When Jin asked if he was going to hand over the picture to the girl in the bed, Xavier couldn’t help but lift his brows in amusment. If he thought this was impressive, he was in for a real treat. Smirking to himself, Xavier looked back down at the image and, in a fluidly confident movement, he signed the page with his name.

Suddenly smoke began to emit from the image. It grew, spreading upwards and out, making its presence known. The smoke was actually a fog emitted from the lead of the markings, but this was the very ashes of which his image would be birthed from. Coiling and expanding, the dark grey smoke made room for the living, breathing object that it was creating. A wing suddenly formed, stretching out to expose the sliced feather that Xavier had messed up on in the original sketch. Next was a body which puffed out in its brilliance, shaking off lead powder as the smoke continued to swirl. A cry announced the arrival of the head, the hawk’s eye flitting around the room as the rest of his body formed. As soon as the smoke formed the last feather at the end of the bird’s tail, it quickly dissipated, leaving its creation behind.

Xavier had been leaning back in his seat, and he was now wide eyed and grinning, staring at the large bird perched on his sketchpad. Its head twitched in his direction, staring at him with the very eyes he’d drawn just moments before. It never got old. This feeling of creating something with his bare hands literally took his breath away. A subtle gasp of awe slipped past his lips, and the bird shrieked at him.

The girl in the bed was staring in disbelief, her eyes staring hard at the hawk that was now very real and very in her room. The hawk simply looked around for another moment before outstretching his wings, beating them to take off from Xavier’s lap. Holding onto his thinks, the boy watched as the monochrome bird pitifully took flight for .3 seconds before crashing onto the sill of the window, snapping some of the plastic blinds in its attempt to land safely.

As Jin watched the kid, he couldn't help but notice the small curl of his lips, almost like a satisfied smirk. That was yet another new expression he'd never expected Xavior to wear, and unlike the puppy-like stare or that innocent blush, this one gave him a very different feeling than the others. It was almost a sense of pride, or perhaps delight. There was something sinister about there being such a twisted smile on Xavior's baby-face features. He liked it.

When smoke began to rise from the sketchbook, part of him was worried that he had accidentally set the page on fire, effectively ruining the drawing Xavior had worked so hard to make. He ended up being proven entirely wrong, though, when a single black and white wing pushed itself out of the dark fog, followed by a body, then the created head of the same hawk that was in the picture he'd been holding up.

Xavior had drawn a bird, and now here it was, standing very much alive on his sketchbook.

"Oh, hell," he whispered. He turned to look at his roommate, eyes wide and shining brightly as a grin spread across his face. He looked like some spoiled rich kid on Christmas morning. "That right there? That's fuckin' awesome."

His awe was short lived, however, interrupted by the snapping of plastic and the thump of a body against a window pane as the hawk crash-landed on the window sill. Okay, maybe it wasn't perfect. But that didn't make it any less amazing.

Clutching to his seat in nervous anticipation of the bird’s movements, Xavier coolly snuck a peak over at his roommate to see how Jin was reacting. His ears immediately blazed when he saw the words “fucking awesome” form on his lips. Lips screwing into an emotional squiggle, he looked away, his eyes focused on nothing. Why had impressing him become so important? He was just another kid. What would his approval mean to him? Why did he want his approval in the first place? Maybe it wasn’t approval at all. Maybe it was just appreciation of some sort. Anyways, why did he want it so badly? He had no idea, but his heart was fluttering in his chest. What the hell was going on with him?

Composing himself, he lifted his gaze to the bird that was clinging to the window sill. Swallowing, he carefully released his grip on the chair and forced himself to stand slowly. The hawk flicked its head in the direction of the movement, tilting its head as if to examine him. As carefully as he could, Xavier made is way slowly towards the bird, a hand warily outstretched as if to reassure the wild bird that he meant no harm. The hawk switched its attention back and forth from his hand to his face. Each time those beady eyes landed on his it made Xavier’s blood run cold.

Inches away, his fingers itched to feel the feathers, to touch the thing he had made. The bird fluffed up in warning and the teen jumped, startled by the bird’s sudden challenge. A bead of sweat was trickling down his temple. Would the bird attack him? He only drew it, that didn’t mean he made it tame.

N-Nice bird…

The tips of his fingers brushed a wing and the hawk glared at him. Taking a quick breath, he was tensing for an attack of sorts. However, the bird just continued to stare at him. Gradually, he moved his hand forward, this time completely stroking the wing. His nerves seemed to melt away as the avian calmly tolerated his petting. Xavier was amazed. Glancing over his shoulder, he noticed the girl had sat up, and she was staring wide eyed at the bird. The color that had previously vanished from her eyes had returned and the boy noticed the icy blue of her irises. Originally, he thought her eyes had been quite grey.

Looking back towards the bird, he very careful positioned himself to pick up the bird. He was going to try to wrap an arm around it, as if picking it up by the waist. However, the hawk had an easier method in mind and simply hopped onto his arm. The claws dug into the fabric of his shirt, splitting the seams. A slight hiss rushed through Xavier’s teeth as one of the talons pierced his skin.

Keeping his composure as not to frighten the girl, he carefully brought the bird over towards the side of the bed. The girl’s eyes were glued to it, most likely in shock of the fact that a drawing had just come to life. Xavier was perfectly fine with the attention being on the bird and not him.

The hawk turned its steely gaze towards the young girl, who seemed to jolt slightly in its intimidating presence. She slid her eyes in Xavier’s direction, silently asking with her gaze the question that the teen had been anticipating. He offered a delicate smile, giving her a nod.

With trembling fingers, the girl lifted a tired hand to brush the feathers on the bird’s chest. He puffed up slightly, taking the petting nicely. He didn’t seem to mind, so the girl slid her fingers into the mass of feathers. Her lips twitched into a smile, the corners of her eyes shimmering with tears. A soft laugh escaped her round lips. Xavier felt at peace watching her. This was the reason why he did this. To see his drawings bring people happiness.

Jin kept his eyes locked on the bird, though just briefly noticed Xavior almost shriveling up in what seemed like overexcited satisfaction. A smile tugged at his lips. At least the kid was happy, even if he had a funny way of showing it.

He watched carefully as his roommate tried his best to consol the bird he had created, and perhaps even gain enough trust for it to actually agree to him petting and holding it. It was cute, seeing him attempt to tame a wild animal, even if it was just an enchanted drawing.

He almost felt like a proud father, though there was something deeper than that. He took pride in knowing Xavior was happy with himself, yet also because he knew the kid was his. Farfetched? Probably. Obsessive? Most definitely. But there was a part of him that wanted desperately to monopolize Xavior like he had done with everything else he enjoyed, ever since he was young.

The pained hiss that he recognized as his roommate's drew him out of his twisted daydream, his eyes immediately settling on Xavior and moving closer to him, taking his arm as gently as he knew how and tugging up his sleeve.

Intent on seeing whether or not the kid had been injured, be it severely or not, the thought that it might have been more polite to ask before touching didn't even cross his mind. Not that any such thoughts ever did. He had always been, and would likely always be, a man who took action before thinking things through.

Xavier had been so wrapped up in watching the girl exhaust herself with petting the winged beast that he didn’t notice that the bird was actually kinda heavy. His arm was struggling to keep the hawk level. He didn’t want his arm to tremble too terribly, though, or it would probably get annoyed and peck him to death. When he saw the girl’s hand pull away from what looked like the final time, he went to carefully pull the bird away. However, something else touched him, gripped his arm. A jolt raced up his arm and made him react, lurching away from what had grabbed at him. The motion sent the bird into the air. It shrieked, flapping above them. Just as quickly as it had taken flight, its feathers began to deteriorate, dissolving into smog. A shriek of alarm cried out from the hawk as it flapped its helpless wings, falling towards the ground. As it hit the ground, it dispersed into pure smoke. The bird that had been there just seconds ago was curling into the air in the form of black mist, which steadily vanished into thin air. The only evidence that the hawk had even been in the room was the cracked window blinds and the cuts on Xavier’s arm.

The teen turned wildly to see what had grabbed him and in the process, stepped back into the serving table that the patients used to eat off of. A cup tumbled off of its surface, spilling water onto the floor. A metal fork clanged as it hit the ground. Xavier’s hands fastened onto the table, steadying himself as not to keep tumbling backwards. His bangs had fallen into his face, disheveled from the fast reaction. His chest was heaving, his lips parted to let the suffocating air escape. Blue eyes wide, he stood staring at his roommate. His muscles trembled.

Lifting his hands up in immediate surrender as chaos took over the room, the bird disappearing and in the process knocking over glasses and viles, and Xavior flinching violently away from his touch. His eyes were wide, body on edge and smoke rising from his fingers.

The suddenness of it all had shocked him enough to cause the same effect as anger, and his body temperature was still rising. Had he burned the kid on accident, or maybe just caught him off guard? Perhaps something had startled him? Or maybe he just wasn't trusted enough for physical contact.

Whatever the reason, he definitely wasn't going to try that again.

He stared at Xavior for a long while, brows furrowing in concern and eyes gleaming in silent apology. God, he felt bad. The kid looked like a bunny, helpless and scared for its life as it stood before a hungry beast. He would have reached out to comfort Xavior, had he not just learned his lesson from before.

"Fuck, Xav..." he said, voice barely above a whisper. Even if Xavior couldn't hear him anyway, he wanted to come off as gentle and kind as possible. "I'm really sorry..."

The skin of his arm tingled where Jin had touched him. What had grabbed him was not the normal warmth that regular people put off. It was like pure heat, like a calm fire. It hadn’t hurt by any means; his skin was perfectly fine. However, Xavier’s mind was reeling, sending him into a state of shock.

His eyes fell to the ground as he stood shivering. His teeth clicked, chattering from the trembling of his body. The knuckles of his hands turned white as he tightened his grip on the movable table. He hadn’t had this bad of an episode in a long time. Well, it had also been a long time since anyone had directly touched him, skin to skin. The long period of time with no contact had made him extremely sensitive.

Forcing himself to look back up, his chest constricted at the expression Jin was making. The look in his eyes pained him. It was obvious that the guy was remorseful, that he regretted what he had done; it was quite evident in the way his brow curved, the tightness of his gaze.

Why couldn’t he just stop? He hated himself for it.

Jin didn’t sign up for this, for any of this.

The evil hate for himself rose up from his stomach, awakening to devour what little happiness he had created for himself just moments ago. The edge of his upper lip screwed into a pained grimace as his heart clenched, his eyes squeezing shut as he jerked his head away in shame. A gut wrenching breath wracked his ribcage, weakening any restraint he had over the self-hating monster that threatened to spill its blood from his eyes. His bangs slid down to shield his face, protecting Jin from the pitiful sight.

Since they had met, this was the first time in which Xavier was pleading for Jin to leave, was truly begging for him to walk away.

Jin stared at the shriveled up sight before him, knowing for a fact that this was far different from the excitement he had seen before, where Xavior was trying to contain his joy. This was more painful to watch, it made his heart leap into his throat and put him on the verge of tears he'd never had fall in all of his spoiled life. It was like Xavior was trying to make himself smaller, less noticeable. He was shaking, his joints stiff and his hands going white with how hard he was gripping the table.

He wished desperately that he might step forward, bring the kid into his arms in a brief attempt to comfort him. But he knew better than to do that. Whatever had caused the outburst was somehow related to their brief contact. He wouldn't try that again.

Instead, he moved one careful foot forward, hands held out in front of him as if trying to consol the cowering boy. He wanted him to at least look up, so he could see what he was saying. Maybe even stop that violent trembling, that made it even more painful to watch.

He'd been in situations like this before; causing a weaker kid pain and suffering was something he did often, just as a show of power. But not once had he ever tried to make up for it by comforting them. He always left them in a frightened state, then left them to whomever might want to get a piece in the end. Just what was so different about Xavior? Not a single thought about perhaps leaving him alone and broken like this even crossed his mind.

He was determined to bring the kid back to his former joy and excitement, not destroy him even more like he had so many others. He didn't even care what the reason was, now that he thought about it. All that mattered was that he wanted to protect Xavior, keep anything like this from ever happening again. He didn't need justification to do that, right?

Feeling the attack of his body beginning to weaken, he tried to lift his gaze to see if Jin had left. He managed to catch a glimpse of the teen still before him, noticing the outstretched hand, but he couldn’t move. From just the few minutes of his body’s continuous quaking, Xavier was already exhausted. He could feel his eyelids threatening to envelope him in blackness. The vicious breaths that had wracked his ribs earlier had also pained his lungs, resulting in a tightness in his chest.

The exhaustion flooding over him wasn’t the type of exhaustion that came from being fatigued; it was more like his body had expelled all the energy in such a short amount of time that it didn’t have enough reserve to keep him functioning. His knuckles gradually regained their color as his fingers slowly lost their grip on the table, his skin damp from cold sweat. With a gentle thud, his legs folded up under him like a doe quietly dropping to the ground. His arms dropped with him, his hands coming to rest on the floor beside his legs. In one final movement, his eyes slipped shut and he pitched forward, passing out into darkness.

He wasn’t that heavy of a person, so when his body hit the ground he only made a dull thump. Cheek pressed into the cold floor, he lay motionless. The only movement that showed any signs of life was the small rise and fall of his ribs expanding with each weak breath.

Letting out a relieved sigh when the kid before him seemed to calm down exponentially, his body ceasing its constant trembling and blood rushing back into his hands as he calmed himself, Jin lowered his outstretched arm with slow, careful movement so not to surprise Xavior with any sudden motion. Perhaps he was treating him like a wild animal rather than another person, but honestly that's what he saw him as. A foreign creature he'd never seen before and was unused to handling, yet intrigued him more than anything.

His own relaxation was short-lived, however, cracking when his roommate slumped weakly to the ground, completely limp as if he had fallen asleep right then and there. Jin drew in a sharp gasp, quickly kneeling before Xavior and reaching gently to give him a brief shake. God, he hoped the kid wasn't aware of his touch. He didn't want another episode like the one before to happen again. "Hey, Xav..." he murmured, then said it again, louder this time. "Xav!"

There was something akin to worried desperation in his voice, a time he himself was unfamiliar with, and as he rolled Xavior's limp body over into a position that would allow him to carry the kid, his anxiety only grew. He'd caused this, there was no doubt about that, but years of pointing the blame on others made him want to deny it completely.

He stood straight, Xavior laying unevenly in his arms, and turned to shoot the girl a dangerous glare. The fact that she had seen all of what just happened made him want to burn straight through her throat right then and there, but whatever sliver of forgiveness was left in his heart kept him from doing so.

"If you tell anyone," he hissed, eyes thinning into dangerous slits. "I'll fucking end you."

And with that, he pushed his way violently out of the room, leaving a scorched footprint on the door, and stormed his way briskly down the hall.

Xavier was mentally checked out, gone from his physical body. He wasn’t one for fainting, but the velocity of what had happened just pushed him past his limits. Usually he could keep himself grounded just long enough to catch his breath, to blink, to bring himself back to earth. He didn’t have as good of a hold this time.

When Jin rolled him into his arms to pick him up, the teen’s body was like limp noodle. He molded in any way that Jin forced him to, the arms supporting him shaping his body in a position to carry him. His head tilted down, landing lightly against his roommate’s collarbone. Being blacked out, there was no muscle support. The only support Xavier had at the moment was Jin.

When Jin hurriedly made his way down the hall, one of the nurses coming out of a room caught a glimpse of the fleeing kid with a limp body in his arms. Shocked, she hesitated before crying out, asking if he needed help. By that point, however, Jin had probably already made it through the swinging double doors at the end of the hallway.

Fortunately for the two of them, Jael was nearby talking to a couple of students. He was trying to explain the school’s living conditions policy to them, for they had insisted he stop his paperwork and come talk to them about a housing situation they wanted to bring to his attention. He hadn’t noticed the doors to the medical wing opening, but he did recognize the moment a look of alarm flashed across the trio’s faces. Turning to see what they were recoiling at, his brow lifted in alarm to see Jin carrying Xavier’s unmoving body. Hurriedly excusing himself, he briskly closed the gap between him and Jin.

“Let’s take him back to your room. Come,” he said with a brisk wave of his head, walking towards the opposite side of the school, “you can explain on the way.”

Once they made it through the main common area and were heading in the direction of the dormitories, Jael glanced down at Xavier’s body before meeting Jin’s gaze. “What happened? Are you alright?”

Jin could hear the muffled voices and general commotion erupting behind him as he passed through the doors of the medical wing, letting out a soft 'tch' when he noticed Jael nearby. It probably would be a good idea to rely on the vampire, seeing as he seemed far more used to this school than anyone else he'd passed in the halls, but he still wasn't the biggest fan of that blonde pretty boy.

Despite his reluctance, though, he allowed Jael to lead them to the dorms, saying nothing until he spoke. He didn't want to come off as a complete ass, especially not when the guy seemed to have a decent reputation around here, and some sort of high standing. President of a club, maybe? Or even a teacher, he didnt know. It was hard to tell when vampires essentially didn't age.

"Dunno," he answered vaguely, still struggling to admit that it was his own fault that Xavior was in this state. He glanced down at the kid briefly, brows furrowed in worry and pace picking up. With his anxiety rising, so was his body temperature. The situation would become even more dire if he ended up burning the kid in his arms, and that only made him move with more vigor, almost running through the halls now.

He knew his way from where they were, and made it back to the dorm far quicker than even he himself had expected. Balancing Xavior awkwardly against his knee and one arm, he unlocked the door and shouldered his way in, setting his roommate on the bed in one quick but gentle motion. He shook his hands, as if trying to rid himself of a painful burn, and looked at Jael with an intense seriousness. "Does he have a problem with touching?"

Jael had to practically trot alongside Jin to keep from being left in the dust. Once they got to the room, the vampire followed the teen through the doorway. He hesitated when he spotted the dark spots on the floor. An exasperated sigh slipped through his teeth. Oh well, the flooring could wait, but he would bring this up later.

Walking over towards the beds, he watched Jin fluidly place Xavier down onto his before whipping around to look at him with deadly seriousness. The vampire’s brows raised in slight surprise. These boys had only just recently gotten acquainted, so why did Jin look like he was about to lose a long lost friend? Well, in the end, what did it matter? They were getting along right?

At the question, Jael’s expression softened. He took a couple steps towards the nearest wall and leaned against it, folding his arms across his chest. The golden irises that were usually warm and welcoming held a darker tint to them now.

“Yes, unfortunately.” He took a breath, preparing to explain everything.
“When we take in special kids from the streets, we run tests on the ones that choose to stay.” “Nothing dangerous,” he quickly added, waving a hand absentmindedly, “tests like bloodwork, genealogy checks, criminal records. Since most of the kids that come wandering in here off of the streets can’t give us all of their medical information, we have to rely on what they know, which in most cases isn’t a lot. But, if they know enough, we can learn everything about them that we need to.”

The man looked towards Xavier, who was still unconscious. He almost looked like he was sleeping. “When Xavier joined us over a year ago, he had been living on the streets for almost two. We took him in, ran the tests, and discovered he was child of abuse.” Jael tilted his head, his eyes sliding up towards the ceiling in thought. “According to police records we found, child protective services got a tip about a kid possibly being abused. Assuming the chaos that ensued afterwards, the parents most likely beat him black and blue in fear that he had called the service on him, but he ended up running away. He was a missing child for six months, but after that it was like he no longer existed.”

Lowering his gaze back down in Jin’s direction, he murmured, “I sat down with him one day after he had acclimated to the school. I wasn’t going to drill him on his first day, so I gave him two weeks to adjust to life here. That day, though, I made time for him to visit me at my office. We sat and talked for over four hours. I’d never seen a kid so desperately in need of getting things off of his chest.”

The vampire’s voice softened. “He poured his heart and soul out into my office that day. There was so much paper he’d written on; there was nothing that child was going to hold back.” Lowering his voice in an instinctual desire to keep valuable information secret, he muttered, “He was beaten on a regular basis, either by bullies or his own parents. When we had him x-rayed, there were several bones that had been broken in his youth that, thankfully, regrew properly. The trauma of all that physical abuse formed into a mild case of PTSD. As far as I know, he cannot emotionally handle any kind of physical contact. At least, not-“

A sharp gasp filled the room and Jael lifted away from the wall, his arms unfolding as he watched Xavier quickly sit up, his fingers clawing at the sheets. Most likely, he didn’t know what had happened.

“Xavier! Hey, X!” The blonde waved his hand, trying to gain the teen’s attention. After another second or two, Xavier settled, even though his breaths were still heavy. His wild eyes found the vampire and a sigh could almost be heard from the softening of his gaze.

“It’s okay, you’re okay, no need to get yourself worked up. You are back in your room, thanks to Jin, safe and sound.”

Xavier read his lips and lifted his wary gaze up to his roommate. Memories of the hospital room came back and he mentally groaned. Great, what a wonderful first impression. Not only did he faint, but Jin was forced into what was most likely the most awkward situation he’s probably ever been in. Suddenly, he could feel heat creeping up his neck to lick at his ears.

Wait, if that is true, then Jin must’ve had to carry me up here.

Xavier was lost in his thoughts, eyes wide and lips formed in a squiggly line of nervousness as he pictured an irritated Jin carrying him bridal style.

As Jael began to speak, Jin was already expecting a long, drawn out story of all the troubles his roommate had been through, and blah blah blah, but rather than zoning out as he usually did in such situations, he found his gaze glued to Xavior, a painful, invisible force squeezing his chest to the point that it was hard to breathe.

Even if it would have been impossible for him to know such a thing, he still felt guilty for trespassing on the space Xavior held so dear. He'd freaked the kid out to the point that he'd completely lost consciousness, and that fact couldn't possibly be resolved by the excuse of his ignorance. At least not in his mind. He tugged at his bottom lip with his teeth, fingers tightened into fists harsh enough to leave thin crescent indents in his palms. It was clear his mistake was bothering him.

He visibly flinched at the sudden gasp that seemed to echo through the room, breaking the quiet, solemn atmosphere and replacing it with one of shock and surprise. He stared at Xavior's now risen body, letting out an almost indignant huff as Jael went up to him, calming him down with a simple look. Jealousy; that's what it was. He'd felt it many times before, but not in a situation like this, and certainly not because of some kid that he usually would have ignored under different circumstances. Xavier was seriously messing with him, though he wasn't exactly sure how yet.

When the brown-haired boy turned to look at him, only to have his pale cheeks dye a rosy red, he grinned. It was an honest expression, a bit more inviting than his typical sneer, and certainly better than the worried look he'd worn before.

"Welcome back to the living, Xav," he said with a still-light-hearted smirk. "Did they take you up or down?"

Seeing movement, Xavier blinked and flicked his gaze back up to Jin’s face to see his lips forming words. Taking in his roommate’s playful tease, the teen could feel his blush dissolving. A soft huff of contentment slipped past his lips as he lowered his hands comfortably into his lap. Jin was acting the same, which was a relief. He wouldn’t know how to react otherwise.

Not wanting to leave the teen hanging, the left corner of his mouth twitched into a little lopsided smile as he jabbed his thumb downwards towards the ground.

“Glad to see you’re feeling alright,” announced Jael, offering both boys a polite smile. “If either of you need me, just come visit me in my office.” With a final nod of encouragement to Xavier the vampire made his leave, his dress shoes softly slapping the floor with each step. It didn’t take long for the patting of the bottom of his shoes to die away, signaling he’d left the hallway.

Xavier’s thumbs began to twiddle in his lap. Even though Jin seemed okay, he still felt like he needed to apologize. Passing out like that on him must have been such an inconvenience. His brow bent with guilt and he looked over towards Jin’s bed to see his notepad still lying there, resting beside the pencil. Glancing back up, he timidly lifted a hand to point towards the notepad, his eyes silently asking if he could have it.