Noel mostly lives in a kind of numb state. It seemed that Lighting and Hope hadn't been too off when they had said that his body was addicted to chaos. Hope's quiet little base was encased in a kind of bubble that the chaos couldn't' touch. Which sounded all well and good until the shakes and the discomfort and the pain sets in. Unlike others, his body wasn't negatively affected by the chaos. In fact in may ways, he had felt much better when he'd been consumed by it.

He wasn't allowed outside. And it took him only a day to realize that Hope hardly ever left. He knew where the door was. He didn't know the codes though and it was a twofold misery that he felt. And even if he got outside he wa sure that he couldn't find his way back to civilization, Lightning had made sure of that. He sat up slowly, and looked down at the stark wound across his stomach. Pink and oval shaped, it would probably be gone soon under Hope's magic.

Too bad that didn't stop it from hurting so badly. The door slid open and Hope walked in with a set of books but didn't shut the door behind him. Setting them down on the desk he turned and leaned out.

"Don't go looking for Snow until I contact you! It's not worth it to go alone." He called out and the main door opened.

Slight traces of chaos slipped inside even with the safe house's dampening influence, Noel could feel it and the craving was intense. His body felt deeply heated and he closed his eyes with need. He could feel beads of sweat breaking out on his brow. He could pretend it wasn't there sometimes but now it hurt. The shakes were coming back and so were the pricks of pain. Mostly in his chest. Hope had said it had to do with him being primed to take Etro's heart but he had a feel that it was just the shitty luck he got dealt.

"Hey, breathe." Hope murmured as he he laid a hand on the hunter's cheek. Noel pushed the hand away, wincing as his body throbbed deeply. He dug his hands into the sheets trying to ignore the pain that was rolling in his stomach now.

Hope touched him again, this time putting his hand on his back. The touch was accompanied by a flash of a cure spell. Weakening the pain but upping the sweat dripping down his face. The scientist stroked his back and gently stroked his naked skin. Noel closed his eyes as the soothing feel of another cure spell crossed his skin.

Hope smiled fondly, it was easy like this to pretend that Noel had gotten injured doing something dumb. Not the withdraw that he was suffering from. It was also good for Hope, taking care of Noel allowed for the scientist to focus on something else. And also, to face his demons with the backing of the knowledge that Noel was safe, with him.

More importantly not dead or consumed with chaos.

With a deep sigh, Noel finally gave in and collapsed onto the bed. Weak, but past the worst part of the current craving, he laid against the sheets breathing lightly. Hope sighed softly and stroked his brow.

"You should eat." He murmured softly and Noel waved a hand lightly in disagreement. His stomach shifted badly at just the thought of trying to eat. He swallowed hard and slowly rolled on his back to turn and look at the scientist.

"Too sick." He spoke weakly and Hope nodded quietly as he stroked the hunter's face.

"I know, but just a little broth before I have to go help Lighting okay?" Hope murmured as he stood up and left to goo heat up some of the broth he'd made earlier.

Noel moaned and weakly tried to call Hope back. He didn't want to be alone. He'd managed to get himself to sit up and tried to move more but his body rejected any such movement. His arms began to tremble and he collapsed back into the sheets as they gave out. When Hope came back he saw Noel looking worse then before, his brow matted sweaty hair and his face creased in pain.

The scientist set the warmed bowl down and gently laid his hands on the hunter's cheeks and cast yet another cure spell. It was mostly futile, Noel thought idly, the amount of magic that Hope was wasting on him. After the spell had had it's meager affects, anything stronger made Noel worse. The silver haired man helped his partner to lean against his chest and slowly helped him to drink the lukewarm liquid.

Hope hummed lightly as he helped him. Part of him felt nervous because it seemed that Noel wasn't getting better or worse. In reality he knew that addiction and withdrawal took a long time, even years to subside. The difference was that Noel wasn't really addicted to chaos. Trained to take over the heart of Etro, the heart of chaos... His body was made to house chaos.

Most likely, Hope theorized that it wasn't that his body was addicted, it was that his body might very well be broken. Eventually, he thought with heartache, they would have to figure out what exactly Caius had done to him. The mage put down the bowl and gently stroked his partner's hair and kissed his head.

"Hope." The voice was soft, fading. Noel usually didn't stay awake for long periods of time anymore. He looked down at him and smiled gently. He knew it would make Noel feel better to think that everything was going okay.

"I love you." He whimpered as he drifted off. Hope nodded against his head and murmured his own response. They would make it, Hope swore to himself, he wouldn't accept anything less.