Who We Are ~ A The Henry Stickmin Collection Fanfiction

Chapter IV

     After about twenty minutes, but what seemed like hours, Henry returned.

     He was clutching a small man's arm in his hand and pulling him along. The man was very short, and had a sullen look on his face. He was so skinny that his bones showed through his skin. He had a battered black baseball cap with the word 'security' written across the front, a black t-shirt, and fingerless gloves, just like Rupert's.

     "Dave," Rupert whispered. He barely  recognized him.

     Henry stopped right in front of the cell. Dave drooped down and fell to his knees, not looking up.

     "Here's your little twit," Henry snickered, opening the cell and thrusting him in.

     Dave fell to the ground, shielding his face against his arms. "I'll bring the other one later. When I feel like it." He slammed the cell door and locked it. He turned and left silently. After Henry had left, Rupert shifted his gaze towards the ground.

      "Dave?" Dave's head jerked up. For the first time, Rupert saw his face clearly.

     His normally big blue eyes were red and filled with tears. His face had a large, painful looking scar continuing down his neck jaggedly. His now dull white hair was messy, and his hat was drooping over his forehead.

     "R-Rupert...?" His jaw dropped in bewilderment. Rupert smiled gently, shifting his body, his arms still pinned uncomfortably against the wall.

     Dave scrambled onto Rupert, wrapping his arms around his large body. Tears streamed out of his eyes.

     "Why are you here?! How are you here? I missed you so much..." His voice was garbled with sobs as he squeezed him harder with the little strength he had.

     "I came for you," Rupert said in a low voice. "Things just.. went wrong." Dave leaned back and looked up at him.

     "You came all this way just for me?" Rupert kept silent. Dave's eyes moved and he gasped.

     "Rupert! Your lip is bleeding! Are you okay?! Does it hurt?" Rupert's eyebrows furrowed.

      "What the f*** do you mean, 'does it hurt'? Look at yourself! I'm the one who's supposed to be concerned about you!"

     "It doesn't matter! No one cares about me anyway!"

      Rupert looked sympathetically down on Dave. He so badly wanted to take his face in his hands, wipe his tears, pull him close, and never let go.

      "I care about you."

     Dave smiled weakly and leaned forward. Just then, a top hatted figure walked past. It stopped and turned towards them, the figure's blue eyes shimmering in the dim light. It snapped its fingers and continued out the door. The cuffs restraining Rupert fell, and he thrust his arms forward and clutched Dave close, pulling him into his lap.

      They sat in almost complete silence, save a few of Dave's whimpers, until Rupert leaned his head down and whispered, "What did they do to you?"

     Dave's eyes filled with tears until he burst into sobs. "The- robot one said that- if I told anyone- he'd kill me!" he choked. Rupert's eyes grew big. He turned and cursed under his breath. "I'm sorry for asking," he began. "It's f-fine." "It's not."

     Dave sighed and curled up in Rupert's lap, resting his head against his chest. Rupert gently held his hand as they sat in their cold cell.             

    "I love you, Rupert." "I love you, too."