Cinder woke to find himself in a completely different room than usual. The ceiling had a fan that wasn't in the rooms at the house they lived in. The blades swung in slow lazy circles overhead, throwing bits of dust every so often. He stared at it for a while before he noticed there was weight on the edge of the bed. Looking to the side, he spotted a head of black hair resting on a pair of arms. The pale skin, leather bracelets on both arms, and his usual denim jacket made it easy to figure out who it was laying half stretched over the mattress while seated in an ornate chair.

"Kydyn," Cinder croaked the warlock's name, but the sound and his moving on the bed woke Kydyn instantly. 

"Finally," Kydyn said with a heavy sigh and stretched. Leaning back, Kydyn let out a yawn as he popped his back. "You've been out for days. Jika healed you up just fine, so what the hell? Why the long snooze?"

Cinder shrugged and sat up slowly. His body protested, but he forced it anyway. Once he was leaned against the wall, he eyed Kydyn. "You all right?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You used a lot of magic to get that building out of the way. I was.... Never mind." Cinder didn't finish. Instead he looked away and rubbed absently at his chest. 

"You were what?" Kydyn leaned in, a wicked smirk on his lips. "Worried about me? How sweet."

"Shut up. I wasn't fucking worried."

"You so were. I kinda like it."

Cinder shot him a glare, jaw tight as he frowned. He was trying to think of something to say in return but nothing was coming to mind. Instead, the door opened and Jika walked in with a tray in hand. He paused in the doorway, watching the two of them with an eyebrow arched. Shaking his head, he continued into the room and put the tray down on the table that sat near the bed.

"You shouldn't be moving too much. I healed what I could but there was quite a bit and I didn't have much time to pack what I needed to do a complete job."

"You said you healed him," Kydyn pointed out with a dark look.

"I said I healed what I could," Jika retorted. "He's still got some bruising. It'll take longer to heal, but at least he's not broken anymore."

"Broken?" Cinder asked.

"You had quite a few broken bones. Not too many thankfully or I really wouldn't have been able to heal you. Fractures too. I've had quite the headache thanks to you."

"I'm sorry."

"You didn't put a barrier around yourself?" Kydyn asked.

Cinder stared at him for a while before he felt the heat of a blush washing over his face. "No."

"God. What the hell did I do all that work for then? I teach you how to protect yourself and the first thing you go and do is let some asshole who throws our car through a building nearly kill you!"

"I wasn't exactly thinking straight all right! I was a little worried about you and Lyn told me to wake you up by giving you a jolt, whatever the hell that means! So I was a little preoccupied, all right!" Cinder shot back. He leaned forward in anger and felt the bruising pinch all along his sides. Wincing, he relaxed his body against the wall and rubbed at his torso lightly. 

"So you were worried," Kydyn said. 

"You're as reckless as ever, Kydyn. Don't agitate him. I'm still working to heal him. Now that he's awake that should be easier. Take your shirt off, Cinder. Let's see what's left to heal," Jika said, giving the warlock a hard look.

Cinder pushed off the wall slowly. Once he was near the edge of the bed, he worked his shirt off. Thankfully it had buttons in the front so that he could just simply shrug it off once all the buttons were undone. Looking down at his body, he grimaced at all of the ugly yellow and green splotches that littered his body. He went to touch one, but Jika's dark skinned hand took his and kept him from doing so. 

"I'm going to have you drink this first and then I'll work on healing these bruises," he said as he held out a cup of hot steaming liquid.

"What is it?"

"Tea. Herbal tea. Basically it'll help anchor my magic to your body. I'll work on forcing your natural healing into going a bit faster than usual that way. It might be a little unpleasant, but it'll get you back on your feet faster. Moving around like this isn't a good idea."

"Not to mention slowing us down if anything happened to you," Kydyn added.

"So much for the concern." Cinder scowled down at his body, but his words were meant for the warlock who didn't say anything in return. Taking the cup, he lifted it to his nose first and made a disgusted face. It smelled sour. He sighed and took a breath before he tipped it back and drank all of it in two gulps. Giving the cup back to Jika, he shuddered at the awful taste. It was like downing cough medicine. Cinder fought the urge to throw up. 

Jika's hands were warm as he held Cinder's sides. The druid's lips parted and his voice was just barely audible as he chanted under his breath. Green flashes of light pulsed through Jika's dark eyes. Cinder watched him, curious to see Jika's magic in action. He'd never really seen it before. Jika had only taught him how to use his own through explanation and practicing chanting. Cinder's curiosity was overrun though as his body grew tight and he could feel every ache deep in his bones. With a soft groan, he closed his eyes and tightened his jaw, grinding his teeth together. 

It wasn't a suffocating pain, but it was enough to be annoying. Cinder gripped the edges of the bed tightly. Measuring his breathing, he focused on that instead of the dull pounding throughout every inch of his frame. One by one the aches disappeared. It was a relief, but he also wished that they would fade faster. Jika, though, seemed to be tiring. Cinder had to wonder just how much energy it was taking to perform the task of healing his bruised body. Was it that bad? To have Jika trembling as he held Cinder's sides, was it truly that strenuous? 

"There," Jika panted out the word when he finally pulled away. It had felt like minutes to Cinder, but it might have been longer. "Better?"

"Yeah," Cinder nodded as he straightened his body and tested the muscles that had been ruined by deep bruises. "Much better. Thanks, Jika. Are you all right?"

"Fine. Tea and some pain meds will fix up this headache in no time. This round wasn't as bad as healing all of those broken bones and fractures. But seriously. Next time you need to shield yourself. It'll save me the trouble. You're damn lucky you didn't snap your neck."

"Sorry for causing trouble. I'll do it next time." If I remember.... Cinder didn't voice those thoughts though. He smiled at Jika who nodded and stood up. 

Motioning to the tray, he said, "Eat. Both of you. Then we need to discuss what our next move is."

"Get some sleep, Jika." Kydyn's words took Cinder for a loop. He sounded like he cared for a moment. Truly cared. It was a jolt to Cinder's system. Honestly he hadn't thought the warlock capable of such a tone. 

"Yeah, yeah. Come get me when you're ready. We can't stay here forever. That warlock is still looking for us. Pain in the ass," Jika muttered the last part to himself as he rubbed the back of his neck and left the room. 

"Sounds wonderful. Doesn't it? A warlock tailing us. Fucking peachy," Kydyn said as he kicked his feet up onto the edge of the bed and rocked the chair back to reach the platter of food that Jika had brought in. Snatching up a piece of bread he tore it in half before taking a bite out of one end. 

"Not really how I would be describing this."

"No? How would you do it then?"

"Let's try scary, worrisome, and dangerous. Those sound like much better words than 'wonderful'." Cinder took some of the sliced meat off the platter and stuck it in his mouth. It was juicy. Cold and slightly salted. Closing his eyes, he hummed in satisfaction at the way it almost melted in his mouth. 

"I enjoy that sort of thing, so to me you just described something wonderful."

"It's a fucking miracle you're not dead yet," Cinder said. He gave Kydyn a look to which the warlock just smirked at him.

"I'm not that easy to kill."

"You know, I might have believed you at one point. But now there's a dangerous asshole trying to kill us and if he's anything like you, then there's a problem."

"Anything like me? So are you saying that he's dashingly handsome, powerful, and extremely smart?"

Cinder frowned and shook his head. "Powerful was the only thing I was thinking. I'm hoping that he's got some of that cocky attitude though because that'll be the end of him. Just like it will for you if you're not careful."

"Oh please, pretty boy. I've been in far worse than this. Besides, unlike him I have someone who worries about me."

"I do not worry about you," Cinder snapped. He could feel his blood pressure rising as he glared at Kydyn.

"Yeah. Keep telling yourself that, princess. You might convince yourself."

"I swear to god. If you weren't remotely useful I'd strangle your ass right now. How many times do I have to say it? I'm not a girl!" Cinder threw a piece of the sliced turkey at Kydyn who nimbly dodged the meaty projectile. 

"Yeah. You keep telling me that, but all I'm hearing is a high pitched whining noise. Kind of annoying actually. Makes me want to hurl."

"Fuck you!"

"Ooh, now that's talk I can understand. Want me to? I'll totally do you."

Cinder bristled. His jaw was clenching so tightly it hurt. He didn't know how to deal with Kydyn when he was being a complete douchebag. Ignoring him seemed to be the easiest thing to do. Cinder turned his attention back to the platter and continued eating. Kydyn finished his bread and let the chair slam back down onto all four legs. Pulling his feet down from the bed, he stood up and hovered over Cinder, hands on his hips. 

"Cold shoulder tactic hu? That's not childish at all."

"Shut up," Cinder said around his food. He didn't even look up at the warlock. At least, not until he was forced to when Kydyn grabbed his shoulders and pushed him down. Cinder coughed, having swallowed wrong. Kydyn didn't seem to care as he glared, his pale blue eyes flashing with the purple lightning that only added to his eerie demeanor. 

"You really know how to piss me off."

"Not my problem you're so damn touchy." 

"Touchy?"

"Yeah. 'Touchy'. You're like a fucking light switch. Anything can set you off. And it seems like a whole lot of things in my opinion. It's really damned annoying and I'm getting tired of it. I hate playing this game with you. I never know if you're being kind or just being a fucking asshole. Get off me."

"You know. You're the only one who seems to be able to flick that switch you're describing. You irritate the hell out of me. God but I hate it.... Yet...." 

Cinder paused. Kydyn was staring at him with a different look than usual. The contempt and anger was gone. It wasn't replaced with teasing either, which was a normal thing for him. Whatever it was, Cinder thought it looked out of place on Kydyn's smooth face. For a moment, Cinder was swept up by the way Kydyn was gazing at him. The position didn't do much for his thoughts either. 

He cleared his throat. "Yet what?"

Kydyn stared down at him without saying a word. He didn't move either. It was making Cinder uncomfortable. Gripping Kydyn's forearms, Cinder tugged. He wasn't trying to knock Kydyn off of him, but more like trying to remind him that Cinder had asked a question and was waiting for an answer. 

"Yet what?" Cinder repeated, narrowing his eyes just a little as if he were angry, but he was actually rather curious.

Kydyn arched an eyebrow. He stayed like that for a while longer before he pulled away from Cinder and raked his hair back. The sharp gesture showed more of the warlock's agitation than he had probably wanted to. Cinder sat up and stared. It didn't seem like Kydyn was going to be answering the question any time soon. Pushing it would likely piss him off, not that doing so wasn't unusual. Making Kydyn mad seemed to be a daily thing for him.

"I don't think you deserve to know. Not when you're glaring at me," Kydyn scoffed.

Cinder groaned in irritation. "God you're so fucking insufferable!"

"Got that right, princess," Kydyn said with a grin. He was right back to his normal self. The moment of... whatever that was, it was gone. If he'd seemed sweet and concerned it was most likely just a rouse. Something to get Cinder all worked up over so that he could go right back to teasing him, but with new material. Maybe he was getting bored with the old jokes.

Cinder ground his teeth at being called princess and managed to keep his comment to himself. He really wanted to smack that smirk off the warlock's face but he knew that he wouldn't even get close enough to try. Kydyn was quick on the uptake and he knew when Cinder was going to result to physical violence. It had happened once before and Cinder found out real quick that Kydyn was much faster than he was. Thankfully all that resulted out of that scuffle was being pinned in the dirt and a snickering warlock gloating over it. 

The memory made him clench his fist, nails biting into the skin. He would have enjoyed nothing more than to land even a single brush on the man. Kydyn was begging for it. Sometimes almost literally. At least, that was how it felt to Cinder. Ignoring Kydyn was usually the better route, until he demanded attention like he had a moment ago. Cinder focused on the platter of food instead. It was less irritating and it didn't fight back. 

"I doubt we'll be staying here for much longer now that Jika's got you all healed up. So hurry up and eat," Kydyn ordered before he left the room, closing the door with a solid click.

Cinder looked up to stare at the wood, a piece of turkey held between his teeth while he glared. Rolling his eyes, he sucked in the rest of the meat and kept eating. He wasn't going to let Kydyn get to him, sinking underneath his skin to tear away at all of his resolve and confidence. Though, the more he tried to ignore the warlock, the more he thought about the asshole. 

It seemed like Kydyn had already succeeded in getting to him. And deeply at that.