#guinea pig to almost literal bestie pipeline ur honor

[surelysilly]

something i didn't need to be writing when i need to get thru maybe like 100k more words before i can even post it

The pads of the man's fingers are soft beneath Tim's chin, and he's gentle in tipping his face upward. The kindness ends there, however. “Sucks to be you, huh,” rasps from within the deep shadow of the sack-like hood. Deep. Hoarse. Vaguely… familiar with an outside accent. “How old are you anyway?” “Old enough,” Tim replies evenly. That gets a hum, and then a deep inhale. A bright line of noxious green appears, highlighting the rubbery cord of a nasal cannula and freckled cheeks, the gleam of blue eyes. Tim stiffens. Is that— Cruelly, an exhale follows. Tim’s breath stutters as a cloud of mint flows from the man's mouth and breaks across his face. Fear toxin. Shit. He kicks a little, jerking his chin free, and forcibly exhales his half a breath, but. But all it takes is just even a little. His heartbeat thunders in his ears, but even under that he can hear the man's light laugh. “Sorry, sorry, that was mean, wasn't it?” he says, and tentatively places a hand in Tim's hair, threading his fingers through the locks. The cold touch makes Tim grit his teeth, nearly take another breath. “They paid good money to borrow me, not the gas, so don't worry about it, okay? Just think about quitting after this, go to college or something. Move very, very far away.” What a joke.