#like i feel like someone’s injected me with adrenaline and the canine need to rip something with my teeth but in a good and happy way

[calico-kiwi]

One reason me and one of my best friends are a good combo is because she’s a very visual person who relies on notes and presentations she can review in order for things to process/stick with her, and I’m someone who loves to fuck around in editing and presentation programs who’s obsessed with making fun and visually appealing (but also highly functional and informational) slide shows and graphics about my favorite things. So whenever I get her into something new or explain something I’m really into I get an excuse to make a presentation and she gets a functional explanation tailor suited to the best way she learns. a treat for both of us

[alisonembers]

Cogs and Queens (Eberron Fan Fic) - Week 9

Content Warning: Course Language, Depression, Assault.

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Google Drive Link for correctly formatted version with NSFW content: https://drive.google.com/file/d/18CWsnlyu_a3ZKcDc-oD6fWQyxn-L0nrt/view?usp=sharing

The glass fell around Mercury, a trail of blood following from behind, the bullet resting in their lower left hip. I knew something wasn’t right. No certificate to pardon me when the job was done. No way to confirm what Tal was doing was legit. I trusted him. They hit the deck of the airship with a loud thud, the planks of wood rattling Mercury to the bone.

“Get someone onto them!” one of the Veterans shout.

Mercury rolls over onto their stomach and begins crawling towards the stairs leading down below deck.

Multiple crewmates of the ship back away from Mercury, keeping a close eye on them, whispers from their lips directed at one another.

Mercury crawls down the stairs slowly, eventually hoisting themselves on the railing. They walk carefully, their legs wobbly, their back in intense pain. How am I going to get this fixed? They look around the deck as many men and women watch cautiously. Mercury hobbles towards some large crates marked with the Jorasco symbol, a family known for healing supplies operating in the upper city. They grip around the edges of the lid with their mechanical hand, ripping it off with a crunch. A single potion? It’s small, but it will help. They grip the small potion, and apply the liquid to the area of the wound. It sizzles as the skin slowly grows into place, and Mercury lets out a pained moan. They close their eyes as footsteps come towards them from behind.

“Mercury, you got out,” Tal says, shocked.

Mercury swings around, their canines showing with intimidation. “What the fuck was that, Tal!? You snitched on me!?”

Tal raises his hands. “It’s not what it looks like.”

Mercury steps towards them, their eyes narrow, their limp suppressed from adrenaline. “It very well fucking is what it looks like! Money too good, huh? Fuck me one night, fuck me over in the morning? Burn in hell!”

“Mercury, what did you expect me to do? Put my life on the line to try and save yours?”

“Yes, actually!” Mercury cries, tears forming at the corners of their eyes.

“Fuck! That ain’t the type of man I am.” Tal says, stepping back.

“Fucking clearly. Get a taste of sweet nostalgia, get paid for it, and dip,” Mercury says.

“Look. I’m sorry. You got away, right? I knew you would! When we get to the lower city, you can go back into hiding.”

Mercury grunts in pain as they feel their hip. They look at their mechanical hand, blood staining the silver. “Got away?” Mercury says, shaking the blood from their hand onto the floor.

Tal moves closer. “Let me get a look at that.”

Mercury whips their revolver from their holster, aiming it at Tal. “I think you’ve had enough time to look at me.”

“Mercury, please, don’t be like that,” Tal says, his hand slowly moving for his rifle slung around his back.

Mercury aims at Tal’s hand, and as they pull the trigger, Tal dodges to the side, the shot echoing through the deck.

He rotates his rifle around his torso into his hands, taking a shot at Mercury.

Mercury slides behinds a steel table, kicking it sideways, the bullet inside the wound throbbing. Fuck!

“Mercury, please! It doesn’t have to be like this!” Tal shouts, loading another bullet into his lever-action rifle.

“You’re a corporate shill! A fucking rat!” Mercury calls from behind the table. “You know what I think about men like you?”

“Mercury, if you were in my position, you would have given me up too. The money was too good,” Tal says.

“I’m starting to wonder if you ever really knew me!” Mercury slides out of cover on their right, fanning the hammer of their revolver three times.

Tal ducks behind a steel post, the clang of bullets ricocheting into the wood walls, floors, and roof around him. He ducks back out, taking two shots at Mercury as they run for another steel post.

Mercury cracks the revolver forward, loading new bullets to replace the expended ones. They slow their breathing, listening out for Tal. A creak comes from around the post, and Mercury ducks out, firing twice with both hands on the grip.

Tal dodges out of the way and grabs Mercury’s right wrist. With his more immense strength, he throws Mercury down, their revolver flying out of their hands.

As Mercury meets the ground, their wrist makes a loud snap, and the bullet lodged in their hip disturbs and opens the wound. Mercury lets out a sharp yelp, squirming on the floor pinned, their tail thrashing like an animal caught in a bear trap.

“Mercury. Stop. Please. I just broke your right wrist. If you plan on knowing what the sensation of touch is like for a while longer, I beg you to stop.” Tal rests his knee on Mercury’s stomach, pinning them down further.

Mercury launches their mechanical fist into Tal’s temple, knocking him sideways.

Tal rolls over, holding his forehead. “Mercury! Stop!”

Mercury looks at him, tears streaming down their cheek, blood soaking their coat. “I can’t believe you…” Mercury says, broken. “Kill me here. Now. Get it over with.”

“No,” Tal says.

“Coward,” Mercury says, sniffling.

Tal stands up and walks to a storage crate. “When the ship lands, I’m taking you to my sister. She’ll know how to fix your fleshy wrist.”

“I’d also appreciate this bullet getting out of my fucking hip,” Mercury says, their voice cracking.

“Glad I gave you that Whisky, Mousey,” he says, pulling out a brown cloak from the crate.

Mercury rolls their head to face the ceiling, water streaming to the floorboards beneath them, mixing with red. “I can’t fucking believe you ratted me out.”

“I’ll give you half the gold,” Tal says, wrapping the cloak around Mercury. He unloads the revolver and pockets the ammo. “Believe me, I’m sorry this happened.”

I don’t believe you for a second.

      V

 Tal carries Mercury through the house’s front door, the cloak hiding their identity. “Kal!” he calls out.

“What!?” a woman calls from another room.

“I have Mousey! They’re hurt!”

“Mousey!?” Kal calls out.

“Mercury is here!” Tal says.

A half-orc woman comes rushing from the room over, the same height as Tal. She pulls the hood of Mercury’s temporary cloak back, revealing their sad eyes and pale face. “What happened?” she asks, looking up at Tal.

“We got into a bit of a fight. I went a little far. They also got shot in the back from a guard.”

Kal takes Mercury into their arms, holding them like a child. “C’mere, honey.”

Mercury closes their eyes. I can’t fucking believe him. Kal begins to walk while carrying them, entering a room with a nicely made bed, expensive cabinets, and dragon-themed tapestry.

Kal takes them over to the bed, laying them down gently. They move across the room and begin sifting through a cabinet.

“Kal… He rat me out to the guard,” Mercury says, their voice shaky.

“He fucking what?” Kal asks, placing a beaker onto a metal tray.

“I trusted him like…”

“Like what?” Kal asks with frustration building in their voice, placing a syringe onto the metal tray with other alchemical liquids.

“I don’t know. He’s not like a brother… Fucked too many times as a teen for that. Last night too.”

“My asshole brother fucked you last night and then snitched?” Kal asks with a face of rage.

“Yeah,” Mercury says, closing their eyes.

“Tal! You asshole!” Kal yells. She mixes a blue liquid with a red one inside a beaker, creating purple bubbles that float to the top, yet the two mix like strands refusing to bond.

Tal walks in with a look of shame coated across his face. “Yeah, look, I know.”

Kal pulls out some fine thread and a needle. “You don’t do that to somebody, Tal! That’s fucking abusive and evil!”

“The guard offered me five hundred gold,” Tal says.

“Honestly, I’d akin it to assault!” Kal yells, pouring a yellow liquid into the beaker mix, making all the liquids bond together.

“When you put it like that…” Tal says, looking away.

“You look at me when you speak!” Kal says. “You don’t do that. If you had just sold them out without the sex the previous night to gain their compliance, I would have been disappointed. But I am beyond disappointed with you. How the fuck do you think Mercury feels knowing their life is worth five hundred gold to you?” Kal looks down at Mercury, their eyes streaming with water again.

Mercury clears their throat. “Can you tell Tal to leave the room?” they say in a low broken voice to Kal.

Kal nods. “Get out.”

Tal nods, leaving the room. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m going to roll you over so I can get a look at the wound, okay? Your wrist is going to hurt more while moving,” Kal says, threading the needle.

Mercury nods and rolls over with the assistance of Kal, their right wrist throbbing in pain.

“Well, it could be worse,” Kal says. “Stay still.”

Mercury feels something cold press into the wound. They shriek, feeling the bullet rip through the burnt flesh from the potion.

“Good…” Kal says. They begin threading the needle through Mercury’s wound, hearing them whimper, and she starts tightening the opening, sealing it shut. “Okay, I need you to roll over again, sweety.”

Mercury rolls onto their back again, their right wrist throbbing once more, feeling it in their elbow.

Kal places the end of the syringe into the beaker, drawing out a large amount of liquid. “I am going to inject this into your wrist. It will make it heal quickly,” they grab a large cylinder of cork. “Bite down on this. It’s going to hurt more than it did breaking.”

Mercury bites down on the cork, and as Kal slides the syringe into Mercury’s wrist, they scream loudly as tears continue to drop down their face. They grip the sheets tightly with their metal fingers, the motors whirring in each joint—their tail curls in the blanket, tighter and tighter. The world around them grows darker as their vision narrows onto a reflection above them on the roof. Their eyes shift color from a gray human iris to a deep void black. Whispers from an unknown origin begin to fill the room, and the lanterns nearby begin to flicker from an orange glow to a dim silver light.

 Everything was black.

“You’re not supposed to be here. Not yet, at least.”

 To be continued…