It had been seven years since the revolution. A tumultuous era that many people wanted to leave behind, in the past, where it belonged.
But trauma isn't so kind.
And trauma was especially brutal towards those who were forced to commit the kind of atrocities that went against everything they believed in.
Luke was frequently plagued by nightmares. He had been for quite some time. But they had never been this...problematic before. He could cope with most of them. Visions of the lives he took and the blood he shed? Peanuts. Hearing the words that triggered lingering hypnotic suggestions that they couldn't remove?
Yeah...those were a problem.
Luke was never quite aware when it happened. Not until someone uttered the de-activation phrase and told him what had happened.
His usual victim was his partner, Charlie, who fortunately knew exactly what to do when he woke up in the middle of the night from an attempt on his life. It happened often enough that he'd learned how to wrestle himself free and not die...but not often enough that he had the exact phrase memorised.
Which is why they had it written down, and framed, and displayed on the mantle, in the lounge, downstairs.
It seemed like a good idea at the time to have it so in view, but when Charlie woke up with Luke's hands wrapped tightly around his throat, he made a mental note to consider making multiple copies and hanging them all around the cabin they lived in, before reaching for the can of pepper spray tucked under the mattress on his side of the bed.
Pffff....
Of course it was empty. Luke had only reminded him a million times to replace it after last time. That was going to be an annoying 'I told you so.' — But now was not the time to worry about that.
He grabbed a tight hold of the can, before swinging a punch directly at Luke's face. Finally the muscle he'd built up chopping wood was good for something. Luke staggered back from the impact, letting go of Charlie's throat, allowing him to gasp and cough violently, while rolling out of bed, as he wouldn't have too much time to recover.
Sure enough Luke was back, now trying to grab him from behind. Charlie turned around, backing up until they hit the wall, and then deliberately slamming him harshly against it. And again. And a third time.
As soon as Luke's grip loosened, Charlie pulled himself free and darted towards the stairs. A narrow, steep staircase with too many turns as it was just kind of crammed into the corner of the cabin like an afterthought.
After all, the cabin really just consisted of two spaces; downstairs, with the lounge and kitchen and dining, and the loft where they slept, with a bathroom in the back.
Thanks to that open concept, that looked beautiful and cosy on rainy days with all the soft accent lights on and the fireplace burning, Luke was able to cut Charlie off by simply jumping the railing and landing on the dining table.
Charlie cursed. He could see the frame that had the de-activation phrase, but it was too dark to read it from that distance. They were definitely getting those motion-sensor lights now, no matter what Luke thought about them.
Charlie decided to chance it, darting towards the lounge, while Luke chased him down. He all but slammed against the mantle, grabbing at the frame, when Luke caught up already. He grabbed Charlie from behind again, this time pressing his hand over his mouth, as if wanting to prevent him from reading out the phrase.
"I-it's— Fmmm!!"
Charlie tried to shake his head out of his grip, but Luke stubbornly held on, trying to wrestle Charlie to the floor. Before he managed, however, Charlie took the frame he was feverishly holding and blindly whacked it over his head.
Luke flinched briefly, allowing Charlie to pull out of his grip again, pressing the frame against his chest as he grabbed the cast-iron poker that stood next to the fire place, swinging it as he spun around and smacking it against Luke's arm.
That looked painful.
Charlie swung it again, and Luke had no choice but to back away, trying to find an opening as Charlie wildly swung the poker, glancing back down at the framed text now that he had a chance.
"It is the dead unhappy— Fuck!"
He gasped as Luke managed to grab the poker and yanked it from his hands. Charlie quickly backed away, throwing the frame at Luke to try and create enough distance.
The frame was smashed to bits as Luke hit it mid-air with the poker, but it did the trick nonetheless as Charlie darted towards the kitchen while feverishly reciting the phrase.
"It is the dead unhappy night, and I must hurry home to tea! It is the dead unhappy night, and I must hurry home to tea! It is the dead unhappy night, and I must hurry home to tea!"
He wasn't sure why he repeated it thrice, when one should be enough, but in his defence: There seemed to be some kind of delay, as Luke still lunged at him with the fire poker, only to stop just before hitting Charlie.
He'd already flinched and braced for impact and everything, but all he felt was a slight gust of wind, and the poker frozen right next to his face, while Luke gave him a wide-eyed stare, before promptly dropping the poker.
Charlie couldn't help but to let out a sob of relieve, slowly sinking to the floor as the tension left his body, while Luke stumbled backwards and dropped himself into one of the kitchen chairs, covering his mouth with his hands as he caught his breath...or tried not to hyperventilate. It was hard to tell in the dark and through the tears.
When they both recovered somewhat, Luke wordlessly got up to turn the lights on, while Charlie grabbed some ice from the freezer, handing it over to Luke as they both sat down on the couch in the lounge.
Luke groaned as he pressed the ice against his face, while Charlie pulled a pillow from behind his back so he could hug it instead, staring at the broken frame on the floor.
They sat in silence for a while, before both trying to break it.
"I'm s—"
"Sorry—"
They both promptly stopped talking when they realised the other was talking as well, resulting in another awkward silence.
"Are you cold?" Luke asked after a good moment.
Charlie nodded, to which Luke got up, limping towards the fireplace to get a fire started. While he did that, Charlie grabbed the dustpan from the kitchen and began sweeping up the pieces of frame.
"Maybe we should paint it on the ceiling in glow-in-the-dark paint," he quietly suggested while fishing the printed phrase from between the shards and wood chips.
"...sorry," Luke just replied, squatting by the still-small fire and absent-mindedly poking the logs.
"It's not your fault," Charlie quickly said, putting the dustpan on the salon table and approaching Luke...but he pulled away when Charlie reached out to comfort him.
"Luke...it's not your fault," Charlie repeated, "you didn't ask to be turned into this. Neither did I, and you never blame me either...do you?"
"...no," Luke murmured, before shifting his position to sit down in front of the fire, leaning his head against Charlie's leg.
Charlie let him be for a minute, before sitting down next to him, letting him fall over and rest his head in his lap, staring at the flames as they began licking around the larger logs, allowing both of them to get warmed up nicely.
"Do you want to talk about the nightmare that triggered it?" Charlie asked, gently tousling Luke's hair.
"...same old shit," Luke just said, "someone saying the words and...next thing I know I'm trying to stab you with the fire poker."
"Well, this should cheer you up," Charlie said, "I never checked the pepper spray, and it turned out to be empty after all—"
"Oh my god, Charles!" Luke said, sitting up again, "I told you so many times! I don't want to hurt you, so you need to be ready to kick my ass!!"
"I think I improvised pretty well, though," Charlie said, brushing past the bruise that was beginning to form on the side of Luke's face, "we should come up with a cover story for that, because that's not going away any time soon."
"You're right, 'I fell while hunting' sounds a lot more believable than 'Charlie decked me.'"
"Are you implying that I can't throw a punch?" Charlie asked with a pout.
"I'm implying that you're too nice to even want to throw a punch," Luke quickly improvised.
"Oh! Aw~"
@ailesswhumptober
Charlie belongs to @illustriousshadow
The de-activation phrase comes the poem Echoes by Lewis Carroll
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So both Luke and Charlie were used as sleeper agents against their will and without their knowledge until it was too late and they bonded over that and now they live a hermit life in a cabin in the middle of the woods.
Lucas had his one year wellness appointment yesterday. He has grown so nicely, weighing 18.6 pounds and is 27.59 inches long. Much bigger than my 5.3 pound 18.5 preemie. He is 3% on the normal 12 month chart, awesome! He is doing well for his 10 month adjusted age, scoring along the questionnaire.
He still won’t eat really. He is 100% wanting to, but just something prevents him. Doctor was weighing in on if she thought it was behavioral or developmental...(our kids’ pediatrician retired at the end of 2017 apparently so we saw a new one).. Anyway, she mentioned how there are therapists for developmental issues however, if it is behavioral, we will have a harder time and probably will have to go to UM for help. I feel like it is not behavioral..but i wish it was nothing? Anyway, he has a swallow test referral. Unfortunately it isn’t until March 22nd. Fucking forever away when you can’t get your sweet babe to eat. He nurses very frequently during the night, I know he is hungry. She associated it as conditioned, but whatever, he legit nurses, not just using me as a binkie. We will just keep doing our thing until he is able to eat. I just worry because I know food isn’t a big deal before one, but now he is one. I just dont want him to be less developed because we didn’t get him help soon enough, you know?
He has a super speed crawl. Says dad and mom variations and says hi. He walks along furniture fast and stands for long periods of time without holding on. He really spends most of his time awake standing or sitting. He takes one step and claps, then sits down. Like I did it, go me! I would rather crawl though. :p He has the cutest baby curls and the best smiles and snuggles. He is perfect. <3
guys, peter klaven literally is searching for male friends and, when he finds one, they share a passion for rock. guys, his marriage is almost ruined because of this friendship. i don’t want to be this person, but if your marriage is almost ruined because the groom found a male friend...
what i mean is: bisexual reggie confirmed. not only this, but dare i say ruke/lukie confirmed, endgame, slow burn with a happy ending, thank you.
