Chapter Text
After Fourteen ate Ten's skin, which got him in a cage, right where everyone could see it in case it tried to escape.
Fourteen hated that, being watched, being observed, feeling people's eyes, how everyone wanted to kill him with stares, all because he ate the beautiful, tasty skin of their beloved pretty boy, 'what do they see in him,' that was the question that went through the cannibal's head every day. Why does he get the best treatment in the world? What's so special about him? Sure, his skin is the tastiest of them all, maybe the best one he's ever tasted, a.. TEN star meal! Get it?
Fourteen giggled at his own joke, giggles turned into laughter, other algebralien from the other side of the cage just stared at him like he was crazy, but he didnt care. He was bored, the tiniest bit of humor got him acting like he had the best comedian in the world right next to him. Being put in the cage was torture!
But then, he heard footsteps approaching. Gentle ones, trying to be sneaky, but he could still hear them. It tried looking to where the sound was coming from, even through the dark, through the bars, he could see the silhouette of a tall figure with 10 shaped hair, after a few seconds, he realized, who else has 10 shaped hair other than..
That's when he saw clearly what was in front of him, it was none other than Ten, the man it was thinking about just a second before. Ten walked towards the locked entrance of the cage as he whispered,
"Hey, Fourteen," quiet and tired, like he hadn't slept all night
"Tenny? What are you doing here? Isnt it, like, 11 pm?"
"It's.. actually 2 am.. but you dont have a clock here so I guessed you wouldnt know" Ten tried a ton of keys, trying to unlock the cage, while Fourteen looked at him, confused, wondering what will Ten do
"... What are you doing? Did you not put me here yourself?"
Ten looked at the keys he still had in his hands, 5 out 20 were left, one of them had to work. "Technically, Five and Fifteen put you here, I only told them you ate my skin."
"Same thing, and you didnt answer my question, what do you want me for? Did you find a way to kill algebralien?" Fourteen smiled at Ten through the bars, speaking in a mocking tone, Ten just looked at him for a second with a worried face, surprised at Fourteen's question
"No? I dont want to kill you, I'm trying to save you."
"I dont need sa-"
The cage opened, and Ten offered a hand to Fourteen so it could stand up from the ground.
Fourteen tried stepping back, away from Ten, he knew he couldnt beat them, they had normal food, an athletic body with muscles, they were taller and faster, he didnt even know how he managed to eat his skin that one time, he tried kicking the air at Ten as a warning, shooing them with his hands,
"Go away! I don't know what you want from me, but I wont do it, leave me alone!"
The man sighed as they grabbed the cannibal's arm with a firm, tight grip, pulling it up to his chest without measuring his strength, they both blushed at the proximity and Ten loosened his grip for just a second, enough for Fourteen to try and scratch the beloved man's perfect face, but Ten was faster, grabbing both it's hands again, this time a bit less tightly, but still making sure Fourteen couldnt move.
"LET ME GO!! I WONT GO WITH YOU!!!"
"Shut UP!! Would you rather rot in a cage for 2 more years or at least come to my house? Im trying to help you!!"
The cannibal stopped moving, but didnt stop complaining.
"Could you at least let go of my hands? And.. not do that thing again!"
Ten looked at Fourteen with a smug smile, looking at Fourteen's mad, blushing face...
"What? This?" They pulled Fourteen to their chest again, this time purposefully, hugging it and bringing it up to the air with a hug, their faces inches away from the other's,
"AH! YES, EXACTLY THAT! LET ME GO!!!"
Ten giggled softly as it tried pushing away, looking away and hitting the man, then he finally let go, giggling with a hand up to his face, covering his own mouth.
"AGH, THAT WASNT FUN!"
"How are you so light!? You're like a kitten!"
The beloved man grabbed the cannibal's hand as he continued walking to their house, which was not a few miles away from the cage... The rest of the walk was just them walking in silence, Fourteen trying to let go of Ten's hand, Ten giggling at the unsuccessful attempts and wondering, how did a short, unhealthy, and extremely skinny algebralien such as Fourteen get a chance to eat the skin of someone like Ten? It was unbelievable, but he didnt care.
All he cared about was getting Fourteen to change, that was his goal!