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Post by The Puppeteers on Aug 24, 2015 16:15:33 GMT -5
Tea rounded the corner and found himself in the room where Leland was being kept. He sucked in a breath as the guilt set in again and he could almost feel the brand hitting his own skin at the thought. He went stiff in the doorway as the door clicked shut behind him. The room was as bare as his. Just as much a prison. He . . . he didn't know what to say. He didn't even know why he was here.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2015 16:22:36 GMT -5
At first, Leland didn't move, didn't think, didn't even breathe. He simply sat quietly and refused to look up at the person in the doorway.
Then his senses kicked in, and his head tilted towards the sickeningly familiar presence.
"You."
It was just one word, but it was filled with such venom that even Leland himself almost twitched at the underlying malice in his tone.
"What do you want? Here to fetch me so your precious master can start ordering me around? Or are you here to rub it in that I was stupid enough to trust you? That for one second I thought you might be a good person?" Usually, Leland wasn't one to hold grudges or feel anger when someone left his side, but this? Him? He could kill the man standing in front of him.
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Post by The Puppeteers on Aug 24, 2015 16:35:37 GMT -5
Tea bristled at the tone and even more at the rage. He knew. He knew how much this had to hurt the guardian but he hasn't anticipated such . . .
Hatred.
No. No he shouldn't be here. He should leave. Immediately. How had he gotten here in the first place? "I," his throat closed on him. Not good. This was so far from . . . his chest was so tight he felt blooding filling his mouth from biting down on his gums. "No," he managed to utter. "No, I'm not." But he didn't know why he was here and he didn't know if his limbs would let him leave without snapping of their own accord. "I," he tried again, blood pooling behind his lips, "I'm . . . I'm sorry."
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2015 16:50:05 GMT -5
"Sorry?" He was the picture of incredulity. "Sorry!? Don't make me laugh!" He stood up and stalked towards him, taking a bitter pleasure in being taller than the man in front of him.
"I'd never accept an apology from you. Would you listen to pathetic attempts at groveling from someone who forced your body still as you were branded? Would you forgive someone who got close to you, fell in-" he cut himself off for a moment, the words he almost uttered too painful for him to say. "-got close to you, made you think you could be trusted, only to be betrayed so thoroughly you don't think you'll ever recover?"
He grabbed the front of Tea's collar and yanked him close enough for him to see the black ooze trail down his face. "You were my family. You were my family, and you screwed me over. I will NEVER forgive you, Tea. Never."
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Post by The Puppeteers on Aug 24, 2015 17:03:12 GMT -5
Tea was shaking, stumbling forward and grabbing Leland's wrists. His hands ungloved for once, he felt tremors of Leland's energy pour into him and his eyes went wide as the pain and hate and mistrust washed over his body like electric currents. He yelped without consent, unable to really stand with all the energy coursing through him. Blood dripped from his lip as he muttered, "N-no," in response to the guardian's words. "I wouldn't-t." He hadn't. He had never forgiven. And he never would. He ducked his head, unable to look at his face. He felt enough. He felt entirely too much. He didn't . . . he didn't want to see. "I . . . I never wanted this. For any of-f you." Couldn't stop shaking. He couldn't. He caught himself rubbing circles with his fingers into one of Leland's arms. He was so damn weak he didn't even know what his body was doing. He couldn't even tell Leland that the cult . . . the he had been the closest he'd had to family too.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2015 17:45:50 GMT -5
Leland's lip curled, sharp teeth a bright contrast to his charcoal skin. He couldn't stand it anymore, the pain, the anger, the absolute misery. He had to release it somehow, and here Tea was, the source of it all, blubbering in front of him.
He wasn't sure what kind of punishment he would get for damaging him, and that made him hesitate, but then he felt those hands. Tea's hands. They were circling against his skin as if they had any right to touch him at all.
That was when he finally snapped.
With an animalistic growl, he pulled a hand back, curled his fingers into a fist, and punched Tea directly in the center of his face so hard he dropped to the floor.
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Post by The Puppeteers on Aug 24, 2015 17:49:31 GMT -5
Tea crashed to the ground, head hitting the door as blood gushed from his nose. Lying still, he curled in preparation for an onslaught. He could easily fight. Leland was weak here. Tea knew this area so much better . . . but . . ., "Leland please." He wasn't above begging. Had never had the chance to be. Holding up his hands, he muttered, "I can't fight you." It . . . it hurt too much.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2015 17:54:52 GMT -5
"Excuse me!? You can hold me down and watch me scream as I'm burned, but you can't fight me one on one!? Oh that's priceless. That is absolutely priceless." A hollow, bitter laugh echoed across the small room.
He reached down and yanked Tea back up again, only to punch him once more. Watching him fall and do nothing only infuriated Leland all the more.
"Get. Up. Stand up and fight me. Watching you cower on the ground is sickening."
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Post by The Puppeteers on Aug 24, 2015 17:59:12 GMT -5
Tea's eyes snapped closed. "You don't understand-d." But he did, Leland actually did. Now just barely. Tea's hands balled into fists and he grew tense, sitting up only slightly. "I didn't have a choice."
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2015 18:05:38 GMT -5
"You had a choice. You always had a choice. Maybe you had to get in the cult, yes. Maybe you had to find out our secrets. But you didn't have to-" Leland's voice broke as he choked on his next words.
He felt sick, not from anger this time. Simply from sheer agony. "You didn't have to do this to me. You didn't have to get this close to me. You didn't have to make me love you, Tea."
The last words were simply the whispers of a broken man, too hurt to yell anymore. His heart felt like it was in literal pieces on the floor. It took him a few minutes to recover himself again, just enough to speak.
"So yes, Tea. You DID have a choice. And you picked the wrong one. Now stand up and give me a reason to punch you, dammit!"
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Post by The Puppeteers on Aug 24, 2015 18:31:28 GMT -5
Tea was still a moment longer, heart stopped and stomach officially turned as Leland drove home what he'd done. Gritting his teeth, sore gums already screaming, he deadened his stare. He still shook. He couldn't change that. But he did stand, keeping his eyes off Leland. He grew sicker at the words that passed his lips, "I wish I'd never fallen out of that tree and into your arms." Then, tears falling from his glowing eyes, he swung and struck Leland's jaw.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2015 18:38:20 GMT -5
For a moment, Leland was stunned, the words driving deep into the shambles of his heart. He barely felt the fist in his face, the emotional pain far worse than anything he'd ever felt in his life. He felt like he was dying.
So, just for the moment, he shut it off.
Without a single moment of hesitation this time, he leapt at Tea full force, his weight alone toppling them both over onto the floor. There was no strategy, no plan, no form to Leland's movements. Only blind rage. His fists and claws and teeth wailed into Tea over and over, not caring if he was hit or if his moves were blocked. All he wanted was some payback.
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Post by The Puppeteers on Aug 24, 2015 18:48:27 GMT -5
Tea couldn't help it. He screamed. He wasn't supposed to scream. Not in this place. Tears kept spilling, rolling from his eyes nonstop as he at first covered his face and neck with his forearms taking the hits. Then he felt his third eye open and his spine start to snap and stretch to accommodate the two additional arms that reached up to catch Leland by the wrists. Rolling so the other was the one on his back, he glared tearfully down at the guardian as his mouth started to split and his fangs grew. Pinning Leland, he shouted, "If I could go back, I would have made sure I never accepted your help." His elongated talons scraped the floor on either side of Leland's head as his other two hands gripped his forearms painfully. "That way, when this happened," he drew back his fist, ready to punch Leland in the face as hard as the other had punched him, "I would be able to fight you without a lick of guilt!" He brought his fist down, but it landed just shy of the guardian's ear. The floor cracked from the force. "Tear me apart!" Tea declared. "I won't feel it!" Then he grabbed at Leland's, roughly digging his talons against the fresh brand. "But don't think for one second I didn't feel this."
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2015 19:02:13 GMT -5
Leland was absolutely mindless, unaware of the change happening in Tea until he heard him scream. That ear piercing noise of pain was enough to freeze Leland in place completely, his body still abiding to Tea's needs despite the betrayal.
It caught him off guard to see him changing shape in front of him, to hear the words coming out of his mouth, to feel him pushing him down to the floor and pressing his fist to the ground.
But what he spoke to him as they lay there, panting and bloody, was what got to him the most.
"...Why. Why did you do this to me...why did you make me feel like this...?"
He reached up and fisted Tea's hair in his hand, but it wasn't nearly as rough as he intended. "I can't hate you if you tell me these things. Why do you keep making me hurt!?"
He pulled Tea's face down until their noses were practically touching.
"Why do you bother to keep letting me love you?" The words were a broken whisper shared only between them.
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Post by The Puppeteers on Aug 24, 2015 19:12:03 GMT -5
Tea was weak again, hair drawn taut in the guardian's grip and the pain of the wounds welcome compared to the feelings the other kept putting off. He was . . . still so warm. Even when he was angry. Tea hated it. He hated how he felt. He hated how it made him . . . .
He clamped his mouth and eyes shut, letting the tears drip. He ceased breathing, whimpering because he couldn't pull out of Leland's hold, even if he wanted to. He couldn't even shake his head to indicate he couldn't answer.
At least . . . he thought he couldn't. "I didn't want to love you back." His chest ached. It was only ever a matter of time before the ones he loved hurt him. Before they turned against him. He used to be able to count the number of people he loved on one hand. Now that that wasn't the case there was no hope for him. "I'm sorry," he replied once again.
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