#slight zangst

[razzle-zazzle]

Whumptober Day 29: All work & no play

Overworked

1870 Words; Drafted AU

TW for abuse, bruising, and blood

“Again.”

Jay grumbled as he peeled himself off of the ground, doing his best to ignore the way his whole body felt like one giant bruise.

Apparently he was too slow in doing so, however, because as he was making his way back towards the beginning of the obstacle course Wu whacked his staff against the ground—a warning noise.

Jay moved a little faster.

He got back into the obstacle course, doing his best to come out with no more than three new bruises. Which wasn’t impossible—just extremely hard, as the sudden whack on his shoulder and subsequent throbbing proved.

It didn’t help at all that Jay’s balance was off, exhaustion from a poor night’s sleep and hunger from a halved dinner screwing his coordination ever so slightly. It was a little hard to jump right when his limbs still ached from sleeping in restraints, a little harder to react when hunger clawed at his stomach like a feral animal.

But that was Jay’s “punishment” for trying to build a cell phone, so it wasn’t like there was much he could do about it.

Best not to anger Wu further when the man was ticked off.

But despite the “full” breakfast Jay’d had, the exhaustion from the night before and the hours of training Jay had already been forced through today wore heavy on him, allowing Jay to get smacked directly across the face by one of the obstacles. The bar cracked across his nose, sending Jay flying back down to the ground.

Again.

Jay was pretty sure his nose was broken, but he was a little too dizzy to tell.

From where he was watching disdainfully, Wu hissed slightly.

“Again,” he demanded, staff whacking against the ground next to Jay, “Your punishment isn’t over yet, boy.”

Jay bristled, exhaustion-addled thoughts bubbling from his mouth before he could stop them. “Oh, fuck you.” He muttered, “And fuck your stupid training!” He pushed himself up, shoving himself to the side to narrowly avoid a smack from the staff, “In case you’ve forgotten, I never asked to be kidnapped and worked into the ground!” Jay was working up a good rant, now, which was never good for him, “So maybe consider fucking off—”

Wu ended Jay’s rant by simple dint of whacking him with his staff, resulting in blood trickling from Jay’s definitely broken nose.

Jay stumbled back, hands flying to his face at the pain, and Wu scoffed.

“You disobeyed the rules that I put in place.” Wu hissed, stepping forwards, “Now you have to suffer the consequences.”

Jay took another step back, the taste of copper on his lips.

“If you continue to be unruly,” Wu continued, “Then I shall simply have to drag you out into the woods for ‘element training’. Is that what you want?”

Jay winced. He’d been punished that way, once, and Cole had been given that exact punishment four times already, so Jay knew pretty much exactly what “element training” was like.

He didn’t exactly relish spending a night in the woods, the prospect of escape tantalizing him but for the binding curse coiled around his wrists.

Wu continued to glare at Jay.

Right. Jay grimaced, hatred in his eyes and blood dripping from his chin, teeth grinding together.

“I’m sorry, Sensei.” Jay conceded, trying to reduce the man to ashes with his gaze.

Wu was proving to be immune to looks like that, though.

Wu considered Jay’s half-hearted apology for a moment. He nodded, then pointed his staff towards the beginning of the obstacle course.

“Again.”

+=+=+=+=+

Zane scrubbed the pot carefully, making sure not to miss a single spot.

Wu didn’t actually care how meticulous Zane was, if it didn’t get in the way of training. But there was something soothing to be found in mindless, meticulous busiwork, Zane had found, so he scrubbed away while the obstacle course ran outside.

Besides, focusing on the task at hand made for a great distraction from all of the worrying noises outside.

When Wu was finally done driving Jay into the ground and let the teen inventor back inside, Zane would be there with the first aid kit.

If Wu allowed Jay to sleep in the boys’ shared bedroom tonight, then Zane would be there as well, with a shoulder to commiserate on and a listening ear.

It was a shame Jay’s half-built phone had been found. It could have provided the others with the opportunity to at least talk to their parents, if not see them.

Zane frowned, setting the now-clean pot to the side.

When Wu had first brought him here, Zane had thought—

It had seemed entirely beneficial, at first. Guaranteed shelter, meals, and some other people his age—and all for the price of learning what Wu wanted to teach him and doing the occasional chore.

But that had all been a lie.

The binding curses the three of them bore was proof enough of that.

Zane shuddered, memories of late nights patching up scrapes and bruises; of that trembling, shaking fear that clawed at his chest; of cold restraints and trembling hands and harsh commands demanding that he do the course again—

The shattering of the plate Zane had dropped shook him from his panic.

Right. Zane winced.

He kneeled down, gingerly picking up the bigger pieces, setting them aside on the counter to throw away later. Zane then retrieved a dustpan to collect the smaller shards, throwing them away immediately.

That done, Zane returned to the dishes, picking up a glass to wash out.

The situation wasn’t all bad, though, Zane reflected—for all that Wu was the very definition of awful, Cole and Jay were incredible and perfect and Zane refused to imagine a life not knowing them. Couldn’t imagine going back to a life of wandering aimlessly, without any knowledge of the particular curve of Cole’s smile, how Jay’s eyes twinkled when he got an idea—

If they ever got out of this, if Wu ever let them go (or if they ever managed to force Wu to let them go, which didn’t seem likely), then Zane would at least have two new brothers from the experience.

Another thud sounded from outside, muffled by the walls but heard nonetheless.

Zane’s grip tightened around the sponge.

Maybe he should give Cole’s idea to poison Wu some more thought.

+=+=+=+=+

When Jay finally stumbled back inside, covered in bruises and bleeding at two points on his arm, it was to Zane setting the table, pink apron on as he got the table ready—dinner must be almost done, which only served to remind Jay that he’d missed lunch.

Jay sent a pleading look Wu’s way.

Wu sighed. “Zane.”

Zane set down the utensils, “Yes?”

“Clean up your brother’s wounds. We can’t have him bleeding at the dinner table.”

Zane nodded. “Yes Sensei.” He took only a moment to remove his apron, hanging it on a hook on the hallway wall, before taking Jay’s hand and leading him to the bathroom.

Jay followed along, limping only slightly as he went.

The moment the bathroom door clicked shut behind them, Jay let himself lean against the counter, wince-sighing heavily.

Zane pulled out the first aid kit. “Do you need help removing your shirt?”

“No, no,” Jay waved his hand dismissively, already moving to take it off, “But I will need a change of clothes,” He said, pulling his shirt over his head with a wince, “Since this one spent a lot of time rolling against the ground.” He tossed it to the floor, “And also I bled on it.”

“I can see that,” Zane nodded, moving to assess Jay’s bruises. After a moment of that, with Zane’s frown increasing the longer he looked, Zane moved to the sink, grabbing a washcloth and wetting it.

Zane reached towards the dried blood down Jay’s face, “Let’s start by getting you cleaned up.”

Jay nodded, tilting his head back a little to make it easier.

Once the dried blood was gone, Zane moved to the cuts on Jay’s arm, carefully cleaning them before applying bandages. Jay winced when Zane pressed a little too hard on a nearby bruise, but otherwise waited patiently as Zane worked.

Zane then moved onto Jay’s bruises, gently cleaning them with soft, tender motions in order to avoid causing Jay anymore pain.

Jay still winced occasionally, the black and blue and violet spread across his torso sore enough that even the most gentle touch stung.

Eventually, Zane had done the most that he could with the supplies he had, and said so.

“Alright,” Jay said, moving to shuck off his pants—his legs hadn’t gotten out unscathed—as Zane left the room to grab Jay clean clothes.

Now alone, Jay grabbed the medical supplies and moved to take care of the injuries on his legs.

Seeing all the damage laid out bare like this, all of the bruising across his chest and legs, the faint scars from past punishments underneath—

It made Jay’s stomach turn.

It made something vile coil up in his gut, vitriol that had no outlet but for hateful words and aggression in the training yard.

Today, though, that vitriol was tempered by the exhaustion weighing heavy on his bones, heavy chains that slowed him down.

Yeah, dinner and a bed was starting to sound really good right now.

And Cole would return tomorrow, if Jay had counted the days right. Tomorrow morning, before his binding curse could activate.

That didn’t mean the situation didn’t suck, though. Didn’t make the twinges of pain shooting through his body as he stood and changed into the clothes Zane had passed to him less painful, nor did it make the ache in his very soul any less… achey.

But it did soften the blow, just a bit.

And that was probably all Jay was going to be getting for now.

+=+=+=+=+

Dinner was, as usual, a quiet affair.

Maybe it was the exhaustion speaking, but Jay was pretty sure the tension was actually down a few notches. Zane still looked everywhere but at Wu, but without Cole glaring and Jay making terse remarks it was almost… normal.

Jay scoffed quietly. Like the bastard across the table fit any definition of normal.

Besides, Jay’s aches and bruises sort of spoiled that illusion.

He couldn’t wait to sleep in an actual bed.

+=+=+=+=+

Once dinner was over with and dishes put away, Jay moved to follow Zane to the bedroom, only to be stopped by a hand around his arm.

“Uh, Wu?” Jay laughed nervously, “I’m pretty sure it’s lights out.”

Wu nodded. “It is.” He yanked Jay in the other direction, though. “But your backtalk earlier today earned you one more night downstairs.”

Jay froze.

Wu continued to drag Jay along, grip as iron-tight as ever.

Wu opened the door down to the basement, shoving Jay forwards.

Jay barely managed to catch himself before he fell all the way down the stairs, looking up at Wu frantically.

“There is a cot with a blanket in the corner.” Wu said. “You can sleep there, or you can sleep on the floor.”

The man turned around, closing the door behind him, but not before getting in one last word.

“It’s your choice.”

[haha-ninja-go-brr]

weyo? ronnie working on a fic?

its more likely than u would think

Zangst fic sneak peak

Zane slams the door of the bathroom behind him, finding himself breathing heavily despite his nindroid body. He tries to collect himself, his mind foggy and full of unfamiliar sounds.

He approaches the sink, and looks at his reflection in the mirror, a thin layer of frost creeping onto the edges of the glass, leaving his reflection silhouetted by it.

Zane stares into his own icy blue eyes, glowing softly. He looks at the ice covering his hands, the way it crawls up his arms and leaves him stiff. Zane has never felt any fear of his ice, yet as he watches the ice slowly move up to encase his entire lower arm, he can’t help but feel slight alarm.

He tries to shake it off by looking back at his own face, but to his surprise, his reflection is looking away from him, as if it were alive.

He’s even more surprised when it speaks to him.

“Do you blame yourself?” His voice says from the mirror.

“What?” Zane’s mind is reeling, the indistinct sounds he’s been haunted by all day growing a little clearer, but not enough to discern.

“It is common in this situation for patients to feel a kind of.. guilt.” The sounds get louder with every word spoken by his reflection, and his vision changes to scanning mode without his input. Static pulses and flickers as he tries to make sense of what is happening, his reflection morphing slowly.

As the sounds grow clearer, he responds. “Guilt? What situation?”

Zane can hear them perfectly now, the sounds he tried desperately to push to the farthest reaches of his memory. The sounds of those from the Never-Realm. As he hears the roar of his dragon, his mind races with memories of his arrival in the realm, getting the mech to safety, recording his message, and attempting to reboot the mech. The voice of Vex echoes in his mind, telling him of his role as the true ruler of the realm.

As his vision clears, he looks once again to his reflection.

Staring back at him is the Ice Emperor, and he speaks to Zane.

“The accident.”

[fanfictsbehereyall]

Hey y'all, did anyone order zangst with a side of slight blizzardshipping? No, just me? Oh okay that's cool. Not gonna lie, but if your here for the shipping you'll have to look hard to see it.