"Oi!" He called, tossing the towel at the night-maned Asmodian standing in the center of the bedroom with his back to the door. "Hit the shower! After a workout like that, I wouldn't let you sleep on my floor without cleaning up first...can't have you ruining the clothes you haven't pick up and laundered for me yet..." The older Sin barked before he turned from the doorway and added in a much softer tone. "Raven..., just don't look down..."
The shower felt good. Raven let the hot water drum the stiffness from the back of his shoulders and wash the weariness from his muscles. As Tidus had suggested, the sable haired Sin had done his best not to look down as the falling water took the blood from his hands down the drain with it. Before his fingertips started to prune, he turned off the water and toweled off. He slipped into one of the thick, soft bathrobes that hung from a hook. Tidus may not have owned a ton of clothes, but what he did have was comfortable. Tousling the water from his long hair, Raven exited to find the snow-maned Sin sitting at the table waiting for him.
"...Hands..." The older Sin said tapping a claw against the wooden surface next to the supplies he had laid out. Leaving the towel draped over his head like a cowl, Raven lay his damaged hands on the table for Tidus to treat after downing the minor potion he was given for muscle ache and to aid in healing. Needle in one hand and tweezers in the other, the Scout set about his work. Ice blue eyes thoroughly scanning to make sure no splinters remained. Once satisfied, he applied the paste of aether and herbs he had prepared to the wounds thickly before bandaging them up.
Raven was exhausted. The effects of the strenuous and emotionally draining workout catching up with him. He had sat nodding while Tidus fixed up the self-inflicted damage to his hands. The older Sin going about the task likewise noting his patient's attempts to resist the torpor that would eventually prevail regardless of how hard the other fought against it. He was impressed the bird had managed to hold out as long as he had, having thought the lad would have past out right there in front of the ruins of the training dummy. Tidus had intentionally given Raven a potion that did not contain subella for just this reason, that particular herb having a kick to it that would have restored the other's energy. The night-maned male wasn't sleeping enough as it was.
"Head on the table." Tidus instructed halfway through fixing up the lads hands in a tone he knew the drowsy younger Asmodian would obey. It was around the time the other usually disappeared off to some quiet corner to steal a cat nap anyway. The worn out Sin would wake stiff and sore where ever at the table or from any of his other afternoon haunts.
The White Wolf had just started oiling the leather armor Raven had neatly lain out to take care of later when there came a knock on the door. After the towel covered head laying on the kitchen table did not react, Tidus knew the usually hair-triggered Sin was not just napping, but had well and truly fallen asleep. Setting the chestpiece and saddle soap aside, he walked across the room to answer the door. Opening it to find a tall, well-dressed Asmodian with short, neatly groomed chestnut hair. Seeing the two Reian guards standing behind the stranger at his door, the snow-maned Sin stepped outside closing the door behind him. Eyeing the square-jawed male who seemed to be some paper pushing bureaucrat, Tidus folded his arms across his chest as he casually leaned against the doorjamb.
"Yes, well..." Said the male who's ruggedly chiseled features seemed in stark contrast to the foppish air that hung about him like perfume. "I do regret calling on you so late in the afternoon, but I understand that my brother has been seen here and may even be staying in this house. If, he is here or perchance you have information as to his whereabouts, I am fully prepared to compensate you handsomely. His name is Raven, Raven Shadowsong from Morheim." The golden eyed male said in a deep rich baritone. "I am Swan, his eldest brother and I have traveled quite a long distance in search of him."
Tidus hid the shock of this revelation well, barely even shifting his position as he leaned casually against the doorjamb. Outside of their eyes, the Scout would never in a eon peg them as being even the slightest bit related. This tall, broad-chested male with chestnut hair and masculine features stood in stark contrast to Raven. The lithe, sable haired Sin with soft, slightly effeminate looks was a polar opposite of the male standing before him demanding information about the bird he had in his safekeeping.
" I have been frantically chasing after every scrap of information I have been able to glean once I learned that he might have survived the attack. I have been scouring the countryside, far and wide in my wretched search. Always arriving too late." The male decried, ramrod straight shoulders curling inward for but the span of the other male's breath before he drew himself imperiously up to his full height. "If, if my brother is inside this house, force in all of Aetria that can keep me from him! Here! This is the ring worn by the heir apparent of the House of Shadowsong given to me by my, 'our' father. While I realize that Rave takes after our mother quite strongly, I can assure you that he is a Shadowsong through and through." Swan declared, growing ever more desperate to be let inside or at least be given some confirmation either way about his brother. "If Rave does indeed still draw breath I will find him!"
"...Impressive speech. Wait here..." The White Wolf countered. The other male's words had the ring of truth, but he was not yet willing to give up the one he had saved should this person simply prove to be an accomplished actor. He had housed the other in secret for more than just allowing the bird to heal in private. The manner of the other's discharge and having found him left alone in the hotel room didn't sit right in the experienced Assassin's mind. It was as if Pandae was purposely trying to push the lad over the edge and if by some small chance he didn't fall on his own, removing him from the rosters made him a much easier mark for quiet elimination.
Tidus went into his home, closing the door behind him leaving the popinjay to fidget on the stoop. Crossing over to where his own bird still sat with his head resting on the table, the Scout pulled back the towel covering the other's face. Gently placing a hand on the sleeper's shoulder in an effort not to startle the tightly wound one who's thick black lashes for the moment covered the dark smudges that had come to colour the pale skin under his eyes.
"Raven..." He breathed.
"Mmmmh?" Murmured up from below slightly raised brows. It was a testament to the utter exhaustion of the sleeper that he neither flinched nor fully woke.
"Raven..." Tidus asked lightly, deciding not to awaken the other until his question was confirmed. "...does the name Swan mean anything to you?"
"Mmhmm." The feather light response fluttering the dark lashes.
"Who is Swan?" Tidus probed softly.
"...brother..." The word slipping through lips that barely moved before closing as a sigh shipped enough air to cause a mark'ed rise and fall of both chest and shoulder.
"...brother..." The Wolf repeated more to himself than any other. He giving the other a slight shake to further rouse the one he questioned. "Oi, what does your brother look like?"
"Mmmmh..." A protest.
"Raven...sit up. Come on...I need you to sit up." The snow-maned Sin huffed at the other's uncharacteristic reluctance to wake. This brother would have chosen to come knocking the exact moment the chronically tired male had managed to fall this deeply asleep. "What does your brother look like?"
"Swan?...Tall...Big..." Raven intoned sleepily sounding more than a little confused by the question. He rocked his head back to emphasize the word after he had sat up in the chair. He rubbed a grainy feeling eye as he continued. "Dark blonde, almost brown, but not quite and short. Always short and neat...hmm...the only thing we share is our father's eyes though..."
"...Raven..." Tidus exhaled thru his nose, feeling fairly confident now that the Asmodian waiting outside was indeed who he claimed to be. "...you have a visitor...Go put some clothes on. I don't think you'll want to be in a bathrobe for this..."
Golden eyes instantly awake as his thoughts turned to Shade. The other's line of questioning not quite clicking through the haze of sleep. His attention drawn repeatedly to the front door, he hurriedly gathered up the bits and pieces of partially cleaned armor on his way to the bedroom where the remainder of his clothes resided.
Leaving the other to ready himself, Tidus went back to the front door. Only being partially secure in his assessment, he opened the door without inviting the one waiting outside in. He'd leave that to after Raven's reaction.
"He'll be out in a moment." Tidus informed the chestnut haired male who stood outside clasping and unclasping his hands in nervous agitation. The Sin leaned against the inner jamb leaving the door wide enough ajar for the other to glimpse a sufficient amount of the interior to have him almost go up on tip toes in his attempts to see more. The Scout smirked, almost chuffed with himself. He knew Raven had at least fully opened the door to the bedroom when Swan sucked in a sudden breath, taking a step forward. With a hand on the edge of the front door, Tidus turned to look in Raven's direction, stepping to the side as he swung it open.
"Rave! It's you! You're alive!" Swan exclaimed, the tips of his fingers steepled in front of lips. "I've come for you. Rave, I've come to take you home."
And just like that Raven was. He dropped to his knees on the crest of the bridge over the frozen lake. His eyes wide in abject horror as Morheim lay before him, a smoldering ruin. His breath exploding from his lungs as if he'd taken a heavy blow.
Tidus was on the move the moment he saw the bird start to go down. He crouched in front of him, laying one hand on Raven's shoulder, but he didn't need to snap his fingers in front of the lad's face. The vacant stare told him Raven was somewhere else, seeing things the rest of them could not.
"Raven!" Swan exclaimed in alarm, his brother having inexplicably dropped to his knees.
Raven cried out in anguish, the sound of his fallen brother calling out his name slicing into him like knives plunging straight into his heart. Rending his very soul and threatening to tear it from his body.
Swan opened his mouth to call out again as he heard his brother cry out in pain. The white haired male looking away from Raven's face directly into his, piercing blue eyes freezing his brother's name on his tongue.
"Come on kid. You know what to do... It isn't real." The White Wolf said softly, his commanding tone taking on ever more authority with each statement, demanding compliance. "You're in control... You can do this..."
"Raven! what's going on? What's wrong with him?" Swan asked, his voice growing louder and louder. His pitch rising almost an octave as he looked with concern and confusion between the two leather clad males kneeling on the floor . "Somebody do something! Raven!"
Raven could hear Tidus' voice, but what he was saying was drowned out by the desperate cries of his brother and the flames that now ravaged his home. The wind picked up blowing warm ash and cold snow in his face. The tormented Sin squeezed his eyes tight against the horrific scene, covering his ears to muffle the screams.
Tidus scowled darkly as Raven started to keen, reacting to Swan's outburts. The Scout growing uneasy as the other was drawn deeper into the waking nightmare. Had it been just the two of them, he was sure that the younger male would have been able to recover quickly on his own. He had in the past when triggered and it had actually been some time since the bird had even suffered a flashback that he knew of. He tightened his grip on Raven's shoulder, partly for reassurance and partly to hold the dark haired Sin in place.
"Raven...listen to my voice. -Only- my voice." Tidus commanded. "Can you hear it? Can you hear my voice?"
Raven nodded, slowly removing his hands from over his ears, but each breath he exhaled remained a high, tremulous moan.
"Good...I'm going to count to three...You know what to do." The Snow-maned Sin cast a quick glance over his shoulder at Swan. His eyes flaring crimson. His face holding the dark promise of swift and terrible punishment should the other open his mouth to speak. Blue eyes looked back at the emotionally scared soul that shook beneath his hand. "You ready?...One...Two...Three."
Swan opened his mouth to call out again. The white haired male looking away from Raven's face directly into his, piercing blue eyes freezing his brother's name on his tongue.
On three, Raven opened his eyes. He grasped onto Tidus' arm. Haunted golden eyes locking onto the other's ice blue ones. His breath sawing in and out of his lungs making him feel slightly dizzy as he came close to hyperventilating. "...S-sorry...I h-heard...I heard my...he was calling out for m-me...d-desperately c-calling..." The bird stammered. "... th-that was new... t-took me by s-suprize, sorry..."
Tidus loosened his hold and relaxed his elbow as he saw the already pale Asmodian go the lighter shade he'd seen once before. As the shaken male pitched over slightly to one side, the Scout deftly scooped the long bangs away from Raven's face with his free hand. Noisily, the bird coughed and heaved, vomiting up what little he had in him. The Wolf's hardened leather armplate creaked beneath the claws that gripped it as the other pale-skinned arm, palm down on the wooden floor began to tremble under the strain. Swan, jumping back with a gasp. Covering his mouth and turning away as his brother continued to retch long after there was anything left to dislodge from his stomach.
"Done?" Tidus asked as Raven hung his head limply. Pushing with the hand he still had on the other's shoulder, he brought Raven back upright. "You ok? Still here?"
Hooded golden eyes struggled to focus on the other's face, but he nodded in reply. Raven had been exhausted before. Now, he was utterly spent. He held his head up and kept himself from falling over by sheer will alone.
"...Just barely, huh?...That's ok. You did well...It's ok..." Tidus murmured. Pulling Raven's arm across the tops of his shoulders and holding on to the wrist, he more lifted him to his feet than helped him to stand. "...Come on...Let's get you to bed..."
It was a wonder the night-maned Sin managed to keep his feet under him though Tidus did most of the walking the short distance back into the bedroom. Completely unconcerned by what had transpired, the Scout poured the other into bed before dragging a handful of blankets over the already sleeping Sin. Turning to the visually nonplussed male hovering just outside the doorway, Tidus drew his claws through his hair.
"...We need to talk..."