"Jesus Christ, any closer and you'd literally be in me!"

Flame gasped at the suddenness of the sound, stumbling backwards and practically sending a whole miniature desk as well as all of its pale white contents flying skywards. "I-I didn't realize you were awake..."

Angel was far from amused by the clumsy act."And I didn't realize I was cooped up in some mad scientist's laboratory with 1/3 of the Stooge party. But here we are. And speaking of we, where exactly is your manager? Don't tell me he stuck me with babysitting duty."

Try the other way around. Flame struggled back to his feet, rearranging the shaken up sheets of paper until they were all neatly and precisely compiled underneath each other once more, fitting neatly together like stacked lego bricks.

"Babysitting? I'm like the same age as you...and I'm sure you'd get a lot further in life if you just tried being nice to people every now and then, instead of acting up like this. I kind of saved your life, Angel."

Angel retorted by sarcastically batting his lashes, which were extremely long and thick, all things considering.

"My hero," he cooed, "but did you ever consider that maybe I didn't want saving?"

"Considered it. Just didn't care."

Angel shivered. Not having his bandages made him feel even more naked and vulnerable than the very hospital gown itself, and he really wasn't too gung-ho about being seen in a state so pathetic as this. He folded his arms over his chest, but in doing so brought the thin fabric closer to him. This confliction as to which position truly cloaked his curved breasts stressed him out to an unbearable degree.

Flame quickly took note of the awkward struggling, and immediately looked away so he was facing the opposite direction, no longer meeting the eyes or even glancing in the general area of the room that harbored the very cranky hospital patient.

"Now I can't see you at all, does that help?"

Rather than intentionally reveal such vulnerability, Angel took a shot at playing dumb.

"Help what, you weirdo?" But despite this faux confusion, Flame could still hear the betraying sound of relief in the tint of the other boy's voice.

Now that he felt safe in doing so, Angel unfolded his arms.

"So where is Bubba anyways? No no, let me guess: off tonguing a particular raven-haired homo?"

"Far from it."

"Then where- "

"He made me promise not tell you." Flame stared at the bathroom door with an earnest and sincere look in his eyes, treating it as a genuine substitute for the person he was speaking with. It was an odd sight indeed, but there wasn't really anyone around to be seeing it.

"Mind you, this is the same He that technically cheated on you. You've got no good reason to keep secrets for him."

"…Well, we weren't exactly dating..."

"Look, if you tell me I'll start wearing the damn bra!"

It was a lie of course, but the butler didn't exactly know that, and was the kind that would eagerly accept something as truth simply because it was the kind of truth he wanted to hear. At the same time, spilling unauthorized secrets left a funny taste on the tip of his tongue.

"...He went to get your parents, they wouldn't answer the phone."

Angel froze, still as a headless manikin poised directly in front of a shop window. Flame's keen sense of hearing was more than enough to alert him that the boy now sat unmoving.

"Angel, if you're thinking what I think you're thinking..."

"They can't know I'm here, you need to get me out and you need to do it now."

"You aren't well enough to go anywhere in this kind of a state."

"But they can't see me like this!" Angel flung his hands up. His eyes burned a little and he felt fairly certain as to why, but decided to ignore the knowledge. He lifted his body off of the bed only to come crashing down, colliding with the cold tile floor.

Or at least, he would have, if Flame had not immediately been alerted by the rustling of cloth, and charged to his rescue. The thin body felt cold and weightless in his strong hands, like the owner was already diseased. The typically darkly pigmented skin layering the skinny structure had grown pale and weary, sunken in like melted butter.

Angel felt more humiliated than he did frightened. The general shame of being too weak to even properly hurt so much more than the legitimate aching of his rigid bones.

Unlike his company, Flame did actually look genuinely terrified. He'd had plenty of his own encounters with death before, and knew better than to take it lightly. His white face had gone whiter; he hadn't slept since Angel's hospital admission.

"Better they see you here than dead in the streets, eh?"

Angel just shut his eyes, tight. He pretended he was already long gone. That would be better than seeing his parents, than living like this.

The conversation was very much over.