SO BAD [MXM] [MAFIA] ✓

35: CAPTIVATING

At first, it goes surprisingly well.

The next day is pretty difficult, but Ashton allows him to have a dose towards the end. After that, they space it out the best they can, but it gets progressively more and more difficult. Luckily the shadow creatures are being nice, for the most part, so Skylar doesn't get too bad. The worst state Ashton sees him in is semi sweaty and paranoid, but not scared.

So, a week goes by, and Skylar is doing amazingly well for the circumstances. However, Ash has been quite lenient on him—clearly, the guy didn't count on his empathy winning over, and he has a difficult time saying no when Skylar's quite literally pleading—so during this week, Skylar is allowed six doses. By the end of it, he's down to four, and he's able to go almost a full day without a dose fairly well. It's a small amount of progress, and he's still technically back where he started, but he's proud of himself nonetheless.

At the rate he's going, however, four will not be enough. Ash has to know that.

"Are you sure you don't have any more?" Skylar asks Ashton, the day the guy gave him the sixth pill. He's currently making them dinner, and Skylar is seated on the other side of the counter, watching.

"No," Ash replies simply without looking up. Skylar squints at him.

"But you could get more, right?"

Ash doesn't answer that, but he doesn't need to. Obviously Skylar isn't particularly knowledgeable about his other job, but he's pretty sure that Ash could acquire just about any drug on the market. He doesn't know the specifics, but he's positive that Ash holds a lot of power in the crime world. The accorders are a big deal. Ash could get him an unlimited supply of cytozine, but then what?

Exactly. Nothing. As much as Skylar hates to admit it, if he plays with this, he's meeting his end much sooner than he'd like.

"I'll have to go back to work soon," Ash says after a moment, completely changing the subject. Skylar can't help his frown, but luckily Ash isn't looking at him—focusing on the task at hand—so he covers it quickly. Either way, he feels minutely better when the guy continues. "Only for a day, but I'll need to go back every week or so at the least. I'll still be here as much as I can."

Ash finishes cooking after that, some sort of chicken dish, and Skylar starts absentmindedly eating as he thinks about this. When Ash works, he really is gone all day. Skylar has no idea where he's been keeping his pills, but he's pretty sure Ash keeps it on his person. There's not a way for him to access it when Ash is gone.

So, when this happens, not only will he not have Ashton—essentially his lifeline throughout this entire thing—but he will have no access to his pills, either. He will be completely by himself with no hope of relief.

Skylar feels as though he is owed some sort of explanation for the guy's job, at this point.

"Do you ever plan on telling me about your job? Or about the accorders in general?" Skylar asks after a few minutes of silence.

What makes it worse is the fact that Ash has no idea about Skylar's conversation with Antenna. He doesn't think Skylar knows anything, and he's fine with that. He's okay with keeping Skylar completely in the dark. Then again, maybe as long as he thinks Skylar has no clue, he won't budge. Should Skylar be upfront with him about all the information he has?

Well, probably not. He shouldn't make it known that that is the full extent of his information, at the very least.

Ash freezes when the words leave Skylar's mouth, and he resists the urge to roll his eyes. Why does this guy freak out so much when Skylar brings it up? From the information Skylar has, there's some moral ambiguity in accorder business, but nothing crazy. Skylar's not particularly a saint, either. Sure, he's never killed anyone, but he's definitely fucking thought about it.