[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Alistair || Caelan

The cell doors parted, and Caelan walked out ahead of the guard, head held high though his cheeks were thin, and his clothes hung from his frame in a way that suggested he had filled them with lean muscle, not that long ago. His broad back and tall stature suggested strength, and the proud way he carried himself would have seemed, to an outsider, to suggest he had simply been waiting, secure in the knowledge that his release was assured, but Alistair knew him too well for that.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Alistair sat on the uncomfortable chair with its tattered upholstry, in a room painted off-white suggesting boredom and monotony. His hands were folded loosly in his lap, as he leaned back in such a manner to suggest that he had little investment in the reason he was here. His eyes, alert but half-lidded, scanned the room and only someone who knew him very well would have known to look for the subtle tells, the stiffness in his back and neck which indicated he was far less relaxed than he appeared to be.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

He tilted his head slowly from left to right, and the succession of cracking noises produced echoed in the empty room loudly, as if a bunch of firecrackers had gone off suddenly. He waited patiently, though his sensitive ears twitched with each noise that echoed down the hallway outside, and the sound of footsteps approaching the door caused him to sit up slightly, the difference being barely noticeable - only a slight change in the angle at which he reclined in the chair suggested a change in his demeanour.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Caelan heard the movement behind him before he felt the hard boot of the guard connect with his back, and he stumbled forward, refusing to look behind him or break his stoic facade for such a display of inanity. The time spent in this godforsaken prison had done little to remove his general dislike for the wider population, and the suffering he had endured at the hands of his tormentors had reinforced the idea that his was a just cause to be following.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

He ducked his head low as he passed through a barred door, and the guard in front of him grunted as if to suggest he had hoped Caelan would knock himself on the low crossbar of the doorway and was disappointed he had been present of mind enough to duck. Caelan kept his expression cool and neutral, and ignored both the jeers which were being hurled at him by the residents of the cells and the clanging of the truncheons of the guards which silenced those who were too close to the bars to get out of their range.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

He could see the end of the corridor, now, a sterile white door through which he knew a bland waiting room would house whoever had decided to pay his bail this time. Very few people would have known he was in prison, and so he supposed whomever this new mystery benefactor was would have someone they desperately wanted disposed of, so much so that they had sought to free him from his solitary confinement, and he was aware that it wouldn't have been cheap.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

As he stepped through the doorway, he looked upon his benefactor for the first time, and a raised eyebrow was the only sign that he had registered who it was that sat in the bland chair waiting for him. For a moment, he considered halting in his footsteps, or even turning around and stating he would not be giving the male who waited for him the time of day, but common sense caught up to him - it was a chance at freedom compared to a guarenteed return to imprisonment.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"Ah. It's you."

Alistair narrowed his eyes imperceptibly at the dismissive tone with which he was greeted, a short, sharp exhale through his nose the only other visible sign that it had affected him. His back muscles were cramped with the exertion of withholding his tension from sight, though the way he stood would have implied to anyone else that he couldn't be more relaxed.

Unfortunately, Caelan knew him far too well for that, and though he did not show it he knew Alistair was close to the breaking point of his temper.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"Thank you for the delivery" Alistair drawled to the guards, though he was sure the sarcasm which laced his words had gone straight over their heads. He stood, and waited as they unlocked the shackles around Caelan's wrists, raising one eyebrow as the younger male refused to rub or soothe them, though they bore red marks which he knew from experience would ache for several days afterwards.

His narrow eyes scrutinised the thinness of Caelan's cheeks, and the way his clothing hung from his frame, and the slight tilt to his hips which implied he had suffered a recent impact from behind.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

He did not bother to address the younger male directly, merely turning on his heel and making his way towards the exit, sure that he would be followed. Footsteps behind him merely confirmed his assumption, and the way the weight was being favoured on one side made his lips flutter in the slightest of growls which he was certain had been noticed - after all, perception was one thing they were both known for, even if each thought the other less skilled in the art.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

He pushed open the heavy door with ease, his large frame and strong, muscled arms moving it aside as if it weighed no more than a regular door. Here, he waited, though he wasn't concerned about the possibility of the younger male running - he doubted he would get very far, if his pallor was any indication of how he was feeling. The footsteps behind him paused for a half-second, but he read every bit of hesitation the younger male had hidden in his posture.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

If Caelan had been younger, perhaps Alistair would have been more forgiving, but as it was all it served to do was make him angrier, and the younger male stiffened as the slightest scowl crossed Alistair's face, so quickly that it seemed it had never happened at all.

He held his head high as he walked past the older male, shoulders back, barely limping, but nonetheless it was there - a distinct favouring of the left leg, and Alistair growled quietly as the door swung shut behind them, casting them into the darkness of the evening.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"Are you going to say anything for yourself?" Alistair muttered, suddenly tired of the silence. The alleyway in which they stood was dark, the moon not quite high enough to cast light into it, but he could see the younger male's silhouette nonetheless, a faint shade darker than the rest of the night.

Silence greeted him, but he saw Caelan's shoulders stiffen minutely as he spoke and knew he had been heard. They had business to discuss, and much else besides, but he wouldn't be doing it out here.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"Follow me" Alistair commanded, tone gruff, as he turned on his heel and stepped further into the night. His own shoulders stiffened, temper rising as Caelan failed to respond, and it wasn't until a second set of footsteps echo his own did Alistair let himself relax at all, his temper cooling to a more manageable level though it still simmered below the surface of his thoughts. For a while, the only sound was the two of them walking through the darkness of the night together.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

A door loomed in front of them, half-hidden in the shadows and Alistair produced a grimy key from the depths of his long coat which he used to unlock it, standing aside to hold it open for the younger male. Caelan allowed himself to raise an eyebrow, before stepping through it with narrowed eyes, slowly moving his head from left to right to scan the room he had stepped into, and cocking an ear to the faint sounds which drifted down from the floor above.