#in which Killian performs the absolute impossible and convinced Liam not to be an idiot in Neverland

[icecubelotr44]

Restraints (Whumptober 2018 Day 25)

For @la-vie-en-whump‘s Whumptober 2018 prompts.

What even are deadlines, anyway?

All prompts from last and this year: HERE Previous Days: Stabbed | Bloody Hands | Insomnia | Stop! | Poisoned | Betrayed | Kidnapped | Fever | Stranded | Bruises | Hypothermia | Electrocution | Stay | Torture | Manhandling | Bedridden | Drugged | Hostage | Exhaustion | Concussion | Harsh Climate | Friendly Fire | Self-sacrifice | Drowning

for Whump-etition, entry 4

Killian rocked back and forth on the chair, trying to knock himself over, trying to break the back of the rickety old thing, trying to get free.  Liam was on the other side of the cell, shackled to the wall and not moving.  He hadn’t made a sound in nearly two days - according to the chiming of the town’s clock - at first turning his head to Killian’s panicked cries, but slowly becoming less and less responsive.  Now, no matter how loudly Killian screamed, no matter how much he begged Liam to help him, his brother didn’t move.

Killian didn’t know if his big brother was still alive.

No, that was a lie.  He could see the rise and fall of Liam’s chest - just barely.  Their captors wouldn’t bother to keep coming in at regular intervals and slicing open the inside of Liam’s elbow, coating it with dark gel if he were dead.  The spidery lines that wove up his arm towards his chest did nothing to quell the terror that had settled in Killian’s gut.

“Liam?”

Sinister laughter greeted him as hands stilled the chair Killian hadn’t managed to rock off its axis.  He could feel hot breath wafting over his neck, making the hair on his forearms stand at attention.

“He can’t hear you, Lieutenant.”

Bloody Blackbeard.

The muscles in Killian’s back tightened with sheer effort.  The lacerations and bruises lit a fire down his back and reminded him he wasn’t a half-grown slave anymore.  This wasn’t Silver.  This was just another pirate captain, full of himself and full of rum.  And he didn’t have the Jolly Roger, so he wasn’t nearly as big a scourge on the seas as the Brothers Jones.

Killian was damned sure he was going to keep it that way.

And then the rope wrapped around his neck, cutting off his air and his ability to think as the spots danced wildly in his vision.  It looked like those blasted stars of Neverland, swirling around the Jewel and taunting them as they tried to leave.

Gods above, he never wanted to see that cursed island or its demon king masquerading as a bloody child ever again.

Killian didn’t realize that the rope had loosened until he was retching up the little water they’d allowed him the last time they’d come for Liam, coughing and sputtering as he sagged limply against the chains around his chest.

“You know, if you two had just been good little sailors, none of this would have happened,” Blackbeard taunted when Killian finally got his breathing somewhat under control.  “All you had to do was what the King commanded and he never would have had to employ me to do his bidding.”

Dreamshade.

Blackbeard had that godsforsaken plant and he was… gods, was he poisoning Liam?

Killian wanted to laugh at himself; he’d known that, of course he had.  That was the only explanation for everything he could see in front of his face.  He’d managed to stop Liam from testing that bloody plant on himself, the two of them watching in muted horror as one of the wild beasts that roamed the island seized and died in moments.

Liam had lasted two days already; they must be-

“Of course,” Blackbeard continued as if Killian’s world wasn’t shattering beneath his shackled feet, “we’ve only got a finite supply, so we can’t do your brother a mercy.  You understand.”

An icy tendril of sick fear shot through Killian.  It would be merciful for the poison to have ended Liam’s life quickly, not to leave him languishing in whatever state he was in.  But for the love of everything sacred in this realm and the rest, Killian was selfish enough to be glad that Blackbeard was being stingy with the dreamshade.

He nearly dry heaved at the realization; he would rather watch his brother suffer just to know he wasn't alone.

“The king is, shall we say, vindictive.”  Blackbeard strutted around to loom over him.  There was a nasty leer on his face that chased any thoughts but sheer dread from Killian’s mind.  Whatever came out of the cur’s mouth next, it was not going to go well for him.

Killian nearly laughed out loud again.  There might be something wrong with him, after all.

“Have you met my quartermaster?  He nearly was conscripted into the Navy when I scooped him up.  Might have even served with you if I hadn’t.  His name’s Noodler.”

As if he’d been summoned by magic, a squirrelly man sidled into the room with a rolled up bit of leather hugged to his chest.  The look on his face, Killian was sure, would haunt his nightmares far beyond the grave. He’d never seen that much sadistic glee written in someone’s features before and he prayed fervently that he never would again.

“Noodler’s not much of a sailor, I’ll admit,” Blackbeard threw over his shoulder without turning around.  “But he’s a very good asset in the galley.  He can fillet a fish, gut a boar, dress a game bird; whatever we need.  And he never wastes a bit of it.”

Killian didn’t need to see the tools that Noodler was drawing out of the leather packet.  He didn’t want to know what Blackbeard had planned for him next.  He began pulling at the ropes that bound his wrists to the chair arms.  He twisted in the chains wrapped around his chest.  He kicked out against the shackles around his ankles.  Killian may not have known what Noodler was going to do; he just knew that he had no intention of allowing it to happen.

Blackbeard just laughed, walking over to crouch down next to Liam before gripping his hair and lifting his limp head from the dusty old mattress they’d generously dropped him on earlier.  “Now, unless you’d rather I started with your brother, here, I’d stop trying to break my good chair.”

Killian stilled instantly.  Blood trickled from his wrists, leaving an itch in its wake that did nothing to tear his gaze away from Liam’s closed eyes.  “Leave him alone,” he hissed vehemently, nearly shaking with anger.

Liam’s head dropped unceremoniously back onto the cushion with an audible thump.

“Gladly,” Blackbeard agreed with a smile, sinking down to sit next to his head.  “You know, I’ve always liked your brother better than you. He has a more, I don’t know, a more likeable personality.  I’d hate to have to let Noodler loose on him.”

Too late, Killian realized he hadn’t been watching the other pirate.  Clammy, spindly fingers wrapped around Killian’s left wrist and Noodler leaned in close.  His breath was putrid and it took everything in him not to jolt backwards lest Blackbeard make good on his threat.

“Did you know that I lost my hands in a fight once?”  His voice was high and nasally, somehow all the more terrifying for how frightening he shouldn’t have been.  “The healer was drunk, though.  He saved them, but he made a bit of a mistake.”

Killian made the mistake of looking down, his breath rushing out of his lungs as he stared in horror - the man’s hands were on backwards.

“I like hands,” he crooned, stroking his fingers over the back of Killian’s hand.  The light touch of Noodler’s nails scratching over Killian’s skin sent shivers down his spine.  Killian’s palms were damp with sweat as he fought his own need to run, metaphorically if nothing else.

“Remember, Lieutenant, I always have your brother for Noodler’s fun.  I do have to let him off his leash once in awhile.”

Killian tried to glare at Blackbeard.  He tried to remember all his lessons under Silver’s more… creative punishments.  But as the little man began to work, Killian began to scream.

@killian-whump @gilliangrissom @gusenitsaa @pirate-owl @nothingimpossibleonlyimprobable @ladyciaramiggles @cocohook38 @nonnyj @queen-mabs-revenge @eala-captian @crystalyte @kmomof4 @killianmesmalls @whumptober2018