Arther opened his mouth to respond to the man but closed it once the other guy came inside. He stayed in the corner to oversee what was going on. He was slightly nervous for some reason. Although he tried to look less worried and nervous, putting on his blank face that he always had when out doing something.
(Where do you think the soulmate mark should be?)
The second German put gloves on, approaching James. "You have one chance to give up the information now, without any of what you know is coming." He said in heavily accented English.
James shook his head, clenching his jaw. "No." he replied, trying not to look afraid of what was coming.
(Hmm well, maybe somewhere where the dude is gonna do something to James and asks Arther to help him with it or something?? Idk)
Arther sighed as the man in the chair responded. He knew what this guy did to people so he knew exactly where this interrogation was going to go. It was just a matter of time.
(hmm alright lol)
The German shrugged, and began. He would torture James for a while, then stop and bark a question at him, giving the Englishman a few minutes to respond. James merely fastened his eyes to the ceiling, repeating his name, rank, and serial number, over and over and over and over. Ragged screams would tear their way out of his throat, but every time a question was asked, it was the same thing: name, rank, serial number. Then the German would apply another torture device, and the screaming would start again.
Arther couldn't bear this for much longer. He looked down the whole time, unable to watch. He contemplated going out to take a break. That's what he decided to do. Once the man finished torturing for a second, Arther stepped forward and got his attention. "Sir, may I take a break?" He asked in German.
The German looked up. His eyebrows twitched. "No. I need your help." he replied. James was staring at the ceiling, panting and blinking tears out of his eyes. There were tear tracks down his cheeks, and his whole body was quivering, muscles taut as he waited for the next round. He was still mumbling his name, rank, and serial number under his breath.
Arther froze. He glanced at the man, his gut wrenched finally seeing the condition he was in. He swallowed down an excuse and nodded. He slowly approached the two of them and looked at the German for further instructions.
"In case you don't understand English, his name is James Batten. He is English, captured two months ago." The German replied. "I need you to hold his arms. I'm going to undo the binds, but I need you to hold him down in case he fights." James blinked when he heard his name, but didn't otherwise respond, still mumbling his name, rank, and serial number and taking deep, shaky breaths. His throat was dry.
"I do understand English… but whatever…" Arther mumbled. He gulped before hesitantly placing his hands James' arms and holding them down. He nervously waited for the German to do whatever he was going to do.
James flinched at the contact, a soft whine escaping his throat as Arther put pressure on wounds on his arms. The German undid the binds on James's arms, and instructed Arther to lift the Englishman's arms up.
Arther winced as he heard the whine, he swallowed down a comment. There was no point in hesitating or slowing down, it would only cause James to stay in the room longer. He sighed and lifted the Englishman's arms.
James flinched, turning his eyes to the ceiling. He blinked away tears again, knowing what was coming. The German brought out a knife, and cut down the side of James's arm, jagged lines that wept blood. James let out a whine, then a moan, and it turned into a full on scream as the knife continued, tears slipping down his cheeks.
Arther jumped a little once the German started. He watched in horror as he continued. Instinctively, he dropped James' arms and hopped backward. His heart was racing, he gulped back a yelp once he saw the mass of blood dripping down the man's arms.
The German stopped, turning to Arther. "Why have you let go?" He demanded. James slumped, cradling his arms to his chest with a choked sound. He was mumbling his name, rank, and serial number again. As he blinked away tears, he discovered, to his horror, that the mark on his rifht arm…was glowing. Glowing, where…he turned to the other German, the one that had held his arms, eyes wide with horor.
Arther was staring at his hands, shock all over his face. His eyes were wide as he looked up to the Englishman then to the German. His hands were glowing just like the mark on James' arm. He nervously looked between the two of them stopping, after a bit, on the German. This wasn't going to be good for the Englishman or himself.
James stared at them, terrified. Oh god oh god oh god this can't be good. He thought fuzzily, swaying a little with shock and blood loss. The German frowned, eyes going between the two. "You have thirty minutes to…deal with him." he told Arther, lips pressing into a thin line. "But this changes nothing." he grabbed his things and left the room, closing it with a bang. James stared at Arther fearfully, swallowing.
Ather nodded as the German left, fear in his eyes. Once he did, Arther glanced around the room for first aid of some sort, but there as none to be seen. He took off his jacket and lightly put pressure on the cuts the German made. "Er… I'm Arther…" He said in pretty accented English. He had no idea what to say or do, this was going to be interesting.
James flinched back from Arther, almost expecting to be hurt again. "James…" He said slowly, staring at the German man in front of him.
Arther jumped a little when James' did. "Sorry! I'm, uh, just trying to stop the bleeding." He said nervously. He held out the jacket slightly so James could take it if he wanted to.
James looked at him carefully, then took the jacket. Instead of putting it on his wounds, he put it on, pressing his hands to the bleeding areas. He let out a breath. The coat was thick, and warm.
Arther felt a small shiver go down his spine, but he didn't show it. "So… what should we do?" He asked quietly. He really didn't know how to respond and what to do first and what the German would do later.
James looked up at him, a few strands of brown hair falling into his face. "I don't know." He replied slowly. This can't be happening…I'm going to die, in a German prison camp, with a German man for my soulmate.
Arther nodded a little. He itched his mop of hair, very unsure. "Well, you can keep the jacket if you want… um… is there anything I can do while no one else is here?" He asked, almost hesitantly.
James bit his lip a little, then shrugged. He nestled back into the coat, feeling the rough wool scratching at his skin. But he wasn't about to complain about it. It was warm, and it had been so, so long since he was anything but cold. "I don't know. Beat me? Isn't that all you Jerries do?"
"No, no! I couldn't do that, I'm not built like that… I'm only here because I have to be. And I'm not doing the job of the other guy only because they know I can't handle this kind of thing" Arther explained. He crossed his arms, feeling a bit cold without his jacket.
Looking away for a moment, James let out a breath. His lips tightened a little. "Alright. I just…I don't bloody understand what I'm supposed to do now." he said.
"I… me neither…" Arther said. He bit his lip slightly, trying to think of something to do. "Er, maybe I could say something to my superiors and see about getting you out of this horrid place?"
James looked up at him, biting his lip again. "I don't know if…if they would let me go." he replied slowly. "I'm a POW and suspected spy, remember? No fucking way are they letting me go without torturing all the information out first."
"Yeah… I know…" Arther said looking down at his hands. "I should probably bring you back to your cell, I'm sorry that you have to deal with this…" He looked back up and untied anything that was left.
James shook his head. "It's…it's not your fault." He replied slowly.