#hlau

[linkandorf]

Art Fight 2025 Attack #5!!!!!

Neeg and Hlau / Shaub and Iav, from MSM235

[thecharlester77]

A Taste of His Own Medicine - HL AU Short

It has been a very long while since I’ve posted a HL Short! In fact, the last one was the first! This short is slightly different from usual HL Shorts - it explores the emotional side of HL Scientist, though not induced naturally of course.

Enjoy!

A Taste Of His Own Medicine - HL Short

A small smirk spreads over his face as he scans his hand. The door slides open and he strides in. "Morning, kid!" His greeting is left unanswered. She's sat on her bed, under her blankets. "Ignoring me, huh?" he mutters, "I said good morning!" "No," a muffled retort comes from beneath the blankets, "You said morning!" He smirks as he approaches her bed. "Someone's grumpy!" he announces, abruptly pulling her blankets off the bed. "Get off!" she shrieks, "Go away!" "Howzabout you sit at the table?" "No!" He leers over her, his face growing suddenly dark. "I'd advise you not to test me, kid," he snaps. "...Fine." Reluctantly, she slides off her bed and ambles over to the table. After a moment's hesitation, she sits down.

"Thank you, sweetheart," he gives a sickening smile as he seats himself across from her, "I have something fun for us to do today!" "Fun for you or fun for me?" she mutters, crossing her arms. He laughs, amused by her familiar bitterness. "So cheerful," he chuckles, "Why don't we find out?" "You said that you wouldn't hurt me today!" she snaps, rising angrily out of her chair. She suddenly pulls up her T-shirt, revealing a myriad of awful cuts and bruises, "You said I needed time to heal!" He laughs again. "I'm not gonna hurt ya, kid. You're right; you need time to heal." Slowly, she sits back down, once again folding her arms. "So..." she begins hesitantly, "What are you going to do to me?" He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a syringe, filled with a glistening blue liquid. "NO!" once again, she jerks out of her chair, "I'M NOT LETTING YOU INJECT ME WITH THAT!" "Relax!" he orders, beginning to lose his patience, "It's not the hallucigens!" "I DON'T CARE! YOU'RE NOT STICKING THAT IN ME!" Rapidly, she bolts to the other end of the room. She hears him sigh angrily as he rises from his chair. "Listen, you little brat," he snarls, advancing towards her, "We can do this the easy way - I inject you with this and then leave you alone. OR, we can do this the hard way. I inject you with this, and then punish you. Which is it gonna be?" "GET AWAY FROM ME!" in a moment of fury, she seizes the syringe needle. "Hey! Gimme that!" "No!" He suddenly dives forward, reaching for the syringe. Taking the opportunity, she quickly plunges the syringe needle into his arm and presses down the plunger, injecting him with the blue substance. He lets out a yelp of surprise and pain alike, and pulls the syringe back out. "You BRAT!" he snarls, "You'll pay for that!" He turns and storms out of the room. She slides down to the floor with a breath of relief. He's gone...He's- Her short lived relief shatters as he suddenly strides back in, medical equipment bulging in his pocket, a First Aid kit in one hand, and a familiar smirk on his face. "Let's have some fun, shall we?" ......... "Ten!" A scream of pain echoes around the room, ricocheting off the walls. "And that's another one, kid!" The cool metal digs once again into her stomach, drawing a new red line. "STOP! STOP!" she continues to yell, "GET OFF ME!" "What's the magic word, sweetheart?" "GET OFF ME, YOU JERK!!" "...None of those were the magic word," he replies drily. She begins struggling against the rubber restraints, but to no avail. "You're just gonna give yourself more bruises, kiddo," he laughs, "You make this far too ea-" slowly, his voice trails off.

A metalic ping is heard as the scalpel falls from his hand.

She glances up at him, trying to conceal her relief. He's frozen, staring at his hands. "...What are you doing?" she dares ask, "I didn't-" she cuts herself off as she notices tears in his eyes. He never cries. Something is wrong. Something is very wrong. He instantaneously pulls off the restraints. Before she can move, she feels herself be pulled close in a tight embrace. "H-hey!" her angry protest is muffled by his labcoat, "Let go!" He hugs her tighter. He's trembling. "W-what...what's wrong?" she asks in a whisper. She wants to shove him away, but is paralysed by fear. What on earth is- "I-I'm sorry," he chokes out, his voice barely above a whisper, "I'm s-so sorry, I'm s-sorry!" A sob overtakes him, drowning out his apologies. She stays silent, confusion overwhelming her. He's...crying. And...apologising...Is he broken? "Y-you're...you're sorry?" she repeats slowly. He tries to reply but the lump in his throat prevents him. "What...what do you mean, you're sorry?!" she suddenly yells, shoving him away. Her confusion and fear are replaced by anger and indigence, "You were literally just cutting me open a second ago and now you're sorry?!"

He carefully kneels down in front of her and gently places his hands on her shoulders - she can still feel him shaking. There's an unfamiliar pain in his eyes, clouded only by tears. "I'm sorry," he whispers again. He reaches for the First Aid kit and takes out some bandages and anti-septic. Cautiously, he pulls out a chair for her and motions for her to sit down. "What are you doing to do to me?" she asks warily. "I j-just want to b-bandage your wounds," he answers softly, his voice cracking once again. Hesitantly she sits down. He holds out his hand for one of her arms, and she gives it to him. The small girl sits silently in her chair, observing as her abuser tenderly cleans and bandages her many cuts, bruises, scrapes and scars. This isn't right. He isn't like this! What is wrong with him?! As she ponders over his sudden change, she glances once again at his eyes. Usually, she'd avoid them, because they're full of malice and a savage, glimmering desire for triumph...Any form of former arrogance has been completely extinguished. All that she can see in his eyes now is...remorse.

A few moments later, he places the First Aid kit down on the table and stands up again. "H-how do you feel?" he asks, "A-are he bandages t-too tight?" "No..." she mutters, "I feel fine." "Good...good..." He begins absent-mindedly picking the hem of his labcoat pocket. She continues watching him, filled with apprehension. Her attention turns momentarily to the head of a syringe sticking out of his pocket...What was in that?

He slowly backs into the wall and slides to the floor, covering his face. This is overwhelming. He needs a moment. Just...just a moment. ...... This is disorienting.

Everything is hitting him at once, like a tidal wave crashing down on him. He's never felt...pain like this before. His gut is twisting in horrifically tight knots, turning and churning. The nausea is almost overpowering. Guilt? Is...Is this what guilt feels like? "The drug," he whispers, running his hand through his hair, "I-it's the drug..." The blue liquid in the syringe, which had been intended for the girl, had been filled with a drug he'd concocted himself. It was designed to evoke an extreme emotional response from the subject - well, now he knows it works...

He looks up from his hands to see the original subject staring at him, still seated in her chair. "W-what?" he mutters, attempting to wipe tears from his face, "Stop staring at me..." "Or what?" she rebuts, folding her arms. A moment's silence passes. Slowly, he stands back up. He watches her flinch - another ripple of guilt washes over him. Taking a deep breath, he continues walking over to her. She shrinks back a little in her chair as he walks over. Gritting her teeth, she forces herself to sit up straight again. She hates showing fear. She is NOT weak. "Um...k-kid?" "What?" she snaps. There's still that...strange sadness in his eyes. What is wrong with him?! He reaches over and picks up the First Aid kit. "I'm just going to take this upstairs...I'll be back in a moment." She sighs angrily. "I don't want you to come back! I hate you!!" "I...I know," he replies quietly, "I'll be right back."

She watches as he scans his hand and leaves. Once the door shuts, she jumps up and begins to pace, muttering angrily to herself. "He's not like this! This...This can't be real. It can't be...It can't be!" ....... A few moments later, he returns. He looks...tired. "Back so soon?" she mutters spitefully, pausing mid-pace. "...Are you okay?" he asks. "Why do you care?" He sighs and kneels down to her height. He doesn't want to frighten her...anymore than he has done. "I...I want to take you upstairs," he says softly. She stares back at him in silence. "W-would...would you like that?"

"You're lying," she says slowly, "You're lying!" "I'm not l-" "YOU'RE LYING." She jerks away from him, her firey temper ignited, "You just want to trick me! This is all a trick!! I'm not an idiot!" He looks back at her for a moment, still knelt on the floor. "I'm not lying," he repeats, "I...I understand why you would think it's a trick, but it's not. I swear." She walks over to her bed and plops down. "May I sit with you?" "No." "...Okay..." This isn't right. He can't really want to take her upstairs! Can he? "You usually don't ask," she suddenly says, looking up at him, "You'd just sit down." He remains silent. "And you never cry! O-or say you're sorry! You...You're acting weird!" "I know," he mutters, trying to conceal his embarrassment, "Look, do you want to go upstairs or not?" he suddenly snaps. "...Fine."

She reluctantly gets up, keeping a cautious distance from him. "Um...follow me," he tells her. She watches as he scans his hand and punches something into the keypad. "Quickly - it only stays open for a minute." Nervously, she follows him out of the door. She dithers just long enough to hear it slide shut behind her. Fighting the instinct to whirl back around, she begins following him up the stairs. "This way," he mutters. They've reached the hallway. She's made a couple of escape attempts before, but she's never made it past the hallway. Suddenly, she spots sight if what appears to be the door out...outside. He turns to her, about to say something else, when she suddenly bolts for the front door. Immediately, she shoves herself against it. It doesn't open. "You'll need my hand for that, kid," he sighs, striding over. "L-let me out!!" she demands, her face turning red with embarrassment, "I want to go outside!" "...Maybe later," he says, "I...I want to show you around first." "NO!! LET ME OUT NOW!" "No," he snaps. He takes a firm hold of her wrist, "I said this way!" She yanks her arm away, but reluctantly follows him. "This is the living room," he announces, leading her further on, "And this is the kitchen." He points to a large black box-shaped object, "That's the fridge. I'll show you how to get water from there later..." She follows him back out of the kitchen and along the corridor. He shows her his bedroom and his "office". "And...That's a room you're not allowed in," he says, his voice trailing off. He stares at the door, suddenly zoned out, it seems. "O-or what?" she dares retort. She once again notices tears in his eyes; he's not listening. "Hey! Cry baby!!"

He hurriedly wipes away his tears and turns to her. "Just...Just don't, okay?!" he snaps loudly. The girl flinches instinctively, but quickly regains her composure. "...This way...Let me show you to your room..." They walk a little further down the corridor, and he opens the door to a fairly large room with a bed, a couple of drawers and...A big sheet of glass? There are two large blue pieces of material hanging at each side of the glass. Intrigued, she goes over to the glass and presses her hand against it. "I...I can see outside," she whispers. "It's a window, kid," he informs her, "And...Yeah. You can...Ya like it?" he adds anxiously. She nods. "Erm...Thanks," she mutters, still staring out the window. "I...I'll come back later, but for now, just um...Stay in here, okay? Ya can even leave the door open if you want." "...Why do I have to stay in here?" she asks. "...Reasons." "Fine," she mutters, "I'll just stay by the...w-window?" "That's right...I'll be back later."

She watches as he leaves her in peace before returning her attention back outside. Everything's so...green out there. Except for what he told her was the "sky". That's blue. Like the blanket-type things on the window's sides. Curious, she turns around to the bed and inspects it. The blanket and pillow are both blue...Anxiously, she climbs on it and lays down. It's...comfy. And soft. Much softer than the bed in her other room. She likes this bed much better...It's more colourful too. She allows herself a small smile. Sticking that needle in him was the best thing she's ever done. "Ha," she whispers, "...I win." Her triumphant thoughts are interrupted by a weird noise coming from down the corridor. She knows she's supposed to stay in her room...but...It's not like he's going to do anything. He's completely broken.

Quietly, she creeps off her bed and tip-toes along the corridor. The noise is louder now - it sounds almost like howling... She follows the noise and traces it to what she believes is his bedroom. The door's slightly open. Deciding to be a tad more daring, she taps it open with her foot and then hides behind the wall. She spies into the room...He's in there, with his head on the desk. He's...crying. Loudly. Sobbing would be a better word.. .She cringes a little and begins to back away. She doesn't want to watch...that. Hurriedly, she races back to her new room and shuts the door as quietly as she can. "Ew," she mutters, flopping back on the bed.

It's so comfy...And she's starting to get tired...So...tired... ...... "GET UP, YOU BRAT!"

She's suddenly yanked up by her wrist, startled awake. Where is she?! What's going on?! It's him. He's got her. "Get off me!!" she screeches, "Y-you're hurting me!" "GOOD!" he roars, starting to drag her off the bed. She realises that she's being dragged out of her new room...and back towards the stairs. Desperate to escape, she fights harder. "LET GO!" she yells. She's kicking and writhing but it's no use. He's too strong. "Where are you taking me?!" "Back where you belong!!" he snaps, pulling her roughly down the stairs, "You little brat! Injecting me with that crap and doing THAT to me! You'll pay!!" "YOU DID IT TO YOURSELF!" she yells, "YOU MADE THE THING!" He slams his hand on the scanner and hurls her to the ground - back in the basement room. She lets out a cry of pain before scrambling to her feet. She races towards the door  and watches it slide shut.

"Oh no," she whispers. She whirls around to face him. "You're gonna pay for what you did to me," he snarls quietly. "SHUT U-" he cuts her off with a sharp slap to the face. Everything's suddenly dancing. There's a ringing in her ears.

"Sit. At. The table."