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“Uhhhh…” He honestly couldn’t remember having shoes at any point during the night before. Had he really lost his shoes? He really was a ******** wreck.

He stood there, awkwardly realizing how pieced together he felt. No shoes, too-small, borrowed pajamas. No weapons… That thought dawned on him with a serious weight. He would have to replace the weapons he had taken with him. They were probably still in the trunk of the car he crashed. He would need a new cellphone. And… A new car. His friends were all in various states of anger or disappointment. He was no closer to avenging his dead family, and now he was without a job, the one thing that gave his daily life purpose.

But then Taiki had his shoes on, and was telling him not to resist the magic, to keep his mind clear. That part was a struggle, but by focusing on the male’s skin against his own, warm and comforting and soft, he managed.

A totally new distraction came into play as his gaze settled on his apartment. Through the open door of his bathroom, where they had appeared, it looked there had been a tornado in his living room. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a panic set in. Had the thugs followed him home? Had they hurt someone? It could be their work. Afterall, his childhood home had looked much like this after they’d gotten their hands on it.

He barely heard Taiki explaining, but when it registered, everything in his mind came screeching to a halt. It had been… Taiki. Taiki had destroyed everything? Had he been that upset? ”What the ********, man? I get that I was gone for a long time, but it wasn’t that long! There’s s**t everywhere! How did you even manage… Ugh…” he stopped himself, taking a deep breath. ”You know what..? I don’t even need to know. You were upset, and… Yeah. It’s just things. It can be replaced.”

Ignoring the male’s comment about glass, (he had spent a good deal of his life barefoot, it wouldn’t kill him) he carefully made his way to through the disaster, careful not to step on anything, fearful of ruining it further. “And you don’t have to worry about cleaning it up. I’ll do it later. It’ll give me something to do. I was thinking about rearranging things, anyways.”

It took him a few moment to reach the bedroom portion of the open floor plan, but instead of going to his closet, he moved to the desk. “There was a picture here. Do you know where it ended up?” he mumbled, sighing a bit.

“You don’t have to clean. You can do your work here. Just… stop.” he grumbled, the agitation rising again. He was cold, which was never a good sign. He hated when his element acted out, because there was rarely anything he could do about it. He rubbed his hands against his shirt to keep the ice from forming.

He watched Taiki walk to the closet, returning with a bundle of cloth. Panic ripped through him, seeing the glass cracked, the frame broken. But he gently took it from the male, hands trembling as he examined the photo. Relief flooded him as he realized it was fine. Carefully, he began removing it from the frame.

“N-no, it’s fine.” he mumbled, “I’ll just get a new frame.” His tone was strained, barely containing the agitation. He wasn’t really mad at Taiki, moreso overwhelmed by everything. Which, again, was his own fault.

He turned towards his bed, setting the picture down carefully on the bedside table. The broken from was tossed to the side, covered by a thin layer of ice, which shattered alongside the glass as it hit the floor. He made his way to the closet, pulling off his shirt as he went. His back was bruised and areas were in various stages of healing. He rummaged through the mess, found his deodorant, and swiped some on, before pulling out a clean shirt and putting it on. There was a split second of contemplating walking to the bathroom to change his pants, but decided against it. They needed to get back quick. Taiki would have to either turn around, or deal with seeing his a**.

He changed into clean boxers and pants, managed to find some socks and a hoodie. The safe in the bottom of the closet was untouched, and he was relieved to find he had left his spare handguns there. He strapped on his chest holster, put the guns in their place, strapped in a few extra clips, and took a deep breath.

“Alright, let me grab my shoes, and we’ll be good to head back.” With the hoodie zipped to hide the weapons, he slipped into his shoes, ran a brush through his hair, spritzed himself with cologne.

Okay. So. I’m not in the best headspace right now. Just.. warning you. So you might not want to touch skin. Freezer-burn is real and you will get it.”