How lovely the silence of growing things

[Mikko Ashby]

"I do not like that man!" Snapped Mik savagely as he was picked up and helped to the bed, where he flopped heavily onto the cheap mattress and scratchy blanket. "I do not like that man one bit!" He glared up at the ceiling for a hot minute, hissing a stream of curses that would have made his Aunt Shel grab him and wash his mouth out with literal soap.

"He did some weird thing around my face. I thought he was going to rape me or something." Finally he felt the feeling come back to his arms and the first thing he did was reach over and grasp onto Rip's hand. It was comforting, a familiar touch.

Mik was really trying not to lose it. He didn't know what that man did but it felt like a giant invasion of privacy and he didn't like it. He felt violated even though nobody put anything in him. His identity had been stolen though. His face.

"He made a mask of my face, Rip. It was like this magic... thing he made. What's he going to do with it? Is he going to pretend to be me and—try to trick the other guys? Is that his plan?"

[Ripper Nightshade]

Rip didn't know how he felt about Pax yet but he was definitely wary of him so his mouth remained a frown and his eyes remained concerned as he watched Mik flopping over onto the bed. It was nothing like Brayden Smith's nice, soft bed. It was nothing like the guest room bed, either, at Mik's aunt's house. And it was nothing like Mik's bed, either. Rip slowly sat back down on the edge of it, hands between his knees, ankles crossed.

"R-rape?" Rip turned to look over at Mik sharply, then felt Mik's hand reaching out for him, over his thigh. Slowly, he removed one of his hands from between his knees and slid it underneath Mik's questing hand. It seemed to help, at least.

"I don't know," he said. "I don't know what 'imprint' is..." He frowned. But it sounded bad, if Pax was making a mask of Mik's face. It did sound a lot like a magic mask to assume another person's identity.

"What would he want to do with your identity, though...?" he asked, confused. "I don't understand."

[Mikko Ashby]

"You know how we were going to spy on him?" Mik's tone was low, a whisper, but a dark whisper. "I bet he's thinking of doing the same thing. Those guys don't know me so... if a fake me walked in, they wouldn't be able to tell that it's a fake. And I'm human so maybe they wouldn't be wary of me."

See, that was some movie supervillain type shit right there. And stupid. Because Lieve and Cori were there and they knew Mik better than anybody in the entire world, with the exception of his Aunt Shelby! So that guy out there was fucked if he thought he could waltz in and pretend he was Mik!

But that was only a guess at best. Mik didn't really know what imprinting meant. He didn't know shit about magic either; he was only a human. And being only human it wasn't like he had anyone to talk to who could teach him things about the magical world. Everything he knew in his limited knowledge came from Lieve and a bunch of others—mostly shifters.

[Ripper Nightshade]

"He could have used me for that," he said, still frowning. Not that he wanted to be used in that way but... Maybe he wasn't doing enough. Pax must think he could do a better job. But Pax was too much of a golem. They would know right away that he wasn't Mik, especially if he showed up after Rip ran off with Mik. Everybody knew that Rip was affiliated with the enemy.

"It won't work."

But what else would a golem like Pax want with a human's face? Who could he possibly be trying to fool? Anybody he tried to get close to with Mik's face was going to be suspicious. Mik had way too much personality. And Pax... did not.

[Mikko Ashby]

"Oh it definitely won't work," Mik snorted angrily as he laid there flat as a starfish, staring at the ceiling. "I mean can you imagine that guy trying to be me? I am Mik. I am a human. Observe me being human. Nothing to be suspicious of, humans."

His impression of that guy was spot on, he thought, and probably very insulting. Robotic, stiff, emotionless, that guy was about as far from Mik as anyone could be. He had no personality of his own! How the hell was he going to mimic someone with all the flair and passion and stubbornness of Mik?!

"We'll be rescued in no time once Lieve and Cori realize that's not me. I bet we could even hold him hostage! Hah! That'd show him not to mess with us!" Mik allowed himself a pleased, if still angry, grin. "Oh um. He said... your soul grew though. Like he was rude about it, but he said that."

[Ripper Nightshade]

Rip half smiled.

"That's how golems usually are."

He lowered his gaze to look at their linked hands, then down at his other hand, still tucked primly away between his knees. What happened to him being special? Pax had strange plans that he didn't appear to be sharing with the team. Not that there was much of a team left. For a time, they were like an odd, dysfunctional little family. Rhys was supposed to be their leader but Keith really took the role and ran with it. And Raphael was like a brother, of sorts. Equally shrugged off, equally used as a tool, although in a different way.

And then... Raphael disappeared. And then Rhys disappeared. And then Keith was sent home. And Pax came in. And the only old person left in the whole group was... him. There was also Rhys' sister but she didn't live with them and she had a different group she worked with. And most of them were dead now, from what Rhys said.

"Huh?" He had lost himself in his thoughts as Mik talked about being rescued--were they even in need of rescuing?--when Mik brought up his soul. "What do you mean?" It grew...? From what? Hurting Brayden Smith? And he didn't like how Mik said that Pax was rude about it. He froze in fear. "Does he want it to stop? Growing?"

But... but wasn't that what made him so special? Was Pax regretting telling him that now? Had he changed his mind? No... He was a golem. He didn't change his mind... but maybe the king had.

[Mikko Ashby]

"Like... it grew." Mik couldn't tell if Rip's soul was growing or not but others apparently could. He wondered what it looked like, how they could tell at a glance. Was it a spell? Or a unique set of skills? What he did know, however, was that the guy out there had been rude about it, grilling him about why and how Rip's soul grew. Hell if Mik knew! He was just a human!

Maybe he was thinking aloud, that other guy outside. He seemed slightly taken aback by it, if Mik had to be honest, like he didn't expect it to happen. "He said it shouldn't have been possible without Brayden, but... apparently it happened. I didn't tell him anything though. I did not appreciate his tone."

Rude.

"I don't know what he wants though." Obviously Mik didn't—it wasn't like that guy was whispering his secret evil villain plans into his ear out of Rip's sight. All he knew was the guy made a replica of his face, grilled him about Rip's soul and then sent him back here to this weird bedroom.

[Ripper Nightshade]

Huh...? His free hand rose up to his chest. Was that where it was? He thought it was one and the same, the heart and soul. It beat a little funny--his heart--not quite like a human's heart. But he was sure that the soul resided there. That was where he hurt when Brayden... He lowered his head, his fingers curling inward.

How did Pax know? He tilted his head, curious and questioning what it meant. What it meant for Pax to know. What it meant for him to say it aloud to a stranger like Mik. What it meant for Rip, if it was a bad thing or a good thing. The fact that Mik didn't like Pax's tone when he spoke of it scared Rip. Was he going to do something about it? Stop it where it had just started?

"I don't either," Rip said softly, looking off into the distance. Looking at the doorway without really even seeing it. He didn't understand Pax--and by proxy--the king's intentions. Why they had to do with him.

"You don't have to stay here," Rip told Mik. "You're not a golem. You can disobey orders."

[Mikko Ashby]

"I probably could slip out the door or through a window or something," Mik mused to himself as he glanced at Rip. He smiled, softly. "But I'm not going to. I'm staying right here because I have different orders from you, Rip."

And his orders were orders that couldn't be disobeyed—not even if he tried. Mik slid his free hand over his chest, his heart. "This is telling me I need to be with you. So I'm going to see this thing out."

With the hand in Rip's, he tugged gently. "Stop worrying about me and let me worry about you, dummy. Come here, lay down."

[Ripper Nightshade]

Good--ah. Mik was joking. Rip sighed. He wished Mik didn't have such a death wish. That he wasn't so staunchly loyal to somebody like him. Rip frowned even as Mik smiled. Different orders? His gaze dropped to where Mik slid his hand over his heart, too. His heart told him he needed to be with him.

At first, Rip resisted the pull to lay down with Mik but after a moment, he sighed and let himself be tugged insistently over, to lay down beside Mik. What else could he do? He couldn't force Mik to do anything. And Rip was told to stay in this room, so... There was nothing left to do but wait.