#konbern

[fractalflowersao3]

Wip: The Bargain

Chrono | Non-chrono | Read on AO3

And then he’s alone again. Actually alone. He hasn’t been by himself since… since… when was the ritual? He doesn’t remember. Those months had blurred together, lonely days of hiding away in bed only broken up by the nights of celebration with the other Children of Dionysus. He remembered being so happy, drunk and high on pain and whatever it was that was added to the wine, dancing with people whose faces and names he could never remember. He’d joined the choir of chanting voices and felt like he was really part of something. It was wonderful. The pain had been wonderful too, grounding and real in a way nothing else was. 

Had he known he was going to be the vessel? Had someone told him? He thinks he remembers preparation, baths and oils and fasting, but how much of that was him and how much was the memories of other vessels long past? He really didn’t know. He knows Robin tried to rescue him. He knows it was too late. 

[fractalflowersao3]

Wip: The Bargain

Chrono | Non-chrono | Read on AO3

The aches of his body take on a different meaning now. The overstretched pangs of his hips, the deep, aching pain that sings through his spine, the mottled bruises he can see on his hips and arms and everywhere.

Bile rises in his throat and he surges out of bed to the bathroom. He only makes it one step before pain shoots violently up his shin and sends him to the floor, vomit spilling across the carpet. He heaves, stomach rejecting its contents, a disgustingly pungent mix of wine and half-digested fruit. Dionysus must have been on a binge again, because it keeps on coming, even as Superboy rubs his back soothingly. Tears sting in his eyes and his nose starts to run, because of course he just has to be as gross as humanly possible. 

“I’m sorry,” he chokes out and Superboy vanishes, returning less than a second later with a glass of water and box of tissues. Bernard doesn’t take it, too focused on trying to stop another round of vomit from painting the carpet. He’s definitely never getting his deposit back, he thinks despairing, and the stupidity of the thought makes him laugh, a perfect opportunity for the next round of heaving to occur. He doesn’t succeed in stopping himself, but at least his stomach is beginning to feel less awful. 

“Can I pick you up?” Superboy asks, and Bernard shakes his head, finally taking the offered tissues. He doesn’t want to be touched, he’s disgusting. He especially doesn’t want to be touched by the person whom he essentially sacrificed to Dionysus on his behalf. He can’t believe Tim actually called him in. He can’t believe Superboy actually did it. He’d never really expected to be free again.

“Please?” Superboy asks, voice pleading. “I really want to help you.”

He can’t bring himself to say no to that voice. Bernard nods and warm arms wrap around him, lifting him with such care that Bernard almost begins to cry again. The hard muscles of Superboy’s arms press into his bruises but it’s nothing compared to the pain of being whipped, so it barely registers. 

[fractalflowersao3]

Wip: The Bargain

Chrono | Non-chrono | Read on AO3

Bernard wakes up, and the world is quiet. For the first time in gods-know-how-long, there is no sound of distant pipes and singing. His body aches, throbbing like he’s been beaten and an attempt to roll over leaves him gritting his teeth against a yell. Fuck, he thinks wearily. What has Dionysus done to him now? He pries his eyelids open with sheer determination, squinting them closed again when the sunlight streaming past the curtains makes his head throb.

Wait. Sunlight?!

His eyes fly open and Bernard shoots upright, staring at his surroundings with disbelief. His body screams with pain but he can barely pay any attention to that. He’s not in his cell. His mind is quiet and he’s not in his cell. His gaze trails across the familiar shapes of his wardrobe, the dull grey of his carpet, and the hideous landlord-beige walls, and nearly weeps. He’s home. How is he home?

A soft knock at the door makes him jump, yanking the sheets up to his chin. Who on earth—

“Bernard? Are you okay?”

Superboy. Oh gods. Bernard buries his face in his hands and resists the urge to scream. Superboy. He’d- he’d come to the prison, right? They’d talked, and Bernard had cried on him, and then Dionysus had made his demands, and now he was home so he must have… they must have…

Oh Gods.

[fractalflowersao3]

Wip: The Bargain

Chrono | Non-chrono | Read on AO3

Kon can’t pull away, and his heart pounds with frantic fear. “Do you swear to cause no harm to anyone while you’re in control? Including Bernard.” Rao, Bernard is going to hate him for this. He already hates himself for it. 

“I promise to cause no harm to anyone but you, beautiful one,” says the god, trailing a taloned hand down the skin of Kon’s neck and carving stinging lines through his skin. “I do enjoy a bite.”

It hurts, slicing through his suit and skin like they’re made of paper. He grips Dionysus’ wrist with both hands to steady himself. 

“Nothing that will last,” he gasps. “No permanent injuries.” The god’s lip twists in consternation, but he nods. 

“Very well. I truly don’t care to damage you, that would ruin the fun. Now. Do we have a deal?”

Kon nods, eyes clenching shut against the blinding light of the fire that burns around them, a grand bonfire filling the space where there had once been an apartment, tree roots twining around his ankles as he sways. 

“Yes. We have a deal.”

As boiling lips sear against his, splitting and spilling Bernard’s blood down his chin, Kon knows he’s going to hell for this.

[fractalflowersao3]

Wip: The Bargain

Chrono | Non-chrono | Read on AO3

“Of course! He is clever for a mortal but his mind is as open to me as yours. So, do we have a deal?”

He doesn’t want to. This will hurt Bernard more than being kept prisoner did, maybe more than being possessed. 

“You can’t just offer up a person like that, he’s not a thing,” Kon insists, scrabbling for an alternative. Dionysus shakes his head, and Kon belatedly realises that he can’t even recognise Bernard any more. Jaguar spots ripple down his arms, etched in dark ink. The white robe is dyed wine red, silver ivy blooming at its hem. A hand grasps his chin, pulling him down, and it’s stronger than Kon can resist. 

“Oh I can, little mortal,” Dionysus whispers, violet eyes burning into Kon’s own. “I can. He chose this, even if he changed his mind. He sang for me, screamed for me, danced for me and died for me. He is mine, in every way. If you do not take him, I will keep him, and Bernard will never see the light of day again.”

[fractalflowersao3]

Wip: The Bargain

Chrono | Non-chrono | Read on AO3

Fucking bastard. Kon knew there had to be more to it than ‘pleasure’. He needs to find a way to get them both out of this and get rid of the sadistic asshole before the situation gets worse. 

“What do I get in exchange?” he demands, and Dionysus laughs again. Kon grits his teeth against the cackling echo of the choir and digs his TTK even deeper into the concrete foundation. He may actually have cracked it, but he’s too intent on staying present that he can’t tell. 

“Why Bernard, of course!” Dionysus beams, purple bleeding from his eyes to reveal a soft, human, brown. The illusion lasts only a moment before the unnatural amethyst shade returns. “I am so much more than can be contained by one mortal body, but there must be payment for the arrogance of trying to bind me to this plane of existence. You will give me the pleasure of your flesh each night the moon is dark, and in return, I will allow my mortal use of his body to pleasure you in the times between.”

Kon recoils. Every part of him rejects the suggestion. He wants Bernard to be free, not trapped with him instead. “You’re offering him up as a sex slave?!”

Dionysus tosses his head, short blond hair stretching to become long, golden ringlets that cascade down over his shoulders. He inspects one idly, freeing Kon from the pressure of his gaze. 

“Oh, as a slave surely. But I am sure you can find less carnal ways to gain pleasure from him should you wish to,” the god looks to him again, peeking coyly through long, dark lashes. “He will be himself, and he will be yours, and once each cycle of the moon, you will sate my thirst for mortal touch. What say you?”

“It’s a new moon tonight,” Kon says, realisation dawning. “Robin called me here, but it was your idea, wasn’t it?”

“Of course! He is clever for a mortal but his mind is as open to me as yours. So, do we have a deal?”

[fractalflowersao3]

Wip: The Bargain

Chrono | Non-chrono | Read on AO3

The god smiles, and he looks nothing like Bernard. Kon pulls away and nearly falls, legs threatening to give way. Dionysus nods approvingly, purple eyes sparkling with delight. 

“You’re very strong willed,” he praises, “So, child of the stars, will you give me what I want?”

Something doesn’t feel right. He’s pretty sure Bernard was telling him the truth, as far as he knew, but he doesn’t believe the motives he was told. If the being possessing him really is a god, it could have anyone, anywhere. There has to be a reason it picked him. He remembers what Robin said on the way to the cell and understanding blooms. The god’s smile widens, a cruel edge forming that confirms the dawning horror in Kon’s mind.

“It’s not about sex at all, is it?” he asks, keeping his TTK anchored through every fiber of the false apartment. “You want to humiliate him.”

Dionysus laughs and Kon’s ears throb, crackling as the cacophony overwhelms him. Dolphins call and bulls bellow and beneath it all is Bernard’s voice, played by someone who doesn’t know how to use it. 

“Oh, I could do that in so many more interesting ways if it was all I wanted,” Dionysus tells him cheerfully, laughter still echoing in Kon’s ears. “I want you, because he wants you. I will have what he cannot, and I will do it with his body and his voice. Already I have taken his first love from him, forced him to imprison us and shatter the trust between them. Now I will have you, the one he watched and admired from afar.”

Fucking bastard. Kon knew there had to be more to it than ‘pleasure’. He needs to find a way to get them both out of this and get rid of the sadistic asshole before the situation gets worse. 

[fractalflowersao3]

Wip: The Bargain

Chrono | Non-chrono | Read on AO3

The change is instantaneous and unmistakable. One moment Kon is embracing Bernard, the next the body in his arms is a being of summer heat, the smell of ripe berries and wine overpowering his senses. He shuts his eyes, trying to ground himself, but it only makes the feelings worse. He wants to touch, to pull away the draping fabric from Bernard’s chest and bend to kiss the flesh there, to tease the perky pink nipple with his teeth. He wants to kneel before him, to open his mouth and give tribute with submission, to let the sun bloom behind his eyes as he tastes the true nectar of the gods–

No. No! Nonononono. Kon spears his TTK into the concrete below and sends it sprawling free, mapping every inch of the complex. He can feel Robin waiting outside, head buried in his hands as if grieving. He can feel every cell in Bernard’s body, every strand of hair as it brushes against the cold, filtered air. 

It’s just an illusion, he tells himself desperately. Just an illusion.

“Not at all,” taunts the god, plucking the thought from his mind as easily as if he’d said it aloud. “I can make all of it real if you wish. Is that what you want? To drown in ecstasy with me?”

Kon focuses on every true sensation he can reach. He feels the generators powering the building hum, hears the traffic rolling by miles away, tastes the blood in his mouth from biting his tongue - when had he done that? He can’t remember - feels the familiar weight of his jacket on his shoulders and the tightness of the belt around his waist. He breathes in. He breathes out. He opens his eyes again.