Rosco bolts out to the front of the inn, desperately scanning the busy streets. Of course, it had been hours, so Hayden was nowhere in sight. Sick of himself on a whole new level, he drops his face into his hands, heaving a sigh of absolute exasperation. He’d bet Hayden he could lose the unlosable lamp but instead he’d managed to lose Hayden. Furiously riffling his curls, the boy tries to figure out what to do next, or where his god might go. “Wait,” freezing in place. His?!  Nononono. that’s not what he’d meant. THE god. Not his god, the god. Pulling a little tighter at his hair, “Focus Rosco.” He commands himself; he could freak about the mental slip up later, now was not the time. At least it wasn’t like Hayden was helpless. Rosco had the distinct impression he could take care of himself. Then again, they already did have one missing god on their hands, what if whatever was keeping Gia away had found a way to insnare Hayden too? Rosco shook his head, that was too big a problem for him to handle on his own. He needed to focus on the things he could do and the places he could look. Hayden didn’t need to eat or sleep, so it made no sense to look at eateries or inns. Would he go shopping? As far as Rosco knew Hayden didn’t carry anything with him, but he’d pulled that lamp out of nowhere so maybe he didn’t need to?

He left you behind, his mind supplies as the simplest and most reasonable explanation. “He doesn’t need me. I’m useless,” the boy whispers to himself, finishing off the thought he didn’t even want to have. The pricking feeling of abandonment starts taking up all the room in his lungs. The space where air is meant to go. Air is important. But Rosco can’t seem to convince his lungs that it’s more important than the fact he’d been deserted in an unfamiliar place far from anyone or anywhere he knows.

“Are you finished working now?”

Rosco spins on his heel at the sound of Hayden’s voice. The god standing right behind him, hands leisurely stuffed into his pockets. A cold rush of relief courses through him, instinctively filling his lungs past compacity with cool fresh air. His remaining panic explodes into anger. “Where the fuck have you been!?” he demands, advancing a step to shove a finger into the god’s chest. “You can’t just up and disappear all the time! It’s been hours! Hours! I had no idea how to find you! Where you might go, how to start looking!”

Hayden recoils, eyes widening in shock, “I knew where you were?” He defends, voice soft and bewildered.

“But I didn’t-” Rosco hisses, eyes hot with unshed tears, “I thought-” Voice cracking under his effort to hold back sobs, “I thought you left me here alone.” He whispers, dropping his eyes to his feet, arms securely wrapping around his body. All the anger he’d directed at Hayden, now pointed in on himself. He is so stupid. Why was he even getting so worked up about this? “Not that it would matter all that much if you did; it’s not like I expected you to take care of me,” he mutters at the ground, his hair hiding the fat tears rolling down his cheeks, “I only came along because I wanted to help, but you don’t really need me either. I don’t even know why I’m mad,” He sniffles, “I’m sorry for yelling at you again. I understand if you want to smite me or something.” Running his sleeve over his face, “Anyway,” desperate to get out of here and maybe actually burry himself in a hole, “I’m gonna go eat, they’re expecting me.”

Rosco only manages to get about four steps away before Hayden catches his arm, twisting the boy around to face him. Hayden opens his mouth to speak but stops, catching sight of the many spectators now watching after the boy’s rather loud outburst. Sighing heavily, Hayden drags Rosco into the more private alleyway between the buildings, maneuvering him up against the wall. Hayden opens his mouth to speak again, but instead sighs again, using his free hand to pinch at the bridge of his nose. Rosco swallows thickly, feeling a little intimidated, and a little something else he would never care to admit, having a guy Hayden’s size leaning over him like this.

“To be expressly clear,” Haden begins, pinning the boy in place with his storm gray gaze, “Yelling at me is not a capital offence. It never has been and never will be. Understand?”

Rosco nods, breaking eye contact to chew at his nails.

“I also would not leave you behind without properly informing you first. I brought you along for a reason, I’m not going to just dump you off somewhere without so much as a word. Really, what sort of image do you even have of me?” Pushing off the wall in a huff.

The boy stays quiet; he’d already felt bad enough before learning he’d offended a god with his rambling. An involuntary gasp leaves his lips at the unexpected rush of comfort and warmth that comes from Hayden’s touch. The god had taken the hand Rosco was trying to chew the nails off of and one of the silver rings from his own fingers and was now sliding it onto Rosco’s thumb. The smooth band, warm from the heat of Hayden’s body, almost hot against Rosco’s skin.

“What- Why?” he mutters, glancing up with questions in his eyes,

“It’s insurance.”

“Insurance?”

“This,” tapping the ring, “Is incredibly important to me. You can rest assured, that no matter what happens, what time or distance separates us, if for no other reason, I will return for this.”

Rosco’s dumbstruck, entirely unsure how to feel. Grateful, underserving, comforted, ridiculous, all of those and more? His emotions are so big and mixed up it doesn’t even occur to him that he can’t accept such an obviously priceless piece of jewelry. He just goes with it, brain defaulting to comforting norm, “What if I lose it?” he asks softly.

Hayden chuckles, “You can’t even take it off.”