Carter knew his eyes were open, but he wasn't registering anything within his surroundings. His whole body was beginning to feel heavy, and he was starting to struggle with keeping himself positioned on all fours. Breathing was slowly becoming more shallow and weaker by the minute and his throat was too tight to form any word apart from a faint whimper. Panic had settled in, but his brain couldn't work out how to react to it. This was the end. There was no way he was coming back from this. But then someone scooped him up, and he could feel someone cradling him, a sense of calm set over his body, even if he was still unable to register what was going on. His eyes had fallen closed and a small frown had settled on his expression as he was brought into the bedroom. Hours could have passed, but in reality everything had only taken a few seconds. The mattress felt light and soft against his heavy frame and an uncomfortable weak sound finally managed to escape from his throat as he was shifted into a seated position to make room for someone to settle behind him.<br/><br/>His saviours cool breath against his normally warm skin always brought goosebumps form along his body, but this time the breath won no reaction. Every word spoken had fallen on deaf ears, until the blood he'd been given started to run down his dry throat. It tasted so sweet... Almost instantly he could feel his strength returning. His pulse was slowly skipping to life again and sound came back to his ears. He kept his eyes closed and continued to drink until more of his awareness was restored and his light head started to fade, but when he opened his eyes and found Asa's wrist up at his mouth, confusion quickly settled in. This had to be some kind of dream. He'd only been in the masters chambers a couple of times, the room was one of the few that felt Alien to him. But his mind wasn't on the current events. All it took was one look at Asa's expression for Carter gut to fill with guilt.<br/><br/><i>'What is there to say? That you're a stupid boy, Carter? Spoiled rotten, naive, selfish.' </i><br/><br/>Shit... He should have seen this coming. The sound of Asa's normal cool angry tone was always enough to silence him, and he found himself looking back down at the bed sheets, lightly gripping them with his fingers to try to regain some control of his emotions. He deserved whatever was to come. But when Asa cupped his cheeks with his cold hands and forced him to look back at him, the water in his hazel eyes finally rolled down his cheeks. His eyes scanned Asa's mismatched ones, and he could fully see the extent of the pain he'd put his saviour though. "No" he said as his voice cracked. He let the blankets slip from his fingers and give Asa a nudge that he hoped would free him from his hands.<br/><br/>"I didn't expect things to go this far. I just went to the bar to hang with some locals. You know I'm not stupid. I don't get out and you're never here. I was bored. You know how I feel about you leaving me. Every time you go I beg you to stay. Not everyone can get by with just one companion that wanders off into the daylight. I want you here... With me. Why is that so hard to ask of you?"<br/><br/>His words came out messily, and he knew they were mostly words that he'd repeated over and over to Asa again, and again, but he was hoping he'd finally get another form of response. Where did Asa go during the day? Why did he only come back at night? His brain was working hard to put the two puzzle pieces together, but then his fingers moved towards his own lips and his tongue shifted within his mouth. The sweet taste was still there and his brows furrowed. There was no way it was blood, it didn't taste the same. Yet... He took Asa's wrist into his hand and found no wound visible... What the hell was going on. He felt like he was still high from whatever the drug had been. There was no way any of this was happening. His eyes focused on the mattress again and his body started to shake again, but this time it was due to the effects of the trauma he'd put himself through. His frame still felt weak, but it was nothing like how he'd been feeling a few moments ago. "Forgive me... Please. Nothing is making sense. I just wanted to worry you, but not to this extent. You know how I feel. I can't change that, no amount of studying will change that either... I don't want to lose this and I can't lose you".<br/><br/>He'd always had a constant fear of Asa walking out the doors and never returning. Sometimes he was gone for a few days and sometimes he vanished for almost a week. He knew the staff reported things back to Asa, but Carter was past caring sometimes and tried everything he could to get him to stay. Maybe now his antics had finally worked.