"Peachy." Joss responded in a clipped tone. "Sorry about the wacko old woman, she's a good healer, but you have to ignore all the other stupid bullshit she says. I'd replace her, but finding people you can trust is...difficult."

Joss sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose - with the hand he didn't punch the wall with, that one was throbbing painfully. He'd deal with that later, though. Right now he just wanted to put distance between himself and Phara. If he didn't there was a chance he'd do something he regretted. The old woman was meddling, but harmless.

Mikhail tilted his head as he watched Theo struggle through, he wasn't sure if it was because he wasn't sure how he felt himself or he was worried about hurting his feelings.

"Not at all." There was no hesitation in the answer. "I really enjoy it, actually. It feels nice, You don't touch me like I'm used to. I miss people touching me like that. I'm used to...well anyway. No, you don't make me uncomfortable. I don't want you to be uncomfortable either, though. So if you want to hug me or put your arm around my shoulder or hold my hand or something, then I wan't you to know that I don't mind."

Phara seemed completely unfazed by Calen's sudden change of tone. She simply watched them both until Joss had actually managed to open the front door and was about to step outside. "Have you heard from your mother yet?"

Joss froze, entire body tense, a muscle in his jaw twitching as he ground his teeth once more. "No. Give it up you old bat, if no one has heard from her yet, then the bitch is dead."

The demon hunter stomped out, turned, and punched the wall of the house so hard you could probably hear the strain of the bones in his hand at the contact. Joss closed his eyes and took a deep breath before continuing down the alley.

Mikhail felt himself blushing slightly as Theo agreed about moving, and then just kept looking at him, but he never stopped smiling. His fangs were not large or prominent, but they were certainly there. Not that he knew that was what the elf was looking for. He chuckled softly when Theo got all flustered again.

It was a little surprising when he felt the larger man's arm come around his shoulders again. He had gotten the impression that Theo was hesitant to initiate such contact - at least when he wasn't being protective. It made him happy, though. Of course the arm was gone almost as quickly as it had arrived and Mikhail looked over at his friend a little confused. He wondered why Theo behaved that way. Did he like that contact with him or did he not? Maybe it wasn't appropriate? It wasn't as if he would know what was normal interactions between two people.

"Oh. Um. Okay. You would know better than me about that. I'll try to learn quickly, though." Mikhail knew it would be beneficial to learn as much as he could about surviving from Theo. He didn't know for sure how long the elf would be around. The walk became quiet again for a few moments, then Mikhail spoke up again. "Hey Theo? Does touching me make you uncomfortable?"

"No, you can say it. This fucking sucks." Joss could absolutely agree with Calen on that. This was definitely awful.

Phara tutted softly, shaking her head at them both. "To exist is for things to happen, and Joss, you should know better than your friend about fate."

Joss snorted and gritted his teeth. Fate was bullshit, but he wasn't convinced that it wasn't real. He didn't want to believe it either. His supposed "fate" was beyond grim, and frankly unbearable. So far he hadn't found a way to circumvent what destiny had been laid out for him by a stupid, short-sighted ancestor.

"Yeah. Well. Thanks for nothing. I guess." Joss turned to leave, heading for the door. "C'mon Frosty. We'll figure something out, but not here."

It was easy to just let himself enjoy being held while it lasted. Mikhail looked up as Theo moved to have him at arm's length. He couldn't help but smile when he felt the touch under his chin. It was a shame he couldn't cuddle against the elf for longer, but he consoled himself with the idea of snuggling against Theo once they made camp.

"Yes, thank you. I guess we should probably keep moving? The sooner we find a good place to camp, the sooner you can get some rest too." Mikhail felt bad that Theo hadn't gotten any sleep at all, when he had gotten several hours.

Joss brought both hands up to rub his face tiredly. He didn't know how to fix it. At least not yet, but he would. Eventually. Fucking asshole book.

"Hell no I don't want to follow you around, not for any length of time." He had more than enough of the annoying mage already. The idea of being stuck with Calen for who even knew how long was far from appealing. It didn't seem like they'd have much of a choice, though.

"If the book showed you the ritual that did this, then it must have known this would happen." Phera spoke, looking at them both with a thoughtful expression. "It must have done this on purpose, for a reason. Maybe this is exactly what needed to happen."

Joss did not look happy. Not at all.

Feeling Theoden's hands on his shoulders immediately had Mikhail relaxing, although he kept his arms around the other man, face still pressed against his chest. He felt foolish for crying, but also relieved that Theo wasn't mad. As much as he'd said he would learn to fend for himself and that he didn't want to be a bother to the elf, well he really didn't want to be alone.

If the hands on his shoulders made him relax, well being held against Theoden's chest had the hybrid practically melting. Theo liked him, despite what he was. The acceptance meant a lot to him. He sighed softly against the quite nicely toned chest, nuzzling into the warmth as he felt Theo's head resting against his. How could he have thought that this sweet man would hate him for what he was? He felt bad for thinking the guy who had rescued him would turn on him immediately over something that Mikhail couldn't even help.

Misha?

"Thank you, Theo." He said quietly, voice a little muffled by the fact he was still firmly pressed into the other's chest. "I'm really glad you don't think I'm trouble and that you like me. I'm sorry for crying. When I thought you were going to hate me and leave me all alone I just couldn't control it."

"You didn't fuck it up." Joss sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets. He didn't want to keep looking at the sigil. It was a complicated mess. "Now instead of that demon's mark you have, well, my mark, not to put too fine a point on it. They are protection sigils though, I wasn't wrong about that."

The sigils were a matching pair. One for him and one for Calen, but they could only work together. That was just fucking great.

"Phara, I'm not sure you can help with this one." Joss chewed on his bottom lip thoughtfully. There had to be a way to fix this. Could he undo whatever the hell it was he'd done? He honestly wasn't sure.

Mikhail hunched his shoulders, still hugging himself. He winced again when he heard Theoden curse and noticed that he reached for him, but stopped. What had he intended? Did he want to restrain him? Maybe he regretted freeing him now that he knew what he was. He whimpered softly and took a hesitant step back, heart racing and all sorts of negative scenarios running through his mind in that short few seconds.

Then Theoden was apologizing and again stumbling all over his words. He was sorry?

"You - you believe me? I'm used to being...mistrusted." If someone thought you could mess with their mind then they tended never to trust or believe you because what if it was part of the trick? Of course Mikhail really hadn't used any magic on Theoden. He didn't even have the ability for that kind of psychic power.

Mikhail sniffled and wiped at his eyes, realizing that he'd started to cry. He looked at Theoden's blushing face, even his ears were red. Unlike the elf who kept hesitating when reaching for him, Mikhail threw himself at his companion, burying his face against him. "I really wouldn't use magic on you, Theo. You've been so kind to me, and I like you, and I really want you to like me, and I'm sorry if I have caused you even more trouble than I thought."

"I thought we already established my book is a total asshole." Joss huffed, knowing that at least part of this was on him. The book had showed him the ritual and he'd performed it without knowing exactly what it would do, but Calen was fucking dying in front of his eyes. The situation had created a sense of urgency, and it had done what Joss asked - it saved Calen's life.

"You were marked by the demon. Removing the demon's mark could have killed you if done incorrectly, but you would have died before I could have found the appropriate ritual." Joss was speaking a bit hollowly. "Removing it wasn't an option. So the book showed me how to...override it."

Now they both carried a new mark, a shared mark.

Joss refused to consider the whole belong together statement. Nope, he wasn't even going there right now. This was all too weird and extremely frustrating.

"Why do you keep asking me like I'm gonna magically pull the answer outta my ass?" Joss grumbled, but he dragged himself off the couch and moved over to Calen so he could hold his left hand next to the mage's and view the sigils side by side.

They did look nearly identical. However a single line was different, mirrored in placement. "Well fucking hell. They are a matching set."

Mikhail winced and kept his face turned away, stopping to hug himself again. Dhampir. Ugh, what a word. His chest tightened painfully. Theoden was going to hate him now! He had worried that he would, but that didn't make it easier to hear the elf stumble over his words.

Then Theoden said something that had Mikhail whipping his head around, red eyes wide, and then a flash of hurt swept over his features.

"What? No! Of course not. I - I can't even do that. Do you really think I've been tricking you this whole time? I know vampires probably don't have the best reputations, but, but...you think I used magic on you?" It really did hurt that Theoden thought he would do something like that, after everything that the elf had done for him.

Phara ignored the comment, grabbing Calen's hand and peering at the sigil with a frown, brow furrowed as she studied it pensively.

"Pretty much what he said. Some demon marked him and he felt like freezing to death so I ended up using...something. The book showed it to me when I asked for help to save the idiot's life before he turned into a block of fucking ice." Joss sighed again before trying to sit up, which he did manage, with gritted teeth. "Should have let him."

"The sigils are a matching pair." Phara concluded, releasing Calen's hand, satisfied with her inspection. "They are slightly different, but belong together."

"Eh?" Joss looked down at his left palm, studying the marking on his hand with a scowl. They weren't exactly the same? He thought they were.

"Oh, that." Mikhail rubbed the back of his head, trying to decide how best to really break it to Theoden. A little part of him was very afraid that the elf would immediately reject him and want him gone. Okay a very big part of him was afraid of that, but he didn't want to be deceitful with the man that had done so much for him. "It's not that I just like nights - I mean I do like nighttime but that's not why - uh, look, I understand if you don't want me around after I tell you this, but I hope you'll still want to be my friend..."

Mikhail sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, trying to stop his rambling. It was a simple enough question, with a straightforward answer, he just needed to spit it out. "The thing is...Iamhalfvampirepleasedon'thateme."

The words came out in an anxious rush, and he looked away, not wanting to see a sudden look of disgust or hatred from Theoden knowing what he was.

"Yeah, it's fucking bullshit. It's passing though, for now. I hope this isn't something that lasts for very long. I hate being sick." Nobody liked being sick. Joss sighed and lifted his arm so he could lift his head to squint at Calen with a frown. "Thought you left. Figured you'd be off to hunt down some answer to what the sigils are."

"Sigils?" Phara questioned as she came up behind Calen to glare at Joss. "There's more than one? Why did you only show me the one on your hand? Where is the other?"

Joss rolled his eyes, dropping his head back down and laying his arm over his eyes again, free hand pointing at Calen. Phara turned her eyes onto the mage with a disapproving frown, hands on her hips. "Well?"

Phara arched a brow at Calen before stepping aside so that he could come in. She called out down the hall. "Joss, your little friend is back."

"We're not friends!" Came the muffled response.

"Well they want to see you." She shook her head and gave Calen a bit of an amused smirk.

"Whatever." Joss definitely sounded a bit hoarse.

"Go on then. I'm going to fix some tea." Phara wandered to the small kitchen to begin heating water for a pot of soothing tea.

What was he supposed to say? The more Theoden spoke, the sadder Mikhail's expression became. It was clear to him that the elf really did believe what he was saying. How could Theoden not think he was a good person? He was more than just decent! Obviously telling him that was not working to make himself see differently.

"Well you're a hero to me." Mikhail whispered, so quiet maybe the other wouldn't even hear him. He nodded his head a little dejectedly as he started walking again, still moving the way Theoden had been leading him. The night sounds of the forest kept things from being completely silent now that they had stopped speaking, but it still felt uncomfortably silent to Mikhail. He didn't know much of what to really say though.

The episode of being violently ill mercifully began to slowly relent. Joss was resting on the couch, head propped up with a small cushion and his arm laying over his eyes. His breathing was heavy and he'd begun to sweat again. Thankfully the symptoms were easing up, although how long that relief would last was anyone's guess. He groaned when he heard a knock at the door. Phara just patted his hand gently and went to see who it was.

Although it was fairly obvious when Calen announced himself. The healer opened the door and fixed him with a curious look. "Already? That was quick. Joss is on the couch in the office, he got very sick after you left."

Mikhail didn't like it because he wasn't a kid. He was at least twenty! Still, that wasn't all that important right now.

"But...why?" He had listened to what Theoden had to say, and he couldn't help but ask that very simple question. Why would he go out of his way to help Mikhail track down his family? Why wouldn't he just leave him in the woods? The elf didn't owe him anything.

Mikhail on the other hand owed Theoden everything. The man had given him back his freedom by helping him escape those hunters and getting him to the smith to have the collar removed.

"I really don't mean to sound ungrateful. I really don't, because I have never been more grateful to someone in my life, but I just don't understand why you're willing to do so much for me. I don't deserve it. I haven't earned it." He looked up at Theoden with an expression that was so many emotions - fear, uncertainty, sorrow, and a flicker of hope. "Are you really just that good? I didn't know people could actually be like you..."