zeke and tobias, part 5

finally !  warnings: captivity, human weapons, implications of torture tagging: @livingforthewhump @firewheeesky “Alright, soldier.” Tobias clears his throat, tapping his papers on the table to straighten them and sitting up ridiculously straight. He looks over to Zeke, grinning.  Zeke stares back, one hand wrapped loosely around their bandaged waist. They look unimpressed, slumped in the chair across Villain. “Alright, alright. Maybe loosen up a bit, though.” Tobias leafs through his folder, humming softly. Zeke recognizes the tune, but they keep it to themselves. “Pretend we’re on a gameshow. You ever seen one of those? Trashy, but man, they’re entertaining.” Another glance at Zeke. Another bored expression back. “Question 1: You know where Hero is?”  They blink, giving Villain a blank stare. Zeke hadn’t expected him to start with that right off the bat. “No,” They answer anyway, shifting their position a bit. Their back is still sore from that guard. “If I did, I would have escaped already.” Ares would’ve been so proud of them if they did that. He’d never think about replacing them again.  Villain laughs. Zeke decides they don’t like his laugh. “Good point. I’ll take it. Question 2: Do you know where Hero wants to be?” “The fucking Bahamas, I don’t know.” They’re surprised at their tone. They never cuss. Not in front of Ares, at least. And they always, always give straight answers. True answers. They’re supposed to.   Villain laughs again. “Funny. You’re funny. I can see why Hero keeps you around.” Why does that make Zeke’s stomach flip? “Question 3: You plan on answering these anytime soon?”  “No.” There’s a straight answer. True, too. Villain gives them a weird sort of half-shrug half-nod, which irritates Zeke greatly. They don’t know why. Everything Villain does irritates them.  They look down at their palms, exhaling slowly. Warm. Almost, almost glowing that soft light that made Ares curious about Zeke in the first place. Just a few more days and they can do what they’re meant to do. No guards to bother them - Villain had kept that promise, surprisingly - and Villain doesn’t look very keen on fighting, either. Zeke can’t lose.  “You done with that inner-monologue?” Villain’s annoying voice interrupts their thoughts. They looks up, dull eyes boring into Villain’s friendly ones. Stupid.  “Great. Listen, you don’t have to answer them if you don’t want to. Just look over them, okay?” Villain unclips one of his papers from his folder, pushing it towards Zeke.  A long list of questions. Zeke picks it up, crumples it in their fist, and tosses it toward their cot.  “...Or, that, too.” Villain stands up, tucking their folder under their arm. “It’s almost suppertime. I’ll bring your food over as soon as I can.”  “Bring more this time. I’m hungry.” They know Villain will. He’s far too concerned over them for a villain, Zeke thinks. But they’ll take advantage of it if they can.

zeke and tobias, part 4

(part 3 here)

sorry for the wait ! 

warnings: referenced beatings, referenced violence, corrupt guards, 'it' being used as a pronoun, general whump “What happened to you?”  Zeke hisses in pain, pushing themselves up on one hand. The other is clutched around their stomach, nursing broken ribs. “Your guards.” They mutter, breathing in deeply.  Tobias stares at the other. Beaten to hell and back, right eye swollen closed and the other red from crying. They’re struggling to hold themselves up, their arm shaking from the weight. Tobias kneels down in time to catch them before they collapse. 

“Get your - hands off me!” Zeke grunts, twisting around, yelping in pain. Villain pulls their hand back in shock, and Zeke groans when they thump to the ground. 

“You-” Tobias clears his throat, “You’re.. my guards?” He pales. “I didn’t- I never, I never told them to..” He trails off, swallowing. “Stay here. I’ll get a- I’ll fix you up. Yeah.” He stands up, looking unsure what to do with himself for a moment, before he turns and briskly walks out of the room. 

“I can’t go anywhere.” Zeke says to themselves, face twisted in pain. They turn around again, resting their face against their arm, taking in shuddering breathes. They don’t even know what the guards wanted. Entertainment? Stress relief? They’d never interrogated them. 

“Yeah, hold it still for me.” The guard had laughed, while another held Zeke’s arms tightly behind their back with one hand, the other fisted in Zeke’s hair and pulling their head back. The first guard brought a knife up to Zeke’s throat, jeering, delighting in Zeke’s screams and whimpers when he applied pressure. “Please, please, I’m sorry,” Zeke had rasped, wild eyes flicking between the two guards. Their chest heaved up and down, blood dripped from their lips as they begged for mercy.  It didn’t work. “Here, I’m here.” A cool cloth is pressed against Zeke’s forehead, and when they open their eyes, they see Villain kneeling over them. Their stomach flips. 

“Look at it, it’s nearly passed out,” The second guard snickered, digging the heel of his boot over Zeke’s fingers. He kneeled down, face like a bird that’d just caught its prey. Dirty fingers reach up, forcing Zeke’s mouth open, as the guard pressed his boot down on Zeke's ribs. They inhale sharply, gagging on air, trying to close their mouth and breath out but the guard is holding them like that watching them writhe and cough.

Villain wipes the blood off Zeke's cheeks, brows furrowed. Zeke can only imagine why. Is it some sort of training? Are they supposed to be fighting back? The guards hadn't told them to. Surely Villain doesn't expect them to do it on their own?

"Look at this! Dude, I told you, it won't fight back if no one tells it to." Zeke stared at the ground, curling their fingers into fists. They shudder, blinking slowly. "It doesn't even know what to do with itself."

"I'm- Gods, Zeke, I'm sorry. I never would've left you alone if I.. they won't come in anymore. I promise."

Zeke looks at Villain warily, their body tense as he wraps bandages around their arms. Great. So they failed... whatever the test was.

"There. Cleaned off. Can you sit up? I need to do your ribs."

With a sigh, Zeke pulls themself up, biting on their tongue to stop themselves from screaming. They try to hide their pained expression, but Villain notices.

"Oh, gosh, okay, lie back down, that's okay, just hold on.."

I can do it! Zeke thinks. I'm not that weak. I can sit up. Please let me sit up.

But Zeke is gently pushed back to the floor. They stare at the ceiling while Villain wraps strangely clean bandages around their waist, a heavy sigh escaping their lips.

tagging @livingforthewhump