“I want to show those two curious eyes of yours more.” -EXO, "Run"

When Tao woke up the next morning all he could feel was pain, his eyes were red and swollen, his throat dry, and he was still gagged by that piece of cloth, but the worst of it was all the bruises around his waist, the blood he hadn't washed off of his thighs, and the excruciating pain in his lower half that continued to tear him in half even though Sehun was long done for now. He didn't want to move, knowing he would either limp wherever he tried to go or crumble and collapse as soon as he put one foot on the floor.

He could remember how well Sehun had played him, and shivered. Even if it was small, a part of Zitao had hoped that maybe the Dancers weren't as bad as everyone made them out to be. Maybe Sehun wouldn't be as cruel as he had thought they all were, but then he remembered the feeling of being torn apart, stretched and used and toyed with. He had used Tao as some doll, not caring that he'd never done it like that before, not caring that he felt pain and emotions, or that maybe he felt violated.

But what could he do about it?

He was in the Halo now, his job as an Angel was to be played, to be used, and torn apart, and toyed with. So there was nothing he could do about it, but sit there and take whatever his Dancer gave to him. He could only hope that they would stay in the Halo now, where pain couldn't be felt, and Tao would be thankful for those drugs in the air.

The drugs in the air weren't helping right now, he noticed, and wondered why: why was he feeling pain if he air here was supposed to deter it? However he didn't have time to think on it as someone knocked on the door suddenly, breaking his thoughts, and he hummed in reply, trying to undo his gag, and hoped that whoever it was would know to come in.

"Tao?" The Angel's eyes widened as the door opened and revealed who he least expected it to be. His light brown hair was clean and styled, his body washed spotless, but his eyes red and puffy as if he'd been crying.

"Lu-han?" Tao tried to ignore the weakness in him that made his voice crack, he was supposed to always be strong for the boy, but know all he was was weak and there was nothing he could do about it. There was a moment where Zitao just observed the boy, wondering why he was here, all clean, dressed in a nice, plaid, button up shirt and white skinny jeans. He looked pure, too pure to be here- to be rotted away into nothing. But before he could look any further, Luhan was in his lap, his arms wrapped around his bruised and torso, not caring that he was bloody and covered in dirt. "Luhan what are you doing here?"

And that's when the tears came, Luhan's sobs echoing around the room, and eventually Zitao began to tear up as well. "T-they took me, Tao. I t-tried t-to save you- but they wouldn't let- me," the boy said, hiccuping over his tears and curling up even closer to Tao. "Tao, they took m-me, I'm scared." His voice was but a whisper but Tao heard it anyway and they just sat there, embracing sorrowfully until someone cleared their throat.

Tao looked up, his eyes red, and became confused when he saw a stranger standing in his doorway. "Who are you?"

Luhan looked up as if he had forgotten who brought him to Tao's room. "His name's Minseok, he's my Dancer," Luhan whispered. Tao would've growled if the man didn't smile at him.

"I'm here to help," he said, walking over to the bed and handing his hand out to the boys on the bed. Tao noticed a shy smile on Luhan's lips and Tao took his hand. The first normal greeting he had gotten since he'd come to the Halo.

He stared at Minseok wondrously, wondering why he was here to "help" and why he didn't care that Zitao was basically and bruised hugging as he hugged his Angel. But after a second of just sitting there stunned, Minseok gestured for him to grab hold of his hand again, Tao did so, and his eyes widened as he was tugged of the bed and forced to stand on his feet. He whimpered and felt he knees tremble as he began to collapse, sore enough for his eyes to water.

Minseok laughed light-heartedly. "Sehun was always a rough one," he said with a grin. but when then regret flickered in his eyes and he cleared his throat before apologizing. "Sorry, that was rude." Tao just shook it off, knowing that even in small ways Dancers had similarities, and one of them happened to bluntness if they weren't acting like they actually cared. Stupid Sehun. See if I ever let him touch me again.

Minseok wrapped Zitao's arm around his shoulders and helped him across the room, Luhan trailing silently behind them. "Sehun used to be different you know? Once upon his time he and I were on the same team. We both despised this place, we thought it was wrong in too many ways." Minseok sighed as they walked out the door and started down the hallway, Zitao forgetting that he was , and just letting himself be led to who knows where.

"I suppose though that people change. Of course we're still friends. He accepts my views and I accept his. We grew up together so it's nearly impossible for something as trivial as an opinion to break us apart." Minseok continued on, telling Zitao about why Sehun had changed. Telling him about how suddenly it just hit him that he was worthless, and without his job what would he be? Apparently Sehun's mind couldn't be changed. Minseok had tried to talk to him, to tell him that he was wrong and even without his job, he was still someone, he could still be someone. "Obviously, I'm not very convincing," Minseok said with a laugh and after that they were silent for a while, Tao just leaning on Minseok for support, looking back at Luhan every now and then to make sure he was still there (he was incredibly quiet, and his footsteps were too light to hear).

By the time they got to the bathroom downstairs, they still hadn't said anything else to each other. They did everything wordlessly, seeming to go into their own worlds. Even if they weren't talking to each other they were at least helping Tao in more ways than he'd helped them.

He cringed upon seeing his reflection in all of the mirrors. There were fingernail scratches up and down his back and bruises all over his hips. His lips were swollen from too many kisses and his eyes were puffy and red from too much crying. His hair was still a mess, dirty earth clinging too it, making him look grungy and unfit for the Halo. Tao tried to ignore the redness around near his thighs and hips, knowing already what it looked like, and not wanting to think any further about it, instead he just watched as Minseok drew a bath for him and Tao said thank you, leaning against one of the walls. It was one less reflection to see.

There was an odd calming aura around the three. They didn't have to talk to each other to understand, they just clicked.

Of course there was something strange about Luhan. Maybe it was how he'd gotten a little taller, a little stronger, or perhaps it was how he couldn't seem to keep his eyes off of Minseok, but Tao couldn't help but think that there was more too it. Tao still found it odd that Luhan was in the Halo at all. Usually if someone misbehaved they would be punished, not taken away and turned into an Angel. But Tao supposed that the Halo was full of twists and turns so there was no deciphering the reasons behind Luhan's arrival here. By the looks of it he was in good hands though, Minseok seemed like a good person, even for a Dancer.

Tao couldn't stop thanking him, apologizing to Luhan, and shaming himself. He couldn't help it, he felt like he was doing everything he shouldn't. He shouldn't be accepting help. He shouldn't be letting Luhan see his weak side. Most of all he shouldn't have let any of this happen to him in the first place. He supposed that maybe he should've listened to his brother in the first place. There were rules for a reason, perhaps he should've have actually abided by them. It was Tao's fault, even if he threw all of the rules into the sky, he should've been more careful, gone later at night, made sure nobody had been following him, and it wasn't like he hadn't been under a spell, why didn't he fight back? But instead of sticking up for himself, he submitted himself to Sehun. If I can't even take care of myself, how am I supposed to take care of Luhan?

It was as if the two boys could read his mind. Minseok just gave him a pitiful look, and Luhan looked him in the eye before speaking up. 

"I don't need to be taken care of Tao. I never did." Tao looked up from where he stood and realized that he had said his thoughts aloud. He sighed and pushed himself off the wall, heading over to Luhan. He still couldn't understand the boy. Why he refused to let himself be taken care of. "Tao, I'm tired of being taken care of, I don't need it anymore."

There was always something unique about youth. And although Zitao was still young, he had already begun to understand something.

People in their youth are naive. They think they have the world at their fingertips, even if it's clear that they don't. They tell themselves I'm strong, I'm not allowed to be weak. They don't realize that sometimes your weakness is your strength. That having a weakness, or having several weaknesses, can make you even stronger. So they'll tell themselves that they are undefeatable, when in reality, they're just scared of getting beat and falling apart. Zitao supposed that this was alright, because in they end they would figure out that it is okay to ask for help, to take a break, in fact, Tao was sure he was still learning this. But it wasn't Luhan's time yet. And they say ignorance is bliss, so for now he would allow the boy to have his way.

Rather than objecting like Luhan had expected him too, he watched as Tao nodded at him instead, attempting to light his lips with smile and gave him a small "okay". He asked the other two to leave, wanting to clean himself in peace. He would be able to take care of himself, because sometime after leaving his room, the pain had subsided. The water was warm, and for a while Tao just sat in the tub, letting the water soak his skin, washing away his memories, and let his mind rest. He didn't know what to think, so instead he chose not to, knowing that if he did the memories of last night would come, back and if they didn't Tao would just begin over analyzing it all, and would begin to blame himself. So the silence just engulfed him and darkness came to him as he closed his eyes.

By the time he got out of the bath, he wasn't surprised to see that nearly an hour had passed. Minseok and Luhan had disappeared, probably off doing who knows what. A part of him didn't want to know because he still didn't know exactly what kind of person the Dancer was, however it was obvious that he didn't intend to harm anyone so Zitao supposed he could be trusted for now. Gingerly, he went back to his room and luck was on his side for once, as he didn't see anyone out in the hallways. Again he hated his choice in clothes, they were all tight and restricting, and exactly what he didn't need right now. So he figured for once, since he had already lost his pride, he would just find a long shirt, and walk around with out anything that would make his legs ache any more than they already did. It wasn't appropriate to him, but he knew that nobody in the Halo would care, besides, it wasn't like he was going to leave bed for the rest of the day.

However, his plan of dreaming the day away was ended an hour and a half later when Luhan came to his room and asked him if wanted to watch a movie with him and Minseok. Of course Zitao agreed, wondering what a "movie" was and wanting to spend time with his brother as always. 

It turned out that a movie was just a bunch of moving pictures on a giant screen. Of course that wasn't it, it was like a story almost, but rather than being told it was being acted out. Least to say Zitao and Luhan rather enjoyed it. They and Minseok ended up staying in the Dancers overly large bed, wrapped in one giant blanket, watching movies for the rest of the day. It was nice, and for the first time in a while, the world was calm. It wasn't crazy and loud, like it was with Mimi and the other two. It wasn't awkward like it had been at first with Sehun. And it certainly wasn't painfully like everything back in the Commons had been. It was just quiet, voices talking from the speaker of this weird mechanical thing called a television.

By the end of the day they were all tired, it was late at night, and the three had already eaten a dinner that Minseok had the maids bring to his room. They all seemed to like him and as time grew on Zitao began to gain more respect for the elder. They didn't do much, and eventually as they were watching some movie about four young people that discovered a magical land by accident Luhan and Minseok fell asleep, the younger curling into his chest cutely. Zitao sighed, shaking his head at the sight, but eventually after the credits had rolled when the movie ended, Tao another, making sure to turn down the sound, so as not to wake the Dancer and his new Angel.

He didn't understand why he felt so comfortable around Minseok, perhaps it was the way that he talked, the tone of his voice. Or maybe it was how he seemed just as innocent as Luhan. Or how kind he was, telling Tao that he could sleep in here, or continue to watch as many movies as he liked, so that he wouldn't be lonely. Tao felt invited, not uncomfortable at all, and so he sat there watching two young friends fall in love and face unfortunate circumstances together. He didn't see the ending, falling asleep before he could see the boy pass away. He was left with light and happy memories for a day, a calm smile on his face, as he waited for tomorrow.