Charaâs voice was soft and quiet, just loud enough to be heard by his captorâno, his lover. âCaptorâ wasnât the proper word for the way he viewed Envy now; not anymore. He didnât realize it, nor could he have properly explained it if he were asked, but there was only one word to accurately describe him after being with Envy for months on endâbroken.
Their first moment of shared intimacy, now many long months in the past, had been the final catalyst to his downfall. Heâd realized it the day after, once his body recovered enough that he was no longer delirious from blood loss, but by then it was far too late. What had been done could not be undone, and from then on, heâd remained trapped in the little spiderâs web, right where Envy wanted him. Lack of control over his arms made escape impossible, leaving him with no choice but to either rebel in other ways or simply submit.
At first, he did rebelâŠbut even then, he couldnât find the will to remain consistent. It became something of a patternâhe wouldnât eat, would try not to sleep, would resist in almost every way possible until the last second and accept any punishment, but then if Envy wanted him and began touching him again, his body would rememberâŠ
âŠAnd he would fall all over again, surrendering and sinking further and further each time until he could no longer find his way back to the surface. Eventually, he no longer cared to see that surface again, even when his mind was what he deemed to be perfectly clear. It was as if the one thing inside him that had, until recently, remained unbroken his whole life had been shattered into microscopic piecesâand by none other than Envy. Now, the only time he displayed any of the original fire heâd possessed was when his captor wanted to see it; allowed it without the threat of repercussions.
He looked up at Envy now, eyes shining with adoration the very second he heard the praise. To Chara, there was something holy about the killerâs presence. Envy was everything to himâhis caretaker, his lover and friend, and the master he adoredâand he was completely smitten.
Though heâd protested being tied up months ago, it didnât bother him as much anymoreâhe understood the necessity of it. The muscles in his shoulders had only just recovered and finally healed up a few weeks ago, and keeping his arms still most of the time had been an important part of recovery. Besides that, the killer still hadnât trusted him to behave and be good without restraints, and though that thought had begun to sting a little over time, heâd stopped complaining about it.
âYouâre taking off the wires? You donât have to, butâŠthank you.â He was excited to hear that Envy saw fit to untie his wrists. Being confined and tied up didnât faze him at this point, but after being unable to use his arms for so long, having his bonds removed was a special moment. Not only would he be able to start using his arms and hands again, but this meant that Envy actually trusted him! Relief washed over him, and his face lit up with happiness, his eyes bright and his lips forming a broad smile.
He quickly nodded to assure Envy that it did indeed feel better to have his wrists free, and shifted a little on the bed, gently flexing and rubbing at each wrist to soothe the irritated skin. âIâll be good, I promise. Iâll be right here when you get back. Ohâbut since I can use my hands now, could you bring me back something new to readâŠplease? N-Not that you have to, butâŠit would give me something to do when youâre not home.â
Yes, homeâbecause Envyâs house was his home now. Memories of his bedroom at the Amphisbaena base in Rome were hazy and scattered, part of a life he didnât care to remember anymore. âIâll miss you.â Those three little words sounded so simple; so normal, but under the circumstances, they were anything but.
He watched Envy leave the room, then waited until he couldnât hear the sound of receding footsteps anymore and let his body sink into the bed, closing his eyes with the intent of taking a nap to rest up and pass the time.
Chara had just begun to drift off when the sound of more footsteps awoke him, but he was certain they werenât the same ones heâd heard minutes ago. Instantly on edge, he sat up and looked around at the crosses covering the walls as if for guidance, unsure of what to do. Although he could function and move, he was in no condition to fight, nor did he want to leave Envyâs bedroom to hide elsewhere. Thankfully, he didnât have to worry about it for long, as a familiar face soon appeared in the doorway. It took him a moment to process his brotherâs presence, as he couldnât help but wonder if he was dreaming or imagining things, or if some rogue ghostly presence wandering around had decided to play a trick on him.
He blinked several times, completely bewildered, and couldnât bring himself to believe what he was seeing until the sound of his twinâs voice saying his name reached his ears. âNero⊠IsâŠthat really you? Itâs really you, right? i-Iâm not dreamingâŠ?â Emotions he hadnât felt in months welled up inside him, and he immediately fought to repress them. This wasnât goodâhe couldnât get attached. And despite believing that, the special bond heâd always had with his twin was fighting to resurface, making his newly freed arms ache with the need to embrace his older brother, if only for a few seconds.
He forced himself to settle for grabbing Neroâs hands with his and giving them a squeeze, but even that felt like a risky mistake. âNero, donât apologize. Iâm sorry, butâŠyou probably shouldnât have come. Iâm not going anywhere. I canât; I wonât. I donât want to leave. Itâs⊠Itâs wonderful to see you, but Iâm not leaving, and I donât know how Envy will react if youâre still here when he comes back. Iâm his, and Iâm with him now. If he tried to hurt you, I⊠He might not let me stop him. If you wonât leave now, promise me you wonât try to fight him in this house if he gives you the chance to walk out instead. Promise me, please.â
âçœȘâMeanwhile, unaware of the events which occurred within his very own home, Envy strolled through the grocery store in complete EUPHORIA; a cloud nine. It was like he could finally B R E A T H E. Like he could just suddenly turn around, extend both arms && enjoy life as it is, unaffected by madness nor its twisted ways. If anythingâŠ
    He felt NORMAL again.
Is this the blessing of being in âloveââŠ.? He did not know. Didnât even care, thoughtlessly placing various items into the shopping basket as if a wholly different person; someone he perhaps once âwasâ but became forgotten in a maze. Blind, lost && in dismay with no light to guide him home. Well, until a certain little Robin came down to show him the way.
    && now? They were BOTH there.
         Stuck together with BROKEN wings.
Do you perhaps see the tragedy now? Envy was ân e v e râ going to let him go, no matter how much he flaps, wiggles && sings.  âHuh, I wonder if he likes mangaâŠ?â It was all sweetly staged inside that âD I S T O R T E Dâ head. âThereâs way too manyâŠ. HmmâŠâ A perfect wonderland where TEARING OFF feathers && CRUSHING some bones didnât mean he didnât actually LOVE Chara! In fact, it WAS all because of it!! âIâll just take a few then, yeah. Canât go wrong with thatâŠ.â
After all, everything felt better with Chara around. That much was clear. It wasnât just him && mother anymore, no. The non-existent family has finally gotten bigger thanks to him! See?? No reason for ill intent! Envy merely did what was ânecessaryâ for them both to lead a fulfilling relationship, regardless of their rather ârockyâ beginning. âAhhh⊠I probably should be getting back now. Iâm getting recklessâŠ.âÂ
Thus making sure that he got everything - counting up the money - a small realisation eventually nudged the young serial killer; he absolutely FORGOT to dress-up today! Now slowly glancing at the store cameras, pitch-black eyes engraved their putrid sights into the security guardâs tv screen && merely STARED. Didnât least âb l i n kâ as the camera kept rolling. âFar too reckless.. â
Thatâs when he slowly begun sinking back into the earlier mentality of a KILLER, widening the once loving smile into a DEVILISH && most TWISTED one. The poor security guard didnât even have the chance to recognise this strange kid before the lights in his small room started to wildly flicker. Going off/on constantly for couple of seconds, followed by an odd âbuzzingâ noise from the security radio. He didnât know WHAT was going on, but, it felt quite eerie.
     Now looking back at the screens aheadâŠ..
They were suddenly all obscured by widened eyes, like someone was RIGHT in front of EACH camera && âs t a r i n gâ directly at âHIMâ - which was literally impossible. THEY WERE  LOCATED WAY TOO HIGH! Thus screaming on top of his lungs && falling off the leather chair, the panicked man completely froze in place, unable to tear own gaze away from the countless eyes that followed his movement. They were just so BLACK, so INTENSIFIED⊠wideâŠ.  that you could almost FEEL their MURDEROUS INTENT.Â
Oh, how he wanted to call out for help! How he wanted to m o v e && use the radio upon the belt, but, then the all lights fully turned offâŠ.Â
   && something told him deep insideâŠ
       âDonât look back.â He wasnât alone anymore.
Alive. Alive. Alive! His brother was alive! That fact alone brought some lightness to his chest, removing a weight that Nero hadnât notice was there until it was lifted away. After months of a Schrödinger situation, he had finally been able to remove the box, revealing his twin alive rather of dead. Badly battered, but ALIVE!Â
Nero would have liked nothing more than to bask in the presence of his brother, but he also knew that their time was limited. Nero doubted that Envyâor anyone reallyâwould enjoy coming home to find that someone had broken into their house to rescue their captive. How much longer they had until Envy returned was unknown, but Nero wasnât planning to stick around to time, so he pushed down the relief he felt and focused back on task: assessing Charaâs injuries.
Doctor, he might not be, but Nero hardly needed a medical degree to realize just how hurt his brother was. The signs were all there: the scars, the bruises, the rigidness of motionâand all that was simply on the surface. Those could be healed and forgotten, but there was no way to measure what mental scars might be present as well, and Nero personally knew that those could be worse than anything that could be physically done. Every small scratch on the younger twinâs skin brought a slight tug to Neroâs heart, and every hesitant word added heat to the boiling rage within his gut.
This was Chara! HIS little brother, HISÂ twin! How DAREÂ someone cause such harm to him?! Rules and procedures aside, he wasnât simply going to let someone get away with doing such things to his baby brother!Â
But he couldnât focus on that right now; his anger has no target at the moment. He could only assume that the culprit was the killer whose house they were currently in, but said individual was not currently present. Not to mention thatâif his assumption was correctâhe would rather not stick around for when Envy returns. Even though punching the person who had hurt his brother would be very satisfying, the point remained that his brother was hurt and needed medical attention without being forced to see his captor once more.
Speaking of which, they should probably leave soon to avoid such a thing. While Nero was unaware of where Envy left to, he wouldnât imagine the other would be gone too long. The elder twin had started to move again, glancing around to see whether there was anything of Charaâs he would need to grab along the way, but he froze when Chara spoke again. While the sound of Charaâs voice was music to his ears, the words themselves stopped his blood cold. His handsâpreviously lightly squeezing his twinâs hands in returnâslackened and hung loose in his grip. Â
Chara was... Envyâs? And refusing to leave.
âChara...? What... what do you mean? I donât understand...â Shouldnât Chara be happy to be able to go home? Even if he canât feel the pain of whatever torture he underwent, the injuries were still there, and they would be much more easily treated at the Amphisbaena base. The younger should be jumping at the chance to escape, yet he was refusing to do so. While the older hyena struggled to understand the behaviours of most people, his twin was usually someone he could easily predict, yet this was proving to be quite the opposite at the moment.Â
Was he wrong in his assumption? Was Envy perhaps Charaâs saviour from his true torturer? Is that why he refused to leave, finding comfort in the older killer? It was possible... but something about the idea nudged at him in a weird way. If that was the case, why hadnât Chara been allowed to call in to report that he was still alive? Surely a saviour would allow Chara to inform his famigliaâor at the very least his brotherâthat he was still alive. Was he prevented from doing so?Â
Or... or did Chara decide to do so? Did Chara want Amphisbaenaâwant Neroâto think him dead so he could remain here?
Golden eyes widened slightly, a knot forming in Neroâs throat as a flood of possibilities that he hadnât thought to consider before rushed through his mind. Taking a seat on the bed, the dark haired twin took a moment to just sort through all those thoughts as blank golden eyes stared at intertwined hands, before taking a deep breathe and glancing hesitantly back at his brother. He didnât understand at all, but that wasnât an unusual thing. At times like these, it was usually Chara who would explain things to his brother,âregardless of the topicâso it made sense for him to refer to his twin once more.
âI... I donât understand.... What happened, Chara? You went missing for months, and youâre so badly hurt, but you...â He paused, taking a moment to really think about what he wanted to say, what he wanted to ask first. âWho did this to you? Who hurt you so badly? Was it Envy? You said youâre worried about him hurting me, so heâs probably able to do this. But then... then why would you stay if he is? Unless he wasnât the one to hurt you? I... I donât.... Please, Chara, please explain this to me.â
