♚ Leaving Colorado in such a rush had meant that Sofia and her sister both had to pack light. Their car had been left in the States, their cats purple tree shaped like clouds and the moon, a lot of Sofia's incense and crystals but mostly what had been left behind was clothes. Sofia had told her little sister to grab the expensive stuff like their laptops, hair dryers and shoes, and the important things like their photos and tarot cards, but black leggings could be replaced, denim skirts could be replaced.
♚. That was what Sofia was working on as her sister went down to the local college to see what it would take for her to enroll. She'd been at the thrift store since it opened, a pile of things already set aside for herself, her sister and also her boyfriend because she couldn't help herself when she saw a vintage Misery shirt. But she was running back and forth from the change rooms in her bra and some black shapewear shorts, picking things out and putting stuff back that she didn't want so she didn't have to bother the person working there.
♚ She was in the midst of putting something back, barefeet walking around on tiptoes as she did, when she noticed someone else browsing the racks, her hands letting go of the coat hanger for the item she was putting back while observing them. "Hey, honey, I don't know what you're looking for but I think I saw something that would suit you," she spoke, presuming the 'hey' and the fact no one else was around would be enough to indicate she was addressing them. "No pressure."
@fenrirswoodstarters
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Whumptober Day 9
Polaroid / Mistaken Identity / “You’re a liar.”
TW: Restraints, partial nudity (non-sexual), knife, creepy whumper
The morning had gone by like usual. Alexei had come in to hand out food, water, and meds. Casey took a few minutes to go through Georgia’s paper cup and point out each supplement, antidepressant, and vitaman, to ease her mind. There was only one he didn’t recognise, but she quickly explained that it was her estrogen supplement.
“I don’t know how he knew my brand or dosage, though.”
“He has his ways,” Casey sighed.
Alexei came by to collect dishes, and the three started a game of go fish using Felix’s cards, asking questions with each play to get to know each other. Felix insisted on starting with simple questions, which Casey quickly agreed to. Felix tended to avoid talking about deep subjects, when at all possible. Besides, Casey didn’t know all that much about either Felix and Georgia, and favorite colors and animals seemed like a good place to start.
They only had a few minutes of playing before the door opened and Alexei walked in again. “Come on, Casey, let’s get moving,” he ordered, holding the door open and looking impatient.
Casey’s stomach dropped. “Where are we-”
“You’ve got a client,” Alexei interrupted, annoyed, “and they’ll be here any minute, so let’s move.”
Casey stayed motionless, rooted to the floor as the surprise and terror set in. He had only had a few clients since Alexei deemed him ‘trained’ enough to be on the market. He hadn’t gotten used to the paralyzing, horrible sensation of looming pain, hadn’t figured out how to push back the what-ifs and reluctance.
Alexei rolled his eyes and stepped into the room, grabbing Casey and yanking him up to his feet. He put a firm hand on his shoulder, pulling him out of his room and down the dreaded hallway. He stopped to grab something out of a cupboard, but Casey hardly noticed. He couldn’t stop staring at the steel door.
When Alexei pushed him towards it once more, the panic surged and filled his body. “Sir, don’t make me, please don’t-”
Alexei didn’t stop, sliding the bolt and pulling the door open. Casey was pushed inside. His eyes moved on their own accord, and he could not take responsibility for their sweep over the many weapons on the wall in front of him.
Something hit Casey’s back, and he flinched and turned to see a small heap of clothing on the floor. “Get changed quickly,” Alexei ordered, turning to unwrap a thick rope from an anchor on the wall.
Casey did as he was told, pulling off his old clothes and putting on a fresh white tee and a pair of black athletic shorts. He balled the dirty clothes up and held onto them nervously.
Alexei had untied the rope and added more slack. The rope was threaded through a loop on the ceiling, and the end now hung at about eye level. Tied onto it was a large, metal hook.
Alexei pulled a sturdy pair of handcuffs off a shelf, and Casey realized what was happening.
He backed away a step, shaking his head as tears started to well up in his eyes. This was all too much, he didn’t want this, he couldn’t handle this.
Alexei didn’t care. He grabbed his wrists and forced the handcuffs on, letting the bundle of clothes drop to the floor. He placed them on the hook and pulled the rope, and suddenly Casey was on his toes, hands above his head, caught like a worm on a hook.
“They’ll be here in a minute,” Alexei said, grabbing the dirty clothes and moving towards the door. “On your best behavior, understand?”
Casey said nothing, eyes screwed tightly shut.
“I said, do you understand?” The darkened tone made Casey flinch, and he nodded immediately.
“Yes, sir,” he whispered. Alexei left without another word.
The client opened the door a few minutes later, and before Casey knew it, they were momentarily blinded by the flash of a camera. Once their vision came back, blurry and littered with spots, they got a look at the client.
She looked to be in her mid 30s, with blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail. She smiled at Casey, holding the polaroid camera up again. This time, Casey had the foresight to close his eyes before the flash.
“Don’t mind me,” the woman said, bending down and pointing the camera up at him. “I’m just getting some ‘before’ pictures. We can get started in a minute.”
Casey found himself not minding the wait, as she lined up a few more shots. Anything to delay ‘getting started’.
Eventually, she put the camera down on a table, laying the developing photos out in a row. She turned to the wall of weapons and started looking. Casey didn’t know whether he wanted to watch or not, whether he wanted to know what would happen to him in a minute or two. In the end, it didn’t matter. He couldn’t bring himself to look away.
“So many interesting toys to play with,” the woman mused, tapping her chin in indecision. “In the end, though, I think I’ll stick to the classics.”
She pulled a knife off a magnetic strip, a small, curved weapon with a wicked shard point and a much duller blade. Casey couldn’t help the pathetic little whimper that escaped from his lips.
He wasn’t strong like Felix, not yet at least. He didn’t know how to bite back the screams, how to stay witty and brave through the pain.
When that knife bit into his chest as she slit his new clean shirt, when it carved patterns into his skin like he was a block of wood, he wasn’t able to hold back the sobs.
The client stepped back after what felt like hours, circling his shaking form like an artist around a sculpture. She picked up the camera and snapped picture after picture as Casey hung, barely supporting his weight, letting the cuffs rub his wrists raw.
She watched as they developed, smiling at each new addition to the collection of Casey’s pain. At one point, she picked one up and walked over to him.
“Look,” She said, grabbing his chin and forcing him to stare at the polaroid, showing off the blood dripping down his chest. “Don’t you think you look just beautiful like this?”
She was gripping him so hard, and his body hurt so much, and he wanted her to be happy, to leave him alone. “Y-yes,” he muttered, closing his eyes once more.
“Aww, you’re lying, aren’t you.” He felt a jolt of fear at these words. Would she punish him for the lie? Should he have told the truth, that he thought he looked like a cut of meat, barely human and hardly pleasing to the eye?
“No matter,” she continued, and he breathed a sigh of relief. “I can see enough beauty for the both of us.”
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Karkat: let him see the fear
You don't answer, but Gamzee must see some of your resignation in your face. When you snatch up a rag and start wiping angrily at one of his cheeks he just lets you, watching you placidly. His pupils are dilated enough to eat up most of the purple in his eyes.
He says, "You're hurting."
"I hit my head, and I've got some--scratches," you say, because apparently that purrbeast has escaped the shapeless containment device. "I'm fine. I told you I'd take care of everything, and I meant it."
Gamzee considers that while you wipe his face. There's a split in his lip, when you scrub the paint away, and a bruise on his jaw.
He says, "I mean, yeah, but. You're working up some shit in your thinkpan, is what I mean. You're hammering that shit down in, hard-shell little snipbeast like you are. Look at all these prickly-ass walls you're putting up."
"I'm not putting up walls," you snap, and wipe away a smear of paint, harder than you mean to. "I'm the very goddamn picture of professional transparency."
"I'm not a motherfucking professional," says Gamzee, and frowns at you, a slow shift like a moonrise, disapproval that's worse for how he seems to be discovering it as it happens. "And if you've got no walls, motherfucker, no hurt you're hiding from me, how come you're in ablutions with your motherfucking moirail and you got your whole shiny snipbeast shell on still?"
You look down at yourself, soaking uniform, water on your armor, and feel abruptly like a complete idiot. "That's--just," you start, and then growl and drop the rag on the seating shelf next to him to peel at your wet armor, tugging it away from cuts and scrapes and kicking it defiantly away into the corner of the ablutions chamber. Then you spread your arms like fuck you, here it all is, take a good fucking look. "Happy now?"
"Happier," says Gamzee, and yawns hugely, a wide stretch of fangs. "You're hurting still. You gotta just let go sometimes, best friend. You gotta stop doing the job and just motherfucking trust."
"I'm not going to stop doing my job," you snap, and he blinks at you through the water, slow and hazy, hardly together enough to move. You don't mean to raise your voice, but you're--you can't just stop taking care of him. You can't. The fear is a naked, ugly thing, turning your hands clumsy and your voice loud and harsh. "My job is to be what you need me to be, dipshit! I know you've got pretty lights and honking horns where your thinkpan should be, but you should know this by now--it's my job to keep you steady! It's my job to make you safe, you absolute fucking moron, and you can barely stand up right now, what do you mean, let go?!"
"I mean I'm pretty fuckin' steady now, best friend," he says, and lifts up a hand, slow and wavering, to take yours and pull it away from his face. The paint and blood are gone, and he looks like a different person without them. Thinner, and sadder, and younger and older both at the same time. "I mean, you told me we were already safe. And what you're showing me right now's a whole lotta scared and fucked up, like you think we're gonna get jumped on if you let me touch you kind. You tellin' me you said me some bullshit? We're not so motherfucking safe?"
"I-- Wh-- No, but--"
"So it's safe if you rest easy, too. If you didn't lie."
It's never fair when Gamzee suddenly manages to do something smart. All of a sudden sometimes that mild look closes on you like a trap on a squeakbeast, and he's got you coming and going. Well, fuck him. You're resolved in your mission, and letting him touch you a little isn't going to change that. You can take it, if it'll get him to stop looking at you like that.
Karkat: Give ground
==> Let him have your horns
==> Let him have your body
==> Let him have your thinkpan
[Start Over]
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