do now?

Looking around for a cart, and finding none, he pouted. He could have sworn he had seen one around somewhere. There were plenty of cars, but he was pretty sure that stealing a car was not the best idea in the world. Ithi picked up the dragon, praying to whatever celestial deity that happened to be listening at the moment that he didn't drop him and cause severe bodily damage. What if Jay woke up and got angry at him for carrying him? Eh. He could get over it then. Ithi wasn't about to leave him out for the creeps.

[ooc; >.> if you need me to change anything I will.]

[Jadyn Amethyst]

Darkness.

They walked and talked pleasantly for awhile then Ithica had to go and ruffle his hair. Biting his bottom lip he kept his mouth shut but slowly flattened the tousled hair back to its somewhat messy look. It wasn’t like he was a big hair person who freaked every time someone touched it but it was a thing people did to little kids and he absolutely hated being treated like a little kid. But he didn’t want to ruin their nice conversation that they were having. It wasn’t very often that he had conversations that didn’t involve him getting angry constantly.

At the question about the charcoal he shrugged. “It tastes disgusting to me. I don’t know if everyone else thinks it tastes differently or not, but I refuse to eat it.” He stuck out his tongue and shook his head with a shudder. “Disgusting.” Glancing up at Ithica he nodded looking down for a moment before glancing back at him from the corner of his eye. “Yeah, claws and fangs. Believe me it ain’t pretty.”

He sighed not really wanting to talk about his past anymore. It was full of pain and hardly anything good. “You get used to the pain, you get used to hurting. It becomes a part of your life.” Gaze downcast he hugged his torso again not wanting to meet Ithica’s eye when he felt so bad inside.

Most people in his spot found ways to accept the pain into their lives. Some even morphed it to make it feel like it was a good thing, and not something that made you want to curl in a ball in a corner. That’s what he’d done for the most part, but one can only be pushed so far before it was just plain pain.
With a slow nod at the out of bad can come good comment he remembered that he was supposed to be counting doors. Like it mattered now he would have to start over, like it mattered before either. “Technically I did give up by running away.” Jay shot a glance at the half demon then stared forward wondering how long it would take to get to the man’s dorm.

At the mentioning of Wilbur from that old children’s book he snorted covering his mouth to keep himself from laughing. Shaking his head he smiled up at Ithica continually shocked on how far the guy would go to say nice things. “I’m not strong or brilliant.” He bit out before storming off from the embarrassment of that plus the eye comments. Once Ithica caught up to him he bowed his head chest heading not wanting to look at him. “Well, if you don’t want to embarrass me then why do you say such things? People just don’t say stuff like that to each other. Or at least they don’t in my world.”

Tugging on his shirt he stared off to the side drain suddenly wanting to cry again. He sniffled a bit and rubbed at his eyes before returning his gaze up to the half demon. “Enjoying it? Enjoying what school? Hell no. I hate it there.” Jay tilted his head back taking deep breaths before starting walking again. Then in no time the world was black. And it wasn’t likely he was going to wake up any time soon

((ooc. It’s fine. Did you want to leave it there or skip till morning? Or what? Just PM Jay’s or Kiri’s account or answer ^_^ Up to you…sorry…))
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[Ithica Pettineo]

[>< I just skipped to morning. and.. er.. it's not so good. If you need me to edit it I will ;__;]

Rosie hadn't left the dragon's side all night - well, it had been more into the morning when the exhausted half demon returned. She had only met one dragon in her life, and he certainly wasn't this...dainty. She was sitting on the bed beside Jay, glassy eyes wide and fixated him. She, being the curious porcelain doll she was, was oh so tempted to remove the eyepatch even though Ithi had told her he was touchy about the eye. And she, being the curious fragile porcelain doll she was, was afraid that Jay would smash her to pieces if he woke up with her hovering over him with his eyepatch in hand. Then Ithica would put her together with hot glue and needles while she was still 'alive' as punishment for being snoopy. That hurt. A lot.

"Don't do it, my little rosebud." Ithi mumbled sleepily, smacking her hands away from his face. "Why are you so nosy?" He asked, shaking his head in disapproval. Ithica would never admit that it was because he was nosy, and Rosie had become so accustomed to his antics that even she was starting to become curious about everything. Was that a bad thing? Well, if you're made out of porcelain and would piss off a war dragon, yeah. Yeah, it was kind of bad.

The doll huffed indignantly. "Why are you such a creepy pedo?" She demanded with her arms crossed. "This is the second unconcious child you've brought home." She poked Jay's shoulders through the blanket. "The first one was kind of scared of me. Think I can scare him?" Rosie smiled mischeviously. "I can go under his blankets and crawl out when he's awake and say 'BOO' really loudly."

"And you're the one calling me a creep? How old are you? Three hundred?" Ithica asked, a lazy smile crossing his face. He knew his doll hated when he talked about her age like that. He made sure to do it often. He walked into the kitchen, going through his cabinets for breakfast food. Ithi could have theoretically made chicken - but what kind of breakfast food was that?

She puffed out her cheeks, sending the half demon a withering look. She was only one hundred and sixteen, and she was made for Ithica's mother when she was twenty. "Shut it, Erastus." She knew her owner hated when she called him by his middle name. She made sure to do it often.

Ithica pulled out eggs, sausages, and bacon. Rosie stood on her tippy toes on the bed to see what he was pulling out. "Your father would have a heart attack..." She commented. The half demon shrugged, not really caring since he wasn't feeding his father, he was feeding Jay and what kind of dragon was a strict vegan?

Now he was faced with a most important dilemma. How did Jay like his eggs? Did Jay like eggs? Sunny side up? Scrambled? Were there more ways to make eggs? Ithi personally favored sunny side up - mainly because he liked to flip the eggs over and making scrambled was boring and he always burnt them. But he knew some people didn't like the yolkiness of sunny side up. "Uhh.. Rosebud? How do dragons like their eggs?"

"Charcoaled."

"He hates charcoal!"

"What the hell kind of dragon hates charcoal?!"

Ithi growled at her while waving his spatula threateningly. "Take it back."

Rosie huffed, crossing her arms. "Fine, fine. I've only met one dragon and it's wrong of me to judge others without getting to know them." It was a rehearsed apology - only substituting 'dragon' where 'fairy' had been the previous time. "By the way, you look so intimidating waving a spatula around while wearing an apron. You have surely frightened the judgmental right out of me."

The half demon muttered something not very nice under his breath, settling on sunny side up. Rosie sat back down, resuming her wide eyed stare at the dragon. "I can't believe you carried him. I would have left him," Rosie informed Ithi.

Ithica bit his lip nervously, hoping Jay didn't have bruises from Ithi dragging him up the stairs and the many times he was accidentally dropped. He had honestly tried not to drop him but Ithi was clumsy and weak. "You wouldn't have much of a choice, my puny little rosebud." He teased, finishing breakfast with only three burnt fingers.

[Jadyn Amethyst]

Laughter in the darkness. And monsters in your head.

He was running where he was running he didn’t know but he was running and from the pounding of terror in his chest he was running for his life. Darkness surrounded him like a pressing force pulsing and moaning with pain. Heavy breathing echoed around him mixed with the moans and he felt hot air on the back of his neck. He couldn’t hear any footsteps and every time he turned around there was nothing there but more darkness. Why was he running? Was he running from the darkness? He was so confused and lost and afraid, absolutely filled with fear.

Suddenly from the darkness came flames scorching his right side slightly and he screamed out in pain. Wait fire wasn’t supposed to hurt that bad, why did it hurt so much? Sure he was weak but fire had never hurt that badly before. Holding his right side he kept running horror driving him ever forward. Claws flashed from the throbbing darkness and he threw himself face forward trying to dodge them. Laughter filled the air, laughter he’d heard a million times before, his father’s. Smoke started filled the air between him and the darkness filling his lungs like ash. Coughing wracked pain up and down his right side and tears started streaming down his face, but he kept running.

A flash of light to his left a bit ahead of him showed his mother holding a baby in her arms crying. “Mother! Mother help me!” She sobbed and turned away but the child leaned over her shoulder staring at him with bright red eyes. He screamed again reaching for her when he was knocked sideways off his feet and onto his scorched side. Pain shot threw his body and he whimpered crawling forward until he found his feet again.

Another flash of light and now his brother stood arms open waiting for him just ahead. "Jeremy!" Just as his fingers touched his brother’s blood sprayed over his face blinding him. Blinking he rubbed at the blood and when he could finally see again he saw his brother dead with a slit throat on the floor.

“Noo!” He screamed jerking awake with the laughter of his father still ringing in his ears. Blind, he was blind, all he could see was red, blood. Everywhere there was blood so much blood. “No! Jeremy!” Tears streamed down his face his clawed hands searching for his brother’s body no knowing that it had all been a horrible nightmare. Chest heaving he searched blindly with eyes the color of deep rubies though one was still milky and forever blind.

He screamed his brother’s name again falling off of the couch. The jerk of the fall startled him enough to reassess the situation. Whimpering he panted around with his hands trying to figure out where he was and what was happening.

“Please, is anyone there? I..I can’t see. Please.” He’d always feared that he would lose his sight completely, but the more he tried to calm down the more the blood disappeared. It was slowly returning but he still didn’t know where he was. Shaking he kept searching with his trembling, clawed hands. “Jeremy…”[/blockquote][/blockquote]
((ooc. it was awesome ^_^ now time to shake it up a bit ))[/size][/color][/font]

[Ithica Pettineo]

Rosie's plans of scaring the boy quickly disappeared as she shrieked and ran off the bed, afraid the flailing dragon would knock her across the room. She backed into a corner, watching him write on the bed. She cast a curious glance to the dumbstruck Ithi, who stood there with the platter of food in one hand and a cup of orange juice in the other. Great. A dragon with night terrors. Err.. early morning terrors? Ten AM terrors?

She almost giggled as he fell off of the couch, and looked at her owner to see if he shared in her amusement. He didn't. The doll huffed, crossing across the floor to grab the tray of food and drink before the clumsy oaf dropped it. Rosie had never excelled at being an understanding doll. She'd rather do anything except hear about people's personal demons, but Ithica seemed to attract them by the bucketload. Fantastic.

It didn't even look like he noticed the platter and cup had been removed from his hands. He was pale, and looked.. like he was going to be sick. Rosie crossed her arms, raising a painted eyebrow. "You going to go to him or what, Erastus?" She asked, leaning against the wall. Sometimes normally sentient creatures could be so stupid.

Ithica bit his lip nervously. He felt like he wasn't supposed to be seeing this. That he should never have witnessed the dragon's weakness, and that he certainly shouldn't be hearing such heart wrenching noises coming from him. He looked at Rosie, hoping for help. All he got in return was a light shrug and a huff in response. He thought about trying to ignore it until Jay truly came to his senses - in order to preserve the dragon's dignity - but then he had to say please like that. Ithi timidly crossed the room, and sat down beside him. "Jay..."

Unsure of what do, he opted for pulling Jay into a hug. It wasn't the red eye or claws that frightened the wits out of him, it had been the despair and desperation in the voice. He couldn't really even comfort the boy without lying or saying something he didn't know was true. All the things he thought about saying were too personal, or too... well, they didn't exactly apply here. "You're okay," He promised, his grip on Jay tightening. He was almost completely sure that he couldn't have blinded Jay while half-dragging him up the stairs. His head had only hit the ground once, and that ground had been carpeted.

"You're with me," Ithi mumbled. He would do what his mother used to do when he had nightmares, but that could be taken the wrong way considering during the twelve hours Ithi had known the boy about eight of them had been spent with both of them unconscious from exhaustion. "You're safe with me." The half-demon promised, and while he wasn't sure if that was going to be true, he did know that he'd put up a heck of a fight before he let anybody harm Jay. Which may not be of much meaning since he was a weak person.

He couldn't say much about Jeremy. He knew that the two were probably close (or had been before Jay started to attend the Academy). He wanted to promise that Jeremy was okay, and that it was just a bad dream - but he didn't know that for sure, so it'd be a lie. But wasn't comforting people all about lying? He kissed the boy's eyebrows; it was something that his mother had done to him that made him feel better. Of course the difference between a mother and a stranger was vast, but Ithica was ready to try anything to stop Jay from hurting as intensely if only for a moment.

"Do you like eggs?" He asked softly. "I made breakfast... but I wasn't sure how you liked your eggs.." Ithica looked down at his hands, rubbing and scratching at them again. Why was he bringing up food in a time like this? "You might not be very hungry now... but I didn't know you were having such bad dreams.." The rubbing and clawing continued, the guilt gnawing at him. Why hadn't he noticed? "But I made it. If you're hungry.. sorry I didn't make the chicken like I said I would.. but it's not breakfast food."

[Jadyn Amethyst]

Awaking from a red haze.

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Someone was next to him he could feel it then someone spoke his name and he reached toward that kind sounding voice. His brain searched to place a name with that voice it sounded familiar and a part of him knew that it was a good voice, and not something to be afraid of. Being pulled into the hug he clung to the person whoever it was. They kept talking to him and he continued to connect the voice to some name or at least a face. Such soft gentle words so kind for a boy out of his mind, then it clicked. Someone impossibly nice.

“Ithica?” He reached out his hand blinking fiercely trying to see past the red haze covering his vision. The redness was slowly fading from his sight and figures were starting to form so at least he knew he hadn’t gone completely blind. Somehow he knew he was safe here though he was still trembling a bit in Ithica’s arms. Regaining his senses proved to be difficult his mind still lost in the nightmare. He clung to Ithica like the half demon was his only connection to sanity. “I’m safe…I’m okay.” Repeating those kind words seemed to help gravitate him toward stability.

When lips touched his eyebrows he closed his eyes and lifted a hand to cover his face. What was going on? A nightmare he’d had a nightmare. That’s all it was everything was okay. He was with Ithica most likely at the half demon’s dorm. Had he passed out? He didn’t remember getting to the dorm last night, but here he was. Opening his eyes he was able to see now though everything was outline in red.

The next question kind of threw him off balance and he turned toward the voice still a bit shaken. “Eggs?” He looked around the room now confused as to what was happening yet as he slowly woke up. Blinking again he glanced down to find Ithica clawing at himself. He reached out to place his hands over Ithica’s turning back to the man beside him. “It’s okay. I love eggs. It’s okay you didn’t know. It’s okay, Ithica.”

He moved to kneel in front of the kind stranger and smiled at him reaching out to touch the side of Ithica’s head. “We can have chicken another time okay? Don’t worry about it, and…I’m sorry. Sorry to impose you like this.” Rubbing the back of his head he glanced around and found the bed to sit on taking a deep breath he shoved away the vision of his dead brother. “To be honest I’m starving.” He grinned at the philanthropist before turning to take in the new place he was in. Oddly enough he felt completely safe as he sat there hugging himself and breathing in the delicious smells of breakfast.

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[Ithica Pettineo]

Rosie was tempted to deliver a sarcastic remark, but a look from the half-demon silenced her for the time being. Why the hell did he even care so much about random people he found on the streets? The trembling boy didn't seem very much like a dragon - albeit the fact she'd only met one other and that encounter had been when she belong to Ithica's mother. She did have to admit that she herself wasn't very much like any other porcelain doll.

Instead of just staring there and watching the exchange between the two males, the doll busied herself to picking up the platter and drink. At least this kidnapped child hadn't screamed at the sight of her - of course, she doubted the panicked dragon had even noticed her - so he had instantly won some respect, more than that stupid half-fae who Ithi seemed to be thinking about constantly had. Hmmmph.

"Yeah. Eggs." Ithi nodded, after several moments of fumbling about for an answer to the one word question. He looked down at his hands, embarrassed that Jay had to comfort him. "Do you really like them? Even sunny side up?" Ithica asked, rubbing at his hands more gently. He had always meant to quit scratching and scrubbing them so often, but how could he when he always messed up so badly? At least he didn't have another bad habit - like smoking or something stupid like that. He was just content with tearing the skin off of his hands.

At the other comment, Ithica brightened considerably. Another time? That meant that Jay was going to come back eventually! He bounced up, waving off the imposed comment. "No way! I'm the one that invited you over, remember?" Then he stopped jumping up and down, a worried look crossing his features. "I.. erm.. I had to carry you though. I know you didn't want me to, but I didn't want to leave you all alone." He rubbed his elbow sheepishly, staring down at his shoes.

He decided not to mention the four times he dropped the dragon, or the six stairs Ithi had half-dragged him up. He wouldn't technically be lying then. Just withholding information. Yeah. Ignoring his imaginary Jiminy Cricket, he bounced over to the doll to retrieve the drink and food. He handed them to Jay, hoping that they weren't too cold by now. Cold bacon, sausages, and sunny side up eggs probably didn't taste very well.

Rosie scrambled on the bed to sit beside the dragon. "You mean, you carried him all this way without dropping him?" She asked, an innocent smile crossing the doll's features. She didn't necessarily care about Jay being dropped multiple times, she just liked to embarrass her owner. And after almost twenty years of knowing the man (and thirteen belonging to him) she knew how torment him.

Ithica stared at her, his smile dropping. It wasn't as if he could just lie, because it was so horribly obvious when he did so, even to people who didn't know him. His voice got unnaturally high, his face turned red, and he stuttered. He couldn't even make a mean face at the doll without Jay seeing it. So he walked into the kitchen, muttering something about wanting orange juice and how Florida always seemed to have the best fruit and maybe after New York he could go to Florida.

The doll poked Jay, having gotten over her initial fear that the dragon would crush her. He could still punt her across the room for sure, but she doubted he would. "You know, you're the second unconscious person Ithica's brought home. Did he kidnap you? Why do you wear an eyepatch? Do you really like eggs? They're gross. Ithica's dad is a vegan, so I don't think he'd very much appreciate his son being such a carniv--"

"Rosie! Leave him alone!"

Rosie huffed. "He never lets me talk to anybody." She complained, crossing her arms. "How very rude of you, Erastus."

"I don't let you talk to people because you're...you! And stop calling me Erastus!"

"He doesn't mind! Do you, Dragon?" She asked.

"He has a name!" Ithica really wished he could communicate telepathically with the doll to ask why she was acting like this. "Rosie, please.."

The doll sighed, lowering her voice. "Okay. Sorry, Jay, for being weird and mean and asking you so many questions. I just don't like people getting close to him because... well, he's stupid and naïve. So they take advantage of him." She looked at Ithica.

"I apologized." She called. "Although I didn't need to. I was just asking him a few questions." Rosie huffed. "I've never been able to talk to a dragon before. The last time I met one I wasn't sentient. Or close to being his size," the doll teased. All right - the dragon, even if he was small, still towered over her. That didn't mean she couldn't joke.

[Jadyn Amethyst]

Eggs stand for love.

“Yes, I love eggs. Eat all kinds. And from the smell of it it’s going to be delicious.” The way Ithica treated his hands worried Jay even if he barely knew the guy. “Maybe you should get a worry stone. You could rub that whenever you’re upset instead of hurting yourself. I use one.” He dug in his pocket and produced the dark garnet colored stone. “I used to use stress balls but I kept breaking them.” Jay pushed a smile along with pushing all those shameful emotions that flooded him.

He was glad that Ithica was alright with him being there though he still out of place. He had no idea why the half demon was suddenly bouncing or why he looked so happy but he was glad that he wasn’t being mournful anymore. The serious sad look just didn’t fit with the man at all. “It’s okay that you carried me. I know I made a big fuss over it but I’d rather you carried me than left in the street. Thank you for bringing me to your home.” Shame, lots and lots of shame cascaded over him from the nightmare and the hugging and pity and now being carried home. He was a weak, pathetic , sorry excuse for a dragon.

Taking the offered food he dove into it not even caring if it wasn’t all that hot. It was delicious and yummy and tasty and he was freaking starving. He closed his eyes in bliss chewing on what had to be the best piece of bacon he’d ever had. “Thank you, sooo much. This is seriously the best breakfast I’ve ever had.” Feeling movement beside him on the bed he glanced down to find a doll crawling up to sit by him. Eye going wide he nearly dropped his fork before he remembered that last night Itica mentioned being able to animate things.

Jay was about to say something when the doll talked and his jaw simply hung open in slight shock. So when Ithica had said carts talked to him he really wasn’t crazy. This had to be the weirdest thing he’d woken up to his entire life. “It’s okay if you dropped me. I’m just glad I woke up in a bed and not the streets!” He called and Ithica stormed off toward the kitchen for juice. Sighing he turned back to his food almost startling again when the doll poked him. Eye narrowing he glanced down at her getting a feeling he wasn’t going to like the doll much.

“He didn’t kidnap me. I wear it cuz my eye looks weird. Yes, I really really like eggs.” He said all this in monotone no longer looking at her as he started to once again shovel in food. But at the name she called him he paused in his shoveling. “Eratus? Or, um, Erastus. I thought your name was Ithica?” Listening to the two bicker he finished his food feeling only a little awkward. He kept his mouth shut for a good while until she stopped talking he thought it was the best course to take with the talkative doll.

“I don’t think he’s stupid at all, and I don’t plan on taking advantage of him.” He growled out going to his feet and walking toward where Ithica had gone for the juice assuming it was a kitchen of some sort. “So what’s your name little talking doll thing?” Yes, he meant that to be as rude as it sounded as he stopped just before the kitchen he turned to give her an evil grin before leaving the room for the kitchen.

[Ithica Pettineo]

Ithica nodded at the suggestion. It wasn't just that he kept he screwing up all the time, it was that his hands were filthy and disgusting. "I don't think I'd ever be strong enough to break one." He smiled, looking down at his hands. "I do it without thinking sometimes." The operative word was 'sometimes' in that sentence. "I wash them too roughly. They're just so dirty, you know?"

He finally tore his gaze from his hands. "They're not very nice hands to look at." Ithica muttered, knowing that it was his fault completely. "At least I don't do something to damage my health!" He said blithely, sticking his hands in his pockets. "I'd get a stressball, but I feel kind of guilty hurting inanimate things.." He admitted, rubbing his neck sheepishly. "Especially since I haven't got complete control over my trait yet, and I might accidentally bring it to life when I'm squeezing it." He shook his head. "That'd just be terrible."

Happy that Jay wasn't angry at him, he smiled once more. He doubted he would have let Jay out there even if he hadn't taken a liking to the dragon - he just wouldn't have put so much effort into not cracking his bones or taken him to his dorm. "Home? Oh. Yes. This." While Ithica didn't exactly consider this dorm to be 'home' he certainly didn't hate it. And he didn't exactly want to say 'I'd rather be living with my daddy than here', due to it sounding immature, and also because he knew that Jay and his father weren't feeling the familial love.

The half-demon could have died of happiness. His food? Being complimented? Obviously this dragon had good taste. "Well, I am a bit of a culinary genius..." Modesty was forgotten at this point. "The best breakfast you shall ever have! Unless you have a better one. But I'm me. So I doubt that." A complimented Ithica was one of the worst things in the world, because it made his ego swell up to intolerable measures.

Rosie snorted at Ithica's confidence. "If a person is hungry enough they'll eat anything." She teased. Ithica pouted, mumbling under his breath something very rude about a certain doll.

"Of course you woke up in a bed. What kind of person would I be if I had just left you out there?" He raised an eyebrow, and went to resume pouring his orange juice. Florida did have nice oranges, but he had always envisioned himself moving to New Zealand to become a shepherd living off kiwis. He nearly drooled at the thought of his favorite food. Of course, he could also move to China to become a belly dancer and live off of sweet and sour chicken. Oh, the decisions..

The doll really wanted to slap him. What was with the attitude? Just because he was eating didn't mean he couldn't spare the time to answer her questions. "How weird does your eye look?" Rosie inquired, resolving to just keep bothering him until he gave her the answers she was looking for. Or until he smacked her and she shattered. Would she remain animated? Would all the pieces be animated? She decided that she didn't want to find out that bad.

Ithica bristled when he heard his middle name being spoken yet again. "My name is Ithica," He rubbed his neck sheepishly. "Ithica Erastus Pettineo. I hate Erastus. I know I'm Greek and all, but did they really have to think of the most obnoxiously foreign name that they could?" He sighed. "She likes to call me Erastus because she knows it makes me mad."

"It means loveable." Rosie piped up.

There was an audible growl from the kitchen. Ithica really didn't like that name. His first name was bad enough -- 'cheerfully true'? -- but 'loveable' made him feel like a little boy in a sailor suit. Maybe it was cute when he was a baby, but now it was just annoying.

The doll rolled her eyes. "No need to get all defensive, Jay." She watched his retreating back, and tilted her head when he called her 'little talking doll thing'. "No need to hit below the belt, little weak dragon." She shot back, producing her own small smile. "My name is Rosie. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

Ithica leaned against the wall of the kitchen, gently tapping his head against it. He turned his head, smiling at Jay as he walked in. "If Rosie is being too terrible I'll put her down." He resumed tapping his head. "She's usually not this bad.." He stopped tapping, keeping his forehead pressed against the wall. "She's always been a bit rude, but she's... she's usually not..."

He was tired of defending her. He was tired of her. He was tired of her mean little ways. "I don't want to leave her. She was hers." A stupid excuse to keep something that caused him such much grief. But for every harsh word that the doll spoke, she was Ithi's only source of knowledge about his mother, although his dad had told her not to tell him too much. He turned his head to smile at Jay.

"The female gender never ceases to confuse me."

[Jadyn Amethyst]

Stupid evil doll.

“Your hands aren’t dirty, Ithica. They’re fine. Nothing wrong with them at all.” He’d heard of people seeing dirt when there wasn’t any did Ithica have that thing? What was it called OCD or something? “Look at my hands.” Holding up his hands he smiled. “Not look at yours. If you notice they happen to both be clean.”

Well, his hands could probably go for a good wash but he was just trying to make a point. After a moment of staring at his hands Jay’s vision flashed that same old horror picture of his hands covered in blood, but like usual he kept his expression blank. Just because he saw things that weren’t there didn’t mean that Ithica had to. But there was no way he was going to fix any issues that Ithica might or might not have in one morning so he decided to let it go. Or he thought he had.

“You have very nice hands. Nothing wrong with them. You bring things to life. Nothing wrong with that.” At least they weren’t focusing on his shameful episode with the nightmare. “Well, I’m sure we can think of something else to occupy your hands with without hurting anything.” He smiled reassuringly wondering if this was how his brother felt when he was trying to make him feel better. Even if Ithica was a tad odd he was the nicest person he’d ever met and he was going to try and make him smile.

The food was actually really good way better than anything the school ever tried to serve them. He would try to compare it to his mother’s cooking but he couldn’t. The only person who ever gave him food was his big brother. It made him laugh a little to hear Ithica get so giddy over his compliments. He was smiling along with Ithica finally free of the darkness and eating great food. It had been forever since he’d felt this amazing and it was all because of this stranger. And he didn’t appreciate this doll being so rude to the amazing man who’d saved him. Growling he stood and leaned over to flick his eyepatch up.

“It looks that weird okay? You rude, inconsiderate hack job of a doll. You should be frickin’ honored to have Ithica as your master, maker, life giver what have you. He’s the most gentle, kindest person I’ve ever met and he doesn’t deserve your unwelcome snide comments.” Dropping the patch back down he straightened giving her a death look before turning back to speak to Ithica a smile back in place. “And I’m very glad you took me home with you. I probably would’ve gotten beaten to death or something worse without you.”

As Ithica explained his name Jay chuckled a bit heading toward the half demon. “Your name is awesome very original and I think it sounds strong and dignified.” Why was he continually sticking up for this guy? Maybe because the half demon had done the same thing to him all night last night, carried him home, and then cooked him breakfast. The least he could do was be the nicest person he could be. A part of him felt stupid and downright silly for being so protective but it was like he couldn’t stop his mouth. But that wasn’t anything new. “Loveable? Well, then it’s got him pegged. What’s so wrong with being loveable? Would you rather be named ‘easy to hate?’”

He glared yet again at the doll before going for the kitchen. “I’ll hit below the belt as long as I have to raggedy Ann doll.” Yep, he was right he really hated the doll. Once he got to the kitchen he found Ithica banging his head against the wall. Man this guy was self destructive. He slipped a hand between Ithica’s head and the wall for a moment. “Hey, stop that. You shouldn’t hurt yourself so much. Don’t let that nasty doll get to you.” Jay removed his hand but Ithica returned to tapping it again.

“It’s okay I don’t mind that much. Ithica calm down okay? Take a deep breath I’m not gonna storm out just because of some lou-“ Then new words hit him. It was hers. Whoever her was it had to be someone important to Ithica. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” Leaning back he glanced into the room at the doll not understanding why Ithica would even bother bringing that monster to life.

“I don’t think any male understands women.” He smiled leaning against the wall as well wishing he could help Ithica out. To make him stop hurting himself, to get that evil doll to shut her trap, and to take away the pain that showed itself when ‘her’ was brought up. “Sometimes I wonder if I should just bat for the other team all together.” So he rode the fence it wasn’t like he ever got any dates. He just appreciated both genders nothing wrong with that.

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