[The door opens into a large, ornately decorated room. Down the center is a massive dining table, with complicated place settings but no food. There is one chair at each head, with plush, royal blue fabric upholstery. A single locked door is located at the far end of the hall, an ornate peacock carved into its wood.
At the seat closest to the door, a folded note stamped the same as all the others sits on the plate.]
As your host, it would be most rude of me not to feed you. But I learned from your refusal of my earlier gift that you have no intention of partaking in the meal I spent so long preparing for you. Therefore, we’ll have to skip dinner and go straight to the show.
[There is a loud thunk from the ceiling and the whirring of gears before a trap door opens up in the roof, and Jimmy descends from above, a mechanism holding his limbs up by the ribbons Andrew had tied around him. His head lolls against his chest, his fingers are limp, and if it wasn’t for a reddish flush to his skin, he would look more like a corpse than a person.
The machine continues its mechanical humming as it walks Jimmy clumsily along the table, knocking against silverware and fine china and creating wrinkles in the peacock-print tablecloth. His body sways side-to-side as his arms are forced wildly up and down, left and right, marionnetted by the machine. Then, when Jimmy is towering over Andrew, he comes to a stop, the ribbons snap, and Jimmy’s body comes tumbling down.
Jimmy falls onto the floor, taking a not insignificant amount of tableware with him. As he lies limply on the ground, blood pools from several scrapes on his arms and legs, as well as a large laceration along his forehead. His left knee is bent at the wrong angle, and bruises have formed where the ribbons were digging into his skin while holding him up. Despite his grievous injuries, his eyes finally start to flutter open, blearily taking in the scene before him.]
“A… rew…” he whispers before unconsciousness once again consumes him.
[A key falls from the shrinking gap in the ceiling and clangs against the floor. The clock strikes ten.]
(Andrew clicks their tongue under their breath as they scan the words.)
Oh, how kind of you to take note of my... dietary restrictions—what the fuck—
(He breaks off at the horror show being played in front of him. His frie—acquaintance jerked around like a literal puppet made of flesh of blood, the machinations controlling every movement of his, as if Jimmy is some wooden doll who can't feel pain.....)
(Andrew has imagined quite a few possibilities for what this peacock person has in mind for Jimmy. This is nothing like what they had remotely prepared themself for. He nearly jumps out of his skin as Jimmy crumbles right in front of him. They dive after, trying to catch Jimmy to no avail.)
Jimmy? Jimmy! (They pat his cheek lightly, cupping his face and—oh god, that's a lot of injuries all over Jimmy, blood trickling down his head, bruises everywhere, and his left leg is definitely broken. Andrew winces; Jimmy isn't like them, Jimmy is stupid. Naive. Soft. Good. Someone not meant for this kind of pain.)
Jimmy? Yes? It's me, yes, it's Andrew—
(They shake him again, but Jimmy has fallen unconscious again. Maybe it's better for him this way, to skip over the pain for a while.)
(The clang of metal calls his attention. Andrew scrambles to fetch the key, looking around wildly, Jimmy's head still cradled in their lap. He can't make out an exit, but there has to be an exit, what else is the key for? What is it for? Why lock them up and then give him a key?!)
What do you want from us? I don't get it, what's the point of all this—(a heavy, tired sigh)—I just.... I don't get it.
(Jimmy is as unresponsive and unhelpful as ever. Andrew lies him down on the floor gently, tearing off another strip from their shirt to press against the cut on his forehead that's oozing blood right now. The leg looks awful; best leave it to the professionals, if they make it out alive.)
(When they make it out alive. He hasn't survived Nigel to die in the States, fuck's sake.)
(Distantly, they note that it's ten o'clock already. Probably ten at night. Hopefully. If they didn't give him a fake clock to gaslight him. They settle for looking at the floor, the walls, knocking on it inch by inch, trying to feel for anything that could indicate an out.)