Gingerly Tetradore's hand reached forward to cup the leopard's head. His thumb caressed the feline's cheek in a rare gesture of tender affection. Those glimpses of emotions were altogether rare from the two men and yet, in the depths of the darkness of his bedroom in the aftermath of all he had endured, it simply felt appropriate. He was well aware of that soft reverberating within Tobias' chest, the very sound caused the corner of his lips to twitch upwards weakly. He could feel the soft exhale of breath from Tobias' nose against his skin before the feline inhaled, only to jerk backwards quite abruptly. Tetradore could hardly help that soft sigh upon his lips as Tobias so flashed his sharpened canines. His hand slowly fell back to the floor. His head leaned back against the wooden surface of the door, his eyes briefly fluttered close as he listened to the sound of Tobias' body snapping and shifting - the form of the leopard replaced by the lanky deviant he knew so well. It was only at the sound of Tobias' inquiry that his eyes opened, refocusing upon his companion to admit that she was very much alive after all. He watched in silence as the boy so struggled to come to terms with that very death the Alpha had once promised was final. How wrong he had been. He allowed that quietude to persist, that muffled sound of noises that hardly existed caused his eyebrows to furrow as he tried to merely focus upon the man in front of him. The venom that had once so potently laced his veins had, for the most part, dissipated and yet, tendrils still lingered within his system as his blood so struggled to both restore and expunge.

He watched as a snarl crossed Tobias' features, that emotion fleeting before the boy returned to that almost peculiar indifference that Tetradore himself so often retreated to. He hardly stopped the boy as Tobias reached forward to let his fingers run against the flesh of his shoulder, those marks rimmed with silver burns were all that remained upon his rapidly healing flesh. A soft snort left his nose at Tobias' insistence that they should have eaten the woman. The logic, though gruesome, could hardly be faulted. After all, it wouldn't have been the first time those feline figures had consumed human flesh. "It wouldn't have mattered." He uttered simply, hardly wishing to fight the boy while also not particularly wanting to delve in any depths of how she had returned. That illusion had been so real, he doubted he would have even noticed the fallacy even if they had fallen to such animalistic tendencies. He was hardly prepared for that sudden inquiry of when she had returned, however. The very question caused his eyebrows to furrow as he tried to recall that date. How long now had he lived with the apprehension that she would call him back? How long had she afflicted him with those nightmares that had left him exhausted? "About a year ago." Tetradore admitted for a moment, before attempting, in an almost habitual fashion, to frame that answer in relation to a memory the boy might understand. "Do you remember the first night I took you to drive the Honda? It was just before that."

He had been lying to them all for a year. He had been keeping the truth of her return, of the very beginning of what he'd started to endure from them with the knowledge that it would only worsen. His emerald eyes slowly turned from his companion, that guilt so stirring within him even though he had held every intent to keep these nights as secret from the boy as possible - just as he had every intent to continue to do so. Perhaps, in ignorance, Tobias might find not only some level of peace, but too safety. The sudden pressing of Tobias' jacket into his hand caused his gaze to turn downwards towards the material. He'd almost gotten used to that very feeling of frigidity that pierced his skin to his very core, those occasional shivers had become apart of the norm in the last few hours. Slowly the man tossed the jacket around his shoulders, nestling further into the miniscule amount of heat it was capable of providing him. The residual warmth from Tobias' own frame on the material caused a shudder to run down his spine and yet, there was something comforting in being enveloped by the boy's earthy scent. It reminded him of...home. Those thoughts, however, were interrupted quite quickly by Tobias' sudden effort to pull him to his feet, only to insist that they needed to go.

The loss of blood had succeeded in filling the man with a rush of vertigo as he body so abruptly changed positions. His balance wavered, the man quickly catching onto his best friend as he stumbled upwards. His very grip upon his companion seemed to prompt some level of internal thought within the deviant, one Tetradore hardly bothered to question in his own state of weariness. That sudden hand upon his arm was steadying, at the very least, even if it caught the Were-King off guard. There a distinctly peculiar softness to Tobias words, the very gentleness resulting in the entirety of Tetradore's attention upon his closest friend. His emerald eyes softened ever so slightly at the deviant's admittance that he didn't want to return to that place of hellish torment. Frankly, Tetradore couldn't blame his companion in the slightest. What he didn't expect, however, was for Tobias' admittance that, even when the Were-King was forced to return to Syn, it was Tobias that still got hurt in the end, even if the very implication of those words were left to loose interpretation. His gaze turned away from his companion but briefly, the Alpha searching for some sort of reassurance he might provide the boy in the darkness that so embraced them.

His masculine mallard green gaze turned back towards his companion as the boy continued, insisting that they had to leave The Ark was no longer a place for them. Sacrosanct was no longer safe for them. His lips parted, that small sad simper crossed his features. "Tob --" Those words never quite finished leaving his lips before Tobias' grip tightened upon him, cutting off that protest on his lips only to argue with far more firmness then he ever had before. It was...endearing that Tobias was so willing to leave behind the pack they had built, that plan one he might have readily taken the boy up on, some years ago and yet, now, things had changed. Now, there would be people who would suffer in his absence and though Tetradore might have found some sort of guilt ridden acceptance of such a fact, he knew well that the consequences of it might tear the boy in front of him apart. A frown marred his features as Tobias continued, the emotion so thick within the boy's voice before his tone turned almost pleading - the very sound of it was a tone he'd never before heard.

"Tobias..." His voice was soft as he reached upwards, his palm placed on the back of the boy's neck as he drew the taller man closer till Tobias' forehead touched his unwounded shoulder. "I won't let her take you...never again." He promised softly, the Were-King more than willing to endure far more than tonight for Tobias' sake alone. Gingerly he released his grasp upon his companion an though he doubted the feasibility of escape there was something about that so rarely heard tone that caused the Were-King to consider that very option. "Tobias..." Tetradore started again, that glimpse of despondency clear upon his features as he contemplated all the damage their absence might cause. "You know if we leave there's no guarantee we'll have anything to come back to. Or anyone. She'll take them all if she thinks it would bring me back....and I'm not sure that Frost can keep them all safe...she's changed and...Raven..." He paused with a soft sigh, his head shook ever so slightly before the man continued. "It would destroy her if she wakes up to find you gone...especially if you don't come back." A weak simper crossed his face before he reached out, rustling Tobias' hair ever so slightly in a small glimpse of affection. "It's been twenty-one years, I'll be okay."