"Hey, Katie? Sorry for calling you out so late..."

The evening light had faded away, leaving two girls sat on a lamp-illuminated park bench in the late pm's, wrapped up in layers as their breath clouded before them in pretty swirling patterns. Katie, a girl with long black hair, dark skin and beautiful brown eyes, turned to look at her girlfriend with moderate concern. At first she'd expected to be called to the park so late because Sally wanted to go on a moonlit stroll, but seeing the girl's clouded and mysterious expression cemented for her that this was not the case.

"Sally, what's up?" Katie questioned, her bright eyes now seeming to dull a little. She knew what was coming, or at least she had a feeling that she did.

"Katie... I- I love you, I really do," Sally began quietly, "a-and I wanted to apologise to you for being so distant as of late..."

"There's nothing for you to apologise for," Katie interjected quickly, her hands wrapping around Sally's in a desperate attempt to rid the girl of her guilt and insecurities. "Please Sally, listen to me. You're going through some really hard times right now. Don't think I'm upset that you're spending more time with Tara and Damien than you are with me - friends come first and you guys need one another. I'm not upset at all, so don't prioritise me over your own emotions."

"Katie..." Sally tailed off.

"If you need a break from commitment to the whole relationship thing then please tell me. I'll wait for you if you need time. A-and if you need to see more of me then I'll stay up late to come to you. Just know that you're not alone," Katie said softly. After a moment of silence to take in Katie's words, Sally hung her head and began to sob - the sobbing only got worse when Katie pulled her into a tight embrace and soothed the girl, her soft voice telling her to let it all out; to absolve herself of worry, even if it was only for this evening.

The pair stayed that way for quite some time, holding one another like they were the last people on Earth. The last people tying a broken world together. There was something so special about that moment to Sally, who'd gone to the park having rehearsed breakup lines and written page upon page to try and find a way that wouldn't hurt Katie, but instead found herself only loving her girlfriend more. Even though Katie was a year younger than Sally, her maturity far exceeded anything the blonde girl had ever seen before.

She thought about her non-stop on her walk home from the park. Tears still clung to the corners of her eyes and her breathing was still shaky but she pushed through regardless, her pace only increasing.

Three knocks on a giant pine door and a ring of a doorbell later, an woman - almost a perfect replica of Sally, just 30 years older - stood in the doorway with a soft, sympathetic expression, her expensive designer clothes still on as though she'd just been in a meeting, though in Sally's family business clothes was just normal attire. "Sally darling, is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine, mother," Sally responded formally, slipping off her shoes and jacket and allowing the butler to take them off to the cloakroom. Without sparing her mother a second glance, she made a beeline for the second hall and the grand staircase that led to the second layer of their mansion home, but not without being stopped by a certain someone else.

"Father," Sally dipped her head to the man who stood before her at the top of the stairs, "please may I go to my room?"

"Did you dismiss the girl?" her father asked blandly.

"Dismiss? Father, she isn't an employee," Sally muttered, though she kept a poker face as to not show her insecurity in front of him. She knew better than to seem fragile at home. Even the slightest show of weakness would cause the dam to burst - she wouldn't be torn down again.

"You need to cease this foolishness, girl. Do you know how much of a distraction that girl has been for your studies? You spend all day floundering about like a lovestruck doe and no longer work on your assignments — you'll never achieve your dreams if you don't work hard for them. So, did you dismiss her?" he questioned once more, his gaze scrutinising. He was waiting for an opening.

"Please may I go to my room?" Sally repeated, waiting for the man before her to explode on her like a ground mine.

And, of course, he did.

* * *

It had taken [Y/n] quite some time to leave her room after her bath. She'd sat on her bed, huddled up in her towel, rocking back and forth in a strange habit of self-soothing. She couldn't really think straight, nor could she focus on anything visually. Her head was spinning. Still, she hadn't wanted to see Laion about it despite the fact that she knew she should. As the lack of focus grew worse, however, she came to terms with the fact that she needed to seek some form of assistance.

She stayed close to the wall as she walked to the living room, very aware of her unawareness, as strange as that may sound. Thankfully the room in question was only a couple of doors away, and the moment that Laion saw her dizzy state in the doorway he rushed to her side to lead her to one of the sofas. He sat her down gently and gave her a look of concern.

"[Y/n]? Can you hear me properly?" he questioned. She gave him a slow nod and the boy looked down. "Hmm... how about sight? You seem like you're struggling to focus." Another nod; though vague, Laion understood and dipped his head. "I expect this is because your body is trying to heal too much at once and you're not used to the strain yet," Laion hummed. "Can you stay here for just a moment? I need to make you something," he said. Of course [Y/n] obliged, she wasn't in the right state to argue. It was Laion who decided to revise his proposal. "A-actually, come with me," he said quickly, standing up and holding out his hands so he could help [Y/n] up. She gave him a look of confusion.

"Why did you change your mind?" she questioned tiredly. Laion couldn't exactly tell her the real reason - his worries may say more about him than anyone else.

"I just need to keep an eye on you. I don't want you to pass out or anything," he said quietly, "and if I see something that contradicts or adds to my hypothesis then I can alter the medicine accordingly," he shrugged. [Y/n] nodded slowly, taking his hands. He pulled her up with ease as though she weighed the same as a fragile leaf. [Y/n] couldn't help but be surprised as she'd always pinned Laion as rather fragile himself, but that clearly wasn't the case. He propped her up and led her down the corridor to his room. The overpowering scent of plants hit them as they stepped inside. He then took her over to his bed, perching her on the edge of it.

"What's this?" [Y/n] asked, looking at something on Laion's bedside table. He turned around (having just walked over to his workbench) and followed her gaze. It was a strange mess of reed-looking leaves, tied tightly together with rope.

"That's a spider plant, or at least some of it. I wanted to see what conditions they could reproduce in as their method of reproduction is sending off runners and cloning itself, but thus far nothing seems to have happened. I may have been too harsh on my first experiment by suffocating it," he shrugged. [Y/n] couldn't see what Laion was doing as his back was turned to her, but it seemed as though he might be cutting something as the sound of a knife against a board could be heard.

"You're kinda mean to your plants," [Y/n] mumbled.

"What?" Laion laughed, raising a brow. "I don't think they're overly upset with me, [Y/n]," he chuckled.

"They might be," she shrugged. Part of Laion didn't really want to medicate her just yet. The drowsiness made her let her guard down and it'd been ages since she'd so much as attempted to make a joke in front of him. Alas, he knew better than to keep her waiting. After all, he'd taken her with him because he didn't want the others to take advantage of her while she's all drowsy. Choosing not to medicate her so he can have a nice chat? That's stooping to their level.

But if he put some poppy seeds in there then maybe he could keep her in this state for just a bit longer...

"Laion?" [Y/n] questioned, her voice now sounding a bit sad. Laion turned to face her, his head tilted - no, he wouldn't use poppy seeds on her. That wouldn't be fair. "Did you really agree to send me to Rayne...?"

"Yes," Laion said quietly, turning back around to continue working on her medicine. "How about you lay down, [Y/n]? Your eyes are lidded," he mumbled as he strained some plants into a vial. He didn't want to talk about the whole mess with Rayne. Not because he was angry, nor because he was feeling guilty for allowing it to happen. Laion just didn't want [Y/n] to think about Rayne too much. The more you think about someone, the stronger your opinion of them becomes. No doubt the others would forget this pivotal fact.

Laion didn't want [Y/n] to like Rayne, but he didn't want her to loathe him either. He simply wanted her to stop acknowledging him. Forget about his existence. If it were only him, he'd help her, but the others got in the way.

"I'm not tired," [Y/n] finally responded, breaking the boy out of his thoughts. He blinked in surprise as he noticed how his thoughts had turned so dark at such a fast pace.

"Yes you are," Laion laughed softly, turning to look at her again with one brow quirked. "You're swaying now. Go on, lay down."

"I can't..."

"What do you mean?" Laion questioned, placing the pestle and mortar he'd been using to grind some cardamom pods back on the table and walking over to [Y/n]. Was she scared? Most probably — she'd just been through hell and back, and half of her brain was probably still in Rayne's basement. The lavender in the bath was suppose to put her at ease but [Y/n] was still clearly very tense.

"I... I'm scared, Laion," [Y/n] finally whispered. "I'm out of my depth and I don't know— I— I don't know who anyone is anymore."

"Forget about everyone," Laion responded, his tone equally soft. He placed his hand on her upper back; he relished in the fact that she wasn't trying to push him away this time. "Forget about everything but yourself; you're safe now, you have nothing to worry about. All you need right now is sleep."

"B-but—" [Y/n] was silenced by Laion placing a finger over her lips. He gestured for her to lay down once more, and this time she obliged.

It was only a matter of seconds before a warm veil of slumber encompassed her.

* * *

"How long has she been out?" Draka questioned frustratedly, standing in Laion's doorframe and glaring at the boy with a look of loathing and irritation. He and the others weren't exactly fond of how much time [Y/n] had spent in Laion's room. Every time they pried he told them she was still sleeping, but she'd been sleeping so long now that it felt unrealistic and they'd lost track of time. Draka most of all, who'd spent the whole time she was unconscious punching the shit out of a punching bag. His hands were now pretty messed up, despite the fact that they healed up faster than they got damaged.

"3 hours," Laion responded blandly. "Are you all really that impatient?"

"Three hours my ass," Draka spat back. "You're drugging her, aren't you? You're trying to keep her to yourself," Draka hissed.

"Your paranoia says more about you than it does about me, Draka," Laion responded levelly, though his expression did sour a little in response to Draka's words. "Do you remember what you said about Rayne after you first met him? Do you remember how terrified you were?" Laion questioned. Draka shrunk into himself a little. "Could you imagine how terrified [Y/n] would be, then? A human girl, completely powerless, trapped in that man's basement for him to do as he likes?" Draka paused for a moment.

"You're not suggesting that... that he..." he tailed off, unable to bring himself to say what was on his mind. Laion processed his words in confusion before what Draka was implying clicked. He reeled back in shock.

"Oh god no, no way, not Rayne. No, if I thought for a second he'd done something like that then I would've killed him when I got there," Laion muttered, "but that doesn't change the fact that Rayne would've hurt her. Not... not in that way, but in others which - in her eyes - are likely more damaging."

"And you thought letting her stay with him was a good idea?" Draka hissed.

"Did we have any other choice? She needs a repercussion to fear to stop her trying to run away. It had to be done," Laion spat back. In one swift movement, one of Draka's damaged fists collided harshly with the doorframe, leaving a splintered indent.

"You manipulative bastard," he growled out, staring at the blonde in disgust. Laion laughed blandly.

"I could say the same about you."

Just as Draka was about to swing his fist at Laion instead of a mass of wood, his wrist was grabbed. Draka turned to look at the person who'd stopped his attack, his red eyes burning with anger. Though his expression quickly changed to confusion.

"Aytsa?" Draka questioned. It wasn't particularly strange for any of them to be mad at one another, but Aytsa was certainly the last person Draka saw coming to anyone's defence. The boy was so painfully unpredictable, however, that Draka couldn't help but be slightly scared of him. Especially now during a show of his unpredictability.

"Maybe you should calm down, Draka," Aytsa said, a smile forming on his face. It wasn't a malicious one, but his eyes didn't quite smile with him. Threat wasn't necessarily intended, but it was definitely received.

"Whatever," Draka growled out, shrugging Aytsa off and taking a few steps away from the both of them. "If I find out that you really have been keeping her asleep, Laion," Draka began, his eyes narrowing, "I'll crush your skull."

With that, he stalked off down the corridor. Aytsa turned to Laion with a bored look on his face, the smile now fading.

"We need to talk."