The Crow's Nest

Chapter 11: Direction

Mamoru sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with his good hand, glasses riding up to his forehead as the charred remains of what had once been a folder filled with paperwork sat on his desk, black flakes dotting its smooth surface.

"Kail, why do you do this?" He questioned the blond male that stood in front of him, a lazy smile crossing the small teen's lips. He was around the same age as Faulklin and while he was on the short side he was nowhere near as scrawny as the brunette was. At this point he took his hand away from his face and gazed over at the honey-blond. "Don't you want to leave here? Why would you keep jeopardizing your chance to get out of Crow's Nest like this?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," the boy denied coyly. " 'course I don't want to be stuck here. I just felt the urge to light something up, and my folder is mine so it's not like I'm hurting anybody." He defended.

Mamoru sighed and shook his head. Kail Brynn Prince was a Medium Secure patient though he wasn't anything dangerous to anyone despite that the boy had a bit of an obsession with fire and burning things. He had been admitted by his father and step-mother under the premise that he had tried to burn their house down and kill them all, or so went the story from the step-mother.

Whether or not this was true had yet to be uncovered for sure since Kail never admitted to anything. He just talked his way around things and turned the situation around on whoever was questioning him into something about them to take the attention off himself. He was quite the crafty little devil. Despite that it was certainly frustrating, the boy never showed any hints of malice or conniving. He was easy-going and friendly with everyone, no problems with anyone to speak of, and seemed a perfectly normal and healthy kid. The only thing about him that was a little off was the fascination he had with fire but even then it was controlled. The only time he ever even burned anything without supervision and permission was when it involved his own facility record. It was never anyone else's, only his own folder.

Most frustrating, it was only when they moved him to the Low Secure ward and were about ready to release him. This officially marked the fifth time that he had burned his file and any records or proof of mental health that would declare him okay to go home. After the second time, they tried to find other ways to slip his upcoming release past the boy's attention but somehow he always found out and managed to get a hold of his file, and promptly burn it into ashes.

They had tried hiding the fact that he would be released by keeping him in Medium Secure rather than moving him, but that had failed. After that they simply tried to keep it locked up more tightly. That had also been unsuccessful. This time he'd tried purposely misfiling it into the wrong place where staff would still be able to find it, and keeping it tightly locked up. The burnt results of that attempt were sitting right in front of him. How the boy managed it, he had no idea.

Mamoru had his suspicions that the kid was doing this on purpose, but he didn't know why that was and Kail never talked about the reasons behind something. He was open about most things, talked about how he had a wonderful life and loved his father, growing up in a wealthy household, and it showed in his father's visits when they interacted, but when it came to the details of what had gotten him sent here and why he found it necessary to burn his release papers and files, prolonging his stay, the boy had tight lips.

"What am I going to do with you?" Mamoru questioned aloud, really only asking it as a rhetorical question. The blond shrugged his shoulders at the man and offered him a grin.

"Well I'm already in the nut-house. Not much more you could do with me." He piped good-naturedly.

"No…I suppose there isn't much else I could do with you." Mamoru mused in a quieter voice, these words making his thoughts flash back to his other troublesome patient still residing in the medical ward. He was sure that Faulklin felt the same way, that there wasn't much worse he could be subjected to. Of course the man knew that it had to be a better and safer place than where he had come from before, that didn't mean that the boy felt that way and it had been made pretty obvious by the kid's actions and attempted suicide.

The image of the small adolescent covered in blood after mutilating himself was still one that was thoroughly burned into his memory and something he wasn't going to be able to be rid of for some time yet, that was for certain. It haunted him more often than not in the last few days though he hoped this would be a passing thing and forgotten soon. He hated thinking on ill-fated events and tried to stay optimistic and look to the future though times like this definitely made it difficult. Regardless, he was determined not to let it take over his thoughts or feelings for very long so long as he could help it.

"I can tell you are troubled." These words from Kail snapped the man out of his thoughts and he gazed over at the kid who had come to lean slightly against his desk, smiling at him. "It's that new guy you've been working with, right?"

It never ceased to amaze Mamoru just how perceptive Kail could be. Or how he managed to find out information that most others in the facility didn't know. It was kind of impressive, really, if not a little scary.

"How could you tell?" Mamoru questioned, more curious than anything and not seeing any reason to feign ignorance. It never fooled the blond anyway.

"Because you seem more fretful ever since you started working with him." The teen shrugged his shoulders idly, a single blue eye peeking out between strands of blond hair, the other hidden under his bangs. "Especially after the few days you came back."

Mamoru sighed and once again found himself rubbing his temples with his free hand. "I honestly don't know what to do with him…he's the most stubborn, troublesome kid I've ever known, that's for sure."

"Oh, I'm sure." Kail practically purred.

"The kid is trying to drive me up a wall. I'm surprised he hasn't succeeded so far." The man chuckled slightly. "Though I suppose that'd be because I'm a fool."

"Well you're stubborn too." Kail felt the need to point out.

"Yes but he's already fed up with me." Mamoru stated matter-of-factly. "He can't even really stand my presence so he's barely workable. Definitely tries to make my job very difficult."

Kail merely shrugged dismissively once more. "Hey, can't make everyone happy." He said, pushing off from the desk and trotting back towards the doorway. "I'm sure he'll come around eventually though, they usually do."

"Not so sure about this one…" Mamoru sighed idly.

"Nah, he'll come around. Just you watch." Kail shot back, walking backwards. Mamoru gave him an inquiring look.

"And what makes you so certain?"

"Simple." Kail said matter-of-factly as he opened the doorway to the hall, gripping it with one hand and pausing. "You have this natural knack for making people like you." He offered the man a beaming grin before shutting the door and trotting down the stairs, leaving Mamoru alone in his office.

The man blinked a few times in surprise before he smiled and pushed the ashes of the boy's file into the trashcan under his desk, brushing the remaining flakes in after it. It wasn't like anything in it was really salvageable anyway, Kail had made sure of that.

"I really hope you're right about that…"

When Mamoru returned to the medical ward, Faulklin was still unconscious despite that he had been asleep for over a week since he had tried to kill himself, though his vital signs were all good according to the machine hooked up to him. When he had first seen him a couple days before, returning to work for the first time in five days, the boy had been unrestrained but now he noticed that the kid had changed position slightly and that his arms were held at the sides of the bed by soft restraints lined with lamb's wool once more.

He gazed to the nurse in question as she went about her work and she explained as she caught the expression on his face.

"He was twitching and thrashing around in his sleep and the heart monitor was going crazy." She explained. "I had to give him a sedative to stop him from moving around and put the restraints on just as a precautionary measure. After that his vitals returned to normal, I think it was night terrors and possibly some natural pain from the morphine wearing off more than anything else, because there was nothing immediately wrong with him when I checked his condition."

Mamoru nodded in understanding and gazed over at the kid, his eyes softening. It wasn't surprising that the boy had likely been caught in a fit of nightmares but it was saddening to say the least, especially now when he needed the rest most of all. Mamoru stuck around for a while, pulling up a chair alongside the boy's bedside for some time and let his thoughts wander, not really sure why he was here now or staying rather than going elsewhere and doing something more productive but it just felt like the right thing to do for some reason.

Gazing over at the kid's small and unconscious form, he reached out the gently grip his hand without thinking much of the action, wanting to somehow let the child know that he was there for him and that everything would be alright, but not really knowing how he could really assure Faulklin of that, even were the boy awake right now.

But this much, at least, he could do.

The hiss of water spraying from the showerhead above was the only sound that filled the room until the brunette grasped the knob and turned it off, the water tapering off until only a few drops trickled off of it, steam filling the air. The small boy grasped a fistful of hair between both hands and wrung it out a few times so that the water wouldn't drip everywhere before he pushed open the glass panel door of the shower and onto the cool linoleum, his skin dark pink from the hot water.

He took a towel from the top of the toilet seat, which was large enough for him to wrap around his small frame with ease and quickly rubbed it over his body to dry it and then over his head to take some of the weight from the brown locks. He gazed over at the mirror which was steamed up though he wasn't tall enough to see himself in it over the counter anyway.

Regardless of that, he climbed up onto the counter with help from the toilet lid and kneeled on the counter, using the towel to wipe away some of the steam that obscured the silvery glass surface. It wasn't clear, the image in it blurry and smudged but he could actually see himself and the major features in it now rather than a random and unrecognizable blur. With towel still wrapped around him he twisted himself around partway and let the cloth fall down away from his shoulders and back to settle around his legs and lower body, reaching a hand over one shoulder and fingering the dark purple spots that marked his flesh, normally hidden by his overly large clothing.

They still hurt but much less so after he had taken a hot shower to soothe the bodily aches, though it would take some time yet before they faded and then disappeared. Likely he'd have new ones by that time though so it didn't much matter. He was used to seeing them at this point and the pain they brought but no one else seemed to notice or care when they did see them. Not that he could tell, anyway.

A harsh knock on the door surprised him and sent the boy tumbling back from the countertop, eliciting a choked yelp of pain as his back collided with the floor and the wind was knocked from his body. He lay there for a moment, dazed, but another harsh knocking made him scramble up and quickly slip on his boxers, pants, and shirt, folding up the towel semi-neatly to leave where he found it and then rushing to open the door.

He turned the lock and cracked it open, timidly peeking his head out at the figure that was just outside the doorway, an older boy with darker brown hair and brown eyes glaring at him.

"Hurry your stupid ass up, Runt." The boy spat nastily, shoving the door open roughly and making the child stumble back, blue eyes slightly wider and ducking his head down between his shoulders, nervously kneading the bottom hem of his shirt. The other boy glared him down before speaking again as he stepped forward, making the smaller child retreat until his back touched the edge of the counter and left him nowhere to go. "What's the matter? Suddenly forgot how to speak, little retard?" He sneered, knocking the top of his head with a balled up fist a few times, not hard enough to knock the boy off balance or cause damage but still enough to hurt.

He only shuffled silently in place and dropped his head lower, his eyes darting about the floor and subconsciously looking for a way out.

"Didn't you hear me, squirt? I said hurry the fuck up." He grabbed the smaller kid by the collar and made him flinch and duck away, drawing in a sharp breath of fear. The older yanked him forward and shoved him out the door, making him collide with the wall just outside as the child lost his balance. It hurt but he was determined to remain silent and so he bit back any noises that might encourage the bully into further doing anything to hurt him.

It worked, luckily, the older boy only sneering at him in mockery before shutting the door and leaving him alone. After only a few seconds he moved to get up, mostly using one arm to rise from the ground since the other was still sore. It had been some time since the man had shoved him down the stairs but his wrist still hurt much of the time. For the first few weeks it had been excruciating and completely useless to do much of anything but by now the pain had dulled so long as he didn't put too much pressure onto it or did anything very strenuous.

No one else had seemed to really notice anything amiss except for those that got enjoyment out of tormenting him, and since he didn't really speak to any of them, none of the others besides them really gave him any mind. He was just the quiet little shadow in the house and he preferred it that way since the less he was noticed, the less the others hurt him.

He made his way down the short hall and stopped in a large doorway to the right, gazing around the corner where a woman was handing small bowls of food to the other children that called this place home. He gazed about almost nervously before making his way forward and taking a bowl from the woman. She spoke but he could barely be bothered to really hear her, keeping his head down and shuffling to one of the two large tables in the dining room beside it.

Wary blue eyes watched the other children, many different ages and almost all older than him, chatting busily, reaching over the table at each other or for something, some throwing bits of food at others. He picked the closest corner to the doorway and reached his bowl up to the table before climbing up onto the chair himself and eating in silence, never taking his eyes off the others. Just as expected, they didn't even seem to notice he was there. That he even existed.

He ate just as slowly and tentatively as he seemed to do with everything else and then slid from his chair when he was finished, leaving the empty bowl up on the counter where the woman had originally given it to him before walking to the door and slipping on a pair of shoes that were his, lined up with many others, and then opened the door to the outside.

The pitter-patter of water droplets drumming against the earth as they fell from the heavens reached his ears. The building was surrounded by a decently sized yard and thin woodland and grassland further outside the property fence. He liked being outside, it always seemed much more welcoming being around the plants and listening to the birds singing or watching the squirrels hop through the grass carelessly as they scrounged for food in the foliage.

Outside, he could forget some of the terrible things that were inside for a short while. He just felt more at peace with it, a happiness he didn't really feel any other time. He could pretend that he was the only person that existed when he was out here alone, just him and nature, and forget that life was a place filled with pain and fear. Here, he was unafraid, and free. At least, he would like to think so.

Of course nothing was a happy ending like the story books said and the illusion of a joyous fantasy always shattered eventually.

After losing himself to the peaceful calm of the drizzling sky and the light chirping of finches, it was disrupted by the raucous laughter and talking of a few older boys that sent the boy scurrying into hiding, ducking behind the trunk of a spruce and peeking his head around. The largest of the group was the boy from earlier that had shoved him out of the bathroom to claim it as his own, walking tall and asserting himself as the leader of the group – that much would be obvious to anyone.

The small brunette watched them jostle each other around and gazed down the long wall of the back of the house, then back at the group before creeping forward to disappear around the other side. Not fast and stealthily enough it seemed, hearing one of them giving a shout.

He leapt forward immediately, knowing already that they would be after him and raced by the length of the house and around the corner, weaving between a cluster of thick bushes that flanked the side of the house before he paused a moment in his tracks, gazing around at the shrubbery.

Making a split-second decision, he ducked inside one of the bushes even as he heard thrumming footsteps coming close, the small boy holding his breath with wide blue eyes, his heart pounding erratically in his chest. The first few boys blazed by, the bushes rustling loudly as they rushed past before stopping not far.

"Where'd he go? Couldn't have gotten that far." He noticed the movement of the boys turning back to search and closed his eyes tight as a shrill pitched screeching filled his ears, willing them away even knowing that it probably wouldn't work, that they'd find him.

A hand gripped his shoulder firmly and he yelped, eyes flying open wide.

A gasp escaped the teen's throat as his eye opened, taking in the white surface of the ceiling and the screeching of a machine that hurt his ears, trying to force himself up but restraints around his wrists held him to the bed. Despite that he was held down securely by the soft restraints he fought against them, his torso aching fiercely and his throat sore from intrusion.

After a few moments of fighting he flinched as something made contact with his head and his single good eye darted to the face of that Asian doctor that constantly came to harass him, trying to pull away.

"Shhh, you're safe, you were just suffering from a nightmare." The man said in a soft voice. When he tried to jerk away the man put a hand on either shoulder to hold him still. "Don't move, you're still in pretty bad shape." He advised.

Even if he wanted to he couldn't really move all that much, his body feeling heavy on top of the man keeping his shoulders pinned and he tossed his head from one side to the other furiously. He could feel something large and ridged against his tongue and down his esophagus that was beyond uncomfortable and his lower torso was in a lot of pain, the teen having no idea what they'd done to him but he figured that no doubt it was something horrible.

"Stop moving." The firmness of the man's voice made the boy freeze, his muscles going rigid and single eye timidly shifting to Mamoru's face. After a few seconds the man's expression softened and he took to running a hand over Faulklin's head the way that he often did. Not that Faulklin really understood why. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, but if you kept moving around then I'd have to have you sedated before you reopened your wounds."

Once again Faulklin felt a great confusion and his gaze darted about the room, taking note of the fact that it wasn't the same room he was normally subjected to, a large machine alongside his bed that was eliciting that irritating beeping noise and other things he vaguely recognized attached to the wall. It looked much like the hospital that he had been subjected to before his trial which only added to the teen's confusion.

His gaze shifted down at this point to the tubing that snaked from his throat and mouth to another machine and he couldn't help but give Mamoru a look of question, feeling very lost. It took a second but Mamoru seemed to pick up on the boy's confusion and lowered himself back to the chair he had been sitting in before trying to rouse Faulklin from sleep and free him from his nightmare.

"You very nearly got your wish…" Mamoru explained softly, not entirely sure why he bothered since it wasn't like Faulklin could actually respond but figured that he would want to know. "After you tried to kill yourself…it took a lot of work for the nurse's to bring you back from the brink. The tube is to help you breath since your body was having trouble keeping up such functions on its own." Though he doubted Faulklin would be very happy about this since it had been his goal to finish the job and succeed at killing himself. No doubt the troubled teen would be upset at his own failure to accomplish that.

For some moments, Faulklin only gazed at him before turning his head away and shaking Mamoru's hand from his head, tears welling in his single eye and reflexively trying to raise his arm to wipe them away but they were still held fast by the restraints, so he tried to blink them away instead, though he wasn't very successful with that either.

Mamoru sighed and clasped his hands together in front of him, gnawing his lower lip as he tried to think of something that might make the boy feel better but came up with nothing. Sighing, he pushed his chair closer and took to rubbing the boy's shoulder even though he was sure that it would only put the kid on edge since he hated being touched.

"I know that things are hard for you, Faulklin, and I know that you don't believe we can really help you, but we really are trying to make things better. I just wish that we could actually convince you of that."

Faulklin didn't even look at the man, keeping his head turned the other way and sniffled softly, feeling beyond miserable and not even having the ability to speak now with the damned tube down his throat. He couldn't really see how things could really get much worse at the moment except for if they decided to outwardly brutalize him, but he was sure that would happen eventually too, it was just a matter of time.

Mamoru had fallen silent and retracted his hand by now, gazing at the boy for a moment before he stood up from where he had been sitting.

"Well…I figure that you might want to be left alone." He said, not able to gauge a reaction from the boy, his expression not changing at all nor did the boy show any signs he even heard the man. "So I'll just excuse myself for now. You rest up now. You'll need all the rest you can get to recover."

Once again he was met with only silence as the teen seemed to ignore him and Mamoru decided to simply take his leave for now and return later, hopefully garner more results then. No doubt the boy would need some time to himself and to come to terms with what had happened and the fact that he was still very much alive and that it was going to stay that way.

Hopefully then he'd be more ready to listen and maybe even talk about things once he was more capable.

When Mamoru returned to Faulklin's room the following day, he found the kid still gazing off to the side of the bed as if he hadn't moved at all, though he was sure the boy had to have at some point. Mamoru sighed softly under his breath and stepped further into the room, drawing Faulklin's single blue eye toward him though the movement of the boy turning his head was sluggish and the look held within his gaze was dull and broken, lacking much emotion.

Once again Mamoru felt his heart go out to the child as he came to sit at the his bedside, hoping that perhaps he would be able to do something to make the boy feel better even knowing that it was unlikely.

"Hey…are you hurting at all?" He questioned softly, asking since something like that Faulklin could at least answer with a nod or a shake of his head. He didn't do either of these things however and once again reminded Mamoru of his frustration. "If you are in any pain I can ask the nurse to get you something to dull it for a while."

Once again, nothing.

"Is there anything you want?" Mamoru questioned, falling short of much else to say, or what he might do to make the kid feel better. "Anything at all? Perhaps more pillows to make you comfortable…or another blanket if you're a little cold?" When he didn't get any kind of response he kept trying. "Maybe you'd like me to bring you something else, like, maybe something to listen to or something to watch. You know, like television or something. Maybe a movie. I'm sure you've got to be horribly bored in here, especially since you can't move around. Or perhaps some soothing music."

He paused to see if any of these things might get a response and while it finally did, the only sign the boy was even listening was a dismal and barely perceptible shake of his head, Faulklin's single eye not really looking at him and directed more at the floor.

"So there isn't anything you want? Nothing at all?" Mamoru questioned quietly. Even if it was something that couldn't be explained or answered with a simple Yes nod or a No shake of the head, he would move heaven and earth to try and understand, and make what the boy wanted reality if it was within his power to give. The teen didn't give him anything once more and Mamoru sighed, reaching a hand out to run over the top of the boy's head.

For once, he didn't even flinch, which was a great surprise to the man.

"I wish you'd give me something to work with that would make you feel better." He mused idly. Once again to his great surprise, the teen leaned his face against Mamoru's hand and closed his single eye, making the man take a moment's pause.

It seemed beyond strange to him that the boy suddenly seemed so unafraid. Normally the kid was terrified of having anyone even near him, much less making physical contact. So what had changed?

It seemed that Faulklin had noticed his pause as well as the boy's single eye fluttered open, briefly looking up to his face before quickly darting back down just before making actual eye-contact and nuzzling his face against the man's palm.

Mamoru couldn't help but tilt his head slightly at the boy and blink in question before continuing with his motions, petting the top of the kid's head and side of his face with his thumb. Once again Faulklin closed his single eye and the Japanese male could almost swear that maybe the boy was enjoying the contact. Which just seemed…off.

Faulklin didn't seem to notice the strangeness though so he tried to ignore it, at least for the moment, and kept up with what he was doing. It seemed to be making Faulklin feel better at any rate so he was glad to be of some kind of comfort to the boy, though he was still a bit perplexed.

He decided it best not to speak and possibly disrupt the peace that the teen seemed to have found and idly wondered why Faulklin seemed to be behaving differently, though he couldn't really figure out why. He hoped it meant they were making improvements though it was admittedly difficult to tell, and the man couldn't help but be a tiny bit suspicious.

After some time it seemed likely that the boy had probably nodded off so Mamoru decided to leave the kid to sleep and stood up, quietly making his way toward the door.

Despite his assumption, Faulklin hadn't fallen asleep and realized that the motions had stopped, the weight of Mamoru's hand leaving as did his presence beside the bed. His single blue eye fluttered open and sought out the man's backside as he made for the door.

The adolescent's single eye opened wide as he realized that the man was leaving him alone in this terrible room with that grating, insanity inducing machine beeping next to him and his breathing picked up, the boy fighting against the restraints to get free with all the strength he could muster despite that it refreshed the pain in his gut, crying out since it was really the only sound he could make with the damn tube down his throat preventing him from talking, and that damn, raucous machine screeching even louder.

Mamoru was back at his side in an instant.

"Hey, hey – what's wrong?" He tried to soothe, once again running a hand over the kid's head and smoothing down his hair. Faulklin fought for a few more seconds before sinking back down against the bed, his single blue eye shimmering with tears and the youth shaking his head with a whimper, his breathing borderline hyperventilation. "Shhh, just calm down. I'm right here." Mamoru calmed, looking a little worried.

The man had no idea what had set the child off but it had obviously been something and he wanted to find out why. So many times before the kid was constantly telling him to go away, tossing threats to the man's well-being and promising to rain down death meanwhile rejecting any attempts to get close or for the man to offer anything to him. Now the boy was acting entirely opposite which left the man utterly confused since he hadn't seen this side of the kid in…well, really ever. There had been times where Faulklin stopped fighting against an embrace or an attempt to offer him comfort but it had been more reluctance and inability to avoid or get away from it than actual wanting or acceptance, just a situation he couldn't help being stuck in.

This time was obviously different.

"What's gotten you so worked up all of a sudden?" This question wasn't really meant to harbor an answer since he knew very well that Faulklin couldn't talk at present and more just offered up to the Powers That Be as a rhetorical question.

Despite that, Faulklin directed at the restraints with his eyes and pulled at them to try and get free, the expression on his face pleading. It didn't take a genius to figure out what Faulklin wanted but Mamoru was forced to give the boy a look of apology.

"I'm sorry, Faulklin, but I can't remove them." He paused for a moment before adding, regrettably, "You can't really be trusted not to try anything."

More tears welled up in the kid's eyes and almost made the man cave but he knew that if he did, likely Faulklin would just try and finish what he had started and it had already taken too much to prevent that from happening. There couldn't be a next time, now or ever.

"I truly am sorry." He offered up, even knowing that it wasn't likely to mean anything to Faulklin. "I wish that I could, but…" he trailed off at this point. The boy didn't respond and only turned his head away to gaze at the wall again, causing Mamoru to sigh with a measure of guilt and stood up, making for the door again, since it seemed like Faulklin had come to disregard his presence now that he had been denied.

Seems I can't do anything right to make him feel better… the man mused to himself. He stopped as he felt a tug on his arm, or more accurately his sleeve and another soft whimper reached his ears, Mamoru's dark eyes travelling down to the teen once more.

He heaved a slight sigh of exasperation but it seemed Faulklin didn't want him to leave. "Did you want me to stay?" Mamoru inquired tentatively, making eye-contact for a brief moment though Faulklin quickly averted his gaze and didn't respond, the fingers that grasped the edge of Mamoru's sleeve falling away as confliction showed in the boy's expression. "It's alright if you do, you know."

Once again Faulklin only kept his gaze averted down and didn't show any signs that he even heard the man but Mamoru could tell from the look that he bore that the boy wanted it but seemed too afraid to actually ask for it, or indicate it at any rate since he couldn't exactly ask. It was the same look that he had held when the therapy animal had been brought in and so Mamoru knew that he was once again holding himself back from what he wanted.

"You don't have to be afraid of asking for a little companionship if that's what you want." Mamoru told him gently, taking a seat back in the chair and resuming what he had been doing before, reaching a hand out to rest on top of Faulklin's head. "I would be more than happy to offer it."

Once again the only response he received was a soft sniffle from the teen as he once again leaned his head against Mamoru's palm, idly tugging at the restraints and earning a mild look of disapproval from Mamoru.

"Hey now, none of that. We've already been over this, they're not going to be removed and if you move around too much then I'm going to have to have you sedated." He warned fairly. Faulklin pulled at the restraints despite this warning and once again gave Mamoru a pleading and rather pitiful look. The Japanese man tried to remain strong and not give in but in the end the kid managed to win over his sympathy and he heaved a sigh.

"Alright, alright." At this point he gave the boy something of a stern look. "But you have to promise not to try anything, or move around too much. And no removing the tube. Otherwise the restraints are going back. Fair?" He gazed at Faulklin, waiting for an answer and it was once again that he wasn't sure he was going to get one but finally he managed a small measure of progress and the boy nodded his head, even if the motion was very subtle.

"Alright, I'm going to hold you to that." He warned for good measure, his tone a touch firm but not unkind. That being said he undid both of the restraints on either side, watching the boy's movements and prepared for any attempted rebellion this time despite being sure that Faulklin wasn't in any condition to try another stunt like the one he had before, but decided it better to err on the side of caution.

Suffice to say, he was glad when Faulklin didn't try anything and once again found himself greatly surprised and perplexed as the boy shuffled closer and curled himself into a partial ball on his side, the teen partially burying his face against the fabric of the bed and the pillow.

"I'm not so sure that's a good position for you to take on…" Mamoru pointed out softly, a little worried that the position might cause the wounds in his lower torso to reopen. If Faulklin heard him at all the teen ignored his words, shifting a little to try and get more comfortable though the man was sure that such a thing would be too much to hope for at the moment. No doubt the boy was in quite a bit of pain so likely it would be impossible for him to really get comfortable.

Despite being a little worried about possible re-opened wounds, he decided to leave the boy be for now since he didn't really want to rile him up either and just keep an eye on him and his condition, once again petting the top of the kid's head and watching as the boy closed his single eye and once again allowed the contact.

No doubt the kid was feeling horrible physically right now which was why he was so docile compared to almost any other time, but the fact that the boy seemed to actively want the company was a bit of an uplifting thought and one that he hoped marked an improvement in their relationship. For now he'd just have to wait and see as the boy recovered a bit more but with any luck they were making progress down the right path.

A thought that brought a small smile to the man's face despite everything horrible that had come before this little step in the right direction.