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.