[OPEN] skipping stone

[connor crayze sykes]

When something is thrown into the sea, it takes time to finally come back.
Connor was lost, falling apart. He was sliding downhill dangerously fast. He hadn't heard from Quinn in nearly a week, hadn't seen anything of him. Nobody Connor talked to seemed to know where he was. That had only added to the growing problems. And then there was Ace. Connor had a damn ton of his drugs now, and about half of his cash left. Without Quinn there, there was no keeping Connor from selling himself, though, a growing risk.

For now, Connor was avoiding everybody except maybe Perseus. Even so, with these drugs, with the recent injections having driven him near mad, Connor was losing it. It wouldn't be long before somebody had to lock him up for his own good at this point.

He jabbed the needle into his inner elbow, feeling it puncture the vein as he injected the drug, eyes closing. Gentle tears fell and he pulled the needle back, wiping blood away from already bruised skin. He was flying out of his mind, dangerously close to too much fire in his veins. Coming down would be hell. If he ever did.

Vacant, dilated blue eyes stared across the grounds of Chaspel Heights, and he began to tremble as he watched a few people pass, walking around in the distance. The place had vast space, could have been a great community had this testing not torn them all apart, had there been away to avoid the people you were stuck with every day. You couldn't escape your mistakes here, and at this rate, Connor was already becoming the lowest of low in their little fucked up community.

[ALEXIUS CASUIS ERDIUS]

They were all a pack of fucked up little lab rats. Ace had his way of working through this community, making sure every last one of them knew his name. The culture of this place... how could someone describe it? It was a bunch of crumbling youth in rebellion, gradually breaking and making themselves something... something ugly. They all had their good days and their bad days, the days that they hate the entire world around them. The creature can't help but try and thin things through. Ace can't help but make himself a part of the community in the way he knows.

The creature knows that he's vital. There's something important about the fact he's supplying this place with the recreational things, with the very lifeblood that keeps the people in this place breathing. Dacia had been around this morning with newspapers, with all the things that he'd missed since the last visit. Obama had won again, a home run for the gays and the women and all the fuck ups that were making this great country what it was. The news of Colorado too... it made him grin. He was feeling unusually light as he made his way through he grounds, loaded down with the latest round of pills and powders.

All but what he knew he needed to personally deliver was sitting in his dorm room, waiting for things to come. Quinn's order was prepaid, dropped off by the creatue that didn't need a key to enter. He doesn't have a problem dropping it into a desk drawer. The man keeps ice in one of his pockets, a pack of cigarettes that are less tobacco and more pot sitting in his pockets. Yes, the ice has a home.

It's on the way to find the thin, winged creature that he nearly trips over-- well, speak of the devil. "Connor." The creature finds a small smile stealing across his lips, dark eyes starting to glimmer. Ace moves to sit beside the winged man, lighting a cigarette with a flick of his lighter. "Life sucking as much as usual?" The creature sighs softly, blowing a lazy puff of smoke before offering the cigarette to Connor. This afternoon might be alright after all.

click

[connor crayze sykes]

Connor jumped at the voice and trip of feet, hissing as his wings spread, fluttering. Dilated eyes looked up, blue barely visible, and he watched quietpy as Ace took a seat next to his frail thing. Funny thing, how deteriorating the Monster could be. It became a lifeline. No food, no sleep. At the rate Connor had gone, it was no wonder he was permanently sick, dying.
And now he had that lifestyle back. One he had needed desperately.

This was it. This shell, this sick animal. This was Connor in his element, the only escape he knew. The only way to forget all the hurt, the pain, death and loss. Betrayal.
He nodded slowly, trembling fingers taking what was offered, and he drew a slow breath in before passing it back again.
Ace was dealing monster to a monster himself. But at this point, Connor was vulnerable as much as he was unpredictable. He drew in a shaky breath, playing with the glass needle in his hands, a small bag, spoon and lighter lying discarded at his side.

[ALEXIUS CASUIS ERDIUS]

The young man couldn't help but want to be well liked... charisma. He'd had that before this place took and shattered everything in his head. Maybe if he actually tried he could take that part of himself back. Maybe if he swatted away the drugs that he'd let into his system and allowed the charm to come back... maybe if he wasn't sitting and being rough with the young man he'd found earlier in the week. Ace. What a little coincidence. It was something that he couldn't help but hang onto. Too much damn fun.

"You flying again?" Ace reaches out, putting an arm around the man. He knows someone high out of their mind when he sees it. The spoon doesn't help, hell, he's not blind. Ace's dark, glimmering eyes play across Connor's face. "Hell... penny for your thoughts?" Maybe he actually cares. The marijuana is calming his shaking hands, his skittering mind. Everything slows, becoming a clock that was ticking more quietly... more slowly... more easily.

[connor crayze sykes]

Connor tensed at the initial touch, but he was shaking to terribly and leaned against the body next to him, wings settling along the ground. He nodded mutely, looking towards Ace at the next question. His thoughts were a mess, he was numb. Being that, hazy. "What th-thoughts?" He slurred, breaths unsteady as he stared down at the grass, picking at it once he set the needle aside.

Connor didn't /want/ to think. He didn't want to be here. All he wanted was his baby sister... Then maybe there would be that sliver of a chance at getting better. Fresh tears started down his face, the drugs causing to much confusion for his own good. He clawed at his cheeks, hair, teeth gritting.

[ALEXIUS CASUIS ERDIUS]

Ace doesn't have any worries left. No cares either, for that matter. Well. That's a lie. He cares about Dacia coming with the next round of whatever he was selling. He cares a bit about what's going on in the world outside and the scraps of information she brings. He cares about his friends who give enough of a damn to write. Ace cares that he's not dead.

The young man sits with an arm around the shaggy hairs beast, stroking his shoulders and back softly around the wings. He's tense and that's enough to worry the Greek man. As the man claws at his face he grabs the wrists, pulling Connor's hands away and wiping at the man's face with a sleeve. "I won't have the nearest pretty face all fucked up, now."

[connor crayze sykes]

Connor drew in a breath, pulling scarred wrists away and wrapping his arms around his thin chest. He swallowed, not the best company in such a position. He drew in another swift breath, heart racing more than it should have been. He squirmed again. Drugs, and off his medication since they hadn't replenished it, he was running high risk of a panic attack.
"F-far from i-i-it..." He muttered.

He tugged at the grass once more after unwrapping his arms from around himself. He tugged at his shirt, one of the ones Quinn had got that tied in the back so he could wear it with the damn wings. Again his breaths wavered, shallow and quick, and he reached fr what was left in the bag at his side. He was too far gone to care who even saw.

[ALEXIUS CASUIS ERDIUS]

Ace can feel Connor's pulse spike. It's something that he knows better than he should, and it makes him nervous. "Take a breath, hon." The Greek boy advises, his eyes shifting slightly. Another long drag off the cigarette before it's down to the filter, and he snubs it in the dirt. The next one from the pack is stuffed with something mostly illegal, and it's that one he lights up.

As Connor moves for the baggie, Ace shakes his head. "Wait until your heart calms down. I don't think I can carry you back to campus." The man rakes a hand through his hair, laying back in the grass.

[connor crayze sykes]

Connor listened to him through a mental veil, not completely there. He held tightly to what was in his hand, protectively, tempted to still use it as the male stretched out. All the stress this week, and now his sister, and he really didn't know what to do. He would kill himseld before he thought he had enough.

[zenith kain eridius]

Ace doesn't have the mental capacity to sit still for long. He twitches, his leg jouncing about. The creature spaces out, but he's glad to have Connor there. "Come on... we should go for a walk. Do something." The creature rummages in his pocket for a moment, finding a silvery tablet amongst everything else that he'd been brought on the day. The man places it on his tongue, sitting up, expectant eyes on Connor.

[connor crayze sykes]

Dilated eyes looked towards the other, stronger male and he nodded obediently. Hell, it was funny how those so into drugs could worry about another in such a position. Yet they could be just as cold harded, just as uncaring. As if it were a cover up, to hide the other from the morbid truth both already knew. Funny how Connor's entire life was a paradox like that.
He was vulnerable, just as he could make others the same. A twist of words. In the end, Connor almost always lost.
He had been losing his whole life. This was a whole new sort of fucked up game though. And many were figuring out he was an easy target, an easy sleep or punching bag. He'd grown up with rape and abuse. Perhaps now he tended to ask for it as much as he feared it.
The twisted way his head worked anymore was confusing. He was past the edge, he had been falling for a long time now.

Slowly pushing himself up and pocketing what was in hand, he leaned against the wall, wings ruffled, and stared at the other male as he waited.

[ALEXIUS CASUIS ERDIUS]

Ace takes his damn sweet time getting to his feet. A graceful dancer, maybe, but he was sore. This was a creature that needed a good workout... he hadn't been doing much. It was starting to drive him crazy, having not done much. An athlete needs to be on the move, right?

The Greek man takes a long drag from his cigarette and offers a hand to Connor. "Where to?" The question hangs in the air, a grin dancing on his lips. Right, more charming and less monster this time, right?

[connor crayze sykes]

Connor took his hand, mainly because he was stoned out of his mind and already could barely stand on his own. He shrugged, rubbing warily at his face. There was a reason his drug of choice was a monster over them all. It was so addicting, he'd been on it so long. It was a wonder he hadn't lost his teeth at this point. Sure, they were crooked, but they were still there. Maybe it was the fact that he was always on medication for his dying body. Either way, starving himself on top of an already drug-thinned body had him dancing with death more than usual. He was sliding downhill terribly fast. Perseus had offered forced ways to keep him off drugs when he was around him, Bandit and Christy, but it was obvious he was dependent.

[ALEXIUS CASUIS ERDIUS]

"Come on, I'm starving." Ace is light on his feet, his eyes bright. Hello, starving. It's the pot, he's fully aware-- smoking something to make you hungry enough to eat a horse. Except he liked horses. Whatever. The creature's grin is soft, holding Connor's hand casually. "Ice cream. That's what we need." Talk about a teenage boy with food, there you have Alexius. His eyes are gentle on the other man's face, but he's still every bit the predator.

[connor crayze sykes]

Connor stared at him blankly a moment, then nodded and took an unsteady step, not really sure where he was going though. So he stopped, rubbing at his face again, fingers tugging through his hair. He was getting irritable, uneasy. Blue eyes flicked over his shoulder and he waited for the male to lead him before stumbling alongside.