C13 Fire Extinguisher

It sucked, it really did. It wasn't even seven in the morning and Kailan felt wide awake. Rolling over onto his side, he slowly sat up and rubbed his face with tired hands. Vinny never returned last night, and while part of him worried he might have been snatched by the Syndicate, he knew that wasn't the case.

Rising to his feet, he noticed the cat sitting on Vinny's bed, eyeing him with devious slits. He cooed at the animal, holding out a gentle hand. It hissed and swatted at him, all the while glaring with stubby ears pinned flat against his head.

"Prick," he grumbled, yanking his hand away just quickly enough.

His other was already injured, a deep cut in his palm from the mess of glass he cleaned up the night before—and It would stay that way. Kailan hated hospitals. He refused to make the trip for stitches, so the skin was held together with butterfly bandages and gauze.

"I don't have classes until this afternoon." He wasn't speaking to anyone, simply thinking aloud. Still, he was tired and regretful. He had said some things he shouldn't have in the heated dispute the night before. "I hope he doesn't read into shit," he muttered, flexing his wounded hand. The words compelled a soft snort to gust from his nose, and he shook his head. "No, he's too much of an idiot."

"Cally! Baby are you awake? Open up! I want to apologize."

Vinny shot up in a start. The nude blonde next to him was still cuddled against his chest under a sea of red silk blankets.

"Come on, honey. I miss you!" Jason whimpered against the door.

Vincent nearly fell out of the bed, prying on his clothes and stumbling over himself to manage his feet in the correct jean-legs. This was the second time in a row that he'd fucked up and spent the entire night with a girl. The first was only an accident; this time it was a stupid mistake.

"What's going on?" Cally sounded groggy as she sat up, a sex-headed bare-breasted mess. When she recognized Jason's voice on the other side of the door, her eyes widened. She looked to Vincent in a snap. "Shit! He has a key! Go!"

Vinny hastily pried on his shirt, ripping open the dorm window. It was a two-story drop the ground, and it looked like a dangerous one at that. He tossed his shoes down first and pulled himself through the small gap, grasping hold of the bricks to let his body dangle before dropping to the pavement below. It was still a large fall, and his feet hit the ground with a shattering force. He was surely scraped up from his unsightly landing, but there was no time for a breather; adrenalin was pushing him forward. In one second flat, he holstered on his shoes and took off running.

He was winded by the time he got back to the dorm. Kailan was nowhere in sight, and he was more than relieved to avoid the awkward encounter. He carried himself to the kitchen for a glass of water, and indulged until he felt he was drowning.

It was a lengthy run from Cally's building to his own, and after a night of angry sex and a forty-minute sprint, he found himself drenched in a jacket of sweat. He wiped the salty beads from his neck and grimaced. A shower was calling his name, but from where he stood, he could already make out the soft patter of running water. He gave the bathroom door a gentle tap. "Hurry the hell up, will you?"

He was calm now. Irritable but calm. He wasn't exactly sure if Kai felt the same.

It wasn't long before the ambient noise came to a stop and Kailan emerged from the bathroom, his hair strung damp with water and a wad of bloodied tissue wrapped around his palm. He hardly gave Vinny more than a glance, walking into the kitchen and scavenging through the drawer for the first-aid kit. Vinny watched with an inquisitive brow as Kailan redressed the wound in gauze. Once done, the kit was placed neatly away, and Kailan made his way to the couch without a word; sinking down in the soft chenille.

"Tch," Vinny clicked his tongue, observing from his peripherals. If he wanted to play this game, fine. Still, his eyes lingered longer than he had permitted them to.

Kai looked different without a mess of hair framing his face. Older.

He really had grown since the last time they met.

Vinny scowled at himself for even allotting the time to care, and took to the shower. The water was chilly by the time Kai was done. It wasn't unusual to have a lack of hot water in the building, but Vinny didn't mind. In fact, he preferred his showers cold. He preferred everything cold. But as he watched the streams of water trickle from his pale blond locks, his shoulders heaved in a restless sigh. He felt empty as he usually did the day after. He'd accomplished nothing—only put himself in a terrible position. In the end he didn't feel any better, just tired. Cheap. It was a mistake going to Cally, but he was so angry at the time. Sitting around wasn't an option. God knows what would have happened had he stayed.

As he thought back to the bandage on Kai's hand, he laid his head back and welcomed the water to his face. That cut wasn't from him, was it? He hadn't remembered hurting him, at least. Surely he hadn't, and considering Kailan's aloof mood, he didn't see a reason to ask.

His shower was brisk, and a warm towel hugged his waist as he stepped outside. Eyeing Kailan on the couch, he searched his mind for conversation, "Still meeting your friend?" He wasn't necessarily curious, only looking for an excuse to break the tense wall between them.

Kailan hardly glanced over, shrugging his shoulders and losing his gaze to the laceration. He pressed his thumb into his palm, grimacing. It was going to take forever to heal. It could take an eternity for all he cared; he hated hospitals. He never had good experiences with them.

"If we don't go she'll kick down our door." His smirk was faint, but it fell as a pain shot through his wound. "Fucking Hell," he hissed under his breath, dropping his hand down and taking a gander at Vinny. He wasn't even fucking dressed, managing to stifle a snort from Kailan.

His eyes didn't linger for long before he dropped his gaze. "Glass," he said, then realized it probably didn't make sense. "Sorry about the, uh, glass." Apologies were not something he was good at, but he knew what he had crossed a line. His eyes avoided Vinny, instead staring down at his phone. The screen wasn't even on. "I shouldn't have done that."

Vincent felt relieved. He had gone over the top as well, but apologizing for anything didn't come lightly to him. The words felt odd as they fell from his tongue, so he always just... swallowed them down. Besides, a large part of him was still hurt that Kai disappeared with no contact. Even if it was a military school, there was no way in Hell he was restricted three years without a single phone call. Maybe, though... just maybe he had his reasons.

Vinny dropped his angst with a sigh and disappeared into the room for only a moment. When he returned, it was in a pair of cotton sweats that bagged and hung from his hips. In the short time they'd been living together, Kailan had come to the not-so-subtle realization that Vincent hated shirts. Never wore them unless he had to. This happened to be one of those times he decided against the restricting fabric.

He approached Kailan, taking a seat on the arm of the couch. There was little hesitance in the way he clasped him by the wrist, and ripped his arm up from his lap to take a gander. "Your aim is shit, by the way," he said, shaking his head at the blood stain that climbed eagerly through fresh medical gauze, "What the hell did you do?"

"Tried summoning Satan, was kinda hoping he'd drag me to Hell or something." Even though Kailan was joking, his tone seemed dry, deflated. "Got cut by the glass when I cleaned it up, is all." He shrugged lightly, playing it off to be nothing of concern. "And you're pretty lucky my aim was shit. It'd be unfortunate if you tried seducing some girl with a welt on the side of your head."

"Bet my ass I could manage," Vinny challenged, observing the rugged sideways gash.

"I'm fine, though," Kai said, pulling his wrist out of Vinny's grip and giving him a smile.

Vincent sneered. "You're an idiot."

He stood from the arm of the couch, skirting around Kai and taking a seat on the coffee table athwart him. Though he knew Kailan would oppose it, he reached for his wrist again, unwinding the stained gauze.

"You need stitches. We should take you to the hospital." His thumbs pushed into Kai's palm to get a better look at the laceration. The wound was deep. Deep as Hell for such a simple incident. "How in the shit did you manage this?"

Yanking his hand away, Kailan narrowed his eyes. "I told you what happened." Though, it wasn't exactly truthful. He had unintentionally gripped the glass too hard—or perhaps part of it was intentional. Either way, Vinny didn't need to know. "And we are not going to the hospital, I hate hospitals." He had too much of a reason to never step inside those disease filled cesspools. "Not gonna happen. If I could suture it myself then I would, but since I can't it's just gonna take a long ass time to heal. I don't care, as long as I don't have to go to the hospital." He crossed his arms with an unpleasant wince, but his stance hardly wavered.

"Grow up," Vinny barked, leaning in with an advert stare. He managed to fish out both of his wrists this time, holding them at eye-level between the two. It took some effort to wrangle his hands and he soon found himself standing from his seat and hovering over Kai. "It's going to get infected if you don't do something."

Kailan leaned up to challenge his glare. "I don't care," he sneered. "I am not going to the hospital." Maybe he couldn't rip his hands away like he wanted, but he was a grown adult. It wasn't like Vinny had a choice in the matter. "You can't make me go, Vinny," he chuckled, watching the blond with a testy upwards brow. "So let go."

Vincent let out a sigh, releasing his hands. "Then shut up and stay here."

He shifted up from his seat and drifted to the kitchen, puttering around for one thing or another. In Kailan's direction, he tossed a small bottle of alcohol from the first aid. From there, he searched about the room, opening cabinets and doors in a hunt for something in particular. Finally he found the object in a small closet, and heaved it upon his hip. Strong hands set the fire extinguisher down just beside the table, as Vinny reclaimed his seat.

"Safety precaution. Now give me your hand."

"What the hell are you doing?" Kailan demanded. Why would we need a fire extinguisher it's not like—oh. "Are you serious?" he asked. Still, he stretched out his hand with a skeptical look. He found it difficult to believe that Vinny would go through with it, but then again, he didn't need to catch on fire; just become hot enough to burn flesh. Still, curiosity pecked at him more than the realization that it would hurt. A lot.

"Mm," Vinny mumbled, teeth clamped around the lid of the alcohol to pop it free. Without warning, he spritzed the harsh liquid directly on Kailan's cut. It stung, but the pain was nothing compared to the wound itself.

"It's kinda weird seeing you be responsible for once." He almost grinned. "Thanks, though."

Vinny found it amusing too, though he'd never admit it. If it were him, he knew he'd be in the same situation as Kai; putting off a hospital visit—not because he was scared, but because he was lazy. In fact, Vinny couldn't remember the last time he'd even cracked open a first aid kit. His own flesh had been mauled by ridged side-walk cement when he took the fall from Cally's window, but he never so much as questioned it. He always let his body do the healing, and the pain never bothered him all that much. Then again, he'd never given himself a slash quite as deep as Kai's. The idea of leaving him without any treatment made him wary.

As he cleared the rising blood from Kai's wound, Vincent let out a taught breath. As much as he wanted to pretend he was comfortable using his powers, the anxiety it caused him overwhelmed his will to help. He stared in silence for a long while, working up the courage. Kailan's hand was held tight between his own; his right thumb hovering just over the wound and the left pressed securely into the palm. He wasn't sure if he could focus his power to such a precise area. The last thing he wanted to do was add a third-degree burn to the mix. The situation was terrifying. His powers were terrifying. But Kailan would sooner gnaw his own hand off than step foot in a hospital. Something had to be done.

He steadied his breathing, and like it had so many times before, a warmth began to prickle its way up his arm. At first it spread wide, across all five fingers. But with enough concentration, the feeling was diverted to only his right thumb.

He took a deep breath, a small ribbon of smoke snaking its way from his lips as he exhaled. It was almost as though a fire was set ablaze in his stomach. He was nervous. This would be the first time in years he had used his powers in a dry area and the first time ever that he'd used it to purposely burn someone's flesh.

"Are you ready?" His tone was collected, but his chest heaved in trepidation. "If it hurts, I don't know. Grab my arm or something."

Kailan could feel the heat radiating from Vinny. It was weird—surreal almost. A painful reminder of what they were. But it didn't frighten him, not in the least. "Pain's never been a big issue for me."

With his permission, Vinny took a deep breath and pressed down against the flesh wound. Kailan had almost forgotten about the pain until daggers raced up his arm in rapid succession. He could do nothing but draw in a sharp breath, turning his eyes away from his hand as Vinny worked to seal the mangled skin. The searing pain pressed hard into his flesh, and traveled slowly and patiently, while he was anything but. He closed his eyes, jaw tense as he tried to shut the thoughts out of his mind. It almost felt cold, much like burning yourself on a stove. But instead of being able to pull his hand away, he had to suffer through it, very aware of the agonizing sizzle.

The popping, the hissing, the smell of burnt flesh—it made Vincent ill. But he continued on, his thumb dragging along the rugged bends of the gash. As he neared the end of the cut, Vincent's fingers began to tremble. The harder he worked to hold Kai's hand still, the more it shook in his own. His senses were overwhelmed with every horrid aspect he had spent years trying to forget. The smells, the sounds, and the sickening lump that grew and grew in his throat. His heart palpitated in his chest, ten-fold. Exactly like it did every time he had used his powers before. His breath hitched, his stomach churned and his skin prickled with hot shivers.

Thank god it was over, because he couldn't take any more.

He dropped Kailan's hand, his own quivering fingers coming up to cover his pale face. He had done it. He hadn't lost control. Everything was okay.

But he couldn't get her face out of his head.

The wide-eyed gaping stare of the red-head who had been burned to a crisp the night of the party. The way her skin cracked and flaked and bled. And all the while her corpse laid frozen, her melting face a statue of the last tormenting emotions she endured before she died.

As the pain eased, Kailan opened his eyes, smiling at his friend. Though his expression dropped as he noticed the pallid expression on his face.

"Hey, Vin?"

Vinny felt himself drop from the table and onto the floor in front of Kai. Emptied of air, he wheezed desperately for more. Panic attacks weren't something that haunted him on a regular basis. In fact, he had never experienced one until now. That's exactly why he had no idea how to react.

He had hardly acknowledged Kailan as he knelt down next to him, concerned for his friend. He understood panic attacks all too well, so he could help with this. At least, he hoped.

"Vinny, deep breaths." He held Vincent by his jaw, just to remind him he wasn't alone. For Vincent, it felt as though he were holding his head above water.

"That girl at the party...." Vinny gathered himself. "I killed her, didn't I? I murdered someone, didn't I?" he repeated the words quickly, drinking down as much air as his lungs would swallow.

Kailan's stare hardened as he recollected that night, and he shook his head slowly. "No. Vinny, it was an accident. You had no idea that was going to happen. None of us did." He moved a bit closer, dark eyes focused attentively on his panicked expression. "I don't know why you suddenly were on fire that night, frankly I don't want to know what coaxed your ability out. But you did not kill her."

Vinny choked out ridged breaths, letting Kailan's words in; bidding them to calm him, even if he himself didn't necessarily believe the truth in it. Once his breathing had slowed, he drew Kailan's hand away with a breathless exhale. "I'm fine, I'm fine."

He had managed to calm himself, though weary as the attack had left him. He laid his head back against the coffee table, fingers pushing restlessly through his hair. An anxiety still weighed in his chest. "We should go see them. April and Jahni." He exhaled the words as if they were a white flag. His past had reared it's ugly head again, and he was reaching his limits. If in fact the two could help him find steady ground, it'd be worth it.

Kailan smirked, nodding as he got to his feet. He held out a hand out for Vinny who used it to heave himself up from the hard floor. "Sure, but I suggest eating something. Attacks like that generally waste a lot of energy." He finally had a chance to look at his wound. It was still painful, blistered from the heat, but it would heal quicker—and to top it off, now he had a bad ass scar. "If I knew you'd react like that, I wouldn't have allowed you to do it in the first place." He shot his friend an appreciative grin. "Still, thanks."

"If I'd had known, I would have just lugged your ass to the hospital." Vincent wobbled as he stood on his feet. Kailan was right. He was drained. "Let's eat on the way," he said. If there was one thing Vinny was never good at, it was stocking the fridge with anything but yogurt and soft drinks. He practically survived on the two.

Disappearing into the bedroom, Vinny changed into whatever shirt he could get his hands on first. He felt weak and embarrassed that he had shown that fragility to Kai. Vulnerability wasn't a dance in his repertoire.

He knelt down beside his bed, cracking open another can of food for Archibald and ensuring that his window was opened just enough that the cat could wiggle out onto the roof for a breather.

Leaving the room, he caught Kailan poking at his wound, his fingers hardly touching it as they traced the once deep gash.

Vinny smirked at the sight, fastening his hands in his pockets with a subtle interruption. "Feel like sushi?"

Kailan glanced up with a smile. "Sure, sounds good." But his gaze broke and his smile fell. That was the first time he had seen his friend panic like that, and he felt a tinge of guilt.

"Stop messing with it." Vinny slapped Kai's hand away from his palm as he passed him by. "You're like a five year old."

Even though he was tired and embarrassed Vinny was relieved that their argument the night before had become nothing more than a bad dream.

He threw the door open, and the two made for the hall. There was a presence that chilled his spine the second he stepped outside; a zap of energy, a ripple in the atmosphere. His instincts directed his eyes to the left where he was met with a glare. It was distant, and lurking dozens of feet away, but it was unrelenting.

He raised his brow at Jason, who was a statue in the hallway, his arms crossed over his broad chest and eyes radar-ing Vincent's every move. There was something menacing about his stare. It was unsettling, so he was sure to lock the door once Kai was at his side. It wasn't below Jason to break in and trash the place. He knew that much.

But still... what the hell is he doing here?

Cally lived in an entirely different building, and Jason was the pride and joy of his fraternity house. There was no reason at all for him to be stalking the place. Of course it made Vinny a bit uneasy, but if it turned out Jason was up to something, he'd just file a restraining order. He was still the son of the fruitful Alexander, and Vincent had all the money in the world to wield as a weapon—he just hated touching the stuff. He hated anything having to do with his father. But by the narrow flex in Jason's brooding forehead and the vendetta in his eyes, hate seemed to be taking on an entirely new face.

And what an ugly one it was.