"I don't know what kind of shedding it is or what it means"
he said as he scratched again more scales coming off
"I've never shed before"
he sighed as he looked up at Darren
"I just can't stop itching"
he growled a little furiously itching at his neck now

He blinked a little and grabbed his hand, trying to stop the scratching.

"Woah, hey, stop scratching, you don't know how bad that could be."

He thought a but, trying to think of what they could do to help him. Looking around, he went to the bathroom to see if there was anything there to help him.

"Uuuuh maybe we could buff the scales off?"

He looked over at August, hoping he wouldn't mind this.

"I'm sorry it's just I can't stop"
he said as he tried to move his hand back to his neck again, but Darren still had a hold of it. They went inside the bathroom and he looked over at Darren as he mentioned buffing.
"What do you mean buffing?"
he asked, as he looked at Darren and around the room, he noticed things becoming a little blurry, but he didn't say anything, not wanting to cause Darren to go into a panic

He looked over as he asked about buffing and he sighed, running a hand through his hair in exasperation.

"I-I don't know, something to get the scales off painlessly. Without scratching?"

He had no clue what was going on or what to do to help. He wished he knew more about reptiles, maybe that would help. Then he paused, a thought occurred to him and he looked over at August.

"You can talk to Niko right?"

He smiled a bit, hoping this idea would work. You wanted to know how to deal with reptilian problems? Ask a reptile. It had to work, all he needed was for August to say yes.

"yeah i can talk to niko"
he said as he started to stand up from the toilet. his hands moved out in front of him as he started to walk. Everything was becoming even more blurred, and as he walked his hand reached out grabbing Darren, it was obvious that something definitely wasn't right with the young man
"Darren?"

He stifled a shout of triumph as August said yes, but his excitement was short lived as he suddenly started grabbing for things like he couldn't see. He took August's hand and helped him up.

"Augie? You ok? How many fingers am I holding up?"

He held three fingers up, hoping August could see them. If he couldn't then this was getting worse than he thought. Why was this happening and why was it getting so much worse? They had to ask Niko, he had to know SOMETHING about this.

He led August into the bedroom and knocked on Niko's glass, hoping the snake could understand what he was saying.

"Niko. Niko we need your help, c'mon wake up!"

"I - I don't know"
he told him as he was asked how many fingers he was holding up. They made their way into August's room and he heard Darren tap on Niko's glass, talking and trying to wake him up
"Niko wake up"
he told to him, sending it telepathically as well. The ball python opened his eyes and moved toward the front of the glass
"Niko what' happening to me?"
he asked an empathetic link being sent to Niko, letting him know just how scared this was making him.

After a few minutes of silence, listening to Niko he spoke again
"he said it has to do with the shedding. He said my sight will be like this until it finishes. He said I shouldn't - shouldn't go out at all until then, it's not safe"

He bit his lip and kept a hold on his hand, trying to make sure he wouldn't be afraid that he was alone. He waited patiently as August spoke to Niko, begging him for answers. When August spoke again, he nodded a little and looked down at Niko.

"Ask him how long it should take for you to finish. Then... Then ask if we can get the scales off easier, make it go faster."

He hoped that getting the old skin off faster would get his sight back faster. He didn't want to leave August like this and refused to abandon him. August had doted over Darren, now Darren was going to dote over August.

August asked Niko the new questions and waited for the answer. When they came, August listened carefully to what his snake was saying.
"He said it'll last a few days, may-maybe a week. He says there's nothing to- to speed it up"
he sighed a little
"I'm sorry about all this Darren"
he said turning his head to where he'd been hearing Darren's voice come from

He bit back a curse and looked over at August as he apologized. He gently put his hand on August's shoulder, squeezing it gently to try and reassure him.

"You shouldn't be sorry. It's not your fault. You didn't decide to do this. And don't even think of saying you'll be ok on your own. I'm not leaving your side until your sight's returned."

He gripped his shoulder a little tighter, wanting to emphasize this point. He looked to Niko, then back to August.

"Long as he promises not to try and eat me at night again."

He rubbed the back of his neck a little nervously, hoping Niko could make this promise. He really didn't want a repeat of earlier that morning.

He felt a hand on his shoulder squeezing it a little, as he told him that it wasn't his fault and that he wasn't going to leave his side.
"You really don't have stay here"
he said as he moved a hand back putting it on Darren's
"I can take care of myself, I have a pretty good idea of where things are here."

"Only stay here if you want to, don't do it for me."
he shook his head a little as he let his hand fall back into his lap
"He promises not to eat you, but you'll have to feed him, of course when it's still daytime"

He smiled a little as he said he didn't have to stay there. He shook his head and led him over to the bed, sitting him down gently. He gripped his shoulder gently.

"I want to stay here. I want to help you. That's what friends do."

He smiled as he called August friend. He wanted to stay, wanted to help him through this. He nodded as he mentioned Niko's promise and terms. he looked over at the snake and nodded a little, then looked back at August.

"Ok just tell me how often I need to feed him."

Sitting down on the bed, he scooted back just a little. Friends. Were they really friends? Did he really have a friend? He hadn't been sure if he was ever going to get one of those, but here was a guy calling him a friend.
"Thank you"
he said his hand moving up to find him again
"It's only about two times a day that you have to feed him. You can do three, but I don't want him getting too spoiled"
he laughed a little
"You can bring your bed in here if you want"

He smiled a bit as August thanked him, Darren guessed it was for calling him friend. He wanted to be a friend to him and it was pretty obvious that they both needed friends. He nodded a little and looked over at Niko, then looked around for his food. He saw some small mice on the table and walked over to it. He opened it and picked a mouse out of the box, then put it in the cage with Niko.

He looked back over at August and walked over, putting his hand on his shoulder gently to tell him he was there. He liked August, he was a good man. Darren would do everything he could to make sure he was safe.

"Are you hungry?"

He helped him up, starting out to the living room and sat him down at the kitchen table where he could get August some breakfast.

"Hungry"
he asked himself aloud, as he was helped into a standing position. Being led out of the room and to the kitchen he felt as he was seated at the table
"There's a few eggs in the refrigerator. I'm sorry I don't have a lot of food to choose from, I haven't been able to get out and go shopping"
he shrugged a little, of course by shopping he meant stealing. Most grocery stores weren't open when he went out.

He walked over to the fridge and looked into the fridge, pulling out the egg carton. He looked over as he mentioned shopping and shrugged a little as he started cooking the egg. He looked over at August as he sat at the table and smiled a bit.

"I can head out a little later and stock up. Probably won't get much chance to til all this is over."

He whisked the eggs a bit til they were cooked, then served them onto a couple plates and headed over to the table. He took August's hand and put the fork in his grip, then led his hands to the plate.

"Here you go."

He sat down and started eating his own plate, smiling a little and looking over at him.

August was a little surprised, but also glad when Darren mentioned going to the store. It had really been sometime since he'd been able to get some, and Darren could actually go out during the day.
"When you go there's some money underneath the clothes in the third drawer of the dresser."
he told him, August had little stashes of money everywhere around the apartment, there was even a wad hidden in Niko's cage.

"Thank you"
he smiled softly as he was given the fork and led to the plate. Stabbing the eggs he brought them to his mouth.
"These are good"
he said swallowing them down

He started eating his own eggs and nodded as August told him where he had some money stashed. He swallowed and smiled a bit as August complimented the eggs.

"Thanks. I'll leave your money there, I have my own. I think I'll get some feeder mice for Niko, too. Those ones in there don't look very healthy."

He looked over to see how August was doing with his own eggs, mainly making sure he didn't need any help. He looked down at his own plate as he finished and he picked it up, taking it to the sink and setting it there so he could wash it later.

"I caught the ones in there"
he told him after the comment about the mice in there not looking too healthy
"can't really go out to the store"
he sighed a little as he put his fork onto the plate. It had never been hard for August to get by before now. He came from money and now he had none.

Biting his lip he dropped the fork, letting it clank against the plate, before it fell to the ground.
"shit"
he muttered to himself as he pushed the chair back and got down beginning to feel for the fork

He walked over to the table and sat, waiting for him to finish his food. He frowned a little as he said he'd caught the mice himself. Then walked over as he dropped the fork. He put is hand on his shoulder to sit him up.

"It's ok, I've got it."

He grabbed the fork and picked the empty plate up, taking it to the sink too. He looked over at August and walked over to him, putting his hand on August's shoulder.

"I'll head out and go shopping. I'll be back soon."

He headed out and down to his car, heading out so he could go get some food for August.