A circus. Was that really the best Rikter could come up with? Daniel sighed and took his plate, dumping the rest of the cold waffle in the garbage. "Guess you like coming up with shitty stories. I'm not going to discuss it further though, it's too late for that." He set his plate in the sink and turned to walk past Rikter, yawning a little. "You're free to sleep on anything in the living room. There's some throw blankets too if you need them. Goodnight." With that, he went into his room and shut the door.

"Clockwork really hasn't come this far," Rikter said to himself as Daniel shut the door. He sighed slightly as he walked over and sat on the couch. By all rights he should have been exhausted but for some reason he wasn't. He took a deep breath before forcing it out all at once in a hefty sigh. "Perhaps I should have followed their trail rather than leaving that life behind," he continued talking to himself as he leaned his head on the back of the couch, his wings moving so there wasn't any pressure on them. "Though I'm pretty sure the sheer embarassment of all this Arrow would find rather amusing and he wouldn't punish me," he tried reasoning with himself as he placed a hand on the back of his neck. He could free the cracks in the tiny stone and shook his head, "Arrow would have to replace that. Not something I really want to go through again."

Finally Rikter took off his worn shoes and pulled his legs onto the couch laying back. He rested his head on the arm rest, an arm over his eyes. He wasn't sure what he was going to do and it was those thoughts that seemed to keep sleep as the last thing on his list.

Daniel didn't sleep well that night. He tossed and turned constantly in his sleep, his expression troubled. He kept mumbling incoherently as the nightmare continued on in his mind. Something was chasing him, or rather someone. The dark form was always behind him in his mind. Then it began to take shape, its face coming into focus. That familiar cruel gaze that could pierce through his very heart...

Daniel suddenly woke with a scream at nearly four in the morning. He sat bolt upright in his bed, his breathing ragged as he clutched the blankets tightly to his chest. Then he slowly began to calm as he recognized his surroundings. He closed his eyes and pressed his fingers to his forehead. "Only a dream..." he whispered to himself.

The sudden erruption of sound literally threw Rikter off of the couch much as it always did after hours at Clockwork. His body was on autopilot, in his mind he could hear the other carnies rushing out of their tents and towards the source but when he picked his body off of the floor he saw that he wasn't in Clockwork anymore. He ran towards the door anyway, haulting before opening it. He hated how obiedient he was at times but he knocked anyway. "Daniel," he called, his voice slightly louder than usual. "Are you alright?"

Daniel glanced at his clock and groaned in frustration. Now it was useless to go back to sleep, even though he wouldn't have to get ready for work until two hours. He shoved the blankets aside and climbed out of bed. "Yes, Rikter, I'm fine," he answered. He knew he wouldn't be able to try and sleep after a nightmare. Opening the door, he frowned at Rikter's form in his way. "Morning. You going back to sleep, or do you want some coffee too?"

Rikter quickly stepped out of Daniel's way after he caught the perturbed look on his face before asking him if he wanted coffee. The angel tilted his head to the side slightly as he rolled the word over in his head but he got nothing. "What's coffee?" He finally asked, his voice and face both holding the same confused tone. He knew he had at least heard the term before when Arrow was trading goods with people from towns, but he never bought it and even before Clockwork his family didn't have it so this word was quite odd.

Daniel sighed and walked past him toward the kitchen, waving him to follow. It was too early to question the guy's lack of a brain. He got out the can of coffee he kept and a stack of filters. Setting those on the counter, he then brought over the tiny coffee maker from beside the toaster oven. He plugged it in to the only outlet available and started preparing to put in the coffee. "I'll make some for you. I ran out of creamer, so hope you don't mind it bitter."

Rikter followed Daniel over to the kitchen, and like the time before he kept his distance as he watched in awe. While wings like his may have been odd to Daniel, things like the coffee maker were like scientific breakthroughs. His eyes remained glued on what he was doing, taking in every detail of every movement, almost as if he were cataloging them. If this 'coffee' was good then he was going to want to remember these steps.

Daniel finished putting the stuff in and pressed the on button. The coffee maker gurgled and hissed as it began to process the coffee into the pot below. He then noticed Rikter's expression and raised an eyebrow. "You're kinda creepy, just to let you know."

Rikter had to literally pull his attention away from the pot to look at Daniel, but his eyes moved right back to watching the black liquid fall. Amazing, he thought as his mind processed what he had said. "It is not I that is creepy but what is unknown," he said, his formal riddles seeming to return. "Where I come from and what I have done seems to be odd for you for the ways are unknown, but for me, things like this are quite odd, quite unknown, and many of them creepy." He didn't say anything about compared to where he was from he was about as harmless as a single drop of water, that would probably force Daniel to throw Rikter out right then and there.

Daniel rolled his eyes and went to head back to his room to change. "Whatever. Just...don't touch it," he replied. He couldn't help but feeling Rikter would break the thing if allowed to get near it. He changed out of his pajama's and into his office uniform before walking out and over to the bathroom. He paused as he reached for the mirror, looking down curiously at the sink. He reached instead to one of the handles and turned it on. He waited for a long moment, but the sink never filled up. Guess Rikter really was a good mechanic.

"It's not like I'd break it," Rikter mumbled to himself as he folded his arms on the counter, resting his head on them. His wings folded behind him as he watched the little machine chug. It sounded like it was straining to get its job done but he did as he was told, he didn't touch it even though the liquid coming out looked like oil. And we all know when something is leaking oil that's never good, and yet with that thought the whole 'don't touch it' thing became a whole lot harder.

Daniel finished brushing his teeth and went back into the kitchen just as the coffee maker was ready. He got out two mugs and filled both up, handing one to Rikter. "Again, it's bitter, so it's okay if you don't like it," he said before taking a sip of his. Disgusting as ever, but it would help him later at work. He walked out to the living room and glanced at the second clock set atop the small television. Still an hour before he had to leave. He sat down on the couch and turned the television on to switch over to the news.

Rikter took the mug tetitively in his hands and smelled it. It looks like oil, but it doesn't smell like it, he thought before taking a sip of it. The bitter taste cause him to exhale through his nose suddenly and jump, his wings unfolded suddenly and a shiver went up his spine. He then sniffed it again before taking a gulp this time. "Mmm," he hummed as he licked the access off his lips.

"This man seems to know the identity of the man from yesterday's outburst in front of the business complex in town yesterday evening," a woman said from the tv. Rikter didn't think anything of it as he went to take another drink of the bitter black liquid.

"Rikter Evans," said a way too familiar voice. Turning slowly Rikter looked at the tv where he saw Arrow. He was a tall male with dark hair that went down to at his midback, the left side of his face had an intricate metal like design that led to his usually black eye. It was covered though, but of course it was, Arrow knew that the public didn't like seeing a mechanical eye. The metal also led down his jacket that had cogs and gears replacing button and chains covering much of the stitching. In one hand he held his top hat, in the other his cane. Arrow was a young male though, about the same age as Rikter, but that cane held power, that's why he had it.

"He is an employee of mine and had disappeared a few days ago due to a series of unexpected events," he told the reporter, his eyes boring into the camera almost as if he could see Rikter on the other side of the screen. "If anyone could tell me of his whereabouts that would be greatly appreciated. He is a dear friend of mine I would hate to see any harm come to him. I assure you he is harmless though he may seem odd, and of course whoever can reunite us shall reap a bentiful reward."

Rikter's eyes widened, Arrow knew where he was. In a sense at least. "Turn it off," he said, his voice shaky as the reporter went on saying how you could get a hold of Arrow. "Please," he said his voice going even more quiet. "Turn that off." He had abandoned his cup before turning around which was probably a good thing considering he would have dropped it after hearing what he did.

Daniel glanced back at him before switching the channel to a cooking show. "Who was that?" he asked.

Rikter's face was white with fear even after the channel had been changed. "That would be Arrow," he said, his voice quiet and breathy as if he had seen a ghost. "He's Clockwork's ringleader, my old boss, the one who did this to me." His wings the stretched out to their full length. He didn't say anything about the gem because from that view Daniel couldn't see it.

Ah, so that was the Arrow guy Rikter had mentioned before. Daniel looked over the wings that were folded to the others back and sighed. "I can't keep you here you know," he said as he turned back to the screen. Even if the man did scare Rikter, the guy had to deal with it himself. He had his own monster to face, which he was thinking of doing soon. Maybe even later today.

A pitiful look came to Rikter's eyes as he said, "I know, but please, please let me stay here until he is gone. I will follow your every rule, I will do as I'm told just please, don't kick me out not now." The angel was desperate, he had even moved and fell to his knees blocking out the tv as he pleaded to the male. He was desperate and he knew it was showing.

Daniel pressed back into the couch, not sure what to think of this. "I'm sorry Rikter, but I might not be here another night. Tonight I'm going out to ask my old...friend, Nick, to take me back." He wondered how horrible this Arrow was to cause so much fear. Sure, Nick was pretty horrible in his own right, but he could deal with that. He'd done it before.

Daniel leaned forward hesitantly. "I can skip work today, since I might not have to be there anymore past today. Would you like me to go with you to face Arrow?" Honestly, he didn't see much good it would do, but it might give the other a little more courage in standing up to the guy.

Rikter's eyes fell into a dark brown, almost black as he stood up suddenly. "You don't understand," he told them male, his voice dipping dangerously low. "I go see Arrow and I will never come back. You do not seem to understan what I am saying. When I told you about the carnivale I was not lieing. Not all places are as well off as here and these carnivales prey on those unfortunate areas. They're never the same afterward, never, so much blood has been spilt."

His eyes became distant though no less dark as he stared off into the distance. "You don't know how much blood my own hands have poured onto the ground." His eyes became dead as he looked down at his hands. "And it's all because of this thing," he then turned, pointing to the gem in his neck before turning back around. "Arrow controls us, we can't disobey him." His nail scratched the gem's surface, the broken ridges catching slightly. "Mine was fortunate enough to break, he can't control me."

Shaking his head he walked over to the window, looking out at the slowly rising sun. "No one wants to be there, not really but we were all each other had. If I go back I'll get a new gem and be forced back into that routine and that is not something I want. I am not asking you to change everything just because I will not go back, your life is your own and I can survive however I must. We were trained that way."

Daniel sighed and ran his hands through his hair. He had no idea what Rikter was going on about; it all sounded like some weird sci-fi movie to him. "Look, however much 'blood you have spilled' and all that, I don't think you'd want to follow me back to Nick's either." He stood and loosened the collar of his shirt, then shrugged. "Unless you'd like having you're body violated on a daily basis, in which case you'd be more than welcome at his place."

Daniel went to drag out some old suitcases he had under his bed and started packing them full of clothes. The rest of the appliances had been barrowed from Jake, so he could just leave them here.

Rikter gave him an odd look, does he not care that I spilled the blood of the innocent or does he just not believe me? That wasn't the only thing that confused him though. He walked over to the door jam and leaned against it as he watched Daniel pack. "Why would you return to this 'Nick' guy if he does that to you?" He asked confused because even he wouldn't return to Arrow because of how he was treated.

Daniel paused only briefly at Rikter's question. He slammed one suitase shut and turned to face the other. "Because I can't stand living alone. Nick is probably just as much as asshole as your Arrow, but he gives me...comfort." He then turned back to the other suitcase and hoisted it off the bed to carry out to the bathroom. He could guess Rikter was just about as confused about that as Daniel was about his story. Hopefully Rikter would decide what to do soon though. It would be simple to just leave the guy here to fend for himself, but Daniel would never be able to get rid of the guilty feeling that would result from that.

"Comfort? How can such a person give another comfort?" Rikter asked as he followed Daniel towards the bathroom not wanting to yell across the small apartment. He knew how Arrow was and that man comforted no one, as far as he knew at least. He didn't know the outcome of the war but he didn't see anything good coming out of it.

"A safe home, all the money that I could ever need, and Nick to be there beside me every night," Daniel replied. Of course, that wasn't entirely true, but a good enough reason to leave this little rathole. He threw the last thing from the mirror into the suitcase and folded it shut, turning to step around Rikter and setting the suitcase on the couch. Then he went to get the other one.