@Fraust
"Alright… sounds good." Cas rested his head back against Zachary's shoulder and sighed. "I want you to be safe…"
"Alright… sounds good." Cas rested his head back against Zachary's shoulder and sighed. "I want you to be safe…"
Zachary gently rubbed Cas's back, wincing a bit with his ribs groaning at him.
"I can't let them hurt you any more, Zachary… I hate seeing you suffer like this…"
"I'll be okay, Cas," Zachary said quietly, closing his eyes.
"B-But you're hurt… they hurt you…" Cas whispered. "Can we go to the cave so you can heal yourself?"
Zachary shook his head a little.
"It doesn't work on me," he said quietly.
"How do we heal you, then?" Cas asked weakly. "I don't want you to be stuck in pain like this…"
"I'll just have to wait it out. Just like people usually have to." Zachary coughed a little. "It'll be okay."
Cas whined softly. "But you're in pain. I-I can't just be okay with that!"
Zachary sighed softly.
"Thank you for being concerned," he said gently, "but I'll be better eventually. There's… There's nothing we can do now."
"Is there no one around who can heal you? I could force Halm to heal you… I know he can speed up the healing process. He's done it for me a couple times.
"How do you think Halm would react to you trying to force him to heal me?" Zachary said gently. "I'll just get hurt more, Cas… I'm sorry."
"I could threaten them. If they don't heal you, I… I'll hurt myself instead. Everything they did to you, I'll do to myself. They'll have to do it."
(PSA: Don't blackmail/ manipulate people with your mental disorders, kids)
(Thank you for those lovely words of advice XD yes, don't try this at home kiddos)
"Cas," Zachary says, firmly now. "I won't have you… eventhreatening to hurt yourself. It's… It's not right, Cas."
(Lmao)
"But it would work, wouldn't it? I'd say if they ever hurt you again, I'd always do the same to myself that they did to you. They'd leave you alone."
"But what if he takes your memory away?" Zachary asked. "I don't, I don't want him to do that to you. They don't want you to hurt yourself, and neither do I."
Cas sighed, shaking a bit. "I can't fucking continue letting them hurt you, Zachary… I can't… I-I need to stop them somehow…"
"I can get it to stop," Zachary said gently. "We just… We just can't be too close around then. We can't… Nothing more than platonic." He pulled Cas closer despite his ribs' protesting, wanting to comfort him, keep him from hurting himself.
"B-But I want to be more than platonic! I wanna be able to cuddle and stuff without them getting mad at you!"
"We can still cuddle," Zachary said gently. "But, even if I… If I could handle kisses, we wouldn't be able to do it." Zachary looked down at Cas, giving him a soft look.
"I just… I need to talk to them… make sure they know that everything we're doing is entirely consensual and it's not you trying to force yourself on me or something."
"Cas…" Zachary sighed deeply. "Nix will think I'mmanipulating you. He'll think that I actually am forcing myself on you." Zachary took a deep breath, closing his eyes a moment.
"But you're not! And I'm an atrocious liar. Nix at least could tell that I'm not lying…" Cas sighed softly.
"He… Please, Cas. It's not…" Zachary closed his eyes a moment. "If you try, even if they do believe you, I'll still be punished. They've made that so, so clear to me…"
"I'm not going to let them keep hurting you like this, Zachary! I'll… I-I'll find some way to stop them, I… I w-will…" He drew in a shaky breath.
Zachary sighed. He reached up, cupping Cas's head in his hands so he could look Cas in the eye.
"It doesn't matter if I get hurt," he said, completely serious. "As long as you're okay, I will be too. I promise."
Cas whimpered quietly, tears stinging his eyes. "I c-can't, Zachary… there's gotta be some other way…"
Zachary rubbed Cas's cheek gently with his thumb.
"Shh, hey, it's alright," Zachary murmured. "Everything will be okay in the end. I promise."
"How do you know? They'll never stop if I never confront them about it, Zachary… we can't just live in fear."
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