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Something was wrong with Yin.

Normally this something would be something that Alex was all too comfortable and happy with, except that it came so soon after everything that had happened and so sent warning bells going off in his head. He hadn't seen the other boil go out training. He was sleeping in nearly every morning and going to bed earlier at night. He seemed...lethargic, compared to his usual strangely active and hyper self. If Alex didn't know any better, he would have thought that the weremantis was sneaking himself some coffee on a daily basis.

Problem was, Alex really didn't know what to do about it. If Yin wanted to spend most of his time sleeping, then really, who was he to say that was a bad thing? It at least meant he could slip away and actually do things without having to feel guilty when that worried gaze was directed at him. Still, he hadn't ever gone far. He hadn't even left the damn campus since he'd been back. The most activity he'd gotten himself in the last while now was when he'd gone to join movie club to watch that ridiculous ghoul flick. He hadn't even gone to the lair, something he probably needed to do soon, since there was the threat of having his Fear stripped away from him otherwise.

And so, today was the day. He was dragging Yin out of the room, and they were going to go somewhere, and actually do things. Call it a date. Call it an intervention. Call it whatever you wanted. Alex had been putting off this trip to the maul to get himself a new phone for too long, and Yin needed to get out and get active, so it was win/win for both of them.

And so, that morning, at an hour that Yin would have gotten out of bed before the incident, Alex stood at the side of the bed, stared down at his boilfriend, and practically willed him to wake up.

And then when that didn't work he reached out and gave him a firm prod in the shoulder.

Alex, admittedly, knew very little about sleep and how to actually go about waking somebody up. So, when Yin blinked at him, closed his eyes, mumbled incoherently, and rolled over on the bed closer to the wall, Alexander just frowned in response, thinking that he must have done something wrong.

But of course, now the weremantis was further away from him, so he climbed up into the bed anyways, and crawled over to the weremantis before reaching over with a hand to shake at him, and not in the most gentle of ways either. If a firm prod wasn't going to cut it, he assumed gentle shakes weren't either.

"Yin? Would you wake up please?" At least he was trying to be polite about it, though it was incredibly tempting now that he was there to just lay down beside the weremantis and steal some cuddle time.

It totally still counted for cuddles even if Yin didn't reciprocate the action and was too passed out to notice.

There, Yin was sitting up. That was much better. Shaking, combined with polite speaking, apparently did the trick. He would have to remember that for next time. As soon as the weremantis appeared to be paying enough attention, Alexander offered him a very tooth filled and face splitting grin. It did not at all match how he felt on the inside, but he figured some outward enthusiasm might help move things along faster. "Not at all. I just thought maybe you'd---" Okay, Yin was dropping back down to his elbows. That was a definite step backwards. Also he kept yawning, which made Alex feel bad because it possibly meant that Yin was still too tired and he was being quite cruel for waking him up.

And then he complimented Alex on his tie and thoughts of getting him out of bed and out the door exited his mind completely. A more genuine grin that matched the oddly warm feeling on his insides. "Thank you. I brought it back with me from home, actually, so I don't think you have seen it yet." Yes, Yin had done just the thing to distract Alexander from his task. Tie talk. And if Yin said that he liked it, that meant Alex was probably going to wear it more often then any other tie.

And then it dawned on Alex that he actually had mission for the morning, and mentally chastising himself, he continued on. "But you know what's even better then ties?" Inwardly he was cringing. Cringing hard. Nothing was better then ties. Nothing. "Getting out of bed and going to the maul to get me a new phone. And-" He continued, trying to cut off any arguments or stop Yin from burying himself back down into his bed.

"We can get breakfast while we're there. I'll buy you a tea from Bloodbucks?" Bribery with tea? Alex would never.

Alex sat back and let Yin move past him off of the bed, sliding himself to the side slowly to sit and wait for the other boil to get ready. He was feeling quite pleased with himself, at the moment, for succeeding in doing what he set out to accomplish with hardly any complaint from Yin at all. His eyes followed the other boil, and the zomboil stood up to retrieve the shirt that Yin had taken off like the well trained boilfriend he was, who had gotten used to the fact that Yin's room was to stay clean always, so automatically now tried to keep it that way despite it going against his own bad habits.

He just straightened back up and turned around to face the other boil just when Yin also turned away from his task, and immediately the shirt that he held in his hand slipped from his grasp to land on the floor by his feet. Wet. Muscles. Yin.

Stay here....

Show other ties....

Slow blink.

"Buh?" Yes, that was completely legitimate response to what Yin had just said. However, he was able to shake his head and look away when the weremantis moved on towards the closet, though that didn't stop him from opening one eye back up to watch. "I---I don't think that's a good idea. I really, really need to get a new phone and---" His protests were feeble, his voice's firmness from before obviously wavering as his resolve began to weaken. He other eye opened and his gaze followed Yin back towards the bed, and then....

And then the still wet, muscly weremantis was standing right in front of him, looking up at him with gorgeous green eyes, talking about Alex teaching him how to put a tie on properly. Or at least, that's what he thought Yin had said. It was probably just some fantasy however. Yes, this was all just some fantasy. Alex wasn't really taking Yin to the maul this morning. He had fallen and hit his head again and was now in some wonderful dreamland.

He began to nod, slowly, a small, soft smile forming on his face. "Yes, absolutely. Whatever you want to do."

Alex's brain may have at some point clocked out. Bravo Yin. Well played.

And just like that, as the weremantis turned his back and crawled into bed, leaving the zomboil standing with some stupid grin on his face, it was like the spell had been broken. The zomboil frowned after the other boil. Really, if Yin was going to play dirty he should at least follow through with it a little further instead of leaving his boilfriend hanging. Two more hours of sleep and then a tie fashion show? His frown turned into a scowl.

"I changed my mind." He growled, arms going to cross over his chest. "I'm going to the maul. Right now. You can choose to come with me, or you can stay in bed all jacking day long if you want. Don't say I didn't at least ask you to accompany me." Really is this what he came back to school for? To watch his boilfriend sleep all the time? He did feel a little bad that he was letting his tenuous control on his almost constant bad mood slip, but damnit, Yin was not playing fair anymore! And he had initially asked so nicely, and had smiled and acted cheerful about it and everything. What was a zomboil to do?

He sighed a little, then bent down once again to pick up the shirt that had been dropped back down to the floor. If he was going to go out, then he might as well take Yin's dirty clothes to a cleaner or something. It was odd, that while Alex was perhaps one of the the laziest and slobbiest students on campus, it irked him to see the same traits in his once pristine and energetic boilfriend.

He turned to head towards the door, where his backpack rested against the wall, and began shoving things into it to prepare to leave.

There. It had been a risky move, letting his annoyance with Yin show. It could have blown up in his face completely. But he'd had a feeling that the weremantis would not just let him go to the maul on his own. Well, he had hoped, anyways, considering how the one time he'd mentioned it before Yin had been willing to put off 'napping' (was it even considered a nap if it went on for hours?) to go with him. He stopped shoving things into the backpack with such force, turning his face to watch Yin get out of the bed again, throwing on the sweater (Alex cringed a little. So itchy. Ugggggh. Poor Yin), and making his way over to the zomboil. Ties at the maul? He'd already pretty much planned on it.

"Thank you." He murmured, straightening up and hefting his backpack over his shoulder. He also grabbed his skateboard. Yin might have been moving a little slower then usual lately, but Alex thought maybe they could pick up the pace just a tiny bit. Not enough to push Yin into jogging, but at least faster then the zomboils slow shuffle often forced him to go. He then moved out into the hallway, and then of course took the offered hand, the instant warmth all too pleasant to pass up.

"I promise when we get back I'll let you sleep." He offered the other boil a smile, then added on. "And you don't have to come to my room and look at my ties." He knew Yin had no interest in his ties. It was a nice thing to believe a few moments ago, but he needed to stop giving in to foolish delirium.

And then they were on there way.

Alex had rolled along the ground rather slowly, somewhat missing the days when he could push himself faster and actually race with Yin when travelling. But no, he was being somewhat considerate and only pushing himself into more speed when his rolling came nearly to a stop, hands shoved lazily into pockets as he let his mind wander towards the first time they had gone to the maul together. Alex had attempted to ride on his skateboard then but had quickly fallen off on his first try. Then, unable to walk properly with his skeletal leg, Yin had carried him the entire way to the maul. They'd only been friends then, and things had been so much simpler.

It seemed like he had barely stepped off of his skateboard when Yin was grabbing for his hand, squeezing it hard enough that he nearly let out a very unmanly-like whimper. He unslung his backpack from his shoulder and bent down to shove the skateboard in...not that there was really much room to do so at this point but somehow he managed.

And then they were inside, and was it Alex's imagination or did Yin's grip tighten even more? Bloody hell.....The zomboil cringed and clenched his teeth shut tight. He would not cry out. He would not cry out.

And then the question, said in a tone that instantly put Alex on alert. Yin was angry about something. Or at the very least, annoyed. Not having a clue what he might have done wrong aside from getting him out of bed at a decent hour, Alex struggled to come up with a solution. "Food court." He gasped out, finally unclenching his teeth just so that he could speak. "I told you we could get breakfast, remember?" He tried desperately to wriggle his fingers, to move his hand even a little from within that grasp. Finally he gave up.

And then they were off, and there was really no way Alex could have done anything about what was happening with that vice like grip wrapped around his cold undead hand. He could have given Yin a squeeze back, but he was fairly certain at this point that bones might actually be broken, and so was scared to even try. As it was, being jerked around in every which direction did occasionally illicit a few hisses from between clenched teeth, and maybe a couple of small whines. In fact, he was so focused on that, he barely even took time to worry about Yin's odd behavior. Zigging and zagging all over the maul, dragged behind the weremantis like a minipet on a leash that was sitting and refused to walk. He stumbled and nearly fell so many times, and all he could think of was the pain in his hand, and that Yin was for some reason punishing him for getting him out of bed.

The clothing store Yin was dragging him into had him practically gaping. It was a scarelings clothing store. Something in sizes that Alex's newest sibling might fit into. What the jack were they even doing in here? Well, he supposed it could have been worse. Yin could have pulled them into the shop next door. The very adult store next door.

A baby store next to a sex shop. It...kind of made sense.

At least Yin was loosening his grip slightly.

"I'm...ya, I'm holding up fine, of course." He was a zombie. He could go for hours and never get tired. He could do this all day long. He didn't necessarily like it but he could do it.

"Hey." He said, trying to sound gentle, trying to get Yin's attention. He reached up with his free un-mangled hand and placed it on Yin's shoulder, pulling on him, attempting to turn him around. He was getting rather worried. This behavior was so...erratic. He could understand it, and he was starting to regret not just doing this on his own when Yin was asleep and didn't know any better. But he'd had a mission to try and get Yin up early, to actually spend a day together and enjoy themselves. So far, this was not enjoyable. Shirtless wet Yin in the bedroom talking about getting tied had been enjoyable. This? This was just....why had he thought that this would be a good idea?

But he was convinced that in the end, this was going to be for the best. He had to start trying to get his boilfriend back. Maybe he should have started out a little slower, with something a little easier, but it was too late for that now.

"Let's just keep going, okay? Everything's going to be fine, Yin." He gave the other boil a reassuring smile. He would have given him a light hand squeeze too but well....