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Basil stood over the fallen Tyrian cultist, wiping the blood away from his split lip and grinning darkly. The Jin under his foot struggled, receiving a harsh stomp to the ribs for their efforts. “Did I say you could move?” Basil asked, digging his heel harder into their stomach. They coughed, stilling. “Better. Now,” He kneeled down on their stomach, keeping them pinned with his knees as he snapped his fingers to spark a purple-threaded fireball.
“Tell me what you know about Jinsoyun.”
The Jin snarled at him, baring their teeth. “Fuck you, you crazy Lyn! I don’t hafta tell you
shit!”
They spat at him, just barely missing his cheek. Basil froze, fireball winking out. He glared at them murderously, one hand shooting out to grab them by the neck. He squeezed harshly, ignoring how they started hacking and coughing.
“Wrong FUCKING answer! Care to try again?!” he snapped, watching their face turn purple and their eyes start bugging out. They scrabbled at his hands, dull nails barely causing any real injury. Frantically, they tapped on the back of his hand, eyes starting to roll back in their head. He let them go, watching with an almost bored air as they wheezed and tried to get their breath back.
“I… I don’t know anythin’ about Jin….Jinsoyun…” they coughed out, looking up at him pleadingly. He scowled. They knew something. They knew something and they were hiding it from him wHY WERE THEY HIDING HER FROM HIM?! He growled, low and feral. His pupils dilated, anger flooding his system. He grabbed them by the throat again, slamming them down against the floor.
“If you won’t tell me the truth, then I’ll just have to force it out of you,” he hissed, tail twitching behind him. He took one hand off of their throat, reaching for their eye. “You can stop this at any time, just tell me what you know about Jinsoyun. Okay?” he said, his voice sickly sweet. His fingers reached their eye, tracing gently under the lid and wiping away the tears. They shook their head, trembling in fear. He pouted, stopping his gentle movements. “You brought this on yourself,” he said coldly, before slipping his fingers into their eye socket.
It was warm. Warm and wet with fluids and tears. He gripped it carefully, sliding the thick optic nerve between his fingers like a string of yarn. The Jin shivered in pain, harsh sobbing noises coupled with tiny whimpers making it out of their crushed throat. Basil started to pull, the eye popping out of the socket with a wet pop, churning his stomach slightly. Blood started welling up in their eyesocket, mixing with the tears and sliding down their cheek. His fingers were stained red almost instantly, making it hard to keep a grip on the eye. “Wanna tell me now?” he asked, but the only response was another hiccuping sob.
He sighed, pulling harder. The rest of the optic nerve tore free, wrenching a scream of pain from the Jin. Immediately, the blood started pouring faster. His sleeve was stained with red, the eye pulsing in his hand. It was kinda cool, in a weird way. He liked how it felt in his hand, much better than any adrenaline rush from fighting monsters.
His ears twitched as he heard approaching footsteps. He cursed, quickly slamming their head down against the stone floor again, once, twice, three more times until they finally stopped moving. He scrambled to his feet, shoving the bloody eye in his bag and hightailing it out of there. He didn’t want to be hanging around when they discovered the body.
Next stop? The Stratus headquarters. Maybe
they’d
be more willing to part with information.