It aint easy bein evil [Beacon]

Michael exhaled lightly, the breath drawing out in a low hiss that echoed through the room. Lying upon his bed was an unconscious red head, still breathing silently, serenely within a form of sleep that he had been in for the entire night. Of course he could have left him there to die, or have been picked up by someone else, but perhaps it was the ghost of a conscience that he had, but he did not leave him there, which explained where he was now. He was still dressed in the polo shirt and pink shorts, staring out the window of his bedroom in the Chicago safe house, well it was the only bedroom but it had only been intended for him to use. There was always the Los Angeles safehouse but people would ask too many questions about the male, and he did not have the patience to deal with something like that.

Turning to the male for a second, Michael hummed to himself before walking past the bed and into the kitchen, a small one that was furnished with only the amenities that one would need. He would remove a couple of eggs from the fridge and crack them open, white shell breaking and releasing the white yolk within it. It would land in the bowl with a low splat, as Michael worked on beating them and then came the whole cooking part of the thing, until they were now fine scrambled eggs that he scraped onto a plate and worked on eating. He would do the whole eating thing at the kitchen table, the whole chore of eating something that he took pleasure in, even though he got nothing really out of it other than the preliminary taste. He would wait until the unconscious male woke up, whenever that was.

Rowan, unconscious, was having a pretty vivid dream about being back home in Scotland. He truly did miss Glasgow. The city would always be his home, even if he no longer lived there. He was certainly never attacked by any kind of crazed Titan in Scotland. A few hours passed and about twenty minutes after the eggs were placed by his head, Rowan stirred a bit and came to. He had no idea where he was. The last thing he did remember was being on the back of a man who tried to help him. Rowan looked around the room, and when he saw the Ethereal, he let out a relieved sigh. “So, I'm guessing that we got away?” He said with a slight laugh, which was painful due to the state of his ribs. He looked over to the eggs with a small smile, and took the plate. Rowan ate slowly, but was thankful that the food was there.

“Thanks for not leaving me for dead” Rowan said honestly. He then reached into his pocket for his wallet. It didn't have a lot of money in it, so he hoped that his rescuer would be okay with a twenty. He pulled out the bill and offered it to the other. “I know it isn't very much, but I want to thank you for helping me out back there. I definitely would have been dead if someone hadn't come to my aid. I do hope that Trent is alright. He was a good guy,” Rowan said with a bit of fondness, before giving Michael a wide, slightly dorky smile.

Michael finished off his own plate of eggs before making another and placing it next to the nightstand by the bed. While he was used to not needing to eat anything, he was sure that this male would, as humans tended to need to eat and he was after all a metahuman. Now all he had to do was wait, though it did not take long for the male to wake up and smell the eggs, taking the plate and slowly eating them. Despite the fact that Michael was who he was, he couldn't help but smirk. Something about watching someone manage to stomach his cooking was good enough, even though he knew that his food was not that bad. ”Yeah we got away, it was a little annoying but we managed I guess.” Granted it was mostly Michael doing the running but he was feeling generous today.

Then came the whole thanking him for not leaving him dead portion of the program, but Michael did not really think that required thanks. Either Michael was becoming soft, or he was always some kind of heroic type, even if he was a slightly sociopathic heroic type. His attention would turn to the money being offered to him, and Michael sighed. ”Keep your money. If I took it I would feel like some kind of prostitute, specially since you're kinda layin in my bed half naked.” Okay, Michael had to take everything off save for the underwear but he was still bleeding, and the ribs were freaking cracked. Also there was simply making sure that he had not managed to damage himself further, which was a long process really, but luckily nothing that delved into the domain of strange.

Granted the male was likely to assume him to be some weirdo, unless he considered the bandages around his torso and such. Sure Imperium could have been useful, but then again he would not abuse the whole healing thing, when the males body was likely able to do the same thing naturally. ”So, how ya feelin?”

“That guy was pretty crazy, don't you think?” Rowan said while eating his eggs still. He was a bit queasy, as he had several broken ribs, but the food was really welcome. “I really thought that I was going to die out there. Though I'm not very sure why you decided to help me.” Rowan said quietly. He didn't really have any friends in Chicago, and he barely had any friends in New York at his University. Most of the time he felt very alone, so the company was very welcome. Even though the other guy was probably only letting him stay to assure that he didn't die—or if he did die, it would minimize questions if Rowan was not found in the middle of the streets.

Shaking, he retracted his outstretched hand with the money. He was still rather shaken up over the whole Titan almost killing him incident. A soft pink blush spread in Rowan's cheek when Michael mentioned that he was half-naked. Rowan blushed a ton and pulled up the blanket a little bit. He understood why the other had taken off his clothes, but he was still a little embarrassed about being so exposed. He leaned up and looked at the ceiling, groaning quietly. His body hurt, but he was pretty sure that he wasn't going to die, now. He looked at Michael after a few moments and gave a wide smile “I've decided that I'm claiming this bed as my own” Rowan said with a laugh, trying to brighten the situation.

“I'm feeling alright. I mean, my chest hurts, but I don't think that it's anything that won't heal” Rowan nodded at him. “I wish I hadn't been so weak. I mean, I think I did get in one hit though, so at least there's that. You were like a madman out there. I bet you could have one” Rowan said with a gentle tone and cuddled into the bed.

”Crazy is one way of putting it.” Michael said nodding in agreement ”I would have probably finished them off, but the other metahumans seemed like they had it covered.” he added absently, arms crossed over his chest as he really was just making idle chatter, regardless if the male were listening or not. His eyes followed each muscle movement that the male made, taking in each subtle change in skin color and things that other people would miss. The mention of claiming his bed drew a small chuckle from Michael, lips curling into a smirk as his eyebrow raised slightly in slight interest. ”You are aware that is my only bed, right? I mean the only one, and if you were to claim it we would have to sleep together.” He added pausing for dramatic effect, playing around mostly to tease the male.

”Unless that is your intention, then I would atleast like you to buy me dinner first.” He added removing a small indistinct packet from his pocket, what one could see to be a packet of cigarettes with a single stick open. ”Enough about how much of a badass I am, you should make sure to rest.” Michael noted opening the only window leading to the room, removing a cigarette from the packet, placing it between his lips and as a dark grey fire leapt up to light the end. Taking a drag of the cigarette, Michael would puff a small cloud as it was whipped up by the wind. ”You don't need to be in any rush to go anywhere until you can move around without breaking yourself.” He added flicking the end of the cigarette and watching the ashes fall into the wind.

“I hope they're all okay. I don't like that I sort of started all of this” Rowan said with a heavy sigh. The guilt was beginning to set in now. He didn't know why someone who was clearly so powerful would want to start a huge fight over a little trip. “I honestly never meant to fight anyone. I just tripped over this bloke's leg and he went crazy on me. I don't understand it at all. And he wanted me to worship him, which was definitely not going to happen. Though I was thinking about just saying yes to get out of there alive. But then you and Trent came. And rescued me” Rowan said with a small laugh. He then laughed louder when Michael talked about sleeping together “Eh! I'm not having sex with you mate!” He howled in laughter, making his ribs hurt. “But we can both sleep here and I'll lay my head on one side, and you the other” Rowan suggested with another giggle.

“If we were to be romantic, I would certainly take to dinner first,” Rowan said with a definitive nod. He laid on his side and smiled at Mchael “I'm resting, I'm resting” He rolled his eyes and looked at him again “So, are you a metahuman, like me, or are you something else? Because you seemed really powerful. Or maybe I'm just super weak. I'm not really trained or anything.” Rowan watched the smoke come from the cigarette. “Well, that ay be a few days, so I hope that's okay?” He said quietly and snuggled into the bed further. Rowan sighed quietly when he tried to move, and it hurt a good deal. “C-Could I have a glass of water?”

He started all of this? Michael wondered over this curiously, though from what he could tell it was just some punk Titan acting as if they were great. Something was said about him simply tripping over someones leg, and then the guy nearly killing him, which sounded like an annoying little misunderstanding. Granted he mostly heard what was happening, but not enough to have surmised something like that, just enough to know this guy was some kind of unfortunate victim. Flicking a few more of the ashes from his end, he would consider the male as he continued to talk, saying something about them not doing any sort of intimate things. ”You aren't? Well that has me disappointed, I was so looking forward to it.” He said with a dramatic roll of his eyes, yet making sure that his joking intent shone through.

”You sure know how to break a mans heart.” He added chuckling as he threw the remains of the cigarette through the window and watched it flutter to the dark alleyway below. Exhaling deeply through his nose, Michael would close the window and end the cold breeze that was making its way into the room. ”Am I a metahuman? Weelll, some people have called me a metahuman and they would not be absolutely wrong. I am what one would call above human, but metahuman is not the proper term.” Michael explained vaguely as possible, not really feeling like going through the whole Ethereal explanation. It seemed that he would be in charge of taking care of the male for a few days, something that he could deal with, phone upon his windowsill vibrating.

Michael would walk over to it, a text from Sean having been received. It was mostly him asking what Michael was up to, and he could answer that text later, when he was free. ”You want water? Sure, I could probably get that.” Michael said simply slowly walking over to a small mini fridge sitting lonely in the corner of the room, picking a bottle of water from it and tossing it onto the side of the bed. ”Drink up Red.” Michael said taking to the nickname he had chosen. Guy had red hair and he was unaware of his name, so Red seemed to work. ”Can't have you getting dehydrated and die, now can I?” Of course he was indifferent to the whole dying thing, but if Michael had put effort into keeping him alive to begin with, having an alive metahuman was preferable.

”As for whether you're weak or not, I can't really tell. That power of your seems pretty potent, but you probably just need to learn how to control it better.” Michael absently noted leaning against the wall and crossing arms over his chest.

Rowan laughed a little bit at Michael's response. He knew that he was joking, which was the only reason Rowan was still laughing. If Michael had been serious about being disappointed, Rowan wold have been a little nervous. Rowan looked at Michael with a a small smile. He seemed to be a really cool guy, even if he did seem a bit distant. Maybe they could be friends after this. Probably not, though. He wasn't sure why Michael would want to befriend someone like him. Rowan was just some kid who happened to be a metahuman. Michael seemed to almost be like some kind of godly being. Rowan was a bit jealous of his abilities, but obviously wouldn't say anything. “Maybe someday if you're lucky~!” Rowan teased and leaned back on the bed again, body glowing a bit.

“It's true. I'm seriously a heartbreaker. Back in Scotland, I'm a bit famous for it” Rowan joked “But I'm seriously not leaving this comfy bed, so we're going to have to make due” He said with a nod, before stretching a little bit. “Then what is the proper term?” Rowan asked curiously. He wanted to know. Rowan always had a tendency to ask too many questions for his own good. He wanted to know as much as he could about his new friend. “I'm a metahuman, but neither of my parents are. Or if they are, they never told me. I don't exactly get along with my parents” He said quietly before shaking his head “I'm sorry. I don't mean to get into my personal life. I don't really have friends, so I'm really bad at this whole socializing thing”

“Thank you!” He chimed out and took the glass of water. Rowan basically drained the cup in a matter of seconds. He was extremely thirsty. “Could I bother you for another cup?” Rowan asked in an embarrassed tone. He couldn't help it, though. The battle must have taken more out of him than he thought. He shook his head “Mate, I don't think you'd care too much if I died,” He admitted. Rowan wasn't stupid. Michael was probably only caring for him out of some kind of duty, or just to be polite. Rowan knew that if he died, the other probably wouldn't feel anything. “I'm a bit surprised you even took me in. But thank you again”

“I should train more.” Rowan said with a nod “I mean, if I get through all of this.”

”Here's hoping.” Michael said crossing his fingers mostly to the whole one day thing, still obvious in his whole joking demeanor. He watched the male down a bottle of water with an almost admirable gusto, smirking and chuckling to himself as he withdrew another one from the mini fridge and tossed it to Rowan. Part of him was hoping the male was not the cuddly type, as Michael was not, or so he believed himself to be. Not that he ever really found the time to test such a thing, and never really had the inclination to do so, save for the when the rainbow wolf/boy of the Atterrius family decided to crawl into his bed and annoy him. Granted Michael was immensely fond of Yancey, so he had some leeway as far as that went, and he did make a great alarm so to speak, even if his breath was not minty fresh.

”So long as you don't get it into your mind to cuddle, that might. I apparently kick when I sleep.” he added with a small smirk, unsure if he really did but decided to add a small point of humor to the overall situation. This was usually the time of day when he got plastered but with another person around, he was heavily considering not doings o, but that was the only way he really got any sleep, and Michael had gone without it for three weeks now. While Ethereal's could go a long time without sleep, they still needed it and so he would have to get some eventually. ”The proper term is Ethereal. Not angels mind you, as I don't have any wings, nor am I angelic in the least.” He said making sure to be preemptive within that answer remembering how many times someone had thought him to be an angel.

”You shouldn't worry too much about the whole getting through this alive part however. Not like you'll have to worry about dying on my watch, unless you spontaneously start internally bleeding while i'm asleep.” Michael noted withdrawing a small metallic flask of something from the fridge, words etched words into the front that spelled SEAL on it. ”Should probably train more, I would help but I don't really understand whatcha can do. Seems like some kind of light thing but thats just a guess.” Mike noted uncapping the flask, upending it and taking a swig before pulling it away and wiping his lips. While he had an iron liver, there were some things that he could drink without worrying about it not effecting him and SEAL was that thing. It went right through any alcohol immunity and got you intoxicated, though it would still take a good bit of it to get Michael drunk.

“Don't worry, I'll be out of your hair soon,” Rowan said with a soft chuckle. He didn't know why he thought that the Ethereal boy would want to be friends with him. He probably had extremely powerful friends, and wouldn't want much to do with a dinky metahuman like him. Back in New York, making friends was a lot easier since they pretty much forced you to interact with others at orientation, and then there was the whole roommate set up. But here in Chicago, it was different. He wasn't attending school, and was just trying to get by. Plus, you know, he was almost just killed by a Titan, which only seemed to make things worse. Though, it was nice to have some social interaction. Even if it was during battle. And he could say that he survived his first battle, which was kind of a cool thought. At least to Rowan. He opened the second bottle of water and drank this one much more slowly, finishing about half before setting it down on the nightstand.

“I don't think the broken rib would allow me to cuddle even if I wanted to” Rowan pointed out and sipped his water again. He listened to Michael's very brief description of an Ethereal, which didn't offer that much information, only that it was unlike an Angel. Which Rowan would have assumed anyway if he thought of it. He still wasn't sure what to think about Michael. He seemed nice enough, but it also felt like he didn't want Rowan there. Which made sense, of course, but it still made hi eel a bit awkward. Rowan sincerely hoped that he wasn't imposing too much. If the Ethereal asked, Rowan would leave and somehow make his way back to his own apartment. There was nothing more frustrating than being a bother to someone.

“I suppose, since you've got that sword thing that healed me the first time” Rowan said with a nod and messed with a thread on the bed. He noticed him sip something from the flask, and hoped that he wasn't planning to get drunk. That probably wasn't a good idea when you've got an injured person to look after. Even though Rowan wouldn't say anything out loud, he really didn't approve of the drinking “Yeah my powers are light based. I have to absorb the light first. Then I can expel it at different colors which have different heat signatures. Nothing exactly impressive” Rowan shrugged before leaning over to finish off his water. “You probably shouldn't get wasted” He noted.

”Don't worry, you're not botherin me.” Michael noted yawning lightly, placing his hand over his mouth and leaning his head back slightly. Of course he was not really a burden to him, but then again he also was, contradictions and whatnot.  The male did not drink the second bottle of water, instead seemed to decide to take slower si, which would do wonders for his body rather than guzzling it down. ”Well lucky you only have a cracked rib.” Michael noted with a smirk standing to his feet and shaking his head, taking another sip of the sweet fluid from the flask. His mind was beginning to grow fuzzy, but it was nothing that was really impair him, just something that would take the edge off, that would perhaps make the slight proverbial hole within his chest feel smaller. The male suggested that he noted get wasted and Michael found himself chuckling, perhaps considering explaining himself.

”I probably shouldn't but when it helps you sleep and you haven't slept in three weeks, I guess I also should.” Michael noted outloud taking another sip of the flask, sighing lightly as he placed the cork back on it. Placing the metal flask into his back pocket, Michael loudly popped his shoulders. ”Since you'll probably be recovering a bit, what do you feel like doing? I have a few board games, one of those new video game consoles and a decent selection of movies. I'm sure you wouldn't want to be bored.” Michael noted sitting down on the corner of the bed, and simply considering the wounded male and wondering why he was even helping him. Was it simply something good within him that wanted to help or perhaps that he reminded him of someone else? Michael could not tell, but he did not think too hard into it.

“Are you sure?” Rowan sighed softly. He still had a nagging feeling that he was being a bother to Michael, but that's just the way that he was. Rowan hated imposing on people, and it seemed like he couldn't really do anything in return for him. He noticed Michael take another sip of what he was sure was alcohol, and was kind of envious. Yes, alcohol was probably a bad decision, but it'd be nice to have the pain subside a little. “I don't know how I got out of that with only a cracked rib” He nodded. Of course, if it wasn't for the other guy healing him, he would have surely needed a hospital for several months, if he even survived at all. Again, he was thankful that the guy decided to take care of him. “So, what should we do now?” He yawned.

“I think they have some medicines for sleep” Rowan noted but shrugged “But it's your life, mate” He yawned loudly and snuggled into the bed, now a bit hungry. “We could watch a movie? I get too into video games and board games and don't really wanna strain myself yet” He chuckled and looked at Michael “You can sit close to me I don't bite hard”

”I'm sure.” Michael said almost snapping, the continual asking starting to bother him. Mind as well punched the gift horse in the mouth while you were at it, he was tempted to say considering taking another sip of the flask. He mentioned something about medicine for sleep, which made Michael chuckle lightly at the thought. ”If the medicine would effect me, then I would be taking it, but its not really getting to sleep that i'm worried about.” It was the nightmares that followed sleep. Inadvertently taking the males advice, he would scoot closer and then lean back against the headboard, letting a low sigh escape from his lips as he wiped at a nonexistent bead of sweat upon his forehead.

”You bite?” Michael would ask, turning to Rowan with a look that asked “Oh really?” Of course he had no real interest in if the male did indeed bite, well personally but his body was a fickle little thing. He could not help but smirk before rolling off of the bed and landing on his feet, walking to a small shelf that held a selection of discs, ones that had some of the latest movies he enjoyed. ”I have this cheesy romantic comedy if thats something you're into, or this action movie.” Michael noted holding up two dvd cases, waiting for some kind of answer.

Rowan could tell by his tone that he should probably not ask Michael that again. He didn't want to make him angry or anything. He looked at the flask again before deciding in his mind that he would also not talk about the flask anymore. Rowan tilted his head a bit when Michael said that normal medicines didn't work. He should have figured that with him being an Ethereal and everything, normal medicines probably had no effect on his body. “That's bad to hear. But if you're not trying to get to sleep, then what are you trying to do?” He asked innocently, moving instinctively a bit closer to him. Rowan didn't know why, but he kind of felt bad for the other guy. He seemed to be a bit troubled by something, but Rowan wasn't going to pry. It would probably make them both uncomfortable. And it already was kind of like that. And if Rowan was going to be here for several days, then he should do his best to try and make them both as comfortable as possible.

“Why so curious about biting?” Rowan laughed a little bit and gently shoved at him. He grunted a little bit, as his rib was still in a good amount of pain. Rowan chuckled again and pretended to bite at him before seeing the other guy get up and walk over to the movies. “Let's watch a Rom-Com! They usually have cuter boys in it than action movies. In action movies, the cute boys tend to be less sweet than the ones in romantic comedies” He pointed out and snuggled into the bed.

”Why else do people drink? They drink to....forget.” Michael noted feeling the buzz slowly begin to wash over him, blinking a couple of times to make sure that he was still in control. He didn't really sense the underlying pity that might have seeped into the other males tone, nor did he let the slight encroaching into his section of the bed bother him either. ”I was curious about why it was brought up? Are you intending to bite me or something?” Michael asked slightly teasingly, as he let his face hover only a few inches before Rowans, the breath of his nostrils probably brushing along the males nose. He would quickly pull his face back, an amuse smirk forming along his lips.

The male would vote for the romantic comedy and Michael could agree that the boy was cuter, but Michael had a thing for the rough type. ”Romantic comedy it is.” Michael said with a nod, pressing a button on a dvd player as it would turn on and then the television, working until both were on and he placed the disc in. ”I've heard....interesting things about this movie.” Michael added as the little commercial things would begin and he would plop down on the bed and pull out the flask, uncapping it and taking a sip.

”I would understand if it gets too boring for you and you fall asleep.”