#trembling
May 7th “Relax”
Okay, this one is a doozy and I’ve held onto it so that I could get to the cannon noncon first. It’s short, the noncon is only like two paragraphs and not detailed. (If you’ve been following cannon, that’s what I mean by detailed.) Heed the tags though for other Volkov horribleness.
This is my last Merry Whump of May post. I did them all! \o/ \o/ \o/ \o/
Comfort | Branded | Trembling
Ben was sobbing and trembling with absolute terror. He knew what was coming. Volkov had tattooed him repeatedly during his first captivity. Apparently, it was a Russian thing, that’s what Volkov had told him. Ben had been having regular appointments to have the tattoos removed since he’d been rescued. And now, stripped down to his underwear, bent over face down on a table, wrists tied together underneath the table, legs bound to the lower end of the legs, he knew there would be no removing this.
Volkov had been furious when he’d seen the faded and disappearing tattoos when he’d taken Ben’s shirt off on the plane. Ben’s ribs were still bruised from the beating he’d taken as a result.
Ben glances helplessly to where Jake was bound on his knees, with his arms pulled up nearly vertical behind him and secured to a hook in the pillar. There was blood still on Jake’s face and burns on his chest and abdomen from the electric baton they’d used on him. His mouth was stretched around a black rubber ball as he screamed for his brother, screamed for them not to hurt him, screamed for them to hurt him instead.
Their eyes locked and they were both terrified for each other. Ben had a ball in his mouth as well and he couldn’t do the one thing he wanted to do which was to reassure his brother that it was going to be okay. Was it? a little scared voice asked inside his head.
Volkov stroked his hair and Ben sucked in a gasp of air through his nose.
“You tried to erase who you belong to, didn’t you?”
Ben whimpered and shook his head.
“You’re mine. Always. You will always be mine. And I’m going to make sure you remember that this time, Malyshka.”
Ben dissolved into sobs again. Dmitri approached and handed Volkov the glowing white metal. Ben squealed in terror and doubled his struggles, forgetting temporarily that he was trying so hard to be strong for his brother, to not make it worse for him. Volkov leaned over and kissed Ben’s spine, licking the spot between his shoulder blades where his mark would reside.
Volkov straightened up and then he brought the branding iron close to Ben’s skin, letting him feel the heat, dragging out the terror on the boy’s face before pressing it into his skin. Ben’s scream rose to a shriek of absolute agony.
Jake screamed from where he knelt, barely even able to keep his head raised due to the strain on his shoulders from his stress position. He would not look away though. He wouldn’t leave his brother alone in this. If all he could do was bear witness to what Volkov was doing to him then he would do it.
It seemed like an eternity before Volkov pulled the brand away from Ben’s skin, leaving a stinking burned smell in the air and literal smoke rising up from the horrific mark on Ben’s flesh. Ben’s body continued to quake and twitch while he screamed through the pain, eyes squeezed tight shut.
Jake didn’t think it could get any worse. But then Volkov did the unthinkable and tore off Ben’s boxers. Ben screamed and thrashed, eye’s shooting open and his panicked gaze meeting Jake’s. Jake held his gaze while Volkov prepared himself.
Both brothers cried out when Volkov thrust roughly into Ben. Jake watched powerless as Ben was brutally used. Thankfully, Volkov didn’t last long, too aroused by what he’d just done. He collapsed onto Ben’s back, hips still jerking as he finished himself inside of his captive.
Ben lay utterly exhausted and in extreme pain. Volkov pulled out of him and ran his fingers over the fresh brand on Ben’s back.
“So beautiful, so fucking perfect, Malyshka.”
Ben’s eyes slipped closed and all he could do was breathe. He was so tired. He felt his restraints being loosened and then he was pulled off the table. He let himself be dragged away, unable to even open his eyes and process where he was being taken. He sank to the ground where he was dropped and passed out.
*!*!*!*!*
Jake was finally released from the stress position he’d been held in for hours. They’d taken another hour after taking Ben away to beat and shock him. He was exhausted and in pain, but he forgot all that when they dumped him in a stone room with Ben.
They dragged him to a wall and chained his wrists and ankles to make sure he couldn’t get away from the wall, but the chains were long enough that he could slip down to the floor. He reached out and could just barely reach Ben, who was only chained by his wrists.
He pulled on the chains, arms screaming with pain and dragged his brother’s limp body towards him. He checked his pulse. Thank God, he’s still breathing. He pulled Ben to his bare chest and cradled his little brother against him.
He was careful not to touch the fresh circular brand on the back of his shoulders. The stylized letter V filling the middle of it. Jake’s eyes flooded with tears as he took in the injuries up close. He didn’t care how weak his body felt, he was going to hold on to Ben as long as he could. He rocked him in his arms like he did when they were children. He remembered being a precocious eight-year-old and having to sit very still when his mama put the tiny bundle of new baby in his arms.
He’d promised he’d protect him, that he’d be a good big brother. His tears dripped down into Ben’s head as he kissed his hair. Chalk it up to one more fucking failure in his life.
“I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry…”
*!*!*!*!*
When Ben awoke, he was resting against a warm surface. It was soft, but it moved. Ben felt himself raising and lowering slightly, but every now and then it shook. He could hear crying. Someone had an arm around him and for a split second he thought it was Volkov. But why would Volkov be crying? He wouldn’t.
Ben blinked his eyes open. The room was dark, the warm surface beneath him moved slightly and Ben could hear chains rattle with the movement.
“I’m so sorry. I’m sorry. Oh God am I sorry. Please be okay. Please. Please. Please.”
Jake. Ben moved his arms slowly, weakly, and wrapped them around his brother. He felt his brother kiss the top of his head like he used to do when Ben was very small. He winced as the movement pulled at the fresh brand at the center of his shoulder blades. Volkov was such a fucking bastard.
“No’ your faul’, Jake,” Ben whispered. “Ne’er your faul’,” he slurred, jaw still aching from the gag.
Jake let out a small sob.
“I… I love you, Jake.”
“Love you too, baby brother.”
Ben stayed pillowed on his brother’s chest, arms wrapped around each other for a long time. Neither of them spoke; what was there to say? They cried off and on, sometimes together, sometimes just one or the other, but neither of them broke contact. They needed each other. The truth was, any second here with Volkov could either be their last with the other, or their last moment alive.
Both of them fell into a distraught slumber brought on by utter exhaustion, breath hitching even as they slept.
thinking about hunk braiding allura’s hair and only realising he doesn’t have anything to tie it off with once he’s already done, but then allura tells him about all the pretty ribbons she used to have back on altea and he sorta thinks for a second before taking off his headband and using that to tie the braid
Scared and Injured, the best cocktail there is.
Memory Love: Ep-16 (Part 1)
