Boy of Light and Dust

Ica

Ica barely remembered getting back to his room. The last thing he remembered before Finn knocked him out with his magic was telling Finn that he could eat whatever he wanted out of their pantry and Finn laughing in response.

His dreams were relatively calm and pleasant. He wondered if Finn had somehow tampered with his magic, so Ica would have restful sleep because he rarely had pleasant dreams. He didn't know how to do it himself, because he'd never really cared for magics that weren't defensive. Sleeping magic was very useful in a fight... though it didn't make it a very fair fight.

When Finn woke him up, it was light outside, and Max was very clearly awake. He could hear Max chattering from his room. Finn didn't seem annoyed by Max's chattiness, so Ica chose not to make a big deal out of it.

"Did you get any sleep?" Ica inquired as he slowly sat up; his head felt a little cloudy. He felt ten times better than he had before he'd gone to sleep.

Finn nodded, though he didn't look like he'd gotten much sleep if he had slept. His grey eyes looked duller than they had in a long time, and his dark hair was a complete mess. "Sleep magic doesn't exactly come cheap."

Ica rubbed at his forehead as he stifled a yawn. Of course it wasn't. And he'd done it twice within a day. "You didn't have—"

"I did it because I will be able to get some sleep later. I don't have the stress you have," Finn cut him off with a glance out of Ica's door, into the living space. "You both needed help. I had the ability to help, and so I did. Don't worry about me. I'll sleep it off this afternoon. You focus on Max and Dayin."

Ica nodded, though he really wanted to argue about it. He also was annoyed with himself for not thinking about the amount of energy it would take for Finn to pull off as much as he had within a brief span of time. "I'll talk to Max." He threw his legs over the side of his bed and stared out of his door for a moment, happy to listen to Max's excited chattering, even if only for just a moment. "He didn't bug you too much?"

The darker-haired boy pressed a sleepy smile as he followed Ica's gaze. "Max could never bug me. I love him."

Ica smiled at that. He was glad that there were others who cared for his brother as much as he did. "Go get some sleep or do whatever it is you need to do. I'll keep him busy while you escape." He pushed himself off his bed and headed for the living room, where Max was happily chatting away with Samantha on their sofa. "I see I have a hole in my security," Ica snorted. Samantha jumped and turned to face Ica and Finn as they left his room.

"C'mon, Sam. We need to have a chat with Jensen," Finn said with a gesture at the front door.

Max looked disheartened for a moment when Samantha stood up, but smiled at Ica as she walked away. "See you later, Samantha!" Max said happily as Finn and Samantha left. "What was Finn doing here for so long?" The happiness in his voice seemed to dissipate like the snap of his fingers.

Ica relaxed slightly after Finn shut the door behind him and his sister. "I couldn't sleep. So, he used sleep magic on me."

"Ohh." Max glanced at the door again. "Is something wrong?" he asked worriedly, brow furrowed as he looked back at Ica. Max knew that sleep magic wasn't something that should be taken lightly.

Ica was chewing on the inside of his cheek as he sat down beside Max on the sofa. "Buddy," he said quietly, "Dayin's got some... not very nice people looking for him. Scary people. And... Finn and Jenny agreed to help me keep him safe." Max looked confused, but didn't speak. "Us helping Dayin is going to put us, you and Samantha included, in a lot of danger." He swallowed roughly, not able to make eye contact with Max. "And I'm scared."