Ellery wasn't sure what he wanted in those seconds between the blinding pain of his hands, his chest, being eroded away—for someone to help him or to help himself? But he couldn't think straight, couldn't hang on to any thread of coherency of the situation to do anything but whimper and sob, cutting through his gargling screams. He was making noises he didn't think were possible to come out of him; fear of what was happening to him and what would happen if this continued mixed together as everything kept spreading and burning through every part of him that he touched. He was making it worse, but he couldn't stop himself from the gut reaction of trying to save himself from the pain and pushing it away.
And it seemed like the other man was just as surprised as he was to have this happen, unhinged and screaming with Ellery or at Ellery, it didn't matter. Right there, a spark of anger flared that he wasn't helping—this was his fault, his own mutation, shouldn't he have been more careful? Shouldn't he be sequestered somewhere else away from people like Ellery who could easily suffer from the touch? Couldn't he at least get someone? Ellery was unable to do it himself, as evidenced by his spasming as the other man's mutation was slowly consuming him; that was what it felt like, at least.
He was going to die at this school because of some mutant, and wouldn't that just be the most ironic way to go considering this had all been Ellery's idea in the first place? The one time he went against Kieran's wishes and everything was wrong.
It didn't matter though, because the dog was pouring water on him? Dumping it all over Ellery where the acid—that was all Ellery could think it could be—was spreading. He was trying desperately to follow what was happening, as his life depended on it. There was a sort of small relief in the action as the water soaked and diluted whatever was on him, washing it away. The pain stopped escalating, and for one blissful second Ellery could think. He could see the second proffered water bottle from the dog, and he didn't waste time taking it. Dizzy with agony, frenzied and sucking down one gasping lungful of air after the other, Ellery had managed to stop screaming. And with trembling, slick hands he managed to recklessly empty the water over his hands and chest again, dousing whatever had just happened.
That didn't account for the damage left behind. What the fuck just happened? The ache in his extremities was building up again, the open wounds caused by the mutation were sharp and disgustingly disturbing. And all Ellery could do was shake at the force it took to keep himself together. "Get... get aw—" Ellery hissed in pain, unable to force the words between his teeth, to get the man away from him. Just far away, where he couldn't be near him and cause the same thing to happen again. But he couldn't focus, everything felt too much, the pain, the confusion, the noises coming from the other man.
Kieran would be so disappointed that he couldn't follow through. Ellery hated that he even thought that at all.