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Savius walked peacefully out of the suburban neighborhood, bloody but content. The sunset half light easily hid the mess of his clothes, and anyway, who was going to approach a guy with a sword as big as his. Mind, he hadn't used it. He hadn't killed the guy. He would, next time, but this time he'd just wanted to scare him.

To hurt him back.

It hadn't been hard to find him again, he'd gone to that same park, and waited. It'd only taken a couple days. And now the b*****d was broken and bloody. For his part, the Kestrel felt much better about himself.

The street lights were just coming on, creating hard shadows where softness had existed before. Savius marveled at how very long his was. Taller than he was, of course, but tall because he was tall. He opened his wings, studying the shapes he could make.

Reaching the apartment complex, he hesitated on the steps. He didn't want to go up, not yet. He felt so good.

Hurting him had felt so very good.

At the sound of his name, Savius turned away from his shadow, glancing over his shoulder to see what voice could be so familiar yet new while also carrying the flavor of kin. He had no trouble identifying the Raven. It was the wings really, having groomed them more than once, the Kestrel knew those wings quite well. And if they'd changed a bit, if all of his friend had changed more than a little bit, well Iamel had prepared him for that.

Not to mention his own change.

"Xaxis." Soft, now deeper voice still surprisingly soothing and somehow trustworthy. He could be tyrant or poet king with a voice like that. He could be whispering advisor, twisting the throne to his desires. Maybe he would be, or had been. At the moment, he was just a teenage boy, smiling mildly at an old and new friend.

"I thought you might have grown." He stepped forward, circling Xaxis and looking him over openly. Eyebrows went up at the little shake of hips, it seemed strange that a member of kin should be so... pretty. Something there, that he wasn't ready to explore yet. Maybe he'd be more curious if he wasn't so self content and sated at the moment.

"Pretty hair." He reached out to touch a strand of black without hesitation. Xaxis was his friend. That gave him a right to pet him.

"You're such a mess." Savius shook his head, fingers leaving the Raven's hair and moving down to brush lightly over the teens wings. A light touch here, a quick twist there to remove a loose hanging feather. Maybe the Kestrel had changed but whatever those changes were they didn't show in his current actions, so like what he'd done when they were still little.

The theft of the glasses went almost unnoticed as he focused on Xaxis's wings, but the Kestrel managed to offer a slow half smile for his friend.

"They don't suit you." He admitted, with a shake of his head. "You're too pretty for them. I just wear 'em for fun, really."

Why not wear glasses? They'd looked cool when he'd found them, laying around and abandoned, and he'd picked them up almost absent mindedly. Luckily, his vision had not gone bad as he aged, though he still missed the excellent sight he'd had as a bird. Now if he could find glasses that would bring that back for him, life would be good.

And... he was having an impossible time getting at the boys wings properly while standing like this.

"C'mere." He ordered, stepping forward and leaning down a bit. Without further warning Savius had one arm under the boys knees and another under his shoulders, a position that allowed him to lift the raven up and carry him toward the stairs.

It was surprising, Xaxis really wasn't that heavy, all things considered. Not as heavy as Savius had expected, anyway. A bit bony, all told, but considering his own lanky form, he could hardly complain. And the Kestrel, as he'd found out in his recent fight, was stronger than he looked.

"You smell good." He noted, nuzzling Xaxis's hair and openly breathing in the scent of him. It was a strange, heady, even hungry feeling, breathing in the other boy, that was so unlike his usual mild detachment. Like when he fought, Savius felt himself feeling... something, and strongly. And like when he fought, he liked it.

He reached the stairs, Raven boy still in his arms, and sat down, Xaxis in his lap. "That's better."

"Were you sitting on Iamel too?" The Kestrel asked, attempting to get at the Raven's wings and quickly realizing that there was no hope of success while he was on his lap. Still, he didn't immediately push the other boy off, it felt good to have the warm bony weight of him so close, and he was reluctant to pull away from that. And for all his scarves and jingles, Xaxis had plenty of uncovered skin available for nuzzling and petting. Though it might be nicer if his own skin wasn't mostly covered.

But nevermind that. There was a messy raven in his lap, and those wings weren't going to preen themselves. On the other hand... it was starting to get cold, and sickly birds weren't supposed to be out in the chilly night air.

"Wanna go inside?" He asked, glancing over his shoulder at the door to the apartment building. His earlier desire to linger and enjoy the evening light had faded, and besides, as he was just noticing with the closeness of the elegantly dressed raven, he was a bloody mess.

"I need to get cleaned up."

"Yeah I know." Savius shook his own head in mock disgust though the splotches of blood didn't bother him. Felt natural, actually. Familiar, perhaps. Whatever. The point was, he wasn't exactly grossed out by a little gore. Still, bloody cuddling wasn't quite what he had in mind. Xaxis was too pretty for that, and he didn't want to stain the other bird's scarves.

"Alright." With that said, he stood, scooping the Raven back up and taking the steps up to the door two at a time. Now that he was thinking about it, he could actually feel the sharp chill in the air, and the desire to get himself and his friend inside was a strong one.

Of course, getting up to the apartment was going to be a bit of a challenge. Strong or not, carrying the Raven up twenty flights of stairs just wasn't going to happen. It would have to be the elevator then, though Savius often took the stairs when he was alone.

Was Lithle home? There was no way to be sure. Jer'ain would be, and Taylor. It didn't really matter. A teen now, he was basically an entity to himself. Which didn't mean he ignored his family, just that he didn't have to answer to any silly rules.

"Button, Pretty." He instructed, leaning close to the 'up' arrow so that Xaxis could press it. His own hands were full.

Walking into the elevator with his arms full of Raven, Savius allowed himself to lean against the back wall, kicking the button of his floor with one long leg. Of course, it wasn't exactly a good position to stay in, what with the sword strapped to his back and everything, so he quickly stood up straight, shifting Xaxis's weight a bit as he did so.

Apparently, he had no intention of putting the other boy down.

"Silly." The label was awarded to Xaxis with another nuzzle, as Savius took advantage of the fact that he had the pretty, delicious smelling, pettable raven right in his arms, unable to run off. Nice. "I take care of myself, just fine. And you too, when I need to."

Shifting again, though careful to continue to support the other teen's weight, he managed to get his fingers free enough to run lightly over Xaxis's arm. "All you need to do is relax and look pretty."

Was he flirting? Perhaps by some definitions of the term. Except, of course, that Savius had no real concept of what flirting was. It was one of those things that his sketchy socialization had never filled in. Certainly Lithle didn't flirt, and he took only the most mild interest in what mortals outside his immediate family did with their time.

He was being honest, as he saw it. It was rare that Savius didn't state his true feelings about the subject. Deception took too much effort.

"Very nice." Savius responded approvingly, smiling down at the drowsy boy in his arms, noting that he seemed more like than a cat then a bird in that moment.

And then they were there, the elevator opening on the short hallway that lead to 'home'. There weren't any other doors on the floor, but that was probably for the best. Savius could imagine all to well what might happen if Lithle had neighbors.

Walking up to the door, and knowing full well that it'd be locked, he kicked it a few times, a thump thump thump intended to gain himself and his pretty toy admittance. There was a pause before the door opened, revealing his sister, tall lanky androgonous thing, peering out with a frown.

'rain. As far as mortals went, he loved her, as much as he was capible of loving someone who's life he could feel, fragile and fading, everytime he became too focused. He'd spent too much time with her, imparted his prejudices. She'd spent too much time with Lithle, Lithle and her hurt and her hate. Unlike the Kestrel, she internalized it.

Or maybe something had happened that she hadn't told either of them.

Either way, she didn't trust anyone much who wasn't family. Mortals anyway. Like Savius, she loved Kin. Because of Savius, she loved Kin.

Which was why the glare faded as she noted the distinct features of the boy in Savius's arms, why she stepped aside with a warm smile. "Is he thirsty? Are you thirsty? Taylor's sleeping." A pause. "V, you're all bloody."

"'s nothing 'rain. Bring us some soda's ok? How's Dad?" Even as he spoke he carried the Kestrel into the house, a stark dull place. The furniture was expensive, but utilitarian. There was nothing on the walls.

"Out." She walked toward the kitchen as she talked, all right in her world. Paused, "Does he like ice?"

"Do you like ice?"

"No ice." Savius contributed, as if Jer'ain might have missed Xaxis's words. And maybe she had, while the Raven spoke, she's stared at him, her expression bemused and almost awed. It was her brother's voice that jolted her out of that and sent her scurrying to the kitchen.

With that taken care of, Savius turned his attention to the matter at hand, that was, getting himself cleaned up and his friend properly groomed. He walked down the stark hallway, and turned into his bedroom. His room wasn't nearly so dull as the living room had been.

On one wall, his gun hung, on the other, his old wooden swords, crossed and mounted now that the time for such play had passed. Next to that, two hooks, but nothing hanging on them. His bed was a simple affair, blue sheets, gray pillows. And it was on that bed that Xaxis was finally deposited gently. "'s not much. Just a place to sleep."

Even as he spoke Savius turned away from the Raven, removing his sword and hanging it from the hooks on the wall. His shirt came next, thrown unselfconciously on the floor. Because he was home and the sticky, stained item in question had spent enough time against his skin. His flesh showed new bruises. He hadn't escaped the fight completely uninjured.