It was no less then she deserved, surely. To be treated this way. To have fine food and parties and the chance to wear those beautiful clothes and wrap her arm about him and have him, in turn, so show each and every being in the room that this was so assuredly his girlfriend alone while others could only look longingly on. Those marks that adorned her face meant so little to him. He barely saw the scars when he looked upon her in either of his forms. His definition of beauty, it seemed, merely resulted in the sight of something so far beyond those aesthetics. Perhaps, at first glance, those scars were shocking, Tobias hardly having failed to notice the manner in which others stared and yet too, what his companion so failed to see were those glimpses of admiration that existed behind those stolen stares. She was an exquisite creature, her body alone was slender and feminine, the dress she had chosen complimented her natural figure from every angle and swell and curve to just where each should be. How tragic it was that she might still, and always, fail to see what others saw if only for an image of herself so carved into her own mind so unfairly and by that mere handful of individuals whom had so subject her to their own warped vision of the world. How so few could make such a difference. What might she have been if she had been shown kindness in her childhood years? What might he have been? Her ability to hope, in the least, that undeniable ability to see the best in everyone was proof to his own mind that she, in the least, had been broken yet hardly beaten. The truly beaten in this world had no ability to see the good in it because there was no good left within them to see. That....that was true hopelessness. In all his life he had only ever seen but one truly beaten individual and yet he hardly wished to consider Frost tonight. Raven was far beyond that man and tonight, so was he.

He led her easily away from those crowds and towards those tables of food, one arm wrapping about her waist in a gesture both affectionate and perhaps a little possessive in turn and yet that instinct, animalistic part of himself reacted entirely as instinct demanded of him. He was surrounded by other men, competition, as archaic as it was he responded to it still by drawing her to his side, those golden hued eyes assuring each and every man so minded himself around her and afforded them both the space he was content to demand. He avoids those sets of cutlery as they reach the food. Even this side of himself poorly inclined to break Tetradore's rules and truly how long that part of him might remain dormant was unknown. He hardly wished his other self to make an appearance when fully armed with a knife and fork. It was better if it was avoided. It hardly went unnoticed that Raven made every effort to fill her plate, his own lip quirking upward in pleasure at that before he moved to serve himself, avoiding those salads and vegetables. His plate comprised of nearly entirely meat. Some things, it seemed, were shared completely between both his personas. Those speeches were a matter of formal affair, Tobias having heard them a thousand times before and yet even he paused in his meal to clap politely when required. It was only when the crowd became fully immersed in the guest speaker for the evening that he allowed his hand to lower and touch her knee, drawing her attention towards him before politely excusing himself from that table to follow her to that back door he had pointed out earlier.

It was easy to slip outside and into the darkness, Tobias gripping her hand firmly before he stepped into that next warehouse that was lined with shelve upon shelve of donated gifts. He was loath to think of his own actions tonight, of what he did each and every year and yet was this really do very bad when compared to the blunder that was his veritable existence? How strange it was to realise how very wrong this was and yet....how treasured those memories all the same of the things he had done with Tetradore. Of the fun they had had. A part of him almost ached for his companion now. He moved to push such thoughts away as Raven rounded upon her, her face contorted into some sort of horror at what he suggested. His lips parted in some effort to defend himself, both eyes rising slightly at the use of his last name, or at least, what they had chosen to believe his last name might be. His words cut off by her own. Along with multiple mentions of the word 'laser' and him wanting her to go through them.

"Well- I mean, they won't burn you or anything. The alarm will go off if you touch them though."

How that would help her he hardly knew and yet information often seemed to calm those of the sort of nervous disposition Raven was in possession off, the man watching her fingers knot together and twist about before she let that change take over her. The girl replaced then with the wolf before her head inclined up towards him, one hand reaching out to rest under her chin as he crouched down before her now, lips brushing her nose in the softest of stolen kisses.

"If they catch us I have another plan, one that won't see anyone get hurt, I promise. Just do your best and if we get caught, so be it, we'll work it out."

That lopsided grin finds its way back onto his features all the same, seeking to reassure the girl before turning his own attention back to those shelves. It was his turn then, to allow that shift and yet only partially so, those leopard claws replacing his fingernails as he moved to leap suddenly upward and onto the nearest shelf, scaling long it, ducking over and under those red laser lines before grabbing the first box, hurling it back and towards Raven to catch, grinning when she did. This box followed by another and another as he moved with expert, cat-like ease back and forward, up and down, cat-like reflex and athleticism assisting him now before he carefully selected the last package. The boy clearly grasping specific boxes and yet for now he wasted no time in explaining them to Raven, tossing her the last one before making his way back to land smoothly onto the floor beside her, bundling those gifts into his arms before swinging onto Raven's back. His lips lowered to her ear.

"Alright Birdie, now it is your time to shine, get us out of here. You can do it, I know you can, you are far more capable then you know. Breath and concentrate."

madness, as you know, is like gravity: all it takes is a little push