When Lir finally returns to the inn's room after contemplating death on rocks aligned like teeth beneath the cliffside's precipice, he is covered in vomit, and Tobias is looking, and it takes a lot of talking, and convincing, for his mentor to believe it was truly due to the food from last night's dinner, and only that.

"Are you sure you're all right?" he asks Lir, who is still trembling like a leaf despite having changed his clothes.

The mattress dips beneath Tobias's weight when he joins Lir's side on the bed's edge. He rests his hand against Lir's shoulder. The gesture is the both welcome and simultaneously unwanted. "I could ask the innkeeper if there happens to be a healer nearby who could—"

"No!" Lir grabs the hem of Tobias's sleeve. "Don't," he mutters. His head hangs low in shame and fear at the prospect of another learning about the potion he swallowed earlier on. "I'm fine," he tells Tobias for the third time. "Really, I am."

There is a knock at the door. Lir flinches.

"Hey, Tobias, you in there?"

Tobias sighs. He doesn't seem impressed by the question, Lir wonders why. "Why ask me when you already know. We both checked in last night, idiot." His mentor cringes. "Do you not tire of these games?"

Whoever the man behind the door is, he seems to be having a grand old time with how he cackles like a wheezing crow. "Can I come in? Or are you balls deep inside your man?"

Lir chokes on his spit.

"Gale!" Tobias's eyes widen. "Have you no shame!"

The door creaks open. In comes a man who doesn't seem much older than Tobias. This supposed Gale shrugs. "What?" he asks. "Just checking. Didn't want what happened last time to become a habit." The crude stranger cocks his head to the side and squints upon spotting Lir, who is still in the midst of clinging to his mentor's robe. "Oh, no. No, no, no!" He takes a step back. He shakes his head. "Tobias, no. You did not. Please, don't tell me you left him for someone else. And a boy at that! Look at him, he's tiny! Is he even of age?"

Lir is gutted for being referred to as a boy. Sure, he is small in stature, but he has lived through too much to consider himself still a child. And he is of age, very much so. This Gale person clearly hasn't a clue as to what he's talking about.

"Gale..." Tobias's, brow twitches. His shoulders tense. "We are not lovers. He is my student. And as for Him..." Lir's mentor bites his lip. "It is true that our paths have diverged, though, not for such preposterous reasons." He huffs, then rises to his feet, and rearranges his attire before offering a palm for Gale to shake. "Were your travels safe?"

Their hands collide. It is casual, curt and prompt, until Gale decides to let go and rolls his shoulder that apparently causes him pain. "As safe as they can be around here," the innkeeper mutters. "What about you?" He eyes Lir warily. "Is there a reason why this little man is wearing so much make-up? You not in any kind of trouble... are you?"

Lir gulps. The man is eerily perspicacious. Up until this moment, nobody had ever questioned them on the matter, nor noticed. What stuns him the most however, is when Gale takes matters into his own hands instead of waiting patiently for an answer. He marches straight up to Lir. He swipes the tip of his index finger across Lir's jaw, whose skin turns blue under his harsh, smudge of the innkeeper's touch. "Tobias..." Gale's back is still turned to his mentor. "You side with the Halloran now?"

In a matter of seconds, Tobias has grabbed Gale's hand and pulled him a good foot away from Lir. "He is not Halloran," Tobias hisses, and for the first time in a long time, Lir can feel the anger rising in his mentor's tone. "He is under a curse, and we must speak with Archie about the matter as soon as he is able to see us."

"Gods..." Gale pushes his hair back; like his eyes, it is the color of straw. "And here I thought you had come to hang out and talk about the good old days. But." He sighs. "Very well. I'll draw up a map to his new place."

Tobias pauses. He raises a brow, and crosses his arms. "You're not coming with us?"

"Nah, too busy. You know how it gets around this time of the year."

Doubt instills itself within Lir's heart as he thinks back to Dorian's words. What if it is impossible to turn him back? What if the Halloran who'd given him the potion is right?

What would he do then?

Run away, far from Tobias, so that he wouldn't have even the slightest chance at hurting him? Or... if he isn't able to become human again, would he be able to forget? Would he still be destined eat his mentor's heart, if his feelings for the man disappeared?

The door clicks again. "Lir?" Gale is gone, and Tobias is expecting a reply from him. But Lir cannot find the words. He can barely look at him in this state, for he fears that if he does, he will start to cry again. And then Tobias will ask questions. Words Lir isn't ready for—neither to hear, nor to say.

"Hey," Tobias's tone is soft. He places both his hands against Lir's shoulders this time. "You're not going silent on me again, are you?"

Lir shakes his head. "No," he manages to say, even though his voice comes out much weaker than he wants it to. "I just... what if that doesn't work and he has no solution? What then?"

"Lir." The hold his mentor keeps around him tightens. Lir takes a quick glance at him before he looks away again. Tobias's features are stern, and full of determination. "We will find a cure," he says. "I won't let any more harm come to you; you have my word."

And what else can Lir possibly do, but believe in the man's promise, the illusion of a better future, that hangs over their heads.