stuff us in boxes that's where you want us

cardboard is boring, we brought our matches - look how it burns

Harley could not look away from the unfolding chaos that steadily poured from the one man at her side and into the crowd below. She could not pry her gaze from it, her fingers reached to press against the bar before her. There was nothing to describe it, other than a chaotic explosion that devoured all in its path, remarkably leaving herself fortunately, untouched by the man. She stole a glimpse of Tobias, eying the deranged smile her wore on his face.

Tobias was the chaos and it fueled the room with a vengeful like hunger. Harley could not help but lean in closer, to watch it all unfold before her as it silently devoured everything in its path. The alpha Tobias had pointed out was obviously no longer in control. Not a damn person in this whole room was. They were lost to it. She could have sworn, even her leopard companion was too. But one thing for certain was... there was no order in the confines of that chaos.

Tobias seemed to watch it all unfold without a mere blink of his dark eyes. Harley occasionally stealing glances of the lanky leopard as if she expected him to join them. It all made sense. But even she couldn't ignore the fact that it was... almost mesmerizing. But not like the rest below... but she was affected. A realization that snaked through her and coiled tightly as she understood the point that Tobi was trying to make all along. It was funny how it took chaos in order for her to find perfect clarity.

Maybe she was simply one of the few beings that could thrive within that chaos that so often existed around her. But with that realization, came the sinking feeling that trailed behind it. This was not something she could replicate. Once more, she had hit another dead end. Which, maybe she wasn't exactly surprised at all. She distracted herself with the goings on.. watching the erratically dancing man giving it his everything with reckless abandon. She watched as people ripped off their clothes.. some ready to give into their basest of impulse.

Tobias' grin only grew, he looked almost maniacal, like half his face cracked open into a wide, all teeth that were fortunately human this time. It was clear that he loved the chaos. Harley couldn't help that she found it all..... impressive. Genius.. even if it wasn't intention. There was a brilliancy behind it. She could not help her own grin, getting lost in the moment... the anarchy. Why the fuck not? Maybe that was why Tobias ensured Tetradore was asleep in his bed.

She liked this form of mischief. For a moment Harley and Tobias met eyes. His grin should have creeped her own more than it did...

She could not contain those words... that mention she wished she had seen the chaos unfold within Syn, a nickname of the leopard fell with ease from her lips. Tobs. Her gaze cut to the scene once more before she realized a moment later that her companions smile had slipped, as if any recollection of Syn removed any joy from that moment, he spoke plainly. Looked like this. Was all he said to her wish to see Syn absorbed in chaos.

How clear those words were to her. She understood now, truly. Her violet gaze turned pensive for a moment before his powers diluted and died like he severed a cord before any true damage could have occurred.. It was almost instantaneous. It wasn't long before confusion and quiet settled upon the room in the wake of those hungry impulses.

She understood.. all of it.. Well enough at any rate. Tobias seemed proud of himself. Several thoughts whirled by within her mind. One after another and another. The lanky man leaned casually against the railing they both pressed against, like nothing had truly happened at all. It was then that Tobias said those final words. Tobi said no. It struck her hard like something deeply profound resonated in her very soul. Understanding and determination all drawn into a strange, but clear and certain emotion within her.

Tobias said no to Syn. He well and truly did, perhaps better than anyone else probably ever could. She would say no too. She said those words, etched in a potent resolve, as if the fates could mark her very words at that moment. She locked eyes with Tobias. Perhaps... sharing a pivotal moment, a rare sort of vulnerability and inner strength gleaming brightly from within her. She missed the expectant stare of Tobias' features boring into her... and the fact that he thought she was somehow going to pull off that declaration against Syn right then and there.

She was lost for a moment. That silence between them felt easy, companionable despite her opinions of her predicament. Those powers should have been terrifying. Instead, instead, it oddly gave her hope. A hope that came from the most unlikely of places and people.

She didn't mind Tobias, she decided. Sure.. he might have growled at her, snarled and threatened violence at her.... but there was something oddly comforting about him all the same. The raven-haired woman found him honest and maybe the most free being she had ever met in her whole life.

Her features seemed almost serene as she looked out to the aftermath below... a rare calm fell upon the usual feisty wildcat. At least until a single question wormed its way out of her. Maybe it was a thread she should have not tugged upon with his beta. Maybe she should have left Tetradore out of this entirely.... Especially when things were going so well. That question if he has used those powers upon his alpha earned her a simply shake of his head. No. All before elaborating. It made Tetradore.... Sad. What? She could not imagine that alpha of nightmares... being a lot of things... but sad? She could only imagine him with that callous indifference. A cold, cruel man who had inflicted so much harm in the name of his master.

That was when Tobias features shifted into a rageful look. So much for that tentative peace they had shared. Harley should have moved away from the man, said something to appease him, although she was quite certain that anything she might have said would have only triggered him further.. That glare he gave her said enough. She didn't retaliate with one in return, which surprised even her. Instead, she blinked at Tobias. Once, twice, thrice. He looked comically pissed off. It would have been easy to fuel it. To push buttons that didn't need pushing. It was clear that she needed a different approach with Tobias, in all things. Her lips parted as if she was about to say something. For some reason... she was hardly concerned with his rage that was so different than the one vampires had. No, Tobias reacted, she had determined. Reacted to his environment, to the people he directly came into contact with. It somehow made sense to her. His rage was like his chaos, abrupt to end as it was to start.

A new questions found her. Still somehow in the realm of unpredictable territory. It was not quite so indirect as the one before. Tobias was best to be spoken to directly. How quickly she found that out. He attempted to communicate with her. She could at least do the same with him and adapt. She eyed him, as if watching for an outburst... an assault of some kind and yet none came.

The question she had asked.. was perhaps far more telling of her motives than the mischievous one she had asked before. How quickly his face seemed to soften, all before it was replaced by something akin to surprise. He didn't anticipate her question. He even looked entirely different when he was scowling and baring his teeth at her. A simple 'no' left the leopard.

How certain the raven-haired woman was, that was all she was going to get when suddenly he muttered the word stay. Before she could respond, he had already abruptly look off... walking with single-minded purpose to do who knew what. Part of her wondered if he would ever return. What an unusual guy.

She looked down once more, back to the people that had somehow attempted to return to a sense of normalcy. Watching as a controlled fight between two animals of very different species began to clash in a fury of tooth and claw. The fights were... interesting. It was one of things that fascinated her about this place. Maybe she would watch a few for a bit, even if the leopard didn't return. She wasn't really one to follow orders anyways. She suspected, that without Tobias' presence... her welcome... wouldn't last for too long.

Harley was unsure how much time had passed as she decided she had the best view in the entire house. VIP seats to observe everything below with no one to bother her. She was unsure of how much time had ticked by when Tobias returned. Surprise flashed across her features before the man all but fell at her feet, sitting cross legged before her. Huh?

She turned to face him before an order to sit was spoken abruptly. Why did it sound like whenever he said her name, it was like he yelled it? Her violet eyes flicked across Tobias' features, how certain she was... that if anyone else had demanded that order, they would be met with defiance. A soft huff of a sigh escaped her.. "Damn, you're bossy..." She stated bluntly before she lowered softly, gently even, the pair facing one another like they were going to play a game of cards or tic tac toe. She felt like a kid for some inexplicable reason.

The next moment, Tobias placed an old book before her, charred black ate away from the edges as if it had been nearly devoured by flames before someone put them out. He was so gentle, with a similar tenderness he treated Tetradore earlier... but instead it was offered to that beaten up book, certain she could still smell the burning if she only sniffed it. He revealed a picture to her. The only one in that entire book. Of a battered photograph that had seen better days. It was a picture of two boys grinning from ear to ear... How she could tell that one of them was Tobias. Right away. She recognized that smile, even though the features seemed almost unrecognizable save for those... telltale hints.

Tobi and Tetra. Tobias explained, causing Harley to frown more. Tet? That was Tet? She almost snatched the book to stare at it with intent but wisely left it alone, drawing in closer instead. She could not imagine anything so innocent being that very man.

The edges were so burned that it made them jagged, almost ate up part of that picture, the photo itself was so crumpled that she felt the desire to try and smooth it out. She was startled that Tetradore... might actually care for this man. That they had been together before... everything. It was weird to see that smile on Tetradore's face. It was too strange to see a boy so vastly different from the one that stood today.

She wasn't sure if Tetradore's face was even capable of a smile. But those emerald eyes were just the same.. It was clear. What happened to you? She found herself questioning as if Risque wasn't answer enough.

That frown had all but melted away from her features. Alright, even she had to admit that the picture was cute. She even found herself looking at Tobias and then back down again. The more she stared, the more similarities she found.

It was Tobias' next words.... So simple in their broken way and yet so beautifully profound. Harley couldn't help but feel taken aback, questions circling like angry sharks that threatened to spill from her lips all at once. But there was a grin that found his lips, it was a faint grin and yet it was almost boyish as if the memories of being that boy were a fond memory to have.

It explained a lot. His best friend... his brother. Ok.. this was getting to feel like a touch too much emotion. How could Tobias even do that to the usually walled off woman?

Maybe it was the purity in his declaration. The steadfast resolve as he had said it that made her feel it. But... then how quickly it was tainted in darkness when he claimed they were all dead.

Dead.

Risque did it. Then there was another name she didn't recognize Nadya. Who the fuck was Nadya?

That's what did it. That's what stole that smile. That was what stole hope away... much like the death of her family had stolen hers. Risque and anything associated with her appeared to be the answer to everyone's downfall.. even if it had been her bother to have been the catalyst. That frown returned to her features; her jaw clenched as her gaze narrowed.

"Nadya who? Everyone's dead?" She questioned, her voice sober and cautious. She didn't know any of this. But why would she? It wasn't like her and Tet were close.

What the hell happened?

"Risque..." She said the name like it sickened her. She was bad enough, all the shit she had done that she had known. All the shit that she caused. "How?" Her voice lowered, almost to an impossible whisper. A question that she wasn't sure Tobias had an answer for. "Fuck." She expelled with feeling. "When did... Risque.." She wondered out loud.. although the when didn't seem to matter as it changed next to nothing. Those questions all but swirled within her mind.

Tobias seemed unaware of the troubled emotions that swirled within Harley. She shook her head as if to rid herself of it. There was way too much to consider and she wasn't going to do it now. She couldn't do it here...

"Tetradore is lucky he has you." She admitted. "You both are lucky you have each other. Despite it all." She amended, her features strained as she disliked that uncertainty that invaded her so thoroughly. It was far simpler when she simply saw Tetradore as the villain.

To her... he was... but why had this made her pause? Why did this make her question?

Tetra not like Risky. Tobias' words replayed in her mind and yet her own experience so violently screamed otherwise...

"You look a little taller than in that photograph, Tobs.." Was all she could manage as she studied that picture far more than she ever imagined she would before she smirked, raising her eyes to meet his own.

Harley Westward