True to his word, Ralph wasn’t gone for long. Turbo knew this castle like the back of his hand, he knew how far away the kitchen was from the dungeon, and he knew that Ralph must’ve been peculiarly quick on his feet in order to get there and back so soon. So, upon Ralph’s return, he had been met with a skeptical, narrow-eyed glare from the Cy-bug.
But Ralph, oblivious to those deductions, hadn’t the slightest idea why Turbo was suddenly looking at him like that. He gave a small, nervous laugh as he put the water down, and awkwardly asked, “What…?”
After staring a moment or two longer, Turbo broke eye contact, pulling the bowl of water closer. “Nothing.” He muttered back before taking a drink. At least this time, he managed not to flinch like a pathetic idiot when Ralph sat back down next to him.
Even if he did ask the question lingering in the back of his mind - Why do you care so much - Turbo knew he wouldn’t get a straight answer.
Ralph shouldn’t care at all. Especially not to the point of blubbering out stupid apologies while rushing to treat his wounds and bring nourishment. What was he to these people, some frail baby deer instead of the man who terrorized their adopted child for fifteen straight years?
It made no sense. They should want him to die, too. Instead, here Ralph was, forcing him to live. Not even just that, but fussing over him like they were anything other than enemies. It was so blatantly contrary to how he should’ve been acting. He remembered when Ralph was ready to beat him senseless after only one day of knowing Vanellope, and that was before he had threatened both of their lives.
Maybe this was part of their revenge all along. Making sure he lived to suffer for as long as they saw fit. But if that was the case, why weren’t they treating him worse?
As though Turbo wasn’t feeling conflicted enough, Ralph suddenly spoke back up in that gentle, sickeningly-reassuring tone he kept using around him.
“I know things are hard right now, but they won’t always be.” Ralph said to him, “The pain will fade.”
Please note that this fic is in no way connected to Kill Switch. I’m reusing Cy-bug Sinistar as a (very temporary this time) villain, and there will probably be some similar vibes in how the characters develop their friendships, but the stories themselves have absolutely no narrative connection to each other. This is a different WIR fic starting from scratch.
Extra context can be found here and here of what to expect for this one. Please don't read it if you feel it may be too distressing for you, and always feel free to block this account if you don't want to see posts from here.
