Morning Coffee And Sweet Surprises (Closed to Poprockz)

[Drobabes]

Francis took his sweet ass time getting what he needed to take down to the cells. It hadn't been that long since breakfast, but he thought it probably best to start giving Sayori more than three meals a day. He could always cover for the extra meals being for Kuznet, as most people simply assumed he ate proportionate to his size. However, he oddly ate very little. Certainly more than average, but never as much as one would expect to keep that huge body ticking. In the thirty two years that Francis had known the man, he had barely ever seen him truly ravenous.

He paused for a moment, having been reaching out to grab from the bin of clothes that Ray had left for Sayori. Had it really been that long already? So many years, and yet it felt as if the progress that him and Quint had made was so little.

Shaking it off, he stuffed his suitcase with carefully folded up shirts and soft sweatpants, choosing for warmth over looks, although they were all very childish in appearance, with bright colors and cartoonish character prints.

The next stop he made was by the cafeteria, grabbing enough spaghetti and steamed sweet potatoes to feed at least six people. The tupperwares were stacked into a cloth bag, and then he made his way down to the cells.

Taking the elevator-cause fuck 'not wasting energy', his goddamn feet were killing him, he took a moment to put another dose into Sabastian's food, ensuring that the little zombie would stay weak. And once the elevator dinged, he began his slow stroll through the hall, whistling some no rhythm tune as he opened the door leading to the cells. To his surprise, Niles was standing before one of the cells with a stray zombie, taking some kind of notes.

"Niles!" he said cheerfully, and perhaps, just a bit too loudly.

"My little buddy. How's the leg? I see you got the cast off."

The dark skinned man completely ignored him, continuing to write his notes.

"Aw, you're not still mad at me about your role in my comic, are you?"

"Fran. Finish your duties. We have work to do later, and I'll be damned if I let your lazy ass get me behind again."

Francis felt his brow twitch, ever so slightly, and he wished he had been there to see it when Quint finally put him in his place.

"Ooh, yes sir!" he yelled, giving a mock salute before picking the briefcase back up and strolling on by to Sayori's cell.

Nile's dark eyes looked up from the notepad, slowly roaming over to watch him as he left.

 

[Poprockz]

"Niles!"

Sayori jumped at the name, ducking behind the concrete a little and looking apprehensively out the glass wall. Niles wasn't visible from where she was, but she imagined if she got close to the glass, she could see him down the hall. Despite Kuznet's "assurance," she would never not be afraid of Niles. After all, he didn't seem like the type of man who thought everything through all the time. He seemed a bit temperamental, and she wouldn't put it past him to pretend to be moving her, only to take her to some hidden place so he could take out his frustrations on her.

The blonde looked confused for a moment. "Who is Niles?" Based on her reaction, she was terrified of the man, though he couldn't imagine him being worse than Kuznet.

"He is an officer like Francisco or Jonathan. In the past he did some... unsavory things to me before General Kuznet decided to claim me. The general said that Niles wouldn't hurt me now, but the general isn't omnipotent- I just can't help being afraid of Niles." She looked a bit ashamed, remembering when he had made her cum. That disgusting man would have been better off staying in the hospital.

"Hm..." Sabastian got up and went to the glass, looking down the hallway to see the officer from before talking to another officer in front of one of the cells. He was dark-skinned and had an almost robotic demeanor. It made the name "robo boy" click for him, wondering if this was who they were referring to earlier.

"Don't look at him!" Sayori hissed from in the cell, not wanting him to catch the man's attention.

Sabastian turned to look at her before retreating as she had asked, glancing back to see Francisco arrive at the door of the cell.

 

[Drobabes]

Francis opened the door and stepped through, sitting the briefcase and bag of food down on Sayori's bed before glancing over his shoulder at her.

"Are you hungry Ms. Sayori?"

He pulled Sabastian's container out first, setting it aside, then he pulled out another container for Sayori before turning around and offering it to her. He hoped the food would be enough to distract her from Niles for a moment until the brat finished his duties and moved on.

"Sabastian," he said, glancing over at him briefly before grabbing the little blonds container and handing it over.

"What we're you doing a moment ago? Trying to flip the cameras off? As much as I don't blame you, your aim is terrible."

While the two of them ate their food, or if they simply chose to hold it, Francis turned back to the suitcase and popped it open, taking out the clothes and setting them down near Sayori's pillow.

 

[Poprockz]

She had looked a bit nervous, but Francisco's presence made her feel safer. There wasn't anything Niles could do while he was around, so she let out a little breath and walked over to her bed and sat down. "Yes, I'm very hungry actually, so your timing couldn't have been better." She picked up the container and opened it, her mouth watering at the smell of the spaghetti and sweet potatoes. The woman wasted no time in digging into her food, putting a plastic spork into the noodles and taking a bite.

Sabastian accepted his food as well, popping open the lid and taking a whiff. God it smelled good. He hadn't had a meal like this since they were at the last base. There was a possibility that they had done something to it, but there wasn't much he could do about it. Besides, he was hungry too having not eaten anything yet that day. Grabbing his own spork, he took a spoonful of it and sighed. Though Francisco's next comment made him look up in surprise, then look over to his cell. As the officer had said, there were cameras up there that he hadn't noticed.

He would have to be more careful next time, not wanting them to find out about his own and Quint's secret phone line. Stabbing some noodles rather aggressively, he scowled and said, "no, I was taking a nap and having the most annoying dream about some ungrateful little fuckface who can't control his temper. I just woke up sitting up like that." The noodles were brought to his mouth and he chewed irritably.

Sayori giggled and let her eyes wander as she continued to eat. They rested on the clothes he was bringing out, making a slightly reluctant face. She didn't want to wear those clothes, all of them looking a bit too immature for her own taste.

 

[Drobabes]

"no, I was taking a nap and having the most annoying dream about some ungrateful little fuckface who can't control his temper."

Francis stared at him for just a brief moment, pausing as he was pulling out a pair of pink socks, but then he dropped the socks as he let go with a loud laugh, his hand going down to slap his knee. He got it under control just as quickly as it had come, but he still had to reach up and wipe a tear from the corner of his eye.

"Oh shit," he said, looking back to the clothes and pulling the last of them out.

"So tell me, did this 'ungrateful fuckface' flip you the bird first, or did he just pick a nickname that doesn't suit you? Actually, no, don't tell me. I'll just ask him when I take him dinner."

Francis was now sporting an easy smile, moving two more containers of food out of the bag and setting them down on the bed before reaching over and shutting the suitcase. When he looked up, he saw the look Sayori was giving the clothes, although he imagined she would give in and wear them soon enough. It was really cold down here; she had to be freezing wearing nothing more than that nightgown of a sweater.

 

[Poprockz]

Francisco was right, Sayori was very chilly. She had only been in the birdcage for a couple days, but that room was even temperature-controlled to be comfortable; the cells here were just plain cold. Her feet were freezing, so she definitely planned on wearing the pink socks and maybe a pair of sweats under her current gown. It would be super nice to be wearing a pair of pants again. As it was, she just felt a little exposed walking around in her gown with no underwear on. Speaking of, it didn't seem like Kuznet had thought to give her underwear or a bra this time either, much to her disappointment.

Sayori didn't know why Fran found the little blonde's story so funny, but she loved the sound of his laugh. The girl simply smiled and continued eating until he asked his question. That threw her off a bit. It was a dream, wasn't it? How would he take that "ungrateful little fuckface" dinner later? The only people she knew of that he took dinner to were other prisoners and... He eyes widened, wondering if Sabastian was somehow communicating with Quint. It seemed impossible, but of course she didn't know about all of their abilities.

The laughing caught Sabastian off-guard, the little man wondering what the fuck was so funny about that? Sure, it might have been chuckle-worthy, but not worthy of such an uproarious laugh. He was just taking another bite of spaghetti when Francisco asked whether Quint had flipped him off first. The little man choked on a noodle in surprise and started coughing, eventually dislodging the dangerous pasta.

How the fuck did they know they could communicate like that? Had Quint done it before, or were they making an assumption based on the fact that they could sense other zombies? Either way, it was still possible that they weren't sure, so he wasn't going to be spilling the beans if he could help it. When he recovered, tried to put on an easy-going air, "well alrighty then. While you're at it, taking dinners to people who aren't real, maybe you could give Santa Clause a ring and tell him that all I want for Christmas is for that "Silence of the Lambs" motherfucker to burn all the pictures he has of me, for Arnold to let me the fuck go, and for a poster of Brad Pitt in a speedo."

Sayori couldn't help but giggle at the image, though she wondered who he was referring to in regards to the pictures. Speaking of holidays though... "Hey Sabastian, what day is it? I've lost track."

He looked over at her and thought for a moment. "It's August 16th, why?"

She looked a little bit pleased as well as a tiny bit sad. "Oh, I was just curious. It's my... sister's birthday tomorrow." Tomorrow was actually Sayori's birthday. It was a pity that she would be spending it here underground, but at least she would have another friend to talk to, and that was a good enough present for her.

 

[Drobabes]

"While you're at it, taking dinners to people who aren't real, maybe you could give Santa Clause a ring and tell him that all I want for Christmas is for that "Silence of the Lambs" motherfucker to burn all the pictures he has of me"

Francis laughed again. Not as hardily as he had just a moment ago, but still seemingly quite amused. He then looked over to Sayori as he pointed a finger at Sabastian.

"I like this one. I think Quint's got some competition on the nicknames board."

Letting his hand fall down, Francisco then looked down at Sabastian as his face took on a more serious expression, though a small smile still remained on his lips.

So he thought that they didn't know, did he? Well now, this was a great opportunity here. The General had asked him to try and gather information on what they may have been communicating about, therefore, Francisco could divulge certain information to get information. Infact, he could divulge enough information to show the little blond just how far up shit creek without a paddle he was, and hopefully, with Quint's help, they could give Kuznet the run around.

Taking a step forward, Francis reached out and put a hand on Sabastian's shoulder as he simultaneously bent down a bit. Not to get on his level, but to intimidate him by invading his personal space.

"You seem to think that we know nothing about you Sabastian, but that couldn't be farther from the truth"

He spoke quietly, his voice dropping down to be much less cheery. He had to sell this right, not only because he was being watched, but because he also wanted to warn Sabastian about who else was in danger here.

"We've been watching you for quite some time. And not only you, but your friends as well. Cora, Damien, and what was his name? Delvin?"

He paused there, letting that one sink in for a moment before he continued.

"It's very interesting what you can learn about people when they think no one's looking. When they think no one's listening... So go on Sabastian. Lie to my face again. I don't mind. Oh, but, you know who does?"

His got just a bit closer, his eyes just a bit more serious as he glared down at him.

"That's right, General Kuznet. I think he would be very disappointed in you if you tried to treat him like he was stupid. So disappointed, infact, that he might just bring that hansom guitar player of yours in. I bet it would be a piece of cake to do it too, like throwing puppies over a bridge."

He stood back up then, giving him a quick pat on his head before turning away to pick up the bag of food and his suitcase. He then turned to Sayori, and, acting as if he hadn't just acted like one scary mother fucker, he gave her a warm smile and said "you enjoy the rest of your evening Ms. Sayori", before heading out and locking the door behind him.

 

[Poprockz]

Sayori giggled again and nodded, "I think you're right." She didn't know who they were talking about, but the nickname was still a funny one, though in practice it wasn't as catchy as "Robo-Cop" and "London Bridge."

The blonde thought the conversation was over, so he had focused back on his spaghetti. He was about halfway through his meal and he was starting to feel a bit tired and weak again, presumably because they laced his food with something. It didn't matter; he wasn't going to try to escape unless he got a good opportunity anyway.

He noticed a shadow falling over him, looking up to see the officer leaning in close. Sabastian leaned back a bit, feeling uncomfortable with how the officer was now in his personal bubble.

"You seem to think that we know nothing about you Sabastian, but that couldn't be farther from the truth...and what was his name? Delvin?"

Sabastian's face paled, that certainly catching his attention. So they'd been watching them for a while now, gathering information and keeping tabs on them. They had to have listened in to some things to know their names as well, so who knew how much they knew at this point.

He leaned back a bit more when Francisco advanced, swallowing hard as he continued. The man had seemed all fun and games earlier, but he could intimidating at the drop of a hat, and Sabastian counted himself intimidated.

"So disappointed, infact, that he might just bring that hansom guitar player of yours in. I bet it would be a piece of cake to do it, like throwing puppies over a bridge."

His mouth opened and closed, the little blonde shocked and horrified by what Francisco had just said to him. The message was clear: lie to us again and your friends will pay the price too, especially the one you still love. The man's wide eyes watched Francisco pat him on the head and turn away, the cogs still working in his head regarding what the fuck just happened. Sabastian had left them because he loved them and wanted to protect them, and yet he was being told that his actions could directly affect them here. Was there no escape from causing trouble for his friends? He was too shocked to answer Francisco or to do anything as he walked away.

Meanwhile, Sayori had watched, not liking how scary Francisco was being. He was kind to her so she often forgot that he was "one of the bad guys," but every now and then she would be reminded in some way. Still... in some ways he was all she had. If Quint never came back, or if Sabastian was taken away, only Francisco would still be there for her. For that reason, she didn't think she could ever turn away from him.

She gave Francisco a an uncomfortable little smile and nodded, "thank you. You too." Once he was gone, they sat there in silence, Sayori glancing at the stunned Sabastian every now and then. When the silence became too much, she turned and looked through the clothes, picking out a bright pink pair of sweats with light blue hearts on it, a light blue shirt, and a pair of pink socks. Walking over to the other cell, she changed quickly before coming back and sitting cross-legged on the bed, her nipples poking slightly into the fabric.

"Sabastian?"

He snapped out of his daze and looked at her worriedly, "What? Oh, sorry. Did you want something?"

She looked at him for a moment before fiddling with her thumbs. "Are you okay?"

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, "I... Don't know."

 

[Drobabes]

It took him a bit to get down to Quint's cell, having had to walk through the lab and past Sayori's new room, but he finally did. It wasn't dinner time yet, nor was it even close to lunch, but Quint had always had a good appetite and Francis could just check this off the list of 'gathering info'.

He sat the bags down, unhooked the simple lock on the door-a safety measure for if the power ever got cut and they needed to get Quint out quickly, and then he stepped inside. Immediately he saw that Quint was still brooding, sitting on his chair and facing away from the door. He didn't even budge when Francis came in.

"Honey, I'm home! And I brought dinner!"

"Fuck off."

Despite his efforts to 'kick Sabastian out', he had still felt an overwhelming spike of fear a few moments ago, and he was trying to calm himself down from that. He did not need Fran's humour right now.

"Are you still angry with the little blond?"

Quint shrugged his shoulders, not giving him the time of day.

"What did he say to you anyway? I haven't seen you this mad since you caught that asshole cheating on your sister. What was his name? Billy? Dilly?"

"Dillion. And you better watch it, Fran, the link works both ways."

Quint finally turned around then, getting up and dragging his chains across the floor to snatch a container of spaghetti.

"Whatever you just said to him up there came in loud and clear on my end. At least the feeling of it."

Francis shrugged, dragging over a seat to sit down.

"I just gave him a little heads up to what he's up against. So what did he tell you to piss you off so bad, anyway?"

Quint looked down at him, his blue eyes burning fire as he ate his food. Francis simply waited for him to finish, knowing he wouldn't get a peep out of him until he was done. Once he was, he sat the container down and belched loudly, then used his shirt to wipe the grease off his face.

"Damnit Quint, don't do that! You know I have to do your goddamn laundry!"

"She loves him."

"Who?"

"That fucking rapist. She fucking fell in love with him."

Francis went quiet, looking up into his eyes. He didn't say a word, but he didn't need to. Quint could see it in his face that he wasn't going to say anything that he wanted to hear, so he turned away from him. After a moment, Francis sighed and reached into his pocket, pulling out his little notepad to show Quint the latest 'comic' in his 'series'.

"Are we still on for poker later? Johnny's in, but I get the feeling he's not going to hold back tonight. He really wants that coin."

"Not tonight Fran. Even if I wasn't tempted to break out of here just to break every vertebrae in that grey eyed motherfuckers back, tonight's going to be shit."

"Quinton, I told you not to cut it off agai-"

"I know!" Quint yelled, tossing the little notepad back at him and turning his back on him.

Francis glared at him, and when he didn't immediately hear anything, Quint looked over his shoulder and saw the disapproving scowl. Immediately he felt guilty, so he softened his tone and turned back around to face him.

"I know you did."

The older man stood then and walked over to him, pulling him in close for a tight hug. Quint had seen it coming, so he tried to fill his thoughts with music, metal to be specific, so that Sabastian hopefully wouldn't feel the aching pain in his heart as he returned that hug.

Francis stepped back, giving him a sad smile and a pat on the shoulder.

"Eat some more. You're going to need the calories."

Quint nodded, trying hard not think about the visit that Kuznet would be paying him this evening, after Francis left. The General had found all knew ways to play with him, now that his body could handle so much more.

 

[Poprockz]

It was quiet for a few more minutes before Sabastian sighed and got up, going to the bed to sit next to her. He sat up against the wall and leaned his head back, turning it to look at her. "So how'd you end up in this shithole, anyway?"

She sat the sweet potato she was eating down and swallowed, wondering where to start. "Well... the army took me here as a survivor from one of the neighboring towns. I was there for a work event. General Kuznet wanted me to come to his office for a general medical check since my ankle was sprained. He had a picture of... Damien on his desk and I recognized it. He asked me to confide in him." Sayori sighed, regret in her eyes.

"He was so kind and charming that I didn't even think that he was truly a sadistic man. I confided in him and he had Niles take me to the medical bay, though I didn't know until too late that it was really this prison they were taking me to. Niles... whipped me, chained me to a bed, then had two men..." She had to stop for a moment, her eyes fogging up at the memory.

A look of horror and disgust came onto Sabastian's face at what she was implying. He could imagine how awful that was for her, and he wished she hadn't had to go through something like that. A quiet anger burned within him, though he felt like Quint was still radiating that heat.

"After that, I was put in this cell and Quint cleaned me up after they dumped me on the floor." She smiled, remembering how she had first seen Quint through the bars after he had bumped his head on the ceiling. "He talked to me, kept me going, and became a friend to me. Officer Niles was the one we saw most, and he ended up taking advantage of me before conducting an experiment on me. He... burned my shoulder, cut me deeply, and snipped off part of my finger." She held up her pinky, now completely healed except for the very tip. The bone was all there, it was just some of her skin that hadn't been allowed to regrow.

"They used Quint's gel to heal me and regrow my finger. One night I woke up to find Niles on top of me. I tried to warn Quint not to do anything since he would be punished, but he came in and hurt the officer badly. Kuznet was there, and he took Officer Niles after Quint had been talked down. They took him away because of that, and I haven't seen Officer Niles before today since then. I think that's around the time General Kuznet started visiting me. I'm not sure why he took an interest, but he eventually claimed that I was his now." Sayori was quiet for a moment, remembering the first time he had whispered that into her ear, how frightened she was to be on his lap.

Sabastian nodded, still horrified by what she was telling him, but wanting to keep listening. An aching pain was felt in his heart, and he couldn't tell whether it was his own or Quint's. He would probably end up asking more questions later, but he had gotten his suspicion answered about the general. "So he's forcing you to sleep with him?" He asked quietly.

She hesitated, then shook her head, "not exactly. He... hasn't actually done anything with me. The most he ever did was touch my breast once, which was very brief. Other than that, he just... keeps me. I have spent the last few days in a room further down. It's much nicer than the cells, but it's very lonely. Without Officer Francisco, I think I would be a lot more unhappy." The girl shrank a bit and her voice lowered. "The general scares me more than any of them, I'm sure you can see why. The bruise you see on my face was from when he was irritated with something I had done. I was afraid he would break my jaw. He has such a calm demeanor, but he can become angry so easily and sometimes it's hard to know what will anger him. He says that I am to be his pet until he brings Cora back."

At that last comment, Sabastian grits his teeth. He didn't want to think about that bastard getting ahold of any of his friends, nor what he would do to them if he did. This was all so fucked up, and he was confused about several parts of it, but it had been a long day, and he wasn't sure how much he could take.

 

[Drobabes]

It had been a few hours since Fran had visited with the food, and although he was still angry, Quint had calmed down enough to finally acknowledge that he wasn't really angry with Sabastian. There were many things to be angry about, but the man on the other end of the link had simply been trying to help, or at the very least, answer him.

Quint took a quick shower, keeping his eyes open the whole time, and after he had dried off and mopped up a bit, he went to sit on the bed again. With a small sigh, he crossed his legs, put his hands in his lap, and then closed his eyes. Once again, he tried to tentatively reach out, though this time, he kept repeating a word through his mind.

Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.

He didn't know how many times he would have to repeat it to get the message across, so he stopped after the third time, not wanting to come across as begging for forgiveness or anything. And just as a little follow up, he thought about Cora's face while letting his worry for her take over his emotions for a moment.

 

[Poprockz]

Sayor had been teaching Sabastian how to fold a flower after unfolding a couple of the flowers that were still in the room. Honestly, Sabastian found Sayori to be very easy to get along with. She was very bright and sweet. It made him want to protect her, though he knew that he would have a tough time protecting even himself in this place.

They were sitting in silence, folding when he felt like Quint was trying to speak with him. He closed his eyes for a moment and got the feeling like he was trying to apologize, the image of Cora coming to mind along with a surge of worry and concern. So he was basically saying sorry for blowing up, but that he had been very angry about what Sabastian had shared about her.

He smiled slightly, thinking to himself that Quint could still be an ass, but at least he apologized for it. Sabastian's irritation at the man washed away and all he felt was a sort of comradery. Concentrating, he brought up the memory of their party driving in the car with Vin playing the guitar. "Here comes a thought..." Cora's sweet voice being heard softly in the car. "And oh, you're losing sight, you're losing touch. All those little things, seem to matter so much..." The sound of his own voice joining hers as they sang together. He had wanted to simply share the sound of the memory, but the feelings came with it unfortunately.

Sabastian had been struggling with the fact that he was changed now, a zombie. He had felt lost and lonely, unable to let Vin get close to him, the thought of never finding someone looming over him. The fear of what he had become, how dangerous he might be and how that would affect his new friends. The fear that he mind lose himself to madness. At the same time, it was a bitter-sweet happiness. He had people that cared for him despite what he was, willing to stay by his side.

He had to shake his head and stop that memory before his thoughts wandered and he became more sad. He didn't want to bring Quint down so he simply focused on folding his flower.

 

[Drobabes]

He felt as if a tension had left his shoulders, not really realizing he had been bunching them up until the anger seemed to dissipate. The bit of comrade was a nice feeling to have, and one in which he so rarely indulged in. Much like his sister, he hardly ever let people get close to him. Only the difference between them had been that, while Cora feared the unknown, and the possibility, of losing her friends to a threat that -might- happen, Quint knew it would. So he had had only ever kept enough people close to him that he could count on one hand.

A sadness suddenly came over him, remembering that Brandon was gone now too. Sarah, and Brandon. Two of only four people that he had kept truly close. His eyes welled up with tears, and he brought the pillow to his chest, trying to simply breath through it, though it was hard. He soon found himself thinking of a song, Cory's favourite song, and it helped to calm him a bit.

Was that from Sabastian? He felt like he had let the link go slack there for a second as he was overcome with his own grief, so he tried to focus and pick it back up again. When he did, he felt a very strange feeling come over him, like fear, but very specific. Like...like...oh god, it was like when Kuznet tried to twist his thoughts with his games-when he tried to make him into something he wasn't.

What was that? Was the General with him right now? No, he didn't think he was. Quint would have thought the other man would be more scared. Still, his curiosity was peaked.

Sitting up a bit straighter, he tried to focus his thoughts into drawing a mental picture of a question mark. A big, blue, question mark. He then let that same strange feeling repeat through his mind, wanting to know what it had been.

As he waited for a 'reply' to his 'question', he thought about this knew, strange link, and how it almost seemed to come naturally in a way. It was like the fire, or the craving for liquor. Sure, he had always enjoyed partaking in the booze a bit before, but he had never craved it, and not in the way in which an alcoholic might. It was more like a craving for food, something that his knew body seemed to naturally want.

 

[Poprockz]

Sabastian seemed to get a confused response, a question without words. He got the image of a question mark, as though the other zombie was curious about that memory. Though the next moment it felt like Quint was echoing his mixed feelings.

So Quint wanted to know more about how he felt about being a zombie? Or was it just that he didn’t understand why he would feel that way?

He would have thought that Quint would understand, seeing as he was a zombie also, but maybe he wasn’t as self conscious as Sabastian and hadn’t had friends here he needed to protect from himself. The feelings themselves seemed pretty self explanatory, but he would try to expand on them. How to do so though... it wasn’t as though he could just explain. He could show Quint the memory of himself turning, but he didn’t want to disturb him like that, being that he had experienced some very intense emotions. He didn’t think he was ready to relive that either.

Sabastian thought for a minute and then chose a less horrific memory, but a terrible one, nonetheless.

“Mmm... I’m so happy, I could burst, Sabastian. What are the odds that we would both turn like this? It’s almost like fate.” He remembered the warm, slick feeling of his ear being licked, the sight of Margaret’s hungry violet eyes as her breasts squished against his chest.

“Get the fuck off me, ma’am, it’s not fate, and I’m nothing like you.” The feeling of struggling, but being unable to move due to being pinned down on the floor, along with the exhaustion of having just made it through the change. The sound of an amused laugh. He remembered the way she gripped his chin and kissed him, snaking her long tongue into his mouth and around his own tongue. Disgusting.

“Come here.” He had been picked up, led over to a mirror, standing there with Margaret’s face over his shoulder and her hands wrapped around each of his wrists. “You see that? Your eye? It’s purple, just like mine. You think you’re different just because you only have one? Don’t be naive, darling. It’s only a matter of time before you surrender to your new purpose. You’re just... like... me.” Her eyes had lustfully dragged down his body in the mirror, his own eyes wide at his first sight of the changed eye. Sabastian remembered his heart sinking, the fear that he would one day become like her. He felt one of the woman’s tentacles sliding up his chest while the other started to slip into his pants.

Sabastian shook his head violently, not wanting to share what else had happened with her. “So Sayori, is this how you do it?” He held out an almost lumpy-looking paper flower.

She smiled softly, “yes, that’s a good attempt. You seem distracted, are you... talking to Quint?” The woman seemed hopeful, wondering if maybe she would be able to talk to Quint through him or at least get updates on how he was.

He opened his mouth hesitantly and then sighed. They already knew, so it wasn’t like he had to hide it. “Yeah. He was apologizing for being a dick.”

 

[Drobabes]

Quint received a little more than he bargained for, though he wasn't really sure what he had been expecting in the first place. He couldn't see the pictures, at least not yet, but the feeling of being held down and exhausted was all too familiar. A sudden surge of anxiety shot through him, and he could all but feel the way his wrists were squeezed to the point of bruising. Or perhaps, that was just his memories coming up. Either way, he hated it, and he wanted to turn the link off but he didn't know how.

The next thing he knew, he was seeing something as if it were his own memory. A women with fully violet eyes, looking through a mirror back at him. No, not him, the little blond he had seen in the picture.

"You think you’re different just because you only have one? Don’t be naive, darling. It’s only a matter of time before you surrender to your new purpose."

The disgusting feeling of being violated followed that memory, before it was shut down with some force, making him flinch slightly.

For a moment, Quint simply sat there, breathing hard and trying not to let his own trauma leak out. He didn't think the blond had meant to share the trauma with him, and had been instead trying to show him what he was afraid of-of turning into...whatever that women had become. It was very difficult for a moment to keep his mind calm, as the feelings of that had wanted to dredge up his own memories of Kuznet whispering in his ear, trying to get Quint to admit finding pleasure in the suffering of another.

After a few minutes of careful and slow breathing, he finally calmed himself down enough to try and open the link up again. This time, though, he thought better of asking any more questions about painful subjects. While he couldn't say that he shared in the blonds fears of fully turning-as he had spent much of his life resisting a psychotic monster, he didn't want to be dismissive of it. If it was true that whatever had changed their bodies was similar to a parasite, than there could be a possibility there, that it might one day be able to take over the mind, although Quinton had his doubts.

In any case, he had another, albeit much safer question, for the the man.

Trying to focus, he thought about the link itself, what they were doing right now. With that in his mind, he imagined sharing pictures with someone, passing the pictures back and forth between hands. Once he felt like he had built up a pretty good mental image of that, he then thought of Kuznet.

He imagined Kuznet walking up to the two people passing pictures as one of his big paw hands reached out and tried to grab the pictures from them. Instead of letting him have the pictures, though, one of the people took the pictures, and then began to run in circles around Kuznet, keeping the photos just out of his reach-giving him the 'run around'.

As a little follow-up, Quint then imagined Kuznet's face becoming red as a tomato, his foot stomping on the ground in a childish tantrum, and steam beginning to blow out from his ears.

Of course, that was probably unnecessary to get his point across, but he thought it was funny.

 

[Poprockz]

"Oh." Sayori looked rather excited knowing that Quint was on the other end of Sabastian's feed. The next thing she knew, Sabastian had that far-off look in his eye and she curiously watched him. It was terribly interesting seeing how it was almost like he retreated into his mind to talk.

He had felt the sensation of his wrists being squeezed, wondering if that had come from Quint. He could feel that he had pulled back from him, and he hoped he hadn't been too disturbed by the contents of that memory. Waiting, he soon got a reply from Quint, the little blonde smiling slightly at the image he had received of keeping the photos away from the general.

It sounded like Quint was suggesting keeping the contents of their conversations private from Kuznet
or the other officers. However, he felt apprehensive about that suggestion. Concentrating, he imagined himself and Kuznet sitting at a table with a light shining down, a detective hat on Kuznet's head. He imagined him pointing at some down-turned pictures and Sabastian shaking his head no. He then imagined him sliding a photo of Cora, Damien, and Vin toward him and tapping the picture. Another picture followed, one of Sayori that was also tapped.

He figured Quint would get the message. His fear was that if Kuznet questioned him about their conversations and knew he was lying, he would punish his friends and Sayori for it. Concentrating hard, he sent the memory of Kuznet affectionately stroking her bruised face, grabbing her hair and pulling her head back as he whispered into her ear, her body shaking under that childish blue tunic. He was worried about hurting her more than she had already been hurt.

 

[Drobabes]

He found it a bit easier to get the pictures if he kept his eyes closed. Soon enough, he was getting the picture of Kuznet, pointing a finger at the downturned pictures, and then sliding the other's forward. Quint couldn't help but notice that Sabastian had included Damien amongst those pictures. Did the little blond count him amongst his friends? It irritated him, but perhaps Sabastian didn't know what he had done.

When the picture of Sayori was slid forward, he clenched his jaw, and then, when Sabastian concentrated and gave him that all too clear visual of the General gripping her hair, he felt his stomach flip and that same livid rage boil up in him. Of course, he already knew that Kuznet had claimed her as his own, but to actually see it almost set him off again. He couldn't help but remember the last time he had been with her, laying his arm around her waist and crying into the t-shirt he had given her...

Damnit, concentrate.

It had been hours, and no doubt Kuznet was likely very close to done with his duties for the day. He would have questions, about how the link worked, so Quint knew they needed to game plan what they were going to tell him and keep their stories the same. Letting his breath out on a little sigh, he let his eyes close again and started to imagine a picture for Sabastian.

He brought up the same image of Kuznet sitting there with a detective hat and the lamp, but instead of the downturned photos on the table, he imagined an empty glass. When Kuznet points to the glass, he imagines himself pulling out a jug of milk and filling the glass, but only filling it halfway full. He then tries to remember what Sabastian looks like, from the photo he had seen, and as he gets the image in his head, he sits him down at the table with his own empty glass. Once Kuznet points at Sabastian's glass, he has Sabastian pour milk into his own glass, also only pouring it halfway full.

Give him half the truth. Give him half the truth, enough to satisfy him.

 

[Poprockz]

He could feel annoyance and then anger from the other end at the mention of his friends and Sayori, no doubt Quint feeling protective of Cora and Sayori. It wasn't quite understood that part of that annoyance was directed at Damien being included. However, he waited for a response, closing his eyes and leaning his head back for a moment and sighing.

The next message he received was an image of Quint being questioned and filling up a glass halfway with milk, then Sabastian doing the same. Give him half? He was confused for a moment. Sabastian thought he might know what Quint was saying, but he wasn't quite sure how to give Kuznet half-truths, especially when he didn't know what Quint's answers were going to be. Ah well, he would have to try his best anyhow. His feeling of confusion changed to one of acceptance, the blonde opening his eyes to see Sayori looking at him curiously once more.

He smiled at her before closing his eyes again. If only Robert were here. That man seemed to be much more sensitive to the link, so much so that he suspected that given a bit of practice, he could probably send clear memories and images. Maybe he'd mention it to Quint. Focusing, he thought of Robert, the handsome redheaded Christian zombie with his cute, little wife. He focused on remembering the man's kind eyes, half full of violet.

 

[Drobabes]

He was surprised to see another person with slightly changed eyes, and he found the difference between all three of them interesting. However, he didn't feel like they had time to be shooting the shit right now. Perhaps later, but right now, he wanted to make sure they were clear with each other on what they were going to share. But how could he do that? First things first though...

He imagined a clock on the wall, it's arms ticking away. He kept that image there, and then he began to speed up the arms, making the clock tick faster and faster, as if time were passing more quickly. Once that was through, he thought of Kuznet, opening a door, and then tapping a watch on his wrist.

Time's up

The next thing he did was sit them back down at that table, and this time, he thought of the pictures. He also thought of himself as sitting next to Sabastian, each holding a picture in their hand, and when the General asks them to turn them over, he imagines Sabastian's picture is an orange, and his own picture is an apple. He then thinks about the General becoming angry and pointing his finger down onto the picture of Sayori. He then resets the image, facing the pictures down once more, and this time when the General asks them to flip the pictures over, they both have a picture of an orange.

Understand? Understand?

How the hell was he going to communicate with him what to share with him, though? It seemed that so far, all they could do was share pictures and feelings...pictures...

Suddenly it clicked, and, opening his eyes, he stood up from the bed and walked over to his small table. He had been able to look at his hand earlier and send him the picture of that, so he wondered...

He took the small bowl he had used before and poured some water into it once more. He then took it over to the floor and lifted a corner of the carpet up, revealing the concrete. Dipping his finger down into the water, he began to write on the concrete with just the moisture of the water.

Pictures.

Feelings.

He drew a line through 'pictures', essentially crossing it out, but next to 'feelings', he put a big check mark. He then stared hard at the image, trying to his best to concentrate and block out all the other thoughts from his mind, letting just that picture before him fill his thoughts.

 

[Poprockz]

He saw the clock, the arms speeding up. The man wasn't sure what it meant until he saw Kuznet tapping his wristwatch. It felt like Quint was trying to tell him that Kuznet was going to come by soon. Honestly, the thought of Kuznet coming by made him a bit apprehensive, but he tried to put that emotion to the side to focus more on what Quint was trying to say.

The image he received next was pretty straightforward. Basically, he was saying that Kuznet was going to be pissed if they told him different things, so they needed to get their stories straight, much like trying to get away with murder. Sabastian didn't know how they were going to do that though since it wasn't like Quint could whisper in his ear and coach him on what to say, nor could Sabastian tell Quint what he had disclosed. However, he felt like Quint was thinking hard about it, so he simply waited for an answer.

When he got it, he felt like Quint was trying to send an image. He let out a breath, keeping his eyes closed as he devoted all of his concentration to seeing what Quint wanted him to see. Feelings-checked, pictures-crossed out. Fuck! That was brilliant! It was true, the emotional connection between them was much stronger than anything else, which could be explained easily. His expression didn't change, but on the inside he felt excited that Quint had come up with such an intelligent solution.

Sayori cocked her head to the side. It sure was curious to watch, Sabastian looking like he was meditating there. She wondered what they were talking about.

 

[Drobabes]

Quint could feel the excitement radiating through their bond, and he smiled. Not only did he get the picture, but it almost felt good to have someone else who could share in the game with him; someone else who wanted to screw Kuznet over as well.

For a minute, he let the link go, turning to the bowl of water and using it to wipe away the wet spot he had made on the concrete, and then putting the carpet back. Now that they had a plan of attack, he felt a lot calmer. Although...now there was something else on his mind.

He needed to warn Sabastian. Sure, the little blond had been witness to something gruesome that Kuznet had done, but he hadn't been subjected to his games yet. That wouldn't last long, he knew, especially since the Sabastian had spent time with Cora.

He went and sat on his bed again, and then he closed his eyes. He was going to try to be gentle with this next message, but he still had to get his point across.

Taking a moment to think, he soon imagined a red flag, waving it back and forth in the air. He let that picture continue on for a moment, and then he imagined Sayori, Kuznet, and Sabastian in a room together. In Kuznet's hand, he imagined a little doll that was shaped like himself, and with this little doll, Kuznet was using it like a voodoo doll. The General poked a single needle through the dolls hand, and as he did so, Sabastians hand began to bleed. When Sayori saw that his hand was bleeding, she broke down in tears, falling to her knees and crying.

Quint took a deep breath in and let it out slowly, then focused as hard as he could. He first reset the scene, to just before the dolls hand was poked, and then he imagined Sabastian going over to Sayori and physically turning her around to that she was facing the opposite way. When Kuznet then poked the doll, and his hand bled, Sayori didn't see it, and therefore, she didn't cry.

He let a question linger in his thoughts after he let the image go.

Can you handle this?

 

[Poprockz]

He was about to open up his eyes when he got a red flag in his head. It seemed like this next part was important so he listened up, letting the images play out for him.

Hmm... he thought about the image Quint had just sent. He understood the part about Kuznet stabbing Quint and it also transferring to Sabastian as well, and he was pretty sure he got what he meant about Sayori. If Kuznet was doing something terrible to Quint to try to make him talk or as punishment for chewing his appendage off, Sayori would be alarmed and saddened if Sabastian gave her any indication of how painful it was or that he was feeling Quint’s pain. She would feel guilty and helpless, thinking she had basically done it to Quint. That sort of guilt and shame could eat away at a person, and she already had enough on her plate.

That second image though... he assumed Quint was simply telling him to conceal the pain and emotions from her, as there was no way to literally just turn her around. Though if they were lucky, she would retreat into his side of the cell while he and the general had their little chat, and that if when the general visited Quint, Sabastian could tell her that he needed to lay down for a bit.

He didn’t know how well he would hold up, but he’d be damned if he didn’t try. Bringing someone pain because of his own weakness wasn’t a habit he wanted to develop, having already done so with Vin. God he missed him. It was a shame that the last encounter he had with him was when Vin had looked at him with such sad eyes.

Anyway, he needed to get back on-topic to give Quint an answer. If he lingered on Vin’s memory for too long, they would surely both become depressed. At some point he’d have to tell Quint about why he left, but for now he concentrated on the image of himself giving Quint a thumbs-up. He still felt a tad nervous, but that was to be expected.

Afterwards, he opened his eyes to find Sayori quietly studying him. He chuckled, “sorry about that.”

She shook her head, “don’t be. I find it fascinating to watch. It comforts me to think that you’re connected to him so that he is not completely alone. I... can’t help but feel responsible that he’s there.” Sayori looked down at her lap a bit sadly.

“Did you ask him to bite off his own fucking tentacle? Because otherwise, I think it’s his own fault. Don’t just take responsibility for other people’s decisions.” His voice was firm but not unkind as he looked at her. God, he was such a hypocrite.

She smiled back at him, “thanks...I’ll try to remember that.”

 

[Drobabes]

It would about another hour, but the next 'visitor' they had was the General himself. His boot steps were heard upon the hard ground, softly compared to the other officers, before he came into view at the door. He stood holding a large tray which was piled a bit higher than normal, servings enough for four people. As he came into Sayori's side, he gestured for them to move, and then he sat the food down on her bed.

Todays dinner seemed a bit simpler; some salted chicken breast and rice, still steaming a bit from the heat of being cooked, and what appeared to be some fried green beans. He turned to Sabastian first, calmly handing him his own tray of food, and then looking back at Sayori.

His eyes took a moment to appraise her, and his lips turned up into a soft smile as he slowly strode towards her. He didn't stop until he was very close to her, his massive form boxing her in as his hand came up to stroke her cheek.

"Beautiful" he murmured softly. Letting his hand travel down from her cheek and over her shoulder, he seemed to want to caress the soft cloth on her body, making a slow trail down her arm, and then down further until he reached the bottom of her sweatshirt. Getting his hand under the cloth, he brought it up to stroke up along her side, and then her back, feeling the softness of her skin.

Very lightly, he traced his fingers down her spine until he reached her plump bottom, where he just barely caressed it before letting her go and turning away from her. His eyes met the blonds briefly, but it was as if he saw nothing of interest there as he took a seat on her bed.

"Come here Sayori. Sabastian, pull up a seat. We're going to have a little talk while you eat."

As soon as she was near him, he scooped her up as he had done before, and sat her in his lap. And, just as before, he brought the food over to her and began to softly caress her, lingering on her side and legs this time, rather than her hair.

 

[Poprockz]

Sabastian wasn't surprised to see Kuznet coming by, having expected him to come and question him sooner or later regarding his and Quint's link. The food smelled simple but nice, Sabastian grateful that at least he would have something to focus on during the conversation. He and Sayori moved as he requested, Sayori standing near the far side of the bed from Kuznet and Sabastian standing more toward the sink and the spare chairs. He accepted his meal, thinking to himself that it was one of those that looked very easy on the stomach.

Meanwhile, Sayori hadn't been expecting him, so she was a bit surprised. His presence was never something she looked forward to, less so after what had happened earlier that day. Her hands went down to the front of her sweatshirt, her fingers fiddling with the edge of the fabric as she wondered why he was here. She had been hoping to simply stand out of the way on her side of the room, but she soon looked up to find the mountain of a man leaning over her with those icy eyes fixed upon her face.

"Beautiful..."

She hadn't flinched when he reached up to stroke her face, having almost been expecting it. He seemed to like running his fingers over her soft cheeks and pretty lips. What she hadn't expected was for his hand to slide its way down her arm only to slip up into her shirt. Her body tensed the moment his fingers made contacted with her skin. The woman almost moved away from his touch, but forced herself to stand still and let him. He had already made it clear that he didn't like when she refused him, so it was better to remain compliant.

However, she made a bit of an apprehensive face. His touch was so light and she was aware of every stroke of his fingers, the skin of her sides and back being more than a little sensitive. When he ran his feather-light flingers down her spine, she couldn't help but shiver. Though his fingers hadn't been expected to move lower, Sayori's eyes widening as he once again fondled her very briefly before moving on. She stood there stock-still as he moved back to the bed. It almost felt like he was trying to breach her boundaries each time, testing her limits and trying to push them back a bit so he could go a bit further next time.

Oh, what he would do to this fucker if he had his strength back. He usually wasn't a proponent of murder, but he thought he might have been able to make an exception for Kuznet. The way he touched her made his skin crawl, the sight of it feeling so wrong and off-putting. He thought he would probably feel more comfortable if someone dumped a bowl of spiders down his shirt. She was obviously so afraid of him, and yet he persisted in touching her like he owned her.

While he held his tongue for now, his eyes narrowed at the large man. He hated that he couldn't even lay a hand on the guy; if he tried to punch him right now, likely it would feel like more a love tap before Kuznet laughed at such a pitiful attempt to combat him.

"Come here Sayori. Sabastian, pull up a seat. We're going to have a little talk while you eat."

Sayori looked up and reluctantly walked over to Kuznet, once again finding herself pulled into his arms and onto his lap. At least this time she had pants and a decent shirt on this time, though it didn't make it much better. The bowl was too hot to hold with her hands so she had to hold her little tray with one hand and hold her spork with the other. For this reason, she had no choice but to let her body lean against his chest slightly. She avoided both of their eyes as she started to eat, finding Kuznet too intimidating and not wanting Sabastian to see her like that, Kuznet's hands pawing at her body.

The little blonde grabbed a chair and dragged it over, facing it toward Kuznet before plopping down in it and roughly spearing a bean. "Sure. What do you want to talk about? The misadventures of Cora and the rest of the group, or do you already know everything? From what that officer said, you've been watching for a while, if not the whole time. I wonder about it though. If you had been watching us as closely as he seems to think, then I would have thought there would have been several times you would have stepped in at least indirectly... Although I suppose it's not like even we knew what shit we were walking into sometimes anyway." His mis-matched eyes went up to meet the general's as he chewed his bean. He wasn't being disrespectful, but his tone was tense and it was obvious he didn't like Kuznet one bit.

 

[Drobabes]

Quint had been busying himself with some exercise. Much like a prison cell, there wasn't shit to do unless Franny came down for a visit, or, who he had been hoping to see soon, Jonathon. Johnny boy could be a creep when he felt like it, but as far as the three of them went, at least the man could hold a conversation and was willing to play a card game once in a while. However, Quint only really wanted to see him to get a better memory of his smell. The tray that Fran had brought to him before, when he was still with Sayori, had had his scent, but it was vague and washed out. Not enough to keep him familiarized with it and be able to track the fucker later. Although, now that he was thinking about it, maybe Sabastian had been able to smell him too...

Almost as if just thinking of his name made him more aware of the little man, he suddenly felt a deep anger boiling up in him once again. It could only mean so many things, but if he had to guess, he knew it was probably the General.

He stopped doing his sit ups and caught his breath. He then sat still and stared at the wall, gently trying to let the link open up without distracting Sabastian too much. He definitely did not want to take his attention away from Kuznet, but he knew the General almost as well as Francis did, so he wanted to be there to help if he was needed.
________

"I wonder about it though. If you had been watching us as closely as he seems to think, then I would have thought there would have been several times you would have stepped in at least indirectly..."

Kuznet had been running his fingers up Sayori's thigh and had just stopped under her sweater, near her hip. As Sabastian kept talking, and especially as he seemed to be implying that the General was slacking in his duties to keep Cora out of harms way, his massive hand began to squeeze her soft flesh, starting off slow but quickly building force, just as he had done to her jaw. The soft smile that had been on his lips simply stops, and the General is left sitting there simply staring at Sabastian. Not with a frown, but simply staring.

After a beat or two, he releases the little women's flesh, although he doesn't bring his hand out from under her soft cloth just yet.

"Sabastian."

Those cold blue eyes stared down at him, letting a silence fill the air for a moment before he spoke again.

"My time is important to me. Do not waste it with unnecessary chatter."

He let his hand finally come out of the cloth then, laying back over her thigh and slowly stroking it, almost as if trying to assure the little women that he was done now.

"Tell me, what were you and my little Quinton talking about earlier? He seemed to have angered you somehow."

And there was that smile again, barely turning up his lips. In any other situation, it would have been soft and polite. But perhaps that was the point-a practiced facade, meant to put you at ease.