convergence (Earinor & marquis)

What was it that bothered him, still? Nathan did smell like him, still, yet, it had been long enough for him to have a scent of his own again, for Ros to be alert and his senses to tell him when or where he moved, but that, too, was dulled in its own way, wasn't it? There was something, be it through the endless wanton for this mans soft touch or the hatred for the person he'd become, that Ros forced himself through the feelings he couldn't quite pinpoint. Against all expectation, he felt like he was aimlessly throwing tomatoes at a dartboard - mentally - hoping they'd do the same thing as any amount of darts would. "I'd say we have time, but the sooner you recover, the better, probably." Nathan wasn't of use if they were attacked, with or without his magic, much like he'd said himself, yet, without it was always worse than with it - it blocked off an avenue of possibilities that, right now, were open to neither of them. Ros couldn't always be there for him, he didn't want to be, and he knew that Nate was anything but helpless, after all. They complimented one another well, sure, but that was it. The time to be lovey-dovey with a man such as him had long been over, and the sentiment that the two of them would always be there for one another had been a lie, with the realization of it being a bitter pill to swallow.

Ros sat down everything on the kitchen table and spread the map out, freeing it of its rolled up state. To keep it in place, he simply secured the edges around the corners of the table with some magazines he had floating around, then looked over to Nathan. "We should ... I did some work of that, at least of the official ones, when I was in the office.", he told the other man and went to go get a marker and some pins, affixing the latter to the already established spots on the map. "You didn't report it?", Ros raised an eyebrow, and he was about to say something, yet, he found that there was no use in fighting, currently, even in jest - he was tired, and spent, and he didn't need to police another adult for the mistakes he obviously made on purpose to get people off of his back. Nate did everything he could, even if he was a slacker, and he was quite the fathomable one at that for a reason. "As per paragraph 55 ... I'm not going to fine you. I'm too spent.", he grumbled, as he was called upon. This, he took as an opportunity to saunter over to where Nate was sitting, staring at him ever so intendly. Then, it happened - Roscoe's stomach grumbled, much to his chagrin. Was it in disagreeance over the continued lack of food? It should shut up - he was used to starving. "If I show you how I turned it off, and that turns it back on, we're probably both going to get screwed over. Do you think you can stomach that?", he tried to ascertain before he'd do anything drastic. "I could ... I mean, we have two, right? Want me to break one?" With brute strength, that was. "It would most likely break apart the curse, or seal, inside at least. Before we feed more magic to some sort of endless void."

"I'm working on it... Either way, we can only hope there aren't much more of these things. It might not influence you or other creatures as much, but there is a significant amount of people that would be rendered unable to move for quite some time. Maybe I was lucky too, I technically have a human body, more whimsical creatures might just die, or rather vanish altogether." The outlook was grim, something like this should definitely not exist much less in a form that seemed easily reproducable. From the outside there was nothing much to say about this artifact. It was cheaply made if anything, almost like a toy. Nathan for the first time today actually took a look at Ros whoms voice sounded a bit... out of the ordinary. "You're still hungry aren't you?", he asked him, raising an eyebrow. "This wound is taken a toll on you, you should eat more, whether you like it or not. Are you out? I still know where to get something." Not that he was eager to go out, on foot, alone and possibly in danger.

His focus shifted to the map. "There aren't any reports from other cities, are there?", he wondered then let out a sigh. "I didn't want police and clean up troops flood my shop. Nothing happened anyway and humans walk into my shop regularly as well.", he explained with a shrug of his shoulder. "Technically you're not one to talk, you haven't told anyone in the ministry of the artifact, or these others." Nathan pointed at the table. Looking at Ros who came closer, Nathan raised his eyebrow again as he heard his stomach grumble. "What was that about me not being food?", he asked, but he wasn't scared of Ros, not while he was aware of himself. "I don think I'd die if it hit me again, but it won't help me recover." Nathan looked at the artifacts again, then back to Ros and shook his head. "We don't know what is kept inside? I doubt a seal like that could hold something powerful, but that seems like a bad idea." Nathan furrowed his brows. "I'd have an easier time at home, I do have some alchemistic tools, I could at least figure out what kind of metal this is. My guess is silver, but I can't be sure..."

“Thankfully it doesn’t affect me much, but if you think about, let’s see, pixies? I think they’d implode on the spot. Who knows what it does to a regular shapeshifter.” Ros didn’t want to find out what his - in theory more dynamic, more human counterparts - could actually bring to the table in that regard. To him, this artifact was about as useful as a broken bone to a slobbering, hungering mutt on a short leash; it would perhaps satisfy some parts of their hunger, yet hurt them in the process and never actually amount to much satisfaction at all. Before they could move on with their banter - Ros was already making sure to mark every spot in fitting colors, to emphasize what it was that the leyline broke - he was caught redhanded. Defeated, he let go of a sigh. “Yes. That’s not hard to tell right now, is it?” It was either the spittle and the dry, chapped lips that were completely soaked with saliva at times, or the darting, enlarged pupils - or maybe even the noise his stomach had just made. “I hate to admit you’re right, but you are. And almost. I’ve eaten most of my reserves in the past two days.”, he confessed, his expression ever so slightly puzzled. Why would Nate know where to get food for him this side of the century?

Instead of questioning it, Roscoe shook his head. There was no use. “No, it’s condensed to ours, right now. It’s also mostly contained in this specific part of the city, from Ashfall to Th-“, he was in the midst of explaining, yet didn’t think Nathan actually knew what those places were, even if they were this close to his home. This man had the strange ability to simply live in this world, without paying attention to half of it - everything he didn’t need, he simply never sought out. “Figured. You’re not one for company, and if they found out what stuff you hoard in there, they’d probably fine you until could’ve shuttered your little shop.” Police and their policies were outrageous - the magistrate dictated a good chunk of them and their dogs, leashed ever so tightly, were quite adept at enforcing them for a multitude of reasons. Some of them wanted a bigger paycheck, others though of the recognition they’d receive if they busted a big, illegal operation - and some of them, like Ros, just loved to annoy a man that no longer loved him, even when he loved to annoy him, still. “I’ve not been at work, well, I have, but not actually. As long as I’m not working, that’s a different thing.”, he tried to weasel his way out of his own “shortcomings” - Nathan probably appreciated them, yet someone as uptight as Ros was embarrassed to have them pointed out to him. “You’re not, I’m just hungry. Anyway, you said you knew where to get some? Don’t tell me you still have leftovers.” Unlikely, given Nathan had just walked out of their old life, but who knew? “We’ll leave them as is, then. For now. Do you want me to go back and get your stuff or … no, I think moving our base of operations there is stupid.” Actually, staying here wasn’t the smartest tactic either. “I’ll go see if I have anything useful.”

"Hm... I guess we can be glad it didn't pull you out of your form." It would have been worse for Abaddon probably, but they wouldn't have been able to just book it out of there. However, maybe shapeshifting was a physiological process and therefor not effected by these things. Nathan looked at the hungry Ros, unsure how to call him in the first place. Were they even friends at this point? "I know you won't listen to reason, but you shoul eat and be sated. Your hunger was hard enough on you back then, we don't know in what situations we'll find ourselves. Abaddon might not know who you are, but he knows who I am, maybe he'll find me here, or whoever was after my friend does. She said they might be after me as well. Not that I want to use you as my shield or anything... I'm sorry." It was unfair to him to drag Ros into this like he did and it wasn't fair to expect him to protect Nathan either. Did the end justify the means? Getting this situation resolved was important, more important than their lives even.

Nathan looked back at the map. "Are these all known leylines?", he asked out of the blue. The magistrate was supposed to know every single one and while Nathan lied a bit about his, he made it official too. He just said he discovered it and since nobody knew about the artifact he found, there wasn't much they could assume otherwise. Ros was meanwhile excusing his own actions and Nathan wasn't willing to fight over it. Whatever he needed to feel good about his lies, it didn't matter to Nathan. "Leftovers? No, I just know a bunch of people. I know someone who could get me some human meat." Witches mainly, that needed certain parts of dead humans for their magic and it was easier when one worked at a human hospital or funeral home. "I think my home is too dangerous to stay there, Abaddon might send someone after me and my contact talked about someone else too. Maybe someone doesn't want people to know about the artifact." He would like to get some of his stuff, but maybe it was better not to go near there. "I doubt you have an alchemists kit around... we could buy a cheap one though, maybe it is enough. Or we let a werewolf touch this and find out if it's silver." Nathan thought about their situation for a moment. "I'm not necessarily feeling like going anywhere, but I have enough energy for that. Should we check out a collapsed leyline? Then again I don't even see magic right now, it's annoying... Well I should put my clothes into the washer I guess, so we can go out eventually..." Nathan got up, but then wondered if Ros didn't already put all of his things neatly away somewhere.

"I don't think anything can.", Ros said, matter of factly quite a ways too confident, knowing that he was - maybe - being too soft on someone that hardly ever deserved his kindness anymore. Why care to fight with him now? Was he even willing to? There was something so wrong about all of this in the first place that really, it did not matter. Roscoe sneered at the mans comment, rubbing the bridge of his nose in the process as he hid his discomfort by stretching thereafter, as if he'd simply not slept well and all of his body hurt right about now. "And you think eating will fix my problem?", he barked, almost accusatory, but that was it. "You probably aren't wrong. I should. But I don't ... we've been over that, let's not waste our time walking about it again." Ros would give up all the power he had to be who he wanted to be - a human, just that, a man that he never really and never necessarily could be in his current state, free from the inclination to eat the dead, and safe from the desire for those who, after all the hardships in their life, never could rest, as they were simply fuel for him and his insatiable hunger. "Stop apologizing, that's so unlike you." With a roll of his eyes, he walked towards the kitchen. "It'll be fine, always has been."

As he reached into his fridge, he questioned his own integrity and soon rid himself of it as he grabbed the bag of meat, cut it open and - without even giving a damn about his sleeves - started indulging is own desires, just so Nate would shut up for a little bit. Was this about pleasing himself or a man that he shouldn't actually care for anymore? If only Ros knew himself any better. "Yeth!", he replied from the kitchen, a mouthful of raw meat that barely was fitting in said mouth to begin with. Human anatomy was stupid, and Ros knew why he'd picked something so inhuman in the first place when he'd ventured out in society. If he could just unhinge his jaw, and not stand over a sink while he bit down on some flesh, mincing it into bits and pieces, he'd be all the happier. "Yew know somefone?", Ros replied, face full of food, before he washed it off and then rinsed his hands, noticing to late that all the juice and blood had gotten over his sleeves. Annoyed, he took his shirt off and tossed it in the bin, before walking past Nate again, to his bedroom, to go get a new one. Now, his hunger was dealt with for the meantime, but one look at the mirror on his bedroom wardrobe was enough to tell him that wound was barely healing. Was Abaddons stupid dagger cursed? Poisoned? "What would I owe you?" They could just seek out an official dispensary, but for some reason, Ros didn't feel like it. "Hm. I don't have an alchemists kit, and if Abaddon sends someone after us, I'll turn them into my lunch, how about that? I could go for seconds.", Ros eventually told Nate, resurfacing from his bedroom again, clearly perturbed by something. This was wrong. "Do you know a willing werewolf, then?" The answer would be no. Not really. He knew Nathan way too well. "Your stuff's washed, I hope you don't mind the smell." Which was to say, Ros used some really specific detergent he liked - something Nate most likely didn't. "Splitting up seems unnecessary, what if we just go get a kit? ... You aren't worried about the cost, are you?" Was this guy always broke? Nothing new, then. "Also, we can't stay holed up in here forever."

"Your injury and subsequent hunger almost did...", Nathan answered with a sigh. Maybe Ros didn't remember, but his form very much broke apart for a second and what remained wasn't his usually preferred form either. He doubted he appreciated anyone seeing him like that. At least Nathan saw his form prior to that. As Ros barked as Nathan the mage knew he was right and that Ros knew it too. "I'm just saying that eating disgusting food is better than what happens when you don't and I don't want to be near you when you break apart again..." It had been uncomfortable enough. He felt like a mouse between a cats claw. Not eaten, but played with with no say of his own. Maybe he wasn't seen as food, but at that moment he hadn't been seen as an equal by Ros either. With his powers completely drained he couldn't even teleport out if need be and he didn't like the thought. "It's not unlike me. 40 years ago I just didn't have anything to apologize for. Now I do. You have no reason to help me and I'm hiding at your place because I am not save at my own home."

Nathan sighed, at least Ros was willing to eat the last of his reserves. Nathan looked at the map and contemplated going somewhere to investigate or make sense of the image this painted. Without his powers he doubted looking at some leylines would help though. He'd just look at a regular normal place. "Yes I know other people than you. It's a witch if you must know. A supplier of mine." After all he sold magic ingredients in his shop and finished potions as well. Ros waltzed past him to his bedroom partly undressed and Nathan sighed silently again and looked back on the map. "Why would you owe me something?", Nathan asked. "Stop acting tough, I know as well as you that you don't kill your own food. You had plenty opportunity to eat at Abaddons but you didn't." Nathan shook his head. "I don't know any werewolves.", he replied, then got up to get his clothes. "I didn't say anything about splitting up and money isn't an issue either. I know we need to do something too, but I'd just rather have my magic regenerate first. Let's go buy some tools for me, then I can at least do something, maybe tomorrow I am well enough to check out one of the leylines, until then maybe we can find a pattern in the ones that collapsed and figure out where the next incident will most likely take place."

"That's not ... okay, I'll let you believe that.", he told Nathan, even when he wasn't sure of anything himself. What was true was that something had, most likely, happened but Ros wouldn't be pulled apart by something like that for reasons like that. No, there was something other at work, and that was, without a doubt, something he couldn't and wouldn't be able to change. He'd simply be tired, he'd excuse himself. Right. Like always. Roscoe simply rolled his eyes at the next remark. "I'm not going to eat you, I already told you that much.", he declared with a heavy sigh, hoping to get it into that thick skull of his former partner that he, at no point during any of their interactions in recent memory, had posed any sort of danger. No, he'd never forgive himself if he'd eat that man of all people, and considering how heavily it all weighed on his mind from time to time, he couldn't even believe himself to be a ruthless killer in need of human flesh for sustenance at times. This was, with all odds and ends considered, just something for him to make things right. "You didn't, huh?" Right then and there, he snorted, almost perturbed by the assumption. Right. It had always been his fault, had it not? "Well, thanking me once is enough. You take me for the wrong kind of guy if you think I need that sort of stuff constantly."

Ros didn't get his kicks from torturing anyone, much less from making Nate's life harder than it already was. Factually, it was fine if they simply lived apart from one another, this wasn't necessary, and yet, they were so glued to one another that in a way, they relied on the relationship that both of them had moved on from. It sucked, and then, when it stopped sucking, it sucked more. "Ah. Well, makes sense. I'll not pry." Mages needed witches, witches sometimes wanted mages - it all broiled down to the same thing, and in the end, when it had reached some sort of weird symbiosis, one would not dare pull the two of them apart, lest one kill the other, or something fucked up like that. Ros was not privy to these peoples secrets; he didn't want to be, anyway. "For getting me food. Flesh is, well, kind of like a controlled substance, no? I would get it from a dispensary, but I don't want to because I can't - I've already had my fill for this month - and witches don't always actually adhere by preset rules. In other words, as per paragraph 7-1, we are committing a crime by - persumably - buying flesh. And if we aren't buying it, then as per paragraph 7-3, we are in possession of it." Which was to say, even if Ros consumed the contraband, it wouldn't nullify what they'd engaged in. Would Nathan even care? He doubted it. "I- Well. I could just. Do that again, you know?" No, he couldn't. "I'm ... why are we talking about that?", he tried to deflect, but alas, it was no use, anyway. With the basics out of the way, Ros wanted to mope, but he knew he shouldn't. "Knew it." Not that he did, either. Those bastards were quite a ways away from reality at all times. "Alright. I was just offering, in case, you know, you were tight on money or something?" Ros would always look out for this man, even if he didn't need to, or shouldn't, and that was one of his biggest failures, at times, at the very least. "Are you feeling good enough to run around again?"

Nathan stopped and took a moment before he looked at Ros intently. "I'm older now and I think I am over trying to avoid fights with you or trying not to hurt your feelings. I saw you, the real you, a big shadowy claw that reached out from the shadows before you managed to take the form I came to know you in. You might not easily be killed physically, if at all, but that is hardly your biggest concern. This... persona you created for yourself can very much disappear, especially if you unintentionally do something you wouldn't do now that you pull yourself together.", he told him firmly. The times he kept those things to himself because he thought there was no point in Ros knowing or in hurting him were over. He needed to hear and know this. "You eating me is not my biggest concern. You never remember how you acted once you're back to normal again... let me tell you that it never felt good in hindsight and this time you were at best inappropriate without me having any powers to protect myself. I'm glad you took my no as a no, still it wasn't very enjoyable being a toy to you." With another sigh he crossed his arms infront of his chest. "I'm not thanking and apologizing to you for your sake."

Nathan continued his venture to his clothes and changed aroun the corner away from prying eyes. He also pulled his hair back and sloppily tied them together with a hairtie. He came back out and looked at Ros once more. "Nobody will know so it doesn't matter.", he sighed. As long as Ros didn't tell anyone about the flesh nobody would know. There wouldn't be any traces left anyway. "You are what?" He didn't intend to let Ros weasle himself out of his self reflection. "I made good money with my shop, thank you very much." Another sigh. Again Ros never took him or his ventures seriously. Nathan didn't need much to live, he spent his money on his research and on artifacts, but not all of it. "I'll be able to go on a stroll without keeling over, but that's about all that's in my power right now I think."

Being stared down by Nathan never felt nice - it often seemed like he was pulling out some sort of trick, like he never meant it seriously, but Ros knew this man, and he'd lived together with him for too long; they had been the same person for many years, deeply in love, to the point where they failed to pinpoint their own shortcomings just ever so slightly, couldn't tell where one of them ended and the other began, and yet, right now, it was as if the magical bandaid of love had been torn of and the once bleeding, gaping wound their connection had created had turned into nothing more than a simple scar, dusted over and ashy, maybe a bit dry, even. "So you saw a claw, and?", he tried to downplay the consequences of his own problems and the situation that he'd wrought himself into. There was many a reason for his kind not to mingle in this world, with the other creatures, not when they were borne from a void, deeper and darker than reality. "I have things under control. I always do. You're acting like I don't, and I apologize if I got handsy, but there won't be anything of the sort anymore. I'll keep my word." Which meant he'd have to take precautions - Roscoe had always known he wasn't for this world, but frankly, this just showed him that he was definitely not meant for any sort of relationship with prey. "Oh, I know you wouldn't. It's for yourself." To feel better about what he'd done, wasn't it?

With a sigh, he slipped back into the shoes he'd taken off earlier and grabbed a mantle from his coathanger - Nate really wanted to go outside already, then? Well, Ros wouldn't stop him if he could avoid it, really. "You think nobody will, but there's eyes and ears everywhere. They just ignore what precarious things you're saying for the most part because they're mine.", he informed the thieving mage, once more making sure that Nate understood just how lucky they were, at least in some regards. Roscoe could, and would, keep the magistrate off that mans back if he wanted to, but in the end, that hardly was a guarantee for it to persist forevermore, especially if his mood ever changed. "I am perfectly capable of hunting for myself and not relying on others. We both know that. I am just not doing it because there's rules I have to adhere to, and we also both know that to be true.", he made sure to reiterate. It was stupid, wasn't it? For him to profess such things, to still act like he had any sort of clue what he was really talking about. "And it's out of commission right now. I am just looking out for you.", he grumbled. Nathan was always like this - he never wanted to be treated as any less, when Ros was the one that had disposable income because he didn't like spending it and Nate was relying on his own shop to feed him, even when he sometimes didn't do all that rosy. "Alright, go grab a coat then and let's leave. And don't say you don't need one, I don't want to nurse you when you get sick."

And there Ros was again, downplaying, gaslighting, acting like Nathan was overreacting when he clearly wasn't. He wasn't willing to take this anymore. "You won't keep your word, just don't make promises you cannot keep. I don't blame you for your nature, but ignoring it doesn't make you any different and you certainly didn't always have yourself under control. Fine, don't believe me then even though you clearly don't remember anything that happened. You know what? I'm not even sure why I cleaned up after you. The whole floor from the bathroom to the kitchen through the living room to your bedroom was full of blood and the sheets you probably found in the washer? Soaked. Who put them there? Me. Was that the first time? No. Will it be the last? Hopefully, but I doubt it." Ros hadn't changed a bit or if he has he only changed for the worse. Nathan didn't want to deal with all of this anymore, he left for a reason. "Sure.", he simply answered, not wanting to fight over it anymore. He'd usually already left if he had the magical means to just vanish.

"I was fine for the last decades without you.", he told him. He didn't need his help or him looking away when he made dealings nobody should know about. Clearly that nosy man had no idea who Nathan knew. He didn't know about Shiva nor his witch friends or any other. "You don't want to kill, that is why you left your home. Why are you even trying to hide that from me of all people? I know you since you fled your own people, I know you, even though you try so hard to hide your true nature behind this facade of yours. I never understood why you want to be seen as a stuck up guy that loves his rules so much, when you changed the rules of your nature for yourself and when all you want is not to kill those beings that you wanted to befriend instead of eat. Roscoe is a lie and you even lie to yourself." Nathan knew that telling Ros this would do nothing, he told him before, or tried to at least, but he never wanted to listen. While Nathan was someone who always was stretched and formed into something he wasn't by his family, Ros had his whole physiology to contend with. The mage left his home because he couldn't stomach his families expectations anymore and because he simply wanted to be himself. Seeing Ros who went off in the opposite direction hurt Nathan in a way and it still did. "I don't need you to look out for me financially. My shop did very well, I know you can't fathom me doing well in any way but it did." Nathan did in fact grab one of Ros coats and put his hood over his head. "I think I changed my mind, I could do for some time alone. The shops aren't too far, I can go alone..."

Ros was used to their conversations ending on this note - one found a flaw in the other and couldn't stomach what was being said, and yet, he wasn't a youngster anymore, he was well over a hundred years old at this point, even if barely, but he wasn't as childish and as stupid as he had been before anymore. Yet, what Nathan said, was it not true? Ros bit his lower lip - he was getting confused on whether or not he should say something or shut the fuck up already. Right. "Why are you like this?" Nathan loved to act like he could do nothing wrong, like he hadn't done anything wrong in ages and as if Ros was the one that was cursed with the understanding that he, in all ways but one, was a beast that faulted his own nature for the way he was - he wanted to change, but instead, he never did, or at least never could, not under the eye of this man, where he was scrutinized and in turn, he did the same to him, pulled him apart one by one, sinew for sinew and muscle for muscle, trying to figure out just how easy it would be to figure out his inner workings. "It was the last time.", he declared, knowing that, in the ened, it probably wouldn't be. He could fix that, regardless, and he would. Ros didn't want to see that man, of all people, in a light that made it ever so abundantly clear that he was struggling through a life he'd created for himself.

"So was I. I'm not being condescending, I'm just offering help.", he snarled in return, rued by the fact that his well-meant gesture was tossed out like some sort of coupon that nobody had ever asked for. Did Nathan hate him that much? He could suit himself. Ros' eyebrow twitched. It only got worse from here on out. "And you think you know all that about me? Do you think I'm so incapable of change that all these years later, any of that holds true? Or that that ever was true? You assume I fled, you assume I don't want to kill and eat them, and right now, you're assuming I'm lying to myself. Get out of my hair. You're invested in things that are none of your business and telling yourself you know me so well when you are the one that just up and left, after promising me that you'd never be like that. I'm not sure why I should tell you anything about me, or should ever have done it, when all you like to think about me are empty assumptions. To you, I'm just the same as I always was - a monster that doesn't want to be what it is. That's not true. But that doesn't suit your narrative. It doesn't matter, though, really - at least now I know that in your eyes, I'll never change, no matter how much I try, because you'll always see my own shortcomings before anything else. Thanks.", Ros assessed calmly, though, stopping in the doorstep as he ripped the door almost off its hinges when he tore it open. "I'm not as narrowminded as you, so I can fathom you can do well on your own. And actually, I'd prefer that. Get out of my apartment." There was no malice in his voice, simply the sound of his heavy cloak falling to the floor. "Close the door on your way out, and if you run off a third time, at least let me know. The thing you're best at is running away, anyway."

"Like what?", Nathan asked, "Honest?" Why wouldn't he be? He covered Ros for too long, made him believe all was well when he once more starved himself. When he lost control of his mind and senses and became in essence a different person, Nathan dealt with it and then acted like it was fine, he just ate, went to bed and felt better, but that wasn't true. Ros was badly wounded and he needed just some meat and a nap to turn back to normal, but when he was younger there had been whole days of him being hungry like that, his form changing back to something easier to maintain with long hair and claws and a jaw wide and lined with sharp teeth to devour flesh much more efficiently. He never hurt Nathan, not deliberetly, maybe a scratch here and there but that wasn't the point. Nathan regretted playing his games back then, just to get him to calm down and find some food for him without having to fear he'd eat their neighbors. It was his own fault for going along with it and not saying anything, but today he was smarter than that.

"If I needed your help, I'd ask, like I did about that artifact.", he told Ros firmly. All the while he was still upset that Ros was downplaying his situation and the fact that Nathan tried to tell him how unwell it made him feel. 'It won't happen again' was all he said, not even a sorry? He didn't need to feel ashamed or anything but he could still feel sorry for the position he put Nathan in, right? Much as Nathan was sorry for putting Ros into harms way. "You're offende I don't call you a killer? You're not even listening to me." Ros was already different than his family, he had already grown beyond being a flesh eating monster, because he simply chose not to be that. It was admireable and Nathan wanted to help him be simply that, a Ijiraq that managed his hunger and was able to live as he wanted, but Ros turned that into ignoring his own nature until he burst and trying to fit himself into a role so perfect no one could ever attain it. Nathan resigned and just grabbed the door handle to close the door shut. Some time alone to get his head free was probably good and thus he walked down the hallway to the staircase that led to Ros floor with his head very much still focused on what was said. Fair enough, he knew that he always ran away from their fights and even beyond that, but other than Ros at least Nathan could admit that and he apologized for it too, even though it was probably not enough.

He saw the shadow too late once he reached the staircase. He found himself pinned to the wall already by a furry arm. Teeth right in front of his face and stinky breaht, he looked into a werewolves face who started sniffing his neck. "Different clothes won't deter me from your scent, it's definetly you.", he growled through his teeth. Abaddon? He did still employ werewolves after all then. As Nathan wanted to yell for Ros the werewolf pressed his lower arm against Nathans throat, making it impossible for him to make any sort of noise. Was he here to kill him? Probably not, Abaddon wanted him alive before, though now maybe his thoughts of revenge overweighed anything else. Nathan didn't want to find out. He let his hand slide into his pocket. He wouldn't be his sometimes sleezy self if he hadn't snatched one of those artifacts just in case. Knowing all too well what it would do to himself, he activated it anyway. Not that he had a chance against another man, werewolf form or not, but the sudden forced transformation back at least made the werewolf let go of Nathan who dropped to the floor, only to leap away. With this short of an activation he just hoped he was able to turn this thing off again and he was. Praying his magic would at least work a little bit he stretched out his arm and out came a laughably amount of water. However it was enough. He froze it and while the werewolf was once more in his wolf form he actually slipped on the ice below his feet and partly on the stair case which he fell down a few steps. Nathan meanwhile got back up on his feet, sprinting through the hallway back to Ros door, knocking on it loudly.

Was he offended by not being seen as the same vicious beasts as his family was? Maybe, but even then, it barely scratched the surface - Ros was one of the few that didn’t need to worry about anything, one of those that, despite everything, had nothing to fear and to not be considered as gruesome as his peers felt sort of like it was a bad joke, in a way, it hurt him, too. But did he was to be a ruthless monster? No, he’d left that life behind because he’d never felt quite sentient around them, more like a cog in a machine that worked in tandem with all the negative emotions that ever persisted in his life. Regardless of how he’d dare to see it, he felt he was failing himself and not trying hard enough if he kept being who he was born was, or dared to make it seem like he was actually having fun with the things he did way back when - maybe hunting prey was for his own amusement, and maybe, he hurt Nathan with what he’d said. And yet, it wasn’t like Nate hadn’t hurt him. Was he really that childish? He’d best apologize once Nate came back - if he did - because he had an overwhelming tendency not to. What a pain. The two of them were just made to make it all so difficult for one another, weren’t they?

As Ros walked back around in his kitchen, he wondered if he could pacify himself and that ache in his chest with regular meat - if some raw veal would be appropriate enough, or if he should just leave it be and go out whenever he knew Nate was back and he’d be fine to leave. For now, he wanted a tea and to calm his nerves and their frayed edges though - he was about to get it, but there was some hammering on his door and, against all better judgement, he was quick to open it up. “Forgot something?”, he questioned Nate, but he knew better the moment caught a glimpse of something behind the other man. Right. That’s why they shouldn’t split up. Ros pulled Nathan into his apartment, behind him, and put himself between him and that stupid wolf. How did he know where they were? Just their scent? That didn’t bode well. Of course this had to happen to him of all people. “Seriously?” Being injured posed a problem, but regardless, the dog was a laughable opponent - they always were. What an idiot. As the wolf barged in their direction, Ros grabbed him by his arm and twisted it around his back in one swift motion, until he heard the bone crunch below the pressure, subsequently pressing the fleabag against the floor as he yowled. Normally, this wouldn’t cause Roscoe to break a sweat, but right now, it seemed to not agree with him as he drove his knees into the furry figure’s back and kneeled on him. “I’d start talking if you like your spine in one piece.” Just to drive the fact home, he grabbed the wolves’ head on its back and thrust it into the floor.

Nate almost fell over when the door suddenly opened. As always Ros was quick to react and grabbed him by his wrist to pull Nate inside. While the mage stumbled inside, Ros was already between him and the wolf and as Nate turned around, the fight was already over. Despite not having anything at all, Nathan was the one panting the most, slowly getting up from the floor to look at the scene. Ros seemed to have the wolf under control who growled and showed his teeth now that he could transform again. He didn't seem to want to let this form go either. "He didn't say there was anyone else!", he yelled trying to get a look at the guy who pinned him to the floor, but then looked at Nate instead. "Who?", he asked, even though he could guess who it was. Abaddon probably didn't have the full picture of Nates and Ros relationship, maybe he didn't think they were together, or Ros would pose much of a threat after being wounded. Everyone underestimated that man and nobody really knew how he worked, if they even knew what he was.

Nate shot Ros a glance. He had to thank him later, even though he didn't want any thanks, especially not from Nate it seemed. As his gaze lingered he thought about everything they ever said to eachother and all that happened between them. Shaking all those feelings off, he looked back at the wolf. He didn't seem too surprised he was punched out of his wolf form for a second, he probably knew what Nate had there and was here to get it back maybe. Considering it hurt him when he used it, they probably thought sending a wolf was fine, with them picking up his scent more easily than any other creature as well. There was no doubt in his mind Abadon sent this man, but he didn't want to put words in his mouth. "What are you going to do with him?", Nate asked honestly interested in his fate. Turning him over to any officials might lead to problems, what if he talked? Just letting him go would probably not be the best idea either though. Nate sighed. "How many of you are after me?" He didn't want to imply Ros, they probably could pick up his scent as well from the club, but they didn't know who he was and it was probably better it stayed that way.

These furry bastards were always so unpredictable and noisy - arresting any of them never was fun, especially if he wasn't equipped for it, which was the case right at this moment. What a shame; a pair of silver handcuffs would be in order for disturbing the peace in his home and worming his way into the safe space that Ros had carefully curated over the years. "Who? We both can guess that much.", he answered Nathan on the werewolves behalf, who almost seemed like he didn't want to talk more than necessary, even if he also seemed to like venting his anger. In Ros' opinion, he probably could do well with anger management, but they both knew that was unlikely to happen, given his line of work and that it would impact the stability of his job, or whatever it was that werewolves were doing these days. "Why wouldn't there be anyone else? To get in here, you'd have run past names by the bell at the front door. Did you just guess where Nathan was? He isn't even on them.", Ros huffed and drove the mutt's face deeper into the wooden floor that he'd been forcing him against - if he used just a little more pressure, his spine would crack in places it shouldn't, and that would be something only an experienced mage would be willing to fix. Or a surgeon, if human medicine was that far.

As he kneeled there, he thought for a bit - one quick snap and it would be over, they'd be rid of another man and Ros' consciousness wouldn't need to tell him that what he did was right, because in essence, it was. This man had attacked Nate, so why not repay him for his stupidity by snuffing out his last light? It would serve him right and it would send a message into the right direction, but then, maybe next time he'd have to deal with ten of these bastards and while they'd be manageable, he was still injured and wanted rest first - to heal, that was, before he took on an army of wolves. "Well, I was thinking he'd be suitable for dinner. What do you think?", he proposed the insane idea to Nathan, which caused the wolf the struggle underneath Ros - there was a slight tinge of panic in the air as he tried his best to flail his arms, move his legs and weasel himself out from under the ijiraq. "Dinner? What the fuck's that supposed to mean? They told me that I'd deal with some dumb mage, not that he and his weird familiar were going to eat me!", the wolf protested, and Roscoe grumbled. Familiar? What was Nate, a witch? Whatever. "How many? I'm not telling you!" Ros thrust the wolves head into the floor once, then twice, picking it up by the hair and slamming it back down. "How about now?" "Hell no!" There was silence for a moment. "So, about that dinner?" "Fine!"

Ros butted in, thankfully not saying a name, but Nate shot him a glance anyway. "And I still would like to hear it out of this mans mouth.", he grumbled. Nate had the feeling there was more to all of this. Shiva wasn't that afraid over Abaddon alone, but he still couldn't make heads or tales of it. Nothing about this artifact seemed right, but Nate couldn't explain it. "Abaddon... ", the werewolf grumbled, which wasn't the answer Nate was hoping for. He bit his lip. He needed what he went out for in the first place, he needed to find out more about that thing in his pocket. "I could smell him from miles away, dedpite your attempt of masking it.", he now answered Ros und Nate raised an eyebrow. "Masking it?", he asked the Ijiraq that probably did some weird Ijiraq thing again. It wasn't important right now. Nate needed the right tools and he needed a save place. Ros was strong, but not undefeatable... Probably. What now?

Ros wasn't very nice to the werewolf and it didn't take much for him to break his carefully curated persona he was so proud of. Nate didn't care much about this guys life and yet, Ros did, somewhere deep down, he'd not actually eat him. "He sent ten of us. But he'll send more. You better give him back what you stole", the wolf finally opened up. Nate crouched down to look at him. "Then you better tell them that anyone else coming after us will end up as dinner.", he warned him. No prison for this guy, but Abaddon would do worse to people not obeying him. Killing him had no benefit to them either however. "Just let him go.", he told Ros as he was getting up again. "Maybe the warning sticks..." Nate sighed. He didn't believe it would and he was already thinking about where they could go now. He didn't have the right tools to mask his scent either right now. Absent minded he left the two in the hallway and walked back into Ros apartment.

Grace was something people had to bargain for and the likes of a man as faul as himself bore none of it, not when he didn't want to. Whether it was because he feared someone was clammoring at him with all their might, trying their earnest to make him come out of that mold he'd carefully forced his body to conform to, or simply to make wrongs right, it mattered little. Right now, Ros was as dumbfounded as Nate often times looked to him, all the while the cretin yapped like a miserable whelp, spewing just what they wanted to hear from his foul-odor bearing maw. Was that the truth he imparted upon them or another lie, carefully crafted as to not upset a master such as his own? Ros couldn't be bothered to decipher this man, as much as he enjoyed taking them all apart for what they were worth, time and time again. "Attempts?", he scoffed, obviously scorned as the expression on his face soured. This wound was driving him insane and this damn wolf had stumbled within his grasp at the wrong time. Right now, he wanted nothing more than to rip him into at least two parts, none of which would bear any semblance of his self once he'd be done with him. Ros had to steel himself, for better or worse. "Same old. I'll explain it later, not in front of him."

That would serve no purpose after all. With a grumble he let go of the werewolf, likely a match for him in another life but not this one, he dusted himself off, following Nate's lead for no reason in particular at all. "Fine.", he complied with Nate's demand after all, his gaze burning into the wolves very own. "I will make dinner out of you and your companions if you dare show yourselves here again, you hear?" A toothy grin followed, not quite unhinged yet hopefully harrowing enough to get the message across. The werewolf didn't seem too impressed, yet at least he understood, for the most part. As he regained his bearings, Ros got back up himself once more. "Scram", he hissed, demanding as ever. That seemed to do the trick and Ros, watching him scamper off, almost falling halfway down the stairs while stumbling over his own legs, returned to his apartment where he firmly closed the door behind him. Nate had gone back in as well, hadn't he? So much for leaving. "What now? I can't make dinner out of ten werewolves at once ... well, I could, but I can't eat that much.", he relented, maybe his idea of a joke. Right. There was an explanation that he owed Nate, yet, he didn't feel like handing it out unprompted. "That means if we go out along, we get jumped or what? This is already pissing me off."

"We both know you can.", Nate answered, but that wasn't important. He still felt like shit, even more so now. He was able to use some of his magic but trying to conjure a flame ended in a tiny little excuse of one instead. Losing a werewolf was easy enough if one could teleport, not that Nate could teleport very far, but now he couldn't at all. "I'm sorry I led them here.", he told Ros. Nate was out of ideas. Ros already was his last straw, he never intended to appear in his life again and he wasn't sure if it had been the best of ideas. Nate pulled the cursed thing out of his pocket, as if he hadn't looked at it for long enough to know every little imperfection already. "I still need those tools and materials. The faster I can find out more about this the better. Maybe I can even get my magic back out of it, reverse it's power somehow. I guess you'll have to come with me."

It didn't get him closer to the artifact that was stolen from him, or any answers, but he didn't know what else to do. He was useless without his powers, not that they were very useful in a situation like this to begin with. The leylines too, maybe they could predict the next one collapsing and could find something there or Ros managed to get him to an already collapsed one. Nate put the thing back in his pocket and rubbed his arm for a moment. That stupid werewolf ripped his coat. Nate closed his eyes for a moment to collect himself. Too much was going on and he already dragged Ros into more problems than he ever should have, but he couldn't do this alone, he wasn't strong enough. "Come on let's go."

"You almost wound me.", he responded in turn. Surely, someone like him - a glutton that didn't need to necessarily care for a diet at any point - could eat ten werewolves if someone would let him. Even now, despite theoretically eating his fill, his stomach felt like an endless pit that wasn't satisfied by frozen blocks of half-thawed, greying flesh. Ros wasn't the easiest person to get along with, that much they had established long ago, but Nate - for better or worse - had a privilege that few of the more amicable sort ever would: Ros would do his bidding, not because he needed to, much rather because he felt somewhat compelled to. Did he feel compelled to? Who could say. "You? Apologizing? For something like this?", Ros questioned, an eyebrow raised as he fixated Nathan with his gaze. This man was, if anything, an enigma to him. In life they'd never get along again, that much was for certain, but in death, whenever it was that it claimed his ex, he couldn't follow. Why would he? To be eternal was something many strifed for in life and while it sounded so very absurd, he knew himself to be not lesser than them - he'd likely look for the same, if he needed to. "I suppose it is only right I keep an eye on you."

Another pretense - Roscoe didn't want to care, but something compelled him to, almost like there was nothing else left for him to do. Still, the thought of having to teleport anyway made his stomach turn and he couldn't promise either of them he would keep whatever he had scarved down earlier in his stomach. "By foot?" The way he sounded, he seemingly couldn't help but be astounded. All the anger that had collected within his being was subsiding, all the anger he had felt was negated for better or worse for a moment and the thought that lingered on the dumb werewolf that had accosted them wasn't helping that. Why did he care? His life was policies, taxes, grandeur - making other peoples lives worse. Not helping someone he had less than a morsel of respect left for, or so he had told himself. Was he too harsh on Nate? What a prepostorous idea - tough love was important to those like him, they'd never get anything done otherwise. "Do you want one of my coats?", he asked, feigning interest for the most part, already taking another one off the hook.

Ros seemed awfully calm. He loved order and got even more obsessed with it since Nate left, but now he was kind of jovial, given the fact that something big was going on, Nate was sure. Something that threatened a lot of lives, be that magical ones or not. "Well it seems we can't stay here. There will be more and I don't exactly have anywhere else to go..." If he could have teleported out of Abaddons club they wouldn't have been able to pick up a scent. Now they did not only know where they were, they also could find out who Ros was, which maybe caused different problems. Aside from that they might figure out what he could do and shape shifting wasn't as surprising anymore. It was strange how he worked, the fact this artifact didn't hurt him at all. It made a werewolf shape crumble in an instant, but Ros was fine. Well, in a sense the man standing before him wasn't his actual body either. He was formless in a sense and him changing was just part of his being, not anything magical.

"Yes by foot. I could barely freeze the puddle outside...", Nate crumbled. He felt useless, he felt human. How did they manage to live like this? Completely without any abilities. He was as close as a magical being could get to a human, body wise anyway, if only for tools and alchemy humans could even learn what he did half of the time, but having to go through the world without any of the benefits his kind had? It seemed terrible. No wonder they invented so many things to make up for it. Why pay a mage to teleport someone if they had cars, trains and planes. Nate looked at the coat he was offered and he nodded with a sigh. "Sure.", he responded simply because he didn't want to waste any more time. Nate stopped in his tracks for a moment. He didn't want to give the artifact out of his hands, much less did he want to give it to Ros, lest he'd bring it to the ministry, but he pulled it out anyway and handed it over. "You should hold onto it. You can protect it better than anyone else."