Tobias was, in that precarious moment, wholly oblivious to the reach of Tetradores hand and too- that softly uttered plea to stop. The spotted deviant so knew, somewhere within the depths of his mind, that the French Fae before him was not responsible for the very pain that hummed within that pack bond and so lathered itself over Tetradore's figure, tainting that room with the scent of blood and sweat and her. Yet, Matteo was an easy target. Something for those animalistic desire to protect to fixate upon. Something to be mad at. Someone to lash out at. Tobias, in that moment, driven entirely by that desire to remove any and every veritable threat from his best friend. The scent of Risque perhaps only further driving those volatile, violent reactions as those memories near assaulted his thoughts with violent discord. The boy intolerable to any and every presence- those animalistic instincts blind to any and all reasoning as that all but deafening roar ricoheted around the room and his lips pulled back from his fangs in clear threat. His tail lashing in outrage, slapping at his sides. The Fae, this time it seemed, unwilling to fight a battle he knew he would not easily win. Matteo's disappearance prompting a final hiss of sorts from within the lanky leopard before he turned to survey that room once more and assure it was entirely free of anything else that might bring harm to either of them. For all Tobias surely was and indeed, for all he was not, his loyalty could surely not be faulted, nor that simple adoration he so held for his chosen Alpha and favoured companion. Even if his position as Tetradore's guardian had been largely self appointed when he had been no more than five years old. It was, perhaps, the single task the shaggy-haired miscreant took the most seriously off all.

The lean, lanky leopard turned easily in place then, heavy paws padding across that floor and toward his brother to take up that place Matteo had held only moments age- his head extended forward to brush, gently, against Tetradore's own in that decidedly feline greeting and clear display of affection. Tobias wholly accepting of the hand that reached forward to cup his own head in return of that gesture, a ready purr of satisfaction rumbling from within the depths off his throat in response. That very affection between the pair of friends was decidedly rare and yet neither so ever truly needed to show what they knew already existed. Tobias so having been at Tetradore's side since boyhood. That simple understanding for one another so very near instinctive. Tobias' own head extended further forward then, those feline features near inhaling those scents that existed upon his companions figure before that sharp, distinctive scent of the vampire woman saw his own head jerk away. His lips pulled backward from his fangs in clear disdain as his mind so struggled to perceive such a thing. He understood death. He understood its finality even if he so often failed to display any true emotion over it. His mind so having become assured of Risque's death that day within the sun in which he had helped Tetradore drag that body into the light only to watch those flames engulf it. Those very memories, or what remained of them within the fractured confines of his thoughts continuing to assure him of that simple thing he knew. That thing Tetra had promised. Risque was dead. Her scent so lingering here and now only frustrating those very thoughts and prompting that confusion upon his features. That very shift overtaking him then to replace that spotted feline with the dark-haired, lanky young man. Tobias, perhaps thankfully, managing to shift with his clothing intact- a rarely completed feat and one the man so hardly ever bothered with. Those stuttered, broken words at last forced from his lips. Tetradore so simply confirming that unspoken question.

A silence of sorts so seemed to fall across the pair then. Tobias' own features frowning in some clear effort to understand. His own time within Risque's bar so existing within the very depths off his mind he so rarely cared to consider. Memories he had all but buried in some harsh, violent attempt to pretend they did not exist even if the scent off her alone had prompted those snapshots of memory to flicker and dance within his mind once more. That irritation, that anger, that hate the mere mention of that woman seemed to coax within the younger man so momentarily prompting his features to contort in something of a human-like snarl. That near raw emotion dancing upon his features for several moments before that sudden mask of sorts seemed to fall back into place once more in that bizzare fashion unique to Tobias alone in which his very demeanor so seemed to shift. His fingers reached gently forward to brush against his older brothers shoulder and trace what remained of those rapidly healing bite marks. The boy, at last, managing those words again. His mind, it seemed, still trying to understand her apparent return. Tetradore's head shifted slightly as Tobias' own dark eyes met the emerald off his companion. The panther so insisting she was not dead. That she had come back.

"Should have....eaten her like....I said."

Those very words were uttered in near an irritable huff. As if the boy so truly believed having eaten that body might well have prevented her return. Tobias so hardly asking how or why Risque had so managed to return to life (in as much as a vampire was ever alive). The how and why, after all, had so rarely ever mattered to Tobias in any sense. The young man very much inclined to live in the now. How something had come to be or why it was so did not matter. It was as it was. She had come back. She had found Tetradore again in the least. Perhaps she would find him too. Tobias assured he would not go back to that place and that woman again. His gaze so suddenly fixating upon Tetra once more.

"When....did she....come back?"

His ability to understand time was, perhaps, precarious at best and yet someway, somehow, that sudden question seemed important. His attention continuing to linger upon his companion for several moments longer before the realisation the other man was cold seemed to strike him. Tobias shrugging that jacket from his figure then to press it to Tetradore's figure in a truly rare display of compassion. Tobias so often all but oblivious to the needs of others and yet, his mind it seemed, was capable of at least attempting to meet his favoured companions needs even through that veritable fog that sat so constantly within it. His hand reached near suddenly forward then, grasping Tetradore's own in an effort to pull the man to his feet. That sudden, perhaps bizarre insistence that they needed to go so falling from his lips. Tobias paused at the sound off his own name as Tetradore stumbled upward, his companion firmly grasping his own arm then in some desperate effort to stay balanced. The dark-eyed boy so momentarily glancing downward toward their arms, eyeing the place Tetradore so clung to him in an effort to stay upright. His head tilting ever so slightly as if something about that very grip seemed to...intrigue him. His free hand suddenly reaching forward to rest on Tetradore's arm in turn-affording his companion that sudden grip in return, some part of the younger man so determined to assure Tetradore knew he....had him. His gaze returned to the emerald of the other man's own then, Tobias' head shaking now. Those words a clear effort and yet so oddly...quiet.

"I do not...want to go.....back to her. I do not want Tetra....to go back. Always.....Tetra gets hurt and then....I get....hurt."

Emotion, within Tobias, was a truly precarious thing. The boy so often failing to identify it at all and yet, somehow, within the dark of that room he had so managed to admit to perhaps that which he had never before truly admitted- even if they had both known it existed. That 'hurt' the boy spoke of so hardly as physical as it was....emotional. To have his companion, his best companion, his favourite companion hurt......hurt him as well. It hurt in places he could not identify and surely could not name. His features frowning with the sheer effort of this very conversation.

"We have to...go. We cannot stay....here any more. As soon as the sun is.....here we...have to run away."

His attention remained wholly upon Tetradore then. Tobias already assured of the protest that was forming upon his companions lips. His own head so suddenly shaking near vehemently once more. His hand more firmly gripping Tetradore's arm as if so refusing to let his companion leave him. Tobias cutting off any words his chosen Alpha might have been about to offer.

"No! You....listen! You can get...horse to....watch pack while we are...gone. He will keep them....safe. Yes. Tetra and Tobi....will run....away.....very, very far and when we....find a....new home we will....come back for....Birdie and Pretty and Hen-ry and Miiiiira."

His head nodded once more, as if such a plan was entirely viable. Tobias never once before so ever suggesting they run from a battle. That near dominant nature within himself all but refusing it and yet.....Risque was a battle it seemed even Tobias was willing to flee from rather then attempt to fight. No matter the blow to his veritable pride. The boy so gesturing then towards that very map of the city that and outskirts that surrounded it that hung on the far wall of Tetradore's room as if he already knew the very path to take out of the city and away from her. Perhaps he did. Tobias tugging gently and yet firmly on his companions arm once more in some effort to inspire the man to move. A series of unintelligible, muttered words falling from his lips all at once as if he fought some internal war all at the same time. He would not stay here any longer. That very desire to keep his companion safe all but overwhelming in that moment. Tobias so willing, it seemed, to abandon their entire lives here if only for Tetradore's sake. The boy willing to run for how long and how far clearly did not matter. The very emotion that laced his stuttered words surely clear.

"You...are my....brother. I do not have.....other brothers. Not let her......have you again."

Those very words were becoming near desperate. Tobias only seeming to grow further frustrated as his head shook again, that wild, dark hair so falling into his equally dark eyes as that silence seemed to ensnare the pair once more. His gaze so unwaveringly held upon Tetra's own, his hands still gripping his brothers arm. Those final, near whispered words almost a plea and so unlike any words Tobias had ever offered before. That faintest shake daring to taint those tones. As if that very admittance almost....pained him to say. Tobias, after all, so never spoke of any faults within himself. Yet, one, it seemed, existed. One that hurt to admit. A promise he had already failed to keep before and was determined he would not again.

"I can't....protect you....here. Please....come with me. Please, Tetra...."

Maybe they would not get far but surely, they had to try.....

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