#4, CoG, because we are AWFUL.werewolf_hackerJanuary 13 2012, 05:13:13 UTC
[Months. It has been months since Guriel disappeared, and Ben has torn the city apart looking for him. Auction houses, black markets, pits, brothels, you name it, he's been there. Sometimes pleading, sometimes threatening, and sometimes the place is in ashes after he leaves, with bodies scattered around, but he doesn't care. He has. To find. His Packmate.]
[The Master wipes the blood off his face with a coldly enraged expression, and Guriel flinches bodily and shrinks away as much as possible while he's still holding onto Ben, instinctively trying to brace himself for the Hellfire that comes with that look.
"You know, I could have him kill you. Unfortunate, really, the house angel having to take such steps during a home invasion, but these things happen. Castle doctrine." His teeth are far too white, and Guriel freezes.]
N . . . [He manages to stop himself from saying no, because he learned three months ago what happens if he tells this Master "No," even when begging.] Please, Master, please don't. Please, sir. I'll do anything, please don't make me hurt him . . .
[Ben's stomach lurches, and he barely keeps himself from throwing up. Not that there's anything in his stomach anyway. His voice is a low growl.] Don't you dare hurt him. Don't you dare.
[He is thisclose to wolfing. Zev is begging him to turn him loose.] Did you tell them about Zev? Two squeezes for yes, one for no...
[A single squeeze. He managed to keep that much to himself, to keep Zev his own private secret memory, one thing they've not yet gotten at to mock and tear to pieces.
"Pay attention. I'm not talking about hurting him." The Master sneers.
The Mistress eyes Ben with disdain. "Personally, darling, I think we almost have to. Maybe the angel will stop being so difficult all the time if we put a stop to this nonsense once and for all."
Guriel shivers. He's still smiling, damn her to Hell. And he doesn't even know exactly what he's saying, he's just saying the things he's learned they want to hear. Anything to keep them from Ordering him to break Ben's neck.] Please, I'll do better, I'll do whatever you want, just let me let him go without hurting him and I'll be good, I swear I will . . .
[Guriel feels his eyes prickle at that, and he wishes he had a hand free, because he hates crying in front of them, he hates it with everything in him. One squeeze for yes, and he tries to loosen the arm around Ben's neck a little bit.
"Don't you dare do any such thing, angel." His Mistress's tone is snappish, and Guriel flinches as if he's been slapped. Instinct, at this point; the tone comes with a blow more often than not. "Richard, tell him to kill him and get this over with."]
No, please, no . . .
[The Master's expression hardens, and Guriel realizes a second too late -- he's always a second too late, why is he one of the stupid brothers -- what he just said.] Please.
["What. What the fuck did you just say to me, angel?"]
[And it doesn't matter, because Zev is suddenly there, and he lunges forward at Richard. The angles are all wrong for Guriel to keep his grip on the wolf, and Zev's jaws close around the man's throat and wrench back in a spray of blood while the woman screams in horror.] Little brother--!
Zev! [Guriel almost crumples in relief, every line of his body going slack all at once as the hold of the ring's binding magic dies with his Master.
And even as relief and triumph surge in his chest, part of him is screaming in horror, too, a mental cry he doesn't even realize he's letting out.] OhGodohGodohGod no, don't attack a human, don't attack my Master he'll hurt you he'll kill you he'll hurt us both ohGodnostopdon't!
[The angel he was six months ago would have lunged forward and killed the woman before she had time to realize he was moving. The angel he is now staggers backwards until his back meets a wall and tries to remember how to breathe to think to fight to do anything but be trapped . . .]
[Zev flinches at his Packmate's thought-babble, but he wheels on the woman without hesitation as she stands there gabbling at him. He hits her in the chest and bears her to the floor, and she tries to get an arm up between her and the enormous wolf who just murdered her husband. But he barely even notices the puny arm, and both it and her face disappear between his jaws. Another wrench, a truncated scream, and she convulses once and is still beneath him with blood pooling behind her head.
He leaves her without a thought and turns back to Guriel.] Oh. Oh, little brother...
[The shakes have Guriel pretty firmly in their grip, now, and he surveys what's left of the humans with a blank, frozen expression, trying to readjust to not feeling the lead weight of the binding magic dragging down every part of his being.
He slides down the wall until he's sitting with his knees drawn up to his chest and holds his arms out to the wolf. He doesn't move to take hold of Zev himself, because slaves don't move to take anything until it's given them. He doesn't say anything, because slaves don't speak until spoken to.
And the fact that he's no longer a slave? Is going to take more time than he's had before it actually sinks in.]
[Zev bellies up to Guriel and kisses him tenderly, cuddling against his Packmate and crooning.] Love you, love you, love you, we came, we never stopped looking, not ever, oh, little brother, we missed you so much...
[Ben's still torn between rage, grief, and sorrow. But there's nothing left for him to kill, at least not right now, and Guriel and Zev need this. He'll get his moment later, he's sure.]
Zev. [It's all he can seem to manage to say, and he wraps his arms around the wolf and buries his face in Zev's neck, still shaking, clinging like his life depends on it. He starts crying eventually -- but he's utterly, eerily silent as he does, not even his breathing changes, nothing does except the flood of hot, silent tears that create an ever-growing wet patch in the wolf's fur.
They're the tears of someone who's deeply, terribly afraid of what will happen if he's caught crying. He whispers the wolf's name over and over, like a mantra, like a prayer, like a wish he can't quite bring himself to believe is actually true.] Zev. Zev, Zev, Zev . . .
Right here, little brother, right here, love you... [Can a wolf cry? Apparently. Zev is whining on his exhales and tears are streaming from his eyes too.
They are far from out of the woods yet, however. Even while Zev and Guriel are re-bonding, Ben's in the background coldly figuring out logistics. He packed a bag before he came, because he had no intention of driving fourteen hours in one day after committing premeditated murder. He needs his clothes. He needs Guriel's papers. He needs to clean the blood off. And they need to get the fuck out of here.
But they have a few minutes before all that needs to happen. Long enough for them all to pull themselves together.]
[Eventually the tears thin out and Guriel's numbness fades into cold, panicky realization of just what their situation is. He takes a deep breath and tightens his arms around Zev's neck.] Zev, we have to get out of here, we have to run before they find out . . .
Shh, little brother. Can you get Ben's bag out of the Jeep? Act like he's... staying. Like it's the most normal thing in the world, like it's a task they've set you. I'll clean myself up. We'll find your papers. And then we'll disappear. [Zev noses him.] Okay?
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[The husband steps up and punches Ben viciously in the face. "Don't you talk to my wife that way."
Ben spits blood in his eye.] I'll talk about her in whatever way is fitting for the kind of person she is. You two deserve each other.
But you don't deserve Guriel. He's too good for you.
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"You know, I could have him kill you. Unfortunate, really, the house angel having to take such steps during a home invasion, but these things happen. Castle doctrine." His teeth are far too white, and Guriel freezes.]
N . . . [He manages to stop himself from saying no, because he learned three months ago what happens if he tells this Master "No," even when begging.] Please, Master, please don't. Please, sir. I'll do anything, please don't make me hurt him . . .
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[He is thisclose to wolfing. Zev is begging him to turn him loose.] Did you tell them about Zev? Two squeezes for yes, one for no...
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"Pay attention. I'm not talking about hurting him." The Master sneers.
The Mistress eyes Ben with disdain. "Personally, darling, I think we almost have to. Maybe the angel will stop being so difficult all the time if we put a stop to this nonsense once and for all."
Guriel shivers. He's still smiling, damn her to Hell. And he doesn't even know exactly what he's saying, he's just saying the things he's learned they want to hear. Anything to keep them from Ordering him to break Ben's neck.] Please, I'll do better, I'll do whatever you want, just let me let him go without hurting him and I'll be good, I swear I will . . .
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Guriel, get ready... [Ben is tense, eyes amber, and teeth far too big for his mouth bared in a rictus of hate.] Zev missed you too.
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"Don't you dare do any such thing, angel." His Mistress's tone is snappish, and Guriel flinches as if he's been slapped. Instinct, at this point; the tone comes with a blow more often than not. "Richard, tell him to kill him and get this over with."]
No, please, no . . .
[The Master's expression hardens, and Guriel realizes a second too late -- he's always a second too late, why is he one of the stupid brothers -- what he just said.] Please.
["What. What the fuck did you just say to me, angel?"]
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And even as relief and triumph surge in his chest, part of him is screaming in horror, too, a mental cry he doesn't even realize he's letting out.] OhGodohGodohGod no, don't attack a human, don't attack my Master he'll hurt you he'll kill you he'll hurt us both ohGodnostopdon't!
[The angel he was six months ago would have lunged forward and killed the woman before she had time to realize he was moving. The angel he is now staggers backwards until his back meets a wall and tries to remember how to breathe to think to fight to do anything but be trapped . . .]
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He leaves her without a thought and turns back to Guriel.] Oh. Oh, little brother...
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He slides down the wall until he's sitting with his knees drawn up to his chest and holds his arms out to the wolf. He doesn't move to take hold of Zev himself, because slaves don't move to take anything until it's given them. He doesn't say anything, because slaves don't speak until spoken to.
And the fact that he's no longer a slave? Is going to take more time than he's had before it actually sinks in.]
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[Ben's still torn between rage, grief, and sorrow. But there's nothing left for him to kill, at least not right now, and Guriel and Zev need this. He'll get his moment later, he's sure.]
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They're the tears of someone who's deeply, terribly afraid of what will happen if he's caught crying. He whispers the wolf's name over and over, like a mantra, like a prayer, like a wish he can't quite bring himself to believe is actually true.] Zev. Zev, Zev, Zev . . .
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They are far from out of the woods yet, however. Even while Zev and Guriel are re-bonding, Ben's in the background coldly figuring out logistics. He packed a bag before he came, because he had no intention of driving fourteen hours in one day after committing premeditated murder. He needs his clothes. He needs Guriel's papers. He needs to clean the blood off. And they need to get the fuck out of here.
But they have a few minutes before all that needs to happen. Long enough for them all to pull themselves together.]
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