Pity? From him?<br/><br/>He was officially pitied by a thief, and it wasn't even a human one at that. As if he needed another low blow to just how far he'd fallen. Wyl being willing to aid him only seemed to cement him further into the dirt of society. It was a selfish thought, considering the man was actually trying to help him, but his mind wasn't in a very pretty place and his thoughts were unkind both to himself and others. He would have never let it wander there had he the strength. He doubted it was even an earnest emotion. Were his kind capable of that? Even if they were, it wouldn't last long. He was quite sure of that. There was no way he expected him to make good on his words.<br/><br/>By the time he lifted his head, the other was gone. He stared a long while at the opening, a pained look in those amber eyes and a strained expression on his face. He didn't expect him to return. Part of him didn't want him to, but now he worried about the alternative. To be found there after being conveniently whispered to of 'someone's hiding there' by one pointed eared person as they passed. He wouldn't put it past his kind.<br/><br/>And yet...he stayed.<br/><br/>How ironic it would be to dragged out and to his death for yet another crime he hadn't committed. At least this time, he would truly be defenseless. The anger and the ache in his chest wouldn't plague him. He wouldn't have to avert his eyes from faces that had once been friends to him. No. It would be kinder, like this. Perhaps, for all he'd done, the world would at least owe him a death like this? Far better to be thought a common thief than a traitorous murderer. He could understand that there was no mercy for something such as the likes of him. That he could accept, but to have been convicted and convened upon in a city he'd come to love as home? No. To die here, though, among ignorant strangers? That. That he could accept.<br/><br/>He bit back a bitter whisper that slowly stoked the writhe in his chest as he relaxed. His murky mind recalled one of his favorite prayers, and he recited it silently. At least there was a strange sort of peace in resigning to a certain and accepted fate.<br/><br/><br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">'-and, despite all the aspirations, the highest hopes, to the darkest dreams of man , it creates in fate no sense of obligation. I believe, out of all the teachings, perhaps that is the most hard for anything mortal to grasp.'  <br/></span><br/><span style="font-style: italic">One of those soft, but knowing smiles. And he'd been so angry that day. How foolish he must have been-</span><br/><br/><br/>Wyl's voice snapped him from the memory. Even in such a short set of moments, he'd fallen asleep again. This time, he gave a startled breath that bordered on a gasp, body jerking back awake. He sat up and gazed at the man crouched in the enterance. Even with most of his face wrapped in that ragged cloth, there was sheer confusion under the blanket of exhaustion in his eyes and written across his face. A second later, there was a dumbfounded nod. He was too stunned at the moment to do anything other than blatantly comply. The beggar moved and began to follow after.<br/><br/>Just moving looked a painful endeavor, let alone crawling about, with his body stiff and joints sore. He'd never been suceptible many illnesses, but his body had grown weak and succumbed finally to infection throughout the months that he'd been running. Without the proper amount of rest, there had been hopes of recovery. By the time he crawled out from under their little shared hideaway, he made it a few more feet before he sat heavily down. It took another set of moments before he was able to stand again, first up to his knees to lean on a fist before he pushed himself all the way up. The cracking chorus of his knees and his back didn't bode well for further motion. Still, he'd managed to stand if at a slouch.<br/><br/>His head stayed bowed, eyes scanning first around before back to Wyl. And then at the food. Hunger was in his eyes, but so too was still that stern confusion. Like it wasn't real. His gaze turned back to him, fixing him with that silent stare. Finally, after it settled in this wasn't just some cruel prank, he spoke.<br/><br/>"Is it safe here?" he wondered in that rasping tone? "They will be back, yes?" Winded, at least he still seemed to have some sense about it him.<br/><br/>He looked down at the food again.<br/><br/>Had he not been bewildered by the turn of things, he might have inquired if he'd paid for it. For the moment, however, all he could do was gawk and hope he'd be able to eat in both peace and safety.