Whumptober Day 06: "No grave can hold my body down."
Pinned chained to the wall + Medical restraints (in a sense)
3100 Words; Tampered Destinies AU, vaguely pilots era-ish
TW for referenced past kidnapping, referenced past abuse, implied past removal of an eye, referenced past death, referenced past poisoning
AO3 ver
“Hold still, please.”
Kai settles back against the couch as Zane takes his wrist. A brief eternity passes, Zane staring intently at Kai’s wrist—
“Hmm.” Zane frowns. It’s a little strange to look at, with half his face being metal. “It’s slowing down.”
“Uh.” That’s bad, isn’t it? Kai’s heartbeat shouldn’t be slowing down. Right? It’s hard to tell what Zane means, half the time—and not just because half his face is metal and his tone is often flat. He just has a way of speaking that—to Kai, at least—comes off as ambiguous.
Or maybe Kai’s just stupid.
“The vengestone is definitely having an adverse effect on you.” Zane diagnoses. “You won’t drop dead anytime soon, but we need to find a better solution.” His piece said, he lets go of Kai’s wrist, smoothly standing. “I will go tell Jay. Do you need anything?”
Kai shifts. The couch isn’t uncomfortable, and he can feel desert heat suffusing the space, yet he still feels… not quite cold, but certainly not warm. Not warm enough, anyhow.
Still. It’s better than the alternative—
(“There!” Jay had declared, as the vengestone collar fell away in two pieces. “No need to thank me, but if you really wanna, I’ll totally take your undying loyalty. Since we’re supposed to be destiny buddies, or whatever—”
Kai had opened his mouth to tell Jay to shut up—only to cough out a puff of smoke. Right in Jay’s face. In the moment it had been pretty funny—or at least, the ghost had laughed loudly enough at Jay’s put-out look that Kai had grinned a little.
Heat had returned to his chest, fine at first but only growing more intense. In the moment, Kai had thought it would all be fine—
He couldn’t breathe past the fire scorching the sand around him barely two hours later.)
“Any sign of Nya?” Kai asks instead. He’ll just grab one of the blankets and wrap himself up in it. The Walkers have lots of blankets, for the cold desert nights. As for his sister…
They had checked Four Weapons, after getting Kai out of that shed, but the shop had been abandoned. Empty. Kai figures Nya left to search for opportunity elsewhere—or, just as likely, to try and search for him. He hopes they don’t end up circling each other endlessly. Jay insists that Zane’s dreams will tell them where to look, but Kai’s still dubious.
“I have not seen anyone of her description in my visions.” Zane says, opening the door. He turns to look at Kai, half of his face softening in pity. Kai hates pity. “I’m sorry. I will keep looking.”
Zane’s… Kai’s not sure how to describe it. He’s not sure he wants to know why patches of Zane’s skin are missing, or why there’s metal underneath. Everyone else here insists it’s normal, but…
“Does it bother you? Not having all your skin?”
Zane looks away. There’s a long pause, then, “Does it bother you to look at it?”
Kai's not sure how to respond to that. “Hey, I asked first.” Another long pause, then—
“I didn’t even know that I wasn’t human until—until that man took me apart.” Zane says. “How he figured it out… I will never know.” He’s staring at his hands, at the gleaming metal fingers and joints. “I wish I could forget.” His hands curl and uncurl, and he wrenches his gaze away to look at Kai, half his face smiling brightly. “Ah, don’t worry about it, friend. The Mechanic is long dead.”
Kai grimaces. “I’m sorry. That sucks.” He’s… not sure what else to say.
“Like I said, you do not need to worry about it.” Zane says, with cheer that Kai’s pretty sure is forced. “And you didn’t answer my question.”
“Oh. Uh…” Kai winces. “Kinda. It looks painful.”
Zane looks away. “I’ve… gotten used to it.”
“Okay.” Kai says, already reaching for a blanket.
Zane notices the motion. “I will ask Edna to get that heater fixed.” Kai’s mouth opens, ready to insist that no, he doesn’t need Zane to do that—
The door closes, leaving Kai alone in the RV.
+=+=+=+=+
Look at him… he’s going to mess it up.
Heh, I hope they’re recording. Marnie’ll wanna see it.
Serves him right for being a prick—
Cole’s scythe cleaves the metal before in twain with a single stroke. He steps back, a little like a dance, and swings again from another angle. Another perfect cut.
“You better not be destroying good metal, Twinkletoes.” Jay snarks. He’s a good few meters away from Cole, messing around with the wires in… Cole’s not even sure. Probably another bomb to sell. Or some stupid invention that’ll take out his remaining eye. Not like it matters.
“Or what?” Cole challenges, pointing his scythe at Jay. He could cleave that annoying head from his shoulders so easily—
(“If you want to get ahead, you have to be focused.” Mr. Ditlinger’s voice was as stiff as his humor, his hand on Cole’s back firm and impersonal. “And if that’s not enough,” a bottle of wine placed in Cole’s hands, a nudge towards the rack of leotards slated for tomorrow’s show, “Then you improvise.”
Cole stumbled forwards, glancing back once before setting his shoulders. It was just—it wasn’t like he was hurting anyone. And he had to get ahead, right? Had to make his mom proud, she only had so much time left, and he couldn’t do that if Rachel’s troupe was constantly outshining him—)
With a grunt, Cole lets the scythe go, and it disappears. He’s not bothered by this—his scythe is as spectral as he is, always there for him to call upon.
“Or what?” Jay repeats mockingly. He scoffs. “You’re not nearly as scary as you think you are, you know. Or I guess you don’t, since you keep acting like it—”
Cole rolls his eyes as Jay continues. It’s all talk, and they both know it. Well, Cole’s pretty sure Jay knows it. It’d be hard not to, when Jay wailed like a banshee after getting up and seeing Cole floating in front of the fridge last night. Cole wasn’t even doing anything, just staring at an appliance that would never be useful to him again—
Cole wrenches his train of thought away from that track. No use dwelling on what he can’t have anymore. Only makes the eyes come back, and nothing creeps him out more.
Jay’s still blabbering, so Cole slowly drifts away. Just to be annoying, he flicks his wrist, whipping the chain at Jay’s back. It barely does more than sting, but Jay still yelps and glares at him anyway. At least it shut him up—for now. Cole’s pretty sure Jay just likes hearing the sound of his own voice. Which, fair, Cole understands how creepy silence gets. But Jay’s really kind of… annoying.
At least he’s still working on that “body” for Cole. If he hasn’t blown it up again. Or gotten distracted.
“Oh, there ya are!” Cole stops in his tracks at Ed’s cheery greeting. “Say, think you could use that handy-dandy blade of yours to help me cut this sheet to size?”
Cole blinks. “Okay.” His scythe appears in his hands with barely a thought, glowing green blade ready. Hungry, even. But that’s silly, because ghosts can’t get hungry. “How do you want it cut…?” Ed’s nice. Edna, too. Cole would wonder how Jay ended up with all those sticks up his ass, but—well. He didn’t lose that eye to an invention gone wrong, and the Walkers make weapons for a reason. Ed & Edna are sweet to Cole and the others because they can afford to be. Because they only ever turn their violence outwards, towards their enemies. Cole can get that.
(It kept escalating. It kept escalating, though it was only way later that Cole realized that Mr. Ditlinger was “advising” Rachel, too. And they weren’t the only ones—MOSPA took the performance arts seriously. Only the best of the best could get ahead. Everyone else simply fell to the wayside. Being cutthroat was the only option.
Everybody paid close attention to their food, but Rachel’s focus had slipped, and it wasn’t like the emetic would kill her. She should have paid more attention to her food. And Cole just needed her and her schemes out of the way for a few days, he was so close to doing the Triple Tiger Sashay—
It had probably been Alina who snitched on him, all things considered. Rachel’s retribution wouldn’t have been as swift if she hadn’t; Cole wasn’t the only one who could have poisoned her.)
“Just along this line here,” Ed indicates, and Cole draws his scythe along the line as neatly as he can. The metal parts without resistance.
“Ha, that thing sure is handy!” Ed chuckles, pointing out the next line. “I wonder if there’s anything it can’t cut?”
Cole shrugs. “If there is, I haven’t found it.” He wonders if every ghost gets a weapon like this. He hopes not. He’s a dancer, not a fighter.
Slowly, Cole finds himself relaxing to the sound of Ed rambling about his current project. He doesn’t understand a good chunk of what the man’s talking about—he understands more than he did when he first got here, at least. And Ed’s voice drowns out the whispers real well.
It’s nice. At least, as nice as it can get for a ghost.
+=+=+=+=+
“Eat up!” Edna croons, not quite shoving the tray into Kai’s hands, but not letting him refuse it, either. A bowl of steaming beef soup greets Kai, warm in his lap even through the tray and the blanket. “Nothing warms the soul like a good bowl of soup!” Edna cheers, as Kai grabs the spoon.
“Thanks.” Kai doesn’t want to be in further debt to these people; they’ve already rescued him from that shed—
(“I didn’t want to do this.” Krux had said, the first time he visited Kai after kidnapping him. “But I need you alive for things to work.” He had gotten angry when Kai knocked the offered water back in his face—but it was his own fault for unchaining Kai’s hand enough to reach. His fault for kidnapping Kai, when he had the shop and his sister to worry about and didn’t have time for this—
Kai’s vision was already a bit bad in his scuffed eye before. But at least he still had some vision.
He had to get out of here. He had to get out of this shed and away from this madman—)
—and given him food and water and space to rest. The longer Kai stays, the more he owes them, and he doesn’t have anything to pay them back with—and he’s always been a terrible negotiator. They don’t need a self-taught blacksmith, they don’t need the extra mouth if Kai can’t even pull his own weight—
The vengestone is cold around his neck. The soup is warm in his mouth, down his throat to his stomach. He can’t afford to keep racking up debt like this, but he practically inhales the whole thing just to get that bit of extra warmth.
Edna only smiles, and offers him seconds. Says he’s too thin as she refills his bowl over his half-hearted protests. “Any friend of our lil Jaybird is always welcome, dear!” She reassures him, “It’s no trouble at all!”
…Kai’s in too deep to get out. He wishes he had never gotten sick in the first place. He wishes he didn’t have this fire inside him trying to eat him alive.
(He’d been so sure that it was fine, that he’d be able to tough his way through it. Just take a day away from the heat of the forge, send Nya to see if the apothecary had any medicine they could spare for cheap. Nya came back empty-handed on medicine, but there had been extra vegetables and a whole loaf of bread spared for Kai’s plight. That should have been enough—it had always been enough in the past.
But it had only gotten worse, smoke scratching up his throat and heat shredding his chest. It had only gotten worse, and then—
And then Krux, and the shed, and the vengestone that had sapped all the heat away no matter how hard Kai thrashed and raged—)
Kai gets up once he’s done, taking the tray to the sink despite Edna’s polite insistence. He needs to—to do something, he can’t just laze around like this. “It’s fine. Just—let me—” He uses a bit too much water before remembering, oh, yeah, desert, and he fumbles to try and wash the bowl without using anymore water than he’s already wasted. “Sorry.” He mutters. “I just—I can’t just sit around and do nothing—”
“Oh, don’t worry about it.” Edna waves him off. “Such a polite young man!” She pats his shoulder, “Just don’t strain yourself, okay dear?” And with that, she leaves, having business to attend to elsewhere.
Kai sighs. He makes his way back to the couch. Is he allowed to leave the RV? Or will he be brought right back to it? Did he trade one prison for another?
He misses Ignacia. He misses the shop. He misses Nya more than anything. Does he even want her to be found by these people? He doesn’t know. He’s tired, and there’s a chill creeping down his back, and everything feels heavy. He wants to get up and run. He wants to curl up under a pile of blankets and never leave. He wants to stand by the forge, making crooked swords he can sell to tourists as “art” and soak in its heat.
Kai’s used to wanting things he can’t have.
+=+=+=+=+
Kai wakes up with his face pressed into his arm, a line of drool down his chin. When did he even fall asleep? He doesn’t remember. His cycle or whatever has been all out of whack since—
(“I will only tell you this once.” Krux had snarled, holding Kai by his hair. “Behave, or suffer the consequences.” He had tugged sharply, to underscore his point, and then let go, stepping back.
“I will find a cure for your elemental sickness.” He had promised, as though Kai could possibly trust that. “Just… stop making this harder than it has to be, Kai.”)
—since he first started wearing vengestone.
How long has he been asleep? Hours, if the moonlight creeping in through the windows is any indication. Ed and Edna’s soft snores fill the RV, along with the hum of the heater. Huh, looks like it’s been fixed. Kai scoots a little closer, trying to drink in that lovely warmth that keeps fading from his bones. It’s nice. Maybe even nice enough for him to fall back asleep.
A green glow starts to fill the RV. Kai spots the chains first, then a pair of manacled hands phasing in through the wall. Ugh, so much for sleeping.
Cole’s face is next, peering around before noticing Kai. “Oh.” He says, like he’s not the world’s creepiest nightlight.
“‘Oh’ yourself.” Kai mutters, snuggling further under the blankets.
“Can’t sleep?” Cole’s eyebrow raises, but his eyes remain void of any emotion. He floats all the way through the wall, chains dragging behind him.
Kai… if Jay’s kind of creepy and Zane’s kind of sad, then Cole is… not quite dangerous, but his presence still raises goosebumps on Kai’s arms. He’s strong, Kai knows—
(Krux had crumpled to the floor with one blow to the head, glowing green ghost hovering over his body.
“Oh.” The glowing green ghost had said, blinking down at the body like he wasn’t sure how it got there. “I… didn’t mean to do that.”
Kai had pressed himself back against the wall, unsure what he could even do while chained to it. Unable to even move, until the ghost stepped aside and a boy with half his face missing came in and started asking if he was alright—)
But he also keeps to himself. And he’s dead, which probably sucks.
“I’d be able to sleep if you weren’t glowing all over the place.” Kai grumbles, turning over.
Cole snorts. “Rude.” A moment passes, then the glow dims. “This better?”
Huh. “Yeah.” Kai whispers. “Didn’t know you could do that.”
“Didn’t know either ‘til just now.” Cole admits. Kai’s tempted to roll back over and continue the conversation, but he doesn’t want to have to fuss with keeping the blankets in place again. So he stays as he is, content to let sleep take him.
…if it wants to take him. Which it apparently doesn’t.
“So…. chained to a wall, huh?” Cole asks, drifting closer.
Kai blinks. “What’s that got to do with anything?”
Cole floats over to the back of the couch, phasing halfway through the RV wall to fit. “Nothing, just…” He shrugs. Shakes his arm, rattling the chain holding onto it. Oh. “Course, you made it out.” He shrugs.
“Thanks to you?” Kai raises an eyebrow.
“Zane’s the one who found you.” Cole points out. “All I did was hit a guy.”
Kai squints. “You hit him so hard he dropped dead.”
Cole crosses his arms sulkily. “Wasn’t trying to.”
Kai decides he doesn’t really care. “Well, whatever.” So what does it matter if Krux is dead? World’s probably better off, anyway. Kai’s certainly better off.
“That’s it? ‘Whatever’?” Cole leans in, his hand phasing through the back of the couch and brushing up against Kai without either of them realizing—
(Handcuff chain rattling against the pipe, throat raw from yelling, but nobody was coming nobody was going to find him and there was nothing down here that he could reach let alone use, just an empty basement in an abandoned building that he was going to starve to death in if the dehydration didn’t get him first—)
Kai flinches back; Cole shudders in place like he just swallowed something unpleasant. Kai can still feel the visceral desperation, can feel metal biting into his wrists and a throat raw from yelling—
Cole drifts back out of the RV, soft green glow going with him. Kai trembles. What was that? Was that—
Oh. Oh. That’s. Hm.
Kai rolls over, squirming to get the blankets back in place around him. After several moments of not being warm enough, he wiggles his arms free to reach for the heater. Maybe, if he can just—there. He pulls it closer, warm glow bright in his face. That’s better. He tucks himself back in, and waits for sleep to claim him.
The sun rises hours later, and only then does Kai finally fall back asleep.
