It is a delicate moment perhaps, that exists between the pair, Tobias' long fingers encircling his companion's wrist, preventing any further movement on the other mans part as Tetradore reached for the offending ninja star embedded within the boys torn and bleeding flesh. It is perhaps the single and only time his own healing abilities have been given to work against him, his flesh healing over and over each time the barest of movement seeks to tear it- only more deeply embedding the offending item and yet Tobias offers no indication of pain. Indeed the gangly young man is very near content to ignore it, allowing this current situation merely because Tetradore has asked it off him, the boy often content to ignore his own instincts in a number of situations if only because his companion is given to ask it off him, a form of trust perhaps and one he offers no other. His fractured mind truly offers little by way of logical thought, so many of his actions brought about purely by instinct, an animalistic understanding of each and every situation providing the younger man with a basal understanding of most things and yet truly little beyond it. To mistake such a manner of thought as unintelligent however, is surely a folly to many have made. He is cunning when he desires it, manipulative in seeking to gain what he wants, his mind entirely capable of mimicry as no other and as such he is often given to perform a façade of sorts, a final desperate attempt to be as those around him.

Yet, as any wild animal, his willingness to trust is a fickle thing, as fine and delicate as a web of spiders silk, the sort of which Tetradore seems content to pluck at now, dark eyes narrowed still upon the emerald green of his closet of friends and perhaps the single being the boy has allowed himself to trust so irrevocably. This assurance that Tetradore was, in fact, going to harm him seems to result in some moment of something akin to thought within the shaggy haired deviant, his bottom lip pulled back ever so slightly, biting at it with his teeth in some gesture of thought evidently mimicked from someone as he seems to consider whether or not to release the other man's hand- the query in regards to water following only a moment later. He is loath to allow himself near any substantial body of water, let alone anything that possesses the ability to spray it at him, their weekly shower routine- despite his adoration for his Alpha, a virtual civil war between Tobias and the rest of the Ark. Yet, aside from such weekly battles that truly involve little injury, the boy has been harmed by his Alpha only once, free hand moving near reflexively to brush against the discoloured skin at his neck, this memory firmly imprinted within his mind of the one and only time he had truly forced Tetradore's hand- the resulting displeasure in the months that followed having been a far more significant a punishment then any mark of teeth or venom.

"No more than a cupful."

He simply repeats the words, slowly allowing his grasp on the other mans wrist to release, unable to truly understand how much or little such an amount might be, the man clearly uncomfortable all the same though he is unwilling to further aggravate his leader lest a similar punishment to the months he had been ignored last time- result. He is willing, or at least seemingly so, to at least allow the other man to try, though how much pain it may take to break that bond of trust truly cannot be known, the boy distinctly dangerous despite his general obedience to the other man, his volatile nature never truly predictable and yet for now at least he shifts ever so slightly, offering his wounded leg to Tetradore, arms folding across his chest as he does in some attempt, perhaps, to appear less threatening- though each muscle within the boy remains tense all the same, dark eyes fixated upon his companion.

"Tetra can....hurt but.....not allowed to.....lock the door....again."

He is referring once more to the previous incident between them, the months he had spent wailing outside Tetradore room a punishment surely neither of them was willing to duffer through again, the boy simply having come to connect Tetra harming him with this following punishment- for truly he has no other experience to draw upon, the complexities of emotions involved beyond his reach as wide eyes merely continue to stare up at the man, waiting for him to reach for his leg once more. He trusts his companion, trusts there is a reason for the harm he may have to suffer and as such is willing to at least allow him to try- though how far the boy is willing to be pushed remains to be seen entierly.

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