Sparks & Iron Bars [Ethan]

[Damian Russo]

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[atrb=background,http://i43.tinypic.com/j6okjn.jpg] Footsteps marked the soggy ground as each movement continued forward to his death. Sorrow filled his heart as the end of his relationship and rank stayed behind him. The weight on his shoulders somehow made each step feel lighter and easier for the brooding figure waiting to cut the string of his own life. Now, a traitor, there was no going back for him. Nowhere to run or hide anymore. This was going to be the end. Reaching the point of no return, he laid to the ground and waited to be trampled. Ground shaking heavily, it felt different and then all of a sudden, he could hear himself screaming... screaming... SCREAMING... Jumping up dramatically, Damian could feel the cold sweat drip down his face as he breathed heavily from a horrendous nightmare. Coming slowly to his senses, he realized that the screaming he was hearing was himself which rattled his mind. Pulling his hair back with a sweep of his hand, it dawned on him as well that he was in one of the holding cells of the laboratory. Cold steel metal surrounded him with iron bars that made sure his freedom was nowhere to be found. Yet, something felt different about the cell as well. Eyes gazing to his right, Damian noticed within the tiny jail that he had a guest along with him. So caught up in his nightmare, more like a memory, Damian didn't even realized he wasn't alone. Grabbing his own legs to his chest, he analyzed the man that sat pretty close next to him in the acute sized holding place. The young man looked scared, anxious, and even a tinge of being lonely. Waking up while screaming probably didn't help out the young man's fear of what was to happen either. Taking in a big breath of air, a familiar scent came off the man as we.. He was a... Fulsi. Feeling sorry for the guy, he said, "Are you okay?"

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[Ethan Graff]

He'd been awake for hours, eyes wide and darting from side to side. He'd been locked in the cage alone for a week (or so he thought, it was almost impossible to gauge time in this place) and it was starting to drive him mad. He was completely isolated except for the cell to his right where a girl lay, unconscious. He hadn't seen the girl move in a day or so. He wondered for a brief moment if she was dead, He'd taken to staring at her for hours on end, trying to spot some sign of life. His eyes were playing tricks on him. One moment she would be still as death, no breath stirring in her for minutes on end. Then her chest would lift ever so slightly. He felt a knot in his throat as he watched her prone body on the floor, thin and almost skeletal. He couldn't see her face as it was turned away from him, but whenever he could catch a few moment's rest he would what face he'd dreamed up for her. A withered, haunted face etched with suffering, jaw gaping in a silent scream. Ethan jolted awake when the cell doors suddenly slid open and an unconscious man was tossed unceremoniously into his already cramped cell. Before he even had the thought to move, the door sealed shut and a surge of electricity pulsed through the cell, further deterring his fleeting thought of escape. Ethan ended up flat on his back, staring into the shadows of the empty cell to his right. The girl was gone. Ethan sighed and slowly drew his drained body back into a sitting position, drawing his thin jacket around him the best he could to keep the chill of the cement floor from settling in his bones. Ethan took to watching his new cellmate, relieved when he saw the man's chest rise and fall steadily, and was content with the man's company, as silent as it was. He'd only been able to sleep a few hours in the time he'd spent in the cell, his nerves and the echoing groans and sobs keeping him on edge. He knew they were trying to drive him slowly to madness, and he was loath to admit it but...it was working. Sleep deprived, alone, surrounded by the dead and dying...what hope was there? He started to think they weren't ever going to let him go, and for the first time since he'd been dumped in the dome he found himself yearning to be in the Fulsi again, tucked away in his room, surrounded by warm bodies instead of cold walls and bars. He felt a warmth spread through him at the thought of his Ring, of his friends, and slowly his eyes fluttered shut as he drifted to sleep. What felt like seconds later, screams tore him from his sleep. He jolted awake, hands coming to his face to protect himself from an attack, confused as to what was happening. The screams stopped almost as suddenly as they had started, and Ethan slowly lowered his hands to peer at the man sitting across from him, now awake. His heart was thundering in his chest, breath caught in his lungs as he waited for something to happen. "Are you okay?" Ethan sighed, the tension in his body easing; he'd forgotten how comforting the sound of the human voice was, even from a complete stranger. "I could ask the same of you," he said, brows furrowed in concern. "Nightmare?" he asked. "I'd get them too. But I haven't slept in weeks," he said with a heavy sigh. "Name's Ethan Graff. What brings you to paradise?" ooc; <3

[Damian Russo]

Eyes looked up and down his cellmate as he observed the stranger in his new tight fitting cell. On a usual day of being jam packed with someone, it made Damian more irritable, but this man was a different story. To have someone he found as attractive does not make it seem so bad. Each word the man said had Damian entranced a bit as everything he said felt comforting and inviting for starting a conversation. A warming sensation began in his own chest, something Damian had not felt in a long time and didn't even know how to describe it. Either way, the feeling felt as though it was something he could not fight nor would even try. 'Nightmare?' Being distracted, Damian completely forgot about the nightmare he just had or even what it was about. "I would presume so to cause quite a yell right after waking up for what felt as though a deep sleep," he responded. "Haven't slept in weeks? How come?" he asked in return with his own concerned look. "Nice to meet you, Ethan, even under such unfortunate circumstances. I'm Damian Russo." Without even becoming aware of his own actions, Damian scooted himself closer to Ethan. "Paradise? My, so cocky to call this paradise just because you're here!" he jokingly teased with a slight chuckle at the end. "Lets just say that life isn't easy, shit happens, and continues happening no matter what I do. Life is life and I just gotta continue moving forward with it." A soft smile broke out onto Damian's face after saying just a thing. Being around Ethan felt as though he brought out some inner light within himself that was rooted deep. It was a nice, pleasant light that he welcomed for the time being. "So, how about you, Ethan?" he questioned in return. "What brings someone like you to a place like this?" In a weird way, Ethan had some kind of familiar aura about him. The aura felt as if he was like something else, yet not as dark. Damian wished he could pinpoint it exactly, yet instead he sat there with a sparkle of anticipation in his eyes to hear what Ethan's story was to be. ooc| I'm so excited that this is finally happening! :D <3

[Ethan Graff]

Ethan watched the stranger, trying to keep his thoughts from scattering in the haze of exhaustion. He'd found the man's silent presence soothing enough to fall asleep, but now that there was a voice other than the distant moans and screams, Ethan found his body slowly responding to Damian's presence. He felt the muscles that had been tensed for days slowly begin to ease, grimacing as a twinge of pain radiated from his leg. He hissed and rubbed at the cramp, almost missing what Damian said. "I've been locked in this cell for who knows how long. Every time I doze off a door opens or someone goes crazy down the hall." he said, attempting to stretch out his legs in front of him. This cell was too cramped to have two full grown men shoved in it together, so Ethan had to try some creative movements to get himself in a comfortable position. As comfortable as you could get in a 6x6 concrete and metal cell that somehow reeked of both disinfectant and death at the same time. "I thought they were trying to test how long I'd make it without human contact. But then they dropped you in here," Ethan said, flashing him a smile. "And you're a sight for sore eyes, Damian Russo, let me tell you." He grinned to himself as Damian scooted closer, instinctively wanting to reach out and touch him, even just to squeeze his shoulder. He'd always been a touchy-feely person who loved hugs and personal contact, but he knew in The Menagerie it wasn't the best plan of action to go about hugging a man that had just woken up screaming. Sometimes a human touched helped, but Ethan had learned that for some, the touch of another was the worse thing. So Ethan settled for eye contact and plenty of smiles. "Cocky? Me? Never," Ethan scoffed. "Though if you keep saying things like that, it just might go to my head.' he said. What Damian said next had him nodding along with each word. "That's a good way to look at the picture in a place like this, I'd say. Acknowledge the bad, embrace the good.' he said, though he felt a sudden flush of shame when he realized how close he'd come to losing hope in the cells. He supposed that was the Keeper's goal, to test how far they could push the limits of a Shifter's psyche before he snapped. "Oh, you know. Same old story. Went to sleep in the Towers, woke up in the Labs. I wish it was more exciting but I guess after eight years they're getting better at the whole cat and mouse game," he said, shaking his head. "It's gotten to the point the mice don't even know when the game starts, eh?" he laughed, but it wasn't as light as he'd hoped it to sound. He shook off the growing shadows in his thoughts and settled his gaze on Damian again, trying to keep the negatives away. ooc; <3