***CW: Talk of sexual abuse/prostitution. Limited instance of drug abuse.***

Liam was redressing himself when Jason's voice returned, and the numbness in his limbs began to dissipate.

"L-Liam," Jason croaked.

Liam immediately looked up at the call of his name. There was a mild limp in the way he walked toward the bed Jason had been laid on, but his warm smile took immediate residence upon his radiant expression.

"Oh, look atchu! Yer awake!" he exclaimed as he finished buckling his pants. Jason had noticed that the scaling ran down the left length of his body in intricate patterns that faded into his dappled, ash-scarred skin. "You done took me fer surprise. I thought ya weren't makin' it."

Like a void, the pit in Jason's stomach growled, threatening to drown him in its suffocating, inky darkness. He felt like he needed to throw up but only managed to dry heave over the side of the bed. Liam rushed to his side, cradling his head and scratching his fingers over Jason's scalp in soothing patterns Jason couldn't track.

The first sob was the faltering brick bringing the dam crashing down. Tears fell fast, and hiccups dotted Jason's rapid breathing. Liam jumped for a dingy shirt that smelled of decay as he wiped the tears from Jason's face.

"Hey, hey, hey. Don'tchu go cryin' out 'ere," he cooed, voice a gentle breeze against Jason's forehead. "You'll get burned the second we walk out into that there cold."

Jason nodded, trying to hide the grimace manifesting as the foul odor of the shirt lingered against his nose. "You're right-I just-I—"

Liam attempted to swipe away another tear but missed it, nicking Jason's cheek with his jagged nail. "Oh gosh! I'm sorry-I…." he trailed off as a chuckle shimmied through Jason's lips. The sound died just as quickly as it rose.

"Why did you do that?" Jason asked, unable to meet Liam's sage eyes.

"Had to, I reckon," Liam replied with an air of nonchalance that dug holes in Jason's heart. "Sometimes I can skate past 'em, and I woulda done it this time, too. But Marker and Kale usually got filters and antibiotics, so I figured it'd be good in the long run." Liam was lying. Maybe not with every word, but there wasn't much truth.

"Here," the woman snapped, stepping into the room with a resealable plastic bag. She pulled out two filters, a small tube of antibiotics, and a single skein of bandaging wrap.

Liam stepped away from Jason and sifted through the bag himself before snapping it together and giving the woman a friendly smile that strained under the weight of ingenuity. "Pleasure doin' business with ya."

Her smile gleamed with predatory malice. "Pleasure was all ours."

The man appeared from behind her and nodded in agreement. "Maybe next time we can…sweeten the deal." His eyes flicked to Jason before Liam stepped in the line of sight.

"He's not workin' that side, Marker," Liam said as pleasantly as Jason felt he was able to. Still, hostility barked at the back of Liam's throat. "But I'll always be willin' fer filters."

The woman, whom Jason now assumed to be Kale, watched him under a hooded red stare. "We have access to even better supplies if you ever change your mind." Long lashes kissed her cheeks in quick succession as lust reached out for Jason's shivering frame.

He didn't like that look leveled against him at all. Plaguing sin desperate for fresh meat. Jason couldn't even imagine their cold touch and filthy slithering bodies wrapping like snakes around him. Intimacy with those who laid sinister in the night.

But Liam did it regardless. With little fear, resolution fueled the flames of those intriguing eyes of his.

"He won't," Liam insisted, his eye twitching as the subject continued to rub away at his patience. "Wouldn' let 'im, even 'e wanted to. 'E's mine, Kale."

Jason didn't like the idea of being referred to as someone else's property, but he stilled his tongue. Liam was trying with everything he had to get them out of a sticky situation, and Jason wouldn't be the cause of failure.

"Whatever you say, kid," Marker said snidely as he lit up a joint. "Now, go on. The transaction's done. Get out."

Kale joined him on their bed of trash and took a hit. "Scram," she added with a slight cough full of smoke.

Liam nodded and turned to Jason, grabbing his arm and helping him to his feet. "Can ya walk alright?" Liam whispered.

Jason managed a nod, though a stumble shortly after disproved him. Still, he struggled on as Liam led the way out of the shack and back into the cold.

"'Old on to this fer me, would ya?" Liam requested, handing the bag of their precious supplies over. "I'll git ya there if I halfta carry you, but I'mma gonna need both 'ands for that."

Jason had no time to object as Liam lifted him with embarrassingly little effort, slinging Jason over his shoulders like a bag of rice or beans. It didn't matter how abashed Jason was, though. He had little energy for struggle and knew doing so would only cause problems. So, he did his best to relax as Liam headed fearlessly into the foggy environment, leaving the entropic mess of the slums behind them.