Written for whumpay2022, day 3: I'm Having Soul Pains! | "Just breathe." | Bruised

'Verse: Resistance AU: Healer And Handler, co-author @whump-sprite

Ariadne is warm, and she is safe.

Alex is just a thing to her, only picked up because it’s easier than dragging him or waiting for him to stumble along on numb, frozen feet. He knows that. He’s not stupid.

But it’s safe to relax into her arms. It’s safe not to press his face to her neck, not to pretend that he wants more touch. It’s safe to enjoy her warmth while it lasts without needing to worry what comes next.

It’s even safe to cough into her shoulder, when the pain and the itch in his lungs are too much. She won’t punish him for it. She doesn’t even reprimand him. Her hand rubs back and forth across his back, in time with her footfalls, and she murmurs “easy, deep breaths.”

She’s barely paying attention, he can hear it in her voice.

As she puts Alex down in his cell, her grip shifts and he makes a small sound of pain – not a protest, he wouldn’t dare – but it’s safe, with her, to make a sound when he hurts.

“Are you hurt?” He doesn’t trust himself to speak, so he pulls up his shirt to show her instead. “Mmh,” she acknowledges, and crouches down.

He doesn’t feel safe with her fingers prodding along his bruised ribs, not even with her. He holds a single, burning breath while she tests for breaks under the surface, and when she stops and he lets it out he starts coughing again.

She stays with him, a hand on his shoulder, until the coughing subsides, and Alex doesn’t have to pretend that it’s so generous of her to have even the slightest concern for his wellbeing. When he can breathe again he curls forwards and rests his head against her shoulder.

“Hurts,” he whispers weakly. He’s not sure why. He knows he’s not human to her. “Your ribs?” she asks gently. Not just his ribs. His wrists, his lungs, his soul worn thin from spending everything he has. Mostly his lungs.

But she doesn’t care, so he just nods against her shoulder. And she lets him lean on her for a while, she even rubs a hand up and down his spine in a gesture that he doesn’t quite want to be comforted by but he is. But she doesn’t really do anything to help with the pain.

[Next]

#whumpay2022 #my writing #noncon mention #dehumanisation #au: healer and handler #handler!ariadne #alex morgen

just-horrible-things

“It’s time to choose, kid. You can’t have both. Are you with us? Or are you with the merchandise?”

#my stuff #prompts and ideas #dehumanisation #slavery

just-horrible-things reblogged

Biggest Fan

“What is this?” Whumper asked at the sight of Whumpee, their Whumpee, trussed and gagged, staring at them with eyes that pleaded for rescue instead of mercy. They hadn’t seen them in months, not since they escaped.

“I found them for you.” Another stepped out from behind them, wearing clothes similar to their own and a manic grin. “And who are you, exactly?” Whumper asked, eyeing them warily. “I’m your biggest fan.”

one-lonely-whumperfly

Mikel immediately cowered back in the chains as the other man emerged, trembling worse than Jae had ever seen before. He was terrified.

“Biggest fan, eh?” He asked with a slight nod. “Tell me, how long ago did you find him?” He gestured to the hyperventilating young man.

“About five months ago.”

That was when he’d escaped. Jae felt a flash of anger as he realized what must’ve happened. “He never ran, you took him. You stole my property.”

“Well that’s how you do things, isn’t it? Grab people from their homes when they aren’t expecting it? Besides, I needed someone who knew your particular style to see how I was doing.” He grinned, his gaze chilling. “Your boy here really enjoys our games. Don’t you, darling?” Mikel frantically shook his head and whimpered, tears in his eyes.

The man glared and took a step towards Mikel, who immediately squeaked and cowered as far back as he could. Jae moved without realizing it, standing in between the two of them. “While it was nice of you to hold onto my boy for me, I believe it’s time for him to return home with me.”

The room fell silent for a moment, except for the faint, frantic whimpers from the corner. The man finally spoke up. “Must you leave so soon? I’d love to have your input on some of the games I’ve created.”

Jae forced a smile. “Perhaps another time. On someone who isn’t my property.” He turned and moved towards Mikel, noticing that the boy could barely hide his relief. But his eyes suddenly widened, and he let out muffled, frightened sounds. Jae didn’t have a time to react before he felt something slam into the back of his head, and he fell forward with a grunt.

“Sorry, but I can’t let you leave yet.”

The last thing he heard was Mikel’s muffled screams before his head was hit again, and the world went dark.

#others' writing #others' ocs #captivity #restrained #dehumanisation #implied torture #fear #tw violence #screaming #creepy captor #hhhh #that possessive protective attitude #so good #that is my jam #and poor mikel wanting to go back to the less bad option #aaaaaa yes #i love this dynamic

just-horrible-things reblogged

wildfaewhump

Yet more continuation of the Iesin shot down & auctioned series

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Talvos left.

Talvos left him. Talvos found him, Talvos saw him, and he left.

The words tumble over and over through Iesin’s mind, taking up the space where the mysteries used to sing, filling it with a dreadful cacophony of agony and despair instead.

Talvos left.

The first touch to the wires below Iesin drags a hoarse, exhausted moan from him. Every vibration of movement sets off others, in a rippling chain-reaction that tears at each tiny hole in his flesh. He’s lost track of how long he’s been up here, suspended in fine, delicate balance and supported by his own weight used against him, each limb a counter-weight to another, each wire that pierces him a structural necessity to the finely-woven display running above and below and through him. Now, at the prospect of unthreading all of it, he shakes with helpless, bone-weary fear, and voices that fear in trembling huffs of air that only occasionally graze the edges of sound.

The flash of hope that scorched through him when he looked up to see Talvos, realized that against all odds, beyond Iesin’s wildest imaginings, his beloved had found him - that’s gone now, turned to an anguish that is sharp and dark and hungry by the stone-still distance in Talvos’ eyes, by the disregard in his tone as he discussed Iesin like every other human who has come in to gawk at him, and then by the straight, confident set of his back as he walked away.

Talvos left.

Keep reading