I can't get to sleep... (Kyan!)

[Tobias Vaughn]

((ooc- bonus points if you know where that subject title is from! hint: ... I think about the implications.))

Tobias knew that he was in too deep. He had snuck back home to pack up essentials: his clothing, his money, school books, and things of that nature. His mom had pleaded with him to stay when she caught him, but his father was home and came at him with fists raised, so he had to get the hell out of there a.s.a.p.

That had been two days ago. For the past two nights he'd been sleeping on the sofa in the break room at the grocery store where he worked. His boss was nice enough to let him stay there, but only for a few days. Toby had promised to have a place by then, even though he knew he had no other place to go. He hadn't been sleeping a whole lot either because the store was open 24/7, so people were always coming in and out. He may have gotten two hours of sleep at best the night before.

There were slight bags under his eyes, and it was obvious by his face that he was tired. His clothing was wrinkled because he'd been keeping it in a duffle bag, and he could barely stay awake in class. He'd gotten his books out of his locker and leaned against the wall, just closing his eyes for a brief second before he had to go to class...

[Kyan Walker]

Kyan closed his locker and glanced carelessly down the hall. He noticed Toby leaning against the wall and smirked as he decided to approach him.

As he got closer he realized that Toby appeared to be sleeping and that he looked more than the worse for wear (i think that's the right term).

"Jesus, you look like shit," Kyan commented teasingly. "What happened to you?"

[Tobias Vaughn]

"Jesus, you look like shit,"

Tobias had his eyes close when he heard Kyan's voice beside him, causing him to jump up slightly and drop one of his books. He quickly bent over to pick it up, knowing how horrible he must have looked. He was completely out of it.

"Sorry... you kind of startled me," he admitted, realizing that he had probably looked like an idiot getting startled like that. He had almost fallen asleep standing up, though, and had been lucky not not lose all of his books. "And thanks for the compliment."

"What happened to you?"

Tobias sighed a little, wondering if he really wanted to tell Kyan the whole story. It had been two days since it had happened, and so far he'd kept from talking about it to anyone except for his manager at work, and that was only because he was sleeping there now.

"Uh... nothing. Lack of sleep, that's all." He knew that his automatic response of 'nothing' would give away that it was something. Every time someone said it was nothing what they really meant was that it was something.

[Kyan Walker]

"Sorry... you kind of startled me."

"I've been told I have that effect on people," Kyan said with a grin.

He leaned up against the wall next to Toby and smile at his comment about the compliment: Toby looking like shit was still better than half the kids in this school looked on a good day.

"Uh... nothing. Lack of sleep, that's all." He'd said it after a sigh.

"Why haven't you been getting sleep?" Kyan asked.

He couldn't understand why it should matter to him. . .but the sigh made him think perhaps there was a reason behind just leep deprivation.

[Tobias Vaughn]

"I've been told I have that effect on people,"

At this statement, Tobias found himself laughing a little. Smiling a little. It was a nice change from the way he'd been living his life recently. He found very little to smile about, and even thinking about that made him smirk a little.

"Yes, I can see how people would say that," he said, remembering their last meeting down in the pool room.

"Why haven't you been getting sleep?"

Tobias didn't respond right away. He considered lying, or at least avoiding the truth. After all, what could Kyan do? Nothing, that was what, and so why bother him with the troublesome details of his dramatic life right then? But then another thought struck him; why not? He had asked, and it wasn't like somebody wasn't going to figure it out eventually.

"Oh, you know, same old stuff. I've been doing my school work at the public library and then sleeping on the sofa at work, living out of a duffel bag and eating nothing but Ramen noodles for the past two days because I only have 50 dollars to last me, oh, I don't know, the rest of my life." That said, Tobias found himself smirking. Life had dealt him a crappy hand, but he was dealing with it. And he was damn proud of himself for it all of a sudden.

"Bet you're glad you asked," he added, only slightly sarcastic.

[Kyan Walker]

Kyan had folded his arms and frowned as Toby spoke. When he asked him if he was glad he asked, he looked at him with an expression of both concern and confusion.

"Why the hell are you living out of a duffel bag and sleeping on your work's sofa?" he asked.

[Tobias Vaughn]

"Why the hell are you living out of a duffel bag and sleeping on your work's sofa?"

"That," Toby said, his tone very matter-of-fact. "Is a very, very good question." He had a feeling that the reason he was rambling on like this was mainly due to his lack of sleep, but he didn't really notice. He was just trying to make it through the week. "Funny story. True story. See, my lovely, caring, and ever understanding father found out that his macho wrestler son was a homosexual. This, you see, was not in his plans. He said I had to be straight and take his friend's daughter to the homecoming dance. I said no, and he threw me out of the house."

[Kyan Walker]

"Fucking bastard," Kyan spat, not bothering to say it under his breath.

What the hell was wrong with parents today? Then again he realized how nice he had it with his parents. They were the rarities in this world. He was suddenly quite grateful that he had the parents he did. Something about what Tobey said stuck out to him, though.

"How'd your dad find out?" he asked.

[Tobias Vaughn]

"Fucking bastard,"

“Yeah, tell me about it,” Tobias said, shrugging it off as though the whole thing meant nothing to him. He knew that he was doing a horrible job at acting nonchalant, though, because it was obviously affecting him in everything that he was doing.

"How'd your dad find out?"

“Ra-“ Tobias started, then stopped. He couldn’t tell Kyan that it had been Ravi’s fault. Whether Ravi had meant for it to happen or not, it had been his fault that his father found out. It was his fault that he was homeless now. Kyan would kill him, though, and even though Ravi had treated him like shit and said some pretty nasty things about him, he didn’t deserve this. After all, Toby had brought this all upon himself, and probably deserved whatever he got.

“I told him,” he said finally. It wasn’t a complete lie, really, since he had told his father he was gay, only after Ravi had screamed it at the top of his lungs for the whole neighborhood to hear.

[Kyan Walker]

Toby had started to say something else, he noted. Kyan leaned away from the wall and turned to face him, arms folded across his chest. HE raised and eyebrow suspiciously at him.

"You told your dad," he reiterated, with a hint of incredulity in his voice. He paused, not blinking as he stared at Toby. "What really happened?"

[Tobias Vaughn]

ooc- time for a quick post before I have to go

"You told your dad,"

Kyan didn't believe him. Though Kyan hadn't seemed to be paying full attention to him before, he certainly was now. Toby knew there had been something in his voice to betray the fact that he was hiding something, but he had hoped to conceal it. Obviously it had failed. Plus, Tobias knew that his father wouldn't have taken the news well, and obviously never would have told him willingly.

"What really happened?"

Toby sighed, knowing there was no way around it. "Ravi saw us at the pool," he started. "He was upset, came to my house, and started shouting at me. You know, the usual... 'backstabbing faggot', 'I saw you with Kyan, you whore', and 'I liked you better when you were straight'." Remembering that last one, Toby just sighed. "My father overheard, confronted me, and I admitted it was true. And here we are."

[Kyan Walker]

Kyan felt his teeth clench at these news. Where the hell did Ravi come off yelling at Toby for them making out? It wasn't as though he owned Kyan or like they were even dating. Oh. . .he'd deal with Ravi later.

"And since then you've just been livin g at work?" he asked with mild disbelief. "That's retarded. You should have come to me afterwards. You know if you need a place to say all you have to do is ask."

As he said the words he realized they were both true an strange sounding to him at the same time.

[Tobias Vaughn]

"And since then you've just been livin g at work?"

"Well, yeah," Tobias confirmed, as though this was the most obvious thing in the world. "I mean, where else was I going to go? The last thing I needed was for the whole school to know I'm homeless too, now." This was true; if the school bullies thought it was funny to pick on him for being gay, imagine how pleased they'd be if word got around that he'd been kicked out of his home. Obviously he hadn't told anybody because of that.

"That's retarded. You should have come to me afterwards. You know if you need a place to say all you have to do is ask."

"Really?" he asked, his tone slightly optimistic, before shaking his head slightly. Tobias had been caught off guard by these kind words. He hadn't really expected Kyan to get involved more than a simple 'that sucked' and 'good luck' or something. He definitely hadn't expected for him to offer his home to him, at least for a few days. It was out of character, and Toby couldn't help but wonder if, after he had said it, he had immediately regretted not thinking more before he spoke.

"I couldn't," he said modestly. "This isn't your problem, I can deal with it," he added. He didn't want anybody else to have to worry about him or feel responsible for him. he didn't want to be a burden!

[Kyan Walker]

"If it's your problem," Kyan said with a smirk, running a hand down Toby's arm. "Then I'm willing to make it my problem."

He frowned slightly then. It seemed Toby might be a bit of a lost cause to him. Perhaps he was beign to Toby what Ravi was to him. He laughed at that thought slightly. . .not likely. He'd offer once more, but wouldn't persist if Toby was determined to resist him.

"You should come stay at my place," he said again. In fact, he rather liked that idea. "You can't keep sleeping at work and then what are you gonna do?"

[Tobias Vaughn]

"If it's your problem, Then I'm willing to make it my problem."

As Kyan ran his hand down Toby's arm he felt the goosebumps rise underneath his shirt from the comforting touch. It was all he could do to stop form visibly shuddering (the good kind) as he remembered their encounter by the pool, and what had almost happened between them.

"How kind of you," he said, his tone slightly mocking so that the situation didn't get too emotional, even though he meant the words sincerely. He didn't want to scare Kyan away, though, by showering him with praise and thanks. He was sure this whole being nice and generous thing was new to him. He didn't seem like the type to do things like this often.

"You should come stay at my place," It didn't sound like a suggestion any more, but rather a command. "You can't keep sleeping at work and then what are you gonna do?"

It was true. Toby's manager had given him permission for two more days, but then his supervisors were coming and he had to leave. His living there every night was a security risk, or a safety hazard, or something else equally stupid. He knew the time for being modest was over, and that Kyan wasn't going to keep his offer open for long. It was his only option.

"I guess I could... I mean, I could sleep on the couch or something," he said, which was his way of agreeing. "Thanks... I promise it won't be long, just until I work something else out..." then a thought struck him. "Shouldn't you probably ask your parents first?" Not every parent wanted to harbor a gay homeless boy in their house.

[Kyan Walker]

"Take all the time you need," Kyan said, still smirking.

"Shouldn't you probably ask your parents first?"

Kyan gave a derisive snort at Toby's words. No it would be best if TOby was there and they had no way out of accepting him there.

"No, I'll just sort of spring it on them," he said, thoughtfully. "They're pretty cool abou these kinds of things."

"

[Tobias Vaughn]

"No, I'll just sort of spring it on them," he said, thoughtfully. "They're pretty cool abou these kinds of things."

Toby was uncomfortable about that. He didn't want Kyan's parents to hate him for just sort of showing up, but he had no right to question the way Kyan did things. He needed a place to stay, and when it came down to it he probably would've snuck into Kyan's house if he had asked him to. So this was probably a better option.

"Okay..." he agreed. The bell rang, and Toby looked around to realize that most of the other students were already heading to their classes. "I guess I'll see you later," he said, not sure what to do by way of leaving. Wave? Hug? Kiss? Nothing? He opted for an awkward wave, and went on his way.