All The Ways We Touch [BxB]

seventy-four - no fun, only games pt. one

Elliot wasn't sure how long he'd been lying in the bed, but it had felt like a long night before Timothy finally came striding inside. Looking up, Elliot gave him a soft smile, but not overly friendly, as he was sure that Timothy would see through him. Over the hours after Sarah tortured him, he'd contemplated Jamison's situation and his own.

He'd deduced that if Timothy hadn't killed Jamison yet—a thought Elliot could barely entertain without his mind threatening to slip into disassociation—then he was locked away in the facility, which he was certain was on the same property. He was also certain that Jamison would be manipulated into inaction because he wouldn't want to jeopardize Elliot's safety. Worse, he was certain that Jamison was being tortured, which was assuredly more awful than being tased, even though it had been so brutal that he'd nearly thrown up and wet himself.

Sarah had recorded the screams and pleas that she'd drawn out of him, so there was no way that Jamison wasn't enduring listening to the recording. He could only imagine how it would feel to listen to his lover's screams, and how easily he'd break if he had to endure Jamison's torment.

After a lot of tears and agonizing, Elliot had forced himself to focus and come up with a plan. One he hoped would lead to their freedom from Timothy and Sarah. One that would be simple if Timothy were as easy to manipulate as he had been during their previous conversation. All he had to do was sell it. And Elliot was good at selling lies, even if those lies usually had much lower stakes.

Jamison was in danger of fracturing because of his presence; he could feel it in his heart. It wasn't that he doubted his strength, but he doubted how long anyone could listen to their lover screaming out for them in pain with no way to help them. The only problem was if his father actually did pay for his ransom, but that sounded so unbelievable after what he'd done that he essentially counted it out. There was always the chance, though, and with the clock counting down on Jamison's sanity, there was a lot of pressure to do this believably.

"Morning," Timothy said, taking his post next to the bed, looking down at the way Elliot was squeezing his legs together. "You ready to pee yet?"

As badly as he didn't want to pee in front of Timothy, Elliot smiled and nodded. "It's like you read my mind." Besides, this would hopefully help him show Timothy that he was cooperative.

Timothy grabbed the bucket and brought it to the side of the bed. "Alright, you gonna give me trouble about this? Or can I trust you—man to man—that you're not going to try and pull any bullshit? Jamison wouldn't appreciate it."

Elliot nodded, swallowing hard at the threat, his heart fluttering at the confirmation that he was still alive. "I promise, no problems," he said. "I just need to pee, please."

"Alright." Gabbing his keys from his belt loop, he unlocked Elliot's cuffs and took a step back so that Elliot had room to stand beside the bucket. "Go ahead."

"Thank you." Elliot stood, his legs almost going out from underneath him at first, and quickly did his business. Then he sat down on the edge of the bed, trying to ignore the bucket. 'Cooperate. Build a relationship. Manipulate. Get free. Get Jamison. Get the fuck outta here.' His plan wasn't foolproof, but with no other options—and he'd spent all night trying to figure any out—he accepted what he had to do. "Done, thank you."

"You're welcome," Timothy said, ignoring the bucket despite the strong scent of undiluted piss stinking up the room. He took one of the cuffs and locked it back around Elliot's wrist. "You know, it's nice to meet someone who's polite. I'm so used to young people muttering 'thanks' and 'no problem.'"

While he'd hoped to remain uncuffed, as that would've been a really easy way to escape, he was at least thankful that he didn't completely immobilize him again. Elliot immediately nodded his head in agreement. "You're right. It's like they're implying I would've been some kind of problem. It's ridiculous." After taking a deep breath, which he then regretted from the scent, he steeled his nerves. He had to do this, and now was the perfect opportunity. "There's something I'd like to talk to you about..."