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Dallon watched the woman tighten the straps around his arms and legs, thick leather, the kind that seemed to cut into his skin when fastened like this.
“Now” she said, giving him a wide smile “I expect you to handle this like an adult, alright? The screaming was rather annoying last time”
Dallon couldn't move anymore, his wrists had long since rubbed red from the restraints. His body felt heavy, like lead, and he could barely make anything out over the searing painpainpain that seemed to cloud his thoughts.
There was a black ink now at the corners of his vision, taunting him. He wanted so badly to give in, to let it take him-
A flash of blue leaning over him, a hand cupping his face “hey” it was unmistakably Ryan.
Dallon attempted to respond but his throat felt like sandpaper. He managed a “ry?”
“Shh, it’s ok” Ryan said softly, he brushed the hair from dallon’s face “you don’t have to talk”
He was sitting on the edge of the bed now, watching Dallon watch him. He looked all fuzzy, like he was melting into the wall. Dallon considered briefly if he was dying, if maybe this was just some demon pretending to be Ryan. Some kind of cruel trick-
“Your not dying, Dal. Not yet.” Ryan said “and I’m not a demon”
Then what was-
“I can hear you, ‘ya know” Ryan stood up “you think so loud”
What are you?
he grinned and said nothing. Ryan- or the thing that wasn’t Ryan, kissed his cheek “does it still hurt?”
Dallon blinked, it didn’t. He could still feel the low buzzing in his skin but it felt like he wasn’t there anymore. Like his body was in a different room.
“How’d you do that?” Dallon asked quietly
Ryan shrugged “did you know if you put fleas in a jar they’ll never jump higher than the lid, even if you take the lid off”
Dallon blinked
Ryan pulling Dallon out from the bed and out of his body
Dallon looked down at himself in the bed, pale and thin, spasming every once in a while with the beeping of the machine.
“Where do you wanna go Dal, we can go wherever you want. No more lid”
Dallon looked back to Ryan, breathing heavily. He could still hear the buzzing “I just want to go home”
Ryan smiled at him and grabbed his hand. Dallon’s vision went white, his body felt cold- and- and-
He opened his eyes.
He was in a basement. It smelled of mold and dust and- if Dallon still had a body he would have thrown up.
A mattress sat on the floor, adorned with pastel sheets and a green fleece blanket, A pile of old stuffed animals and a ratty pillow.
Ryan glanced around “nice place you got here, Dal”
Dallon stared at the mattress “why did you take me here”
“It’s your home, isn’t it? Or was, I guess” Ryan picked up a stuffed cat with gray fur from the pile “what’s his name?”
Dallon snatched it back, pulling it to his Chest “I don’t want to be here”
“It’s home”
“NO!”
Ryan sighed, wrapping his arms around dallon’s waist “what do you want then?”
“I just- take me somewhere with Ryan”
“I am Ryan, Dal. And I’m right here”
“No! No your not-“
“Fine.”
Dallon opened his eyes in a warmly lit kitchen with pastel orange walls. The table was set, everything smelled like pumpkin pie.
“Where..”
“Don’t you recognize it?” Ryan walked into the living room, retrieving a photo from the shelf.
Him and Ryan stood smiling, posing in front of a gazebo in a park Dallon had never been to. There was a cat sleeping on the couch and sun was streaming through the windows.
They were in him and Ryan’s apartment, the one they talked out sometimes. With orange walls and windows and a cat with black fur.
Dallon walked carefully into the living room, like he was afraid he was going to break something. “Who are you” he repeated
“You know who I am, you know what this is.”
Dallon felt tears in his eyes “I want to go home”
Ryan cupped dallon’s face “you could stay here though, if you wanted. Just for a little longer, it won’t hurt.”
“I want Ryan.”
Ryan sighed “I’ll take you home, Dal”
When Dallon opened his eyes again he was laying on the floor of his cell, head in Ryan’s lap. Ryan was talking softly to him, like he was a cat or maybe a sick child.
“R’yn?” He tried to say.
“Hey, you're awake” Ryan brushed some hair from his face “how do you feel?”
Dallon shifted, his head was pounding and the mere idea of opening his eyes hurt “pretty..pretty bad” he mumbled
“You almost died” Ryan said softly after a moment
That phrase hung in the air for a while, Dallon tried to think of something to say but his mouth felt like sandpaper “when?” he landed on
Ryan kind of giggled but it drew attention to the fact that he was crying which Dallon hadn’t realized until then. Fuck. “Like, I dunno, an hour ago? You weren’t waking up after the..after your session..and they thought…”
Dallon cracked open his eyes, and though things were very blurry he could tell Ryan’s face was all red and puffy. Tear stained, But not melting into the wall. He wrapped his arms around Ryan’s middle and hugged him “ ‘m sorry”
Ryan hugged back, pulling him closer “Why are you sorry?”
“I let him take me to the house” he muttered “and..and..”
“What house?”
“The apartment” Dallon buried his head into Ryan “ ‘an..an the basement..an..he said he was you”
Ryan didn’t say anything for a moment before landing on “I don’t think that was real, Dal”
“R’yn?”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t wanna die here”
Ryan pet dallon’s hair “you won’t, you won’t. I’ll keep you safe, you won’t die here”
Dallon curled closer to Ryan “ok”