Within

4

Warning: This fic contains vore, slash, emotional distress, physical injury, mentions of rape, lots and lots of crying, and is generally for a mature audience. Read at your own discretion.

Haha, time for insanity!

-------------------------

4

Luigi didn't fall asleep, not right away. Because of the few things he had learned, he had no choice but to think about the questions circling round and round in his mind. He appreciated the darkness, but the ticking was going to drive him insane. Each tock felt like a needle stabbing into his fragmented brain. He wondered if Dimentio even knew it was bothering him, and guessed it might just be intentional.

He was wondering a lot of things, really. Why didn't the jester just kill him as he said he was going to? Why was he nursing him back to health now? He didn't feel as sure of Dimentio's intentions as he had when he first woke up.

I couldn't do it. ...What the hell did that mean?! That he couldn't kill him? Not yet? Not until he'd toyed with him more? What?!

Tick tock. Why had Dimentio looked so tired? If he wasn't wearing a mask, he could have sworn there would be dark circles under his eyes. Speaking of... They were blue? They had been...subdued, gentle even. He had been gentle. He could have caused Luigi a lot of pain just by touching him, but he hadn't.

Something nagged at him; a fact. Dimentio's real eye color hadn't been as much of a surprise as it should have been. He had known it already, somewhere in the back of his mind. How had he known it already?!

Tick tock tick tock. He didn't want to be here. He wanted to be at home, free of pain. He wanted to forget all this, to not think about what was in his future.

Tick tock TICK TOCK. He tried to push the horrible memories away. He shuddered, eyes glazing over and remembering anyway. He had never felt so helpless. He had been utterly powerless to fight. He had been reduced to nothing but food. He blinked. No, it wasn't like that anymore, not at the moment. He was still helpless, but in a different way. He might even be able to fight if he could bear the pain.

He calmed his breathing. He couldn't think about this anymore. He couldn't take it. He turned his thoughts to happier times, times adventuring with his brother, hanging out with friends, having parties and tournaments and quiet afternoons. It made him horribly homesick, but it helped.

He tuned out the clock, eyelids fluttering shut. He slept.

-------------------------

When he next woke, it was still dark in the room. He didn't know what time it was. The clock was somewhere behind him.

It wasn't as bad as before. The pain was only a dull throbbing at the moment. He felt calm for the first time since waking up here. He listened to his breathing as he mulled over questions and statements. Words were his only weapon right now. He needed to use them wisely in order to get information. He wanted to know why Dimentio had spared him, and what he was planning to do with him next. He wasn't going to like the answer, but he just wanted to stop wondering about it.

He started to become agitated once more, the clock getting to him. He didn't manage to fall asleep again.

-------------------------

It felt like forever before Dimentio entered the room. As Dimentio turned up the light and set down some things on the table beside the head of the bed, he croaked out, "The clock..."

"Hmm?" Dimentio leaned over him, head cocked questioningly.

"Make it stop...please..."

Dimentio blinked and looked at the offending clock. "Oh, I see." He snapped his fingers, and the ticking mercifully disappeared.