Skedaddle

[Emora Deen]

Laya looked at the steak, and then glanced sideways at Telanis. "I can eat it fast..." she muttered, thinking seriously that she might have to become a vegetarian. Laya cut the steak and chewed, taking breaks to swallow water and breath, and before long she'd finished eating it. Her belly was full, and it made her sleepy.

She leaned back in the seat, feeling embarrassed for no reason other than she had eaten food that Telanis was probably revolted by.

"Done," she announced, placing her napkin over the empty plate to hide the blood that had oozed out while she cut it.

"That should help?" Laya asked Adonis.

[Soran Nightblade]

"Very considerate," the black unicorn approved with a smirk. "She needs it, Brother," he chided.

"I understand," Telanis said, not really knowing much about human nutrition.

Adonis could feel himself beginning to relax. The time he spent with these two felt like his was on his way to something good, like it might be safe to rethink humanity a little bit. But wouldn't that be deluded? Wasn't that just escaping from the reality that waited for him across town? He knew what humans were.

He tried to stop thinking. Then a harsh ache splintered back into his cautiousness, making him lean forward and grip the table.

"Adonis?" Telanis asked.

"Just indigestion," Adonis said evenly.

"But you didn't eat anything..." his brother murmured in confusion.

"I'm just going to get some air," he managed, getting up from the booth. He walked a little stiffly through the crowded room and out the door.

[Emora Deen]

Laya watched Adonis as he left worriedly. It was eating her up. He didn't want Telanis to get involved, but he couldn't do this alone. She knew he couldn't. She felt deep in her heart he needed someone there for him, because that beast would chew him up and spit him out.

She didn't want Telanis around that thing either, but how could she be two places at once...

She couldn't.

She'd have to choose. Laya didn't know how she could possibly make that choice. Couldn't they just lock Erik in the pantry of her house where he couldn't hurt anyone?

Her eyes widened. They could put him in the shed. He couldn't hurt anyone in the shed...

[Soran Nightblade]

"Laya, what's going on?" Telanis demanded, certain now that something was up. "Is this about losing the stone?"

[Emora Deen]

"I met Erik," Laya whispered, looking at the door. Adonis would be angry with her, but maybe if she explained to Telanis what was happening he would understand if she had to leave him for a little while. "And he's cruel and evil and hateful to Adonis. He hurts him, Telanis... But, Adonis can't leave him... and I can't leave Adonis... I cant let him stay with that monster alone. I don't know what to do. Adonis doesn't want you near Erik, and I don't want you near Erik... But, I don't want to be away from you, and I don't want to be away from Adonis. I'm stuck. I can't go anywhere. I'm torn. What should I do?"

It all slipped out of her mouth like liquid silver. Before she knew it she'd poured out all her feelings. It had to be her weariness. Her eyes brimmed with tears as she looked back to Telanis. "What do I do?"

[Soran Nightblade]

Telanis stopped breathing as he listened to her story. "Erik is...here?" he asked, shifting closer to her to put an arm around her shoulder. "He's hurting Adonis?" His brother had gone on and on about how humans were rotten inside, and Telanis had endured countless warnings that let him know something was wrong. But it still seemed difficult to imagine it actually happening.

[Emora Deen]

"He's in an apartment down the street... He took Adonis and I," Laya told him as she rested her head against him. "He wanted to kill me I think. I don't know. He was mad. He was raving mad. Adonis says he can't leave him, but I can't let him stay with that man, Telanis. I can't. He'll be hurt."

Laya lifted her head and met Telanis's eyes. "I love you Telanis...." she whispered. "And I love Adonis... I love you both." It was true. She could admit that. There were many ways to love, she knew this.

[Soran Nightblade]

"We won't leave him," Telanis agreed reassuringly, glancing at the door. He didn't understand what Erik could possibly be doing that had them both so upset. "Let's go."

[Emora Deen]

"What are we going to do?" Laya asked as she stood from the seat. She was still a little shaky, but better than she had been before. She headed for the door. "Telanis, Adonis doesn't want you to be near Erik. He's afraid, I think, of what Erik will do to you. What are we going to do about that?"

[Soran Nightblade]

"He should be afraid of what I'll do to Erik," Telanis said quietly. The anger was so gracefully concealed that it required a double take to really hear the ferocity of the words. He led her outside, where Adonis was leaning against the wall. The black unicorn looked pale.

"Where is he?" Telanis asked, a quiet demand.

Adonis glanced up at him and looked startled by what he saw in his brother's eyes. "Telanis?"

"Take me to him." It was an order.

[Emora Deen]

Laya had never seen Telanis angry, but this quite sort of anger was almost frightening. She watched him as he demanded of Adonis the whereabouts of his counterpart.

"What are you going to do?" Laya asked him fearfully. "You can't hurt him or you'll hurt Adonis."

[Soran Nightblade]

Telanis shook his head. "Then I'll strap him down, or lock him in your shed. Where is he?"

"Telanis," Adonis broke in.

"Never mind. I can feel him," the white unicorn said, starting off down the street without them.

Adonis looked at Laya in shock, too stunned by his brother's actions to make his legs follow. It seemed like this might be some kind of joke.

[Emora Deen]

Laya looked at Adonis, and then at Telanis disappearing down the street. "We have to go, Adonis," Laya whispered to him as she grabbed his hand. "I'm sorry I told him, but he knew something was wrong with you. He just wants to help, as do I."

She pulled Adonis as gently as possible to try and catch up to Telanis as he headed for the apartment.

[Emora Deen]

Soran:

Adonis made himself move forward and keep pace with Laya as his brother threatened to disappear out of sight. He wanted to think about this, decide his next move, but the ache in his chest and stomach was joined now by a ferocious headache. He wasn't sure if it was his own punch that had caused it, or if Erik had just hit the bottle way too hard when he first escaped his seal. In any case, his thoughts weren't coherent as he struggled to keep up.

Telanis could feel the familiar signature of Erik's soul like a beacon and followed it. Normally, there would be no way to recognize it from such a distance, but the pain and anger was strong enough to reach him. He turned a corner and frowned as the crumbled apartment doorway across the bustling street. He didn't wait for Adonis to catch up. He glided sternly across the road toward the door.


Adonis had to stop and rest. He paused and leaned unsteadily against a corner wall, staring at Telanis's disappearing form desperately. "He's going to go in alone," he winced in frustration. "Can you catch up to him?" He looked at Laya and his eyes said it all. Everything he'd done in the past two years had been to protect his brother from what he was about to walk into, and now there was literally nothing he could do to stop him.

Emora Deen:

Laya met Adonis’s eyes and then turned her attention to Telanis as he went for the door. She gave him a swift nod, and followed after the unicorn, heading in behind him. “Telanis, wait,” she called to him, but felt that any protest would be futile. She had never seen him like this, and that meant the situation was even more serious than she originally thought.

Soran:

Telanis glanced back at the sound of Laya's voice as he reached the door. "I'll handle this," he said to her as she approached.

Emora Deen:

Laya clamped her mouth shut. She had to trust that Telanis knew what he was doing. She glanced back at Adonis across the street with a worried look, before she followed Telanis into the apartment.

[Soran Nightblade]

Telanis pulled the door open, which wasn't difficult since it was still ajar. The scent of recent blood was still faint in the room. Telanis glanced at the bottles strewn across the floor and the rest of the mess before turning his eyes to the figure emerging from the kitchen.

"Who the hell's there?" Erik said before catching sight of Telanis. He lowered the cold towel he was pressing to his aching head. "Who are you?" he demanded.

"Who do I look like?" Telanis said, walking further inside. In the dingy apartment, his hair and skin still managed to catch the light as if he were made of silver.

Erik blinked at him, taking in the mark on his forehead. "That you, Telanis?"

"It's me. Sit."

Erik moved warily to the bed and sat at the foot of the mattress. It helped that his body needed it. "If you're looking for your brother, he ain't here."