reanbeanmachine | gross au

gross au

[Once upon a time, perhaps, a man named Giliath Osborne had been a good man, a kind father, a loving husband, a good soldier. That was a long, long time ago, long forgotten. These days, there was merely the Blood and Iron Chancellor. A man hellbent on a goal, ready to use everything to achieve it.

Currently, the latest tool from his little workshop was standing in his office facing him with a familiar face, but an unfamiliarly blank expression.

"Siegried" was the name of the doll in front of him, a creature with uses. Already, standing in front of Osborne was plenty of proof that this boy was only a shell that resembled a person, an empty vessel whose memories were sealed away.

He ran his fingertips over the boy's cheek, watching for any reaction, any flinch or concealed disgust. Nothing. Obedience. Perfect.

There was more he could test for this, and if that proved successful, this doll could be useful in very many ways indeed. His fingers lifted a lock of white hair, let it slide over his knuckles as he pulled his hand away.]

Siegfried, I want you to kneel.

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[Waking up to being stared at is still startling and creepy the second time. But this time at least he doesn't scream! He just jumps and gasps.]

--Shit! Why do you do that?!

[He starts a bit but not as bad since, well, this is how Crow reacted before so at least it's not as surprising.

Obviously his answer is just to stare at Crow intensely and say nothing which is super helpful.]

Jeez. Like I need adrenaline for breakfast.

[Ugh. Time to get up, then! Gotta wash his face and put his fresh clothes on (cause he absolutely slept in the buff) and wolf down an orange, and then head for the door.]

[While Crow is moving around Rean slides back to standing in front of the door and watching him. He does not really look ready to move.]

[Frustrating but not surprising. Crow's got an eye on the time as he gets ready -- "work" isn't exactly far away (he's just down the block), but he reeeeally doesn't want to give anyone an excuse to be nasty to him when he can't fight back so he'd rather not be late.

He's giving himself about 10 minutes to deal with Rean.]

Hey. I have to go.

[Yeah that's not making him move. He stares unblinkingly. Obviously Crow needs to give up.]

[Ugggggghhhh okay.

He'll just have to try to pull him out of the way.]

Come on! We can't do this every day!

[Yeah that's like tugging on a wall. And he tries to snarl but his voice is still gone. He bares his teeth, threateningly.]

[Getting bitten would be less horrible than getting turned in so. He's just gonna change it into a shove, putting his full weight against Rean and trying to make him move.]

Just... move!

[He does not, bracing against the door and shoving back at Crow, not wanting to let him go, not able to articulate why the idea freaks him out even if he had a voice.]

[Well now we're just wrestling for it while getting increasingly distressed.]

Damn it! Why can't you listen to me?!

[And why is Rean so stupidly strong? Crow's sore and really doesn't want to fight with Rean, but he wants even less to lose himself again, to lose what's left of Rean, so even though he absolutely doesn't want to go out and be used and hurt he's also desperate to do anything that'll keep them from being captured again.

So he's putting all his strength into getting Rean out of his way, and trying not to think he'll have to lock him up again.]

I'm just trying to protect us!

[He's way too strong for a human but Crow does have the advantage that he's... Just trying to be immovable, he's not trying to hurt Crow. So Crow can probably get him out of the way but he will just try to follow him out, grabbing for his arm like he might lose Crow if he lets go.]

[The last thing they need is to have a physical fight out on the porch. But here he is, trying to pull his arm away and shove Rean back in the house, with voice raised and full of stress.]

Knock it off! I'll come back tonight. Just stay put!

[He shakes his head sharply, holding tighter, almost bruising. His mouth works but he can't really shape words, and he just looks... not really human, not really coherent, pissed off but also scared.]

[Okay that is starting to hurt. And frankly it's really upsetting to see Rean so upset, especially about this, this way. Crow's trying to protect him. So knowing that even like this Rean's worried about him makes his heart twist. He wishes they could just communicate. But they can't, so they're fighting instead, with Crow trying to shove Rean back inside, towards the basement, because he doesn't know what else to do.]

[He's getting increasingly more upset as Crow shoves him back towards the basement, yet he won't use the strength he has that could easily pick Crow up. Maybe not easily, Crow's no pushover even if Rean is inhumanly strong. And maybe that's why, it might take actually hurting Crow to stop him.

He still holds onto Crow desperately with both hands while he's shoved into the basement, now just visibly fucked up and panicked, but it's not like he can say what he's afraid of.

Crow can untangle himself, with effort, but when he does Rean desperately tries to work a word out. His vocal chords are still fucked, and obviously he's too feral, quite, to form anything coherent except...

Well that's almost certainly Crow's name he's trying silently to say. Mouthing it with a raspy noise and air but not really managing to get the sound out.]

[Crow freezes instantly. Before he can shut the door, before he can get away, he just... stops. This is all hard but that's too much. When all he really wants is to hear that -- for Rean to say his name, to recognize him, to be Rean, seeing him try is a gutpunch Crow's not up to handling right now.

For a moment he's just staring, eyes are wide and filling up with the tears he's been trying so hard to hide. But he cuts that off, squeezing them shut instead and groping blindly for the edge of the basement door.]

You should've just listened.

[He tries to say it, make Crow's name into something, a sound, a word that comes out, but it doesn't, and he's visibly frustrated and upset.

He reaches for Crow, but if Crow lets him out it'll be another struggle and he's already out of time as it is.]

[He wants to leave the basement door open. He wants to stay in the house, to curl up with Rean and be safe. But the only way this place stays safe is for Crow to go do what he's been told to do. And that means shutting and locking the door, then taking off without any time to make himself look less upset.

He spends the short walk wiping his eyes and still looks like hell by the time he gets where he's going. Not as much like hell as he'll look when he comes back though, stumbling in the door late in the evening and heading straight to let Rean out. Today he gained a lot of bruises, notably a huge one right across his right cheekbone. And he's... still out of it for other reasons. Flushed, dizzy, not entirely sure which way is up, he did a great job just getting home. As soon as he's opened the door though he's backing up to give Rean room and then just... collapsing. Standing up is hard. He's gonna be a sad heap instead, putting his face in his arms on the floor so he won't have to see any more weird floating lights.

He's not actually distressed right now, but that's because he's so far gone he can't think to be anything but tired and spaced out.]

[Rean spent his own day not having a great time. Probably a better time than Crow, but not... Great. When the basement door closed he simply sat down, some part of him feeling... Defeated in a way he wouldn't be able to explain because hes a feral fucking nutcase. But whatever it was trying to say a name he doesn't really understand is... Just mentally laying on the floor, and it's not helped by the feeling of being trapped and alone or how he's becoming increasingly aware throughout the day that he's hungry.

Not hungry. Starving.

Starving to a distracting degree so that even the sadness he can't explain is slowly consumed in it.

When he senses Crow home he almost doesn't even stand up, upset and scared and hurt, but he leaves the basement when Crow sits down, torn between the part of him that wants nothing more than to ???????????????????????????????????? and the part that's hungry.

He stands looking down at Crow with a sort of... Blankness.]

[Crow's not even paying attention. He's too out of it, curled up halfway on his side mashing his face into his arms. The floor is nice. It smells like old wood. He's pretty sure he should be doing something but he can't remember what at the moment.

Aaah... Everything is so hazy. He hopes it stays that way. He doesn't want to think.]

[Rean sits next to him, leaning over him to look at what he's doing. But he just... Seems to be laying there.

Rean's fingers reach up, brush over bruises on Crow's face, his neck, rage behind his eyes but also hunger when his fingers linger over Crow's pulse.

He's not thinking at all, so in that he and Crow match at least.]

Mmn.

[He leans into Rean's hand just a little, reflexively. It feels nice. A lot of things felt nice today but they were also painful and frightening and Rean isn't. He likes Rean.

But he's also not getting up unless he has to, so. He's just a Crow puddle.]

[He.... Tries to pat Crow's head? He tries. But then he gets up and returns with some of the food Crow brought yesterday, starting to stack it next to Crow, like a dog bringing toys or something, except this is for Crow.]

[Wow what a cute Rean. Crow would appreciate it more if he could but he's not mentally here so he barely even looks up.

Food, huh. He's not hungry. He feels floaty and disconnected from pain and hunger and he just wants to sleep forever. He blinks blearily at Rean for a moment, but then he drops his head back into his arms and just makes a soft groaning noise. He's just gonna fall asleep all dirty and stoned on the floor.

And then do it all again tomorrow whoo!]

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