It was a curious sensation that seemed to stir that lanky deviant as he slept. The boy curled up within a heap upon the rug on Tetradore's floor. A scattering of his toys about him. That beloved farm set having been so meticulously set up only to have every single animal turned upon its side in some sort of wretched death scene that Tobias had refused to allow even Raven to alter. Assuring his mate over and over that the animals were supposed to be on their sides. The man throwing an almighty tantrum the moment poor Jackal had attempted to move them until the staff had so reconciled themselves to the notion that this was surely one of the fractured creatures 'bad' nights. Without Tetradore's presence there were few so able to control his outbursts and even less willing to try. Raven alone so capable of drawing him out of those volatile rages that seemed to take hold more often than not. He was, perhaps, ill equipped for that role of 'Alpha' he had taken on. Each and every being beneath him so having become connected to him until he felt each of them in turn, this understanding of responsibility a truly difficult one for his curious mind and yet one some instinctive part of him understood even if that more present part so refused to comprehend it. That concept of 'mine' pressing upon the forefront of his brain. Birdie, Alexis, Regan, the Ark and all who worked within it had become his possessions in the wake of Tetradore's death. Nadya alone refusing to afford him her submission and as such that single tie that held them had all but fractured. Tobias having seized upon his new role with that single and potent understanding alone. That until his Alpha returned he need protect them, all of them, for any and every threat.

He had taken on that role of protector those past few months perhaps far more fiercely then he had done any other if only for his limited understanding and too that single minded belief that Tetradore would return despite the continued assurance of all around him that the man would not. The boys utter faith refusing to shift in this. Tobias having spent day after day, night after night, for months on end- asleep within Tetradore's room. Waiting. It was the only answer the boy ever gave as to just what he was doing. None bothering to ask him any longer to elaborate upon it. Each met with the same answer over and over. He was waiting for his friend to come home- and until he did, he was content upon guarding that Ark. Tobias rarely given to leave it any longer save for to hunt with Birdie or draw her out onto the sane to play on those nights he seemed to demand some sort of.....contact beyond the tangle they slept within. Tobias so having attempted, in some fashion, to use his mate as a stand-in of sorts for his best friend and yet his mind was fixated upon those ideas that some games were for Tetradore and himself alone. His inability to fully process those emotions so resulting in a frustrated, volatile, irritable creature whom seemed content in the company of his inherited pack alone. The boy having affection for those women while so eyeing any strangers with suspicion. Horses banned entirely from the Ark beneath his leadership. Each and every one of his plastic horse toys having met one gruesome death or another in some silent protest at the world itself and proof perhaps- that he understood just what had occurred somewhere within that ever-odd mind. The boy having become so overly aggressive in the ring few dared to fight him and yet- through that action alone the Ark remained unchallenged and untouched in all those months.

It was that exhaustion that at last saw the boy collapse upon that rug in those early hours of the sunset. His form sprawled about until that singular sensation seemed to see him sit upright suddenly, dark eyes narrowed if wholly suspicious. That singular power he used to find those he desired extended suddenly before seizing onto someone with a sudden and intense force. That gangly boy was on his feet but moments later, padding across the room and into that space next door where Raven was so often reading, that wild mop of black hair peering around the corner to eye the woman resting in their shared hammock. His stuttered words uttered to her now.

"He is....home now."

What on earth this meant remained to be seen. Details evidently not the greatest of his assets as the boy hurried from the room once more, bare feet carrying his overly tall frame away from those bedrooms and up onto the platform above, fathomless dark eyes fixating upon the singular figure of his most beloved of companions seated within that throne where he belonged. It took barely a handful of strides to reach the man. Tobias halted beside his chair, head tilted slightly as if to assure himself that this was truly the right man, the scent and sight of him the same and yet.... One hand reached abruptly forward to seize Tetradore's own, lifting it suddenly upward before the boy parted his lips to run his tongue bizarrely along the back off Tetradore's hand, releasing it back to the unfortunate man a moment later as the leopard merely licked his lips before nodding in assurance. Features spreading into a crooked, deranged grin.

"Tetra!"

There was perhaps a genuine joy in the exclamation, or at least, as much as the boy was capable off in any sense. Now that he had proven Tetradore tasted....like Tetradore (whatever that tastes like) the deviant seeming to simply and unquestioningly accept the man's return as if he had not been gone for months at all. Tobias so moving to seat himself beside his best of friends, the man's shadow returned to his rightful place, his gaze searching briefly for Birdie- sure she would come before those dark eyes turned to his companion at last.

"I...waited.....for you.....all the nights.....on the rug. Tobi knew.....Tetra would....come back."

His gaze shifted then, moving to look at that bag beside the man and those things in his hands. His lip quirking suddenly upward in a look entirely mischievous and entirely...Tobias.

"Did you....bring me....presents? I was a good....Alpha.....all pack....is safe. Kept them safe....for you. Birdie...helped. So now.....I get the presents."

Surely he deserved presents for this and too- those months spent waiting on Tetradore's bedroom floor with unfailing belief and yet- since the day they had met and for all the times they had been parted since, Tobias had, each and every time, so waited with eternal faith for his best friend to return and each and every time- Tetradore did.

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