Third Person POV:
He dabs the cloth on the hybrid's forehead; this is the worst fever Luke has seen in a long time. The last time this happened was with Collin back at the base. Oh, how he's tried to forget that mess. He's been doing everything that was written on the list: gather the ingredients, keep Drake cool, make sure he doesn't tumble out of bed and hurt himself. Everything was on the table ready and there was nothing much for him to do. Listening to Drake's rambling makes him wonder what's truly happening, all the words were jumbled but the panicked state the hybrid is in makes it all too convenient. White eye, fever, odd actions... just like Collin. He thinks, snapping out of his thought as something sneaks from behind, grabbing his sword he turns around only to see an out of breath boy grabbing the berries out of his pockets with his trembling hands.
"Woah... are you ok?" Luke questions, relaxing his grip. Armen ignores him as his eyes still scrambles to look straight.
With no answer Luke grabs his shoulder only for him to get pushed away, "I'm fine. Is Drake ok?"
"Yeah, did something happen? You seem hurt-"
"I'm fine!" He snaps back, his voice wavering. His sudden defensiveness intimidates him; he backs off and lets the boy continue working.
As he completes the stew and struggles to stand straight, so when he's giving his brother food, it nearly spills on the duvet. Once it's all devoured, the raven haired boy nearly drops the bowl as he leans against the wall. Drake improves drastically as his insane ramblings and frantic breathing rests. Luke watches as Armen slowly slides down the wall, hand covering his head as the world continues to spin. Everything is piling on top of each other, his panic, his fear, he wants to scream. He wants to push it all away and never remember those horrible days. However, he can't. He knows no one wants to hear his screams, unless they're screams for forgiveness for those horrible things he's done... those mismatched eyes watch as Armen quietly sobs as he slips into slumber, getting the rest that he deserves. Luke feels uncomfortable but at the same time sorrowful. He's thankful they're asleep so he decides not to disturb them with the hope it'll help them.
~~~
As the moon shines down, Grayson trudges through the grounds and grumpily enters the shed. He places the two bags down, one full of things he'd grabbed along his journey and another empty; a second hand bag. He slumps down on his bed, resting his head against the cold surface of the stone wall. He'd been out to clear his head whilst getting some extra items and a bag for Armen, after all, he doesn't feel comfortable with carrying the boy's stuff anymore. He already had his doubts about Armen early on, but he never expected him to say... that... of course Grayson doesn't blame him for what happened; he knows it wasn't Armen doing those things... but the fact that he thinks it was the right thing to do makes him angry, so angry. How can he be so insensitive? Why would he say that? He honestly thought Armen would be different to Drake, he honestly thought he'd still be the kind boy from back in Iron Meer. He stupidly thought that four years of possession would have no toll on him, alas, that's not the case. His mind can't rest, he spends the night conflicted, wondering why and pondering over the possibilities.
Eventually, the morning sun interrupts his reading through the cracks of the closed curtain. He shields his forest green eyes as he closes the book. He'd gotten it out of his bag for a quick look but as soon as he started reading it, he didn't stop. Page after page of countless paragraphs, sentences, word of things he doesn't remember. Whilst reading, he realises that this is the book, the one Armen wants gone... but with his feelings and emotions, it didn't even occur to him to get rid of it, in fact, he felt more compelled to keep it, and to hide it. Unaware to him, the book is only playing to his emotions, guiding him. But to where?
A sudden knock jolts Grayson into reality, "Who is it?" he asks as he scrambles to hide the book.
"Luke. Uh... you alright dude?" He asks from the other side.
"I- uh- yeah." He mumbles, opening the door only for the ex-assassin to flinch back.
"Geez, did you even sleep?" Luke asks, clearly concerned.
"No. What do you want?"
"Oh- well- I just want to hang out, catch up a bit more. The other two are practicing magic and I thought it'd be nice to keep you company." He explains.
Grayson is hesitant. They talked yesterday, he explained a lot but not everything, he was too afraid of telling about Drake's... situation... so Luke knows the basics. He glances back into his room, checking everything's ok before allowing him in. As soon as the lavender haired boy walks in, his multi-coloured eyes aim for the curtains. He quickly opens them, letting light properly touch the room for the first time in days. The place is a mess, dry blood is dotted on the unused bed sheets, the spare bag and some items are unorganised, just laying on the counter waiting for a use. A chair is next to the table where Grayson was previously at, where a poor attempt at hiding is shown as the book is showing through the half opened draw. The blonde quickly shuts it, acting really suspicious, Luke notes it down for later.
"So, what do you want to talk about?" Grayson asks, trying to divert attention from his actions.
Luke quietly sighs, "We should talk outside, it'll give this room a chance to air out..." He suggests.
Grayson runs his hand through his curly blonde fringe as he darts his eyes behind him, he can't bring his bag with him, that'd be too suspicious and he's not going to get away with bringing some random book that he just closed the draw on. All options are too suspicious... so, regrettably, he leaves the room and Luke follows behind, secretly leaving the door ajar.
Grayson's POV:
We head along the path, Luke's talking about something as I spot Drake and Armen playing around with their stupid- no... magic. It's just magic, nothing more and nothing less. I continue to stare at them until Armen falls down, at first I smirk at the clumsiness but it doesn't last long as I turn away, I feel a sudden, extreme, irritation... I don't understand it and it sure as hell doesn't make that much sense. Sure I'm annoyed with him for what he's said but, not this much... I snap out of it as a hand shakes my shoulder. I turn around to see those orange and blue eyes look at me with concern. I lower his hand as he goes to talk.
"I know that look from anywhere... you're angry." he claims.
Angry? "No!" I say quickly, averting my gaze to the floor as I stumble on my words, trying to find a good excuse.
"Really? You're red in the face and your eyes look furious." He crosses his arms, raising an eyebrow. I turn away in embarrassment.
I can feel him giving me a pitiful look so I storm away, ignoring him as I cup my face in my hands. What is happening? Why am I like this? Just when things were getting better everything messes up. Once I get far away from those three, I slump down on the ground, resting my head on my knees as I cross my arms, the wind occasionally flicks my hair against my neck. I listen as the sound of footsteps get closer only to stop and be replaced with a quick flump.
"This is what I want to talk about. Your emotions. You told me a lot about the physical situation but... I feel like there's more to this..." he starts, "The best way to make sense of it, whatever you're going through, is to just talk. Get everything out even if it's a jumbled mess. I want to help fix things between us. So, let's talk."
I move my eyes away from him, aiming at the ground, "I shouldn't. It's not that important."
"Everyone's feelings are important. And everyone needs someone to rely on."
I fiddle with my fingers as I debate on what to do, on one hand it would be nice to finally talk about it but... I'm trying to be the strong one; I'd seem pretty weak if I just started crying, "Really? You've probably got a lot to deal with... why would you want to listen to me after I kept avoiding you and... last time I talked to someone he just... shut down..." after talking to Armen he just got worse until he...
"Yes. I'm sure, you're still my friend even if you don't feel the same." he says sternly.
I take a deep breath, "Ok... if you say so." I fiddle with my fringe as I think through my sentences, "I don't blame Armen for what happened. I don't blame you either. It's just weird. I feel like, my mind is betraying me? I think one thing and then it changes seconds later and I don't want that to effect things but it does. I want to help them, I want to have fun with them but all I've done recently is listen to their problems and watch them be happy. After helping them, giving them someone to talk to, what does Armen do? He says such horrible things and I can't understand why. I does annoy me but I don't know why it annoys me this much. Having that pile on top of Markus being alive just... how could someone handle that? I told him to trust me but I don't know if I can trust him..."
I continuously trail off as I feel my cheeks dampen, Luke tries to comfort me as let myself think, "Emotions are so embarrassing. The last thing I want to do is throw my friendship away... yet I can't help but want to push them away..." I drift off as I try to stop myself from crying.
I feel some arms wrap around my body, "It's ok to cry, just let it all out..." with that I can't hold it in anymore as I feel countless amounts of tears fall down, clouding my speech. I've been keeping it in for so long that it's just been building up, problem after problem until it all comes out. I feel so weak, so venerable but also safe; Luke's the only one I can trust now, believe it or not, the other two are like ticking time bombs, waiting to go off at any moment. Say the wrong thing then boom, it all comes crumbling down. I try to calm myself but it just results in incoherent sentences. Luke keeps telling me it's ok until I eventually get a hold of myself. Tears are still falling but my speech finally recognisable as sentences, even if my voice is horse and wobbly. I wipe off the final tears and I take a deep breath once again.
"You ok?" He asks, eyes gentle and caring.
I nod, "Sorry..." I mumble out.
"No no. It's ok; I'm used to it and... it's nice to hang out again, even if it's a tearful reunion." He says calmly, giving a quiet chuckle at the end.
"Yeah..." I pause for a bit, hesitating on my question, "What is Markus like? Is he doing well?"
Luke stays silent for a bit, thinking over his answer, "Well, he's so similar to you. The way he acts, the way he trains, the way he plays around. He always wants to do the very best, to prove that he's strong. An overachiever, just like you. Then he's caring, loyal and careful. Always willing to help and make sure others don't get hurt during training. Just like Annabelle. You don't know how many times I've wanted to just tell him, show him that you aren't bad, that you're his father... but I couldn't... however, he is doing well. Pretty happy with his life, happy with how things are..."
I sadly look at the ground, I'm glad that he's fine but... knowing he's with the empire just... hurts. Currently, all that matters is that he's safe. My aimless thinking is disturbed as I feel a gentle shaking to my side. Luke is giving me those pitiful filled eyes again.
"I might not understand the exact details but if you want things to get fixed then it's best to talk to him... also, can I ask you something?" I nod, "Do you remember Collin? How he acted in the Artic base before he... he disappeared?"
"Slightly, I didn't want to deal with him to be honest."
"Well, Drake's fever he had, it was a lot like Collin's... and that demon looked like Collin before Armen, yeah... is the same demon, possessing Drake?" When did he have a fever? Doesn't matter, Luke figured that out quite quickly.
"Yes but don't tell Armen." he raises his eyebrows and I look away, "Look, I don't know if he could handle it. Drake's the only family he has left and if I were to tell him that he'd could go at any second... I don't want him doing that again." I claim, gesturing to my left arm.
"If you're looking to fix the friendship then tell him sooner than later. You don't want him to find out from an accident." he rationalises.
"I know. I know... I'll tell him soon." Was that a lie? I have no idea. I do plan on telling him at some point but the date is still hazy, "But... I know he won't take it lightly, I know he'll overreact."
"How do you know that?"
"They told me, that book said that-" I stop myself midsentence in fear. Shit.
"Book? What book?" he curiously questions.
I quickly get up, dusting myself off, "Nothing." I shouldn't have said that, I should've kept my mouth shut. I turn to head off but his hand grabs my wrist, halting my movement
"Grayson?! It's clearly something! Why don't you-"
"Drop it. I... I... shit." I nearly shout.
He lets go allowing me to leave. As I rush off I hear Luke mumble something, sounding a bit sad. I shouldn't of shouted at him, I need to apologise to him but I can't go back now... no, I need a place to hide, a place where I can be alone... the shed- well it's not really a shed, more like a hidey hole that I keep on retreating to, but nevertheless, it's somewhere I know. A secure place. A safe place. A...
The door's wide open.