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“I’ll keep on trying, might as well”
“even though it’s me I abuse, I keep on going back”
“though I am bruised, face of contusions, know I’ll keep moving”
“I don’t mind at all, lean on my pride, I’m a lion”
Victor is pretty sure he could have thought of a better plan. Rather than letting Eli beat the shit out of him. Cutting him up, making him bleed.
Eli would eventually kill him and that should terrify him. Instead it feels fitting and Victor has pretty much come to terms with it. Maybe there was no alternative, maybe this is all there is or could be. He’d just have to hope that Sydney could bring him back… as whole as possible.
Victor knows it’s a little fucked up that he’s smiling as Eli throws another punch to his face, filling his mouth with the metallic taste of blood. But everything is going to according to his plan, and Eli is finally losing control. All Victor ever wanted was to bring out Eli’s monster and while he’d succeeded in that long ago, he wanted so badly to break down all of Eli’s masks and pretenses.
Eli yells at him to fight back, to fight harder, to fight at all. But Victor doesn’t. He can barely feel his arms or his legs, he doesn’t know if he could even if he wanted to at this point. All he can feel is his heart beating, his face stinging. He and Eli have always found their way back to each other and they will again. Victor knows he will come back to find Eli again, just as sure as Eli can’t die. They’re tied together, just like Sydney describing how she brings people back. A frayed string that she repairs and tethers to herself. Maybe that’s what Victor did the day he brought Eli back. Tethered them together.
Victor realizes belatedly that the beatings have stopped. Eli has stopped yelling. Victor slumps when Eli lets go of him. Eli is breathing heavy, back sliding down the wall until his arms are crossed resting on his knees which are pulled into his chest, forehead resting on his hands.
“Wha— what are you doing?” Victor manages, coughing up blood to clear his throat. His voice sounds off, ragged and low.
Eli looks up at him, face filled with anger. “I don’t want to kill you Victor. Not like this… maybe not at all.”
Victor has nothing to say to that. Doesn’t even know where to start. This isn’t part of his plan, and in fact he’s royally fucked if Eli doesn’t finish the job. The one thing he thought he could count on was Eli flying off the handle and beating the life out of Victor.
“I didn’t want this,” Eli says. His voice is tight, and he’s looking at his hands, covered in Victor’s blood. “I never wanted to hurt you.”
Victor can’t see straight but he thinks Eli is looking at his hands with disgust, like he’s only just now realized that he’s a monster. Victor watches him in confusion and there’s a tightening in his chest.
A thousand emotions cross Eli’s face and it’s not something Victor is at all accustomed to. Usually, Eli wears a mask, covering up everything and only showing what he wants. But he looks almost broken now, a crack in the seams showing Victor everything. Eli looks to be at war with himself. He grips his own hair tightly in his fists.
Victor, having always been curious and intrigued by Eli, almost asks what he’s thinking. Has to bite his tongue to stop himself because he doesn’t want to interrupt whatever is going on. When Eli looks back up at Victor, he looks more worn than Victor has ever seen him.
“Victor, I’m –“ Eli starts but Victor has to cut him off. He can’t bear to listen to what Eli was about to say. Knowing what it might have been is almost too much. It moves him to make a rash decision that he’ll probably regret.
“Eli, stop. The police are on their way. They may even be downstairs already,” Victor says. It’s getting hard to talk with his face swelling. “Dom!” His vision fades in and out, he doesn’t know if he even yelled loud enough. Dom might not even be in the vicinity. He feels everything around him go black as arms cradle his body before he can fall to the concrete. The last thing he hears is Eli’s whispered I’m sorry.