Morphed

Chapter Sixteen

Sup. To be honest, I was not expecting to have this up at the present moment, but I was working on chapter seventeen -which I'm almost finished by the way- and decided, stuff it, I'm gonna put sixteen up, because you guys have bee so supportive to me ever since I started this thing, and all I've done is make you constantly wait for updates. So. I'm gonna do my best to get my butt in gear and try and get back to some semblance of my old schedule. It will mean watching less Supernatural, but God damn I've been binging that bitch since episode one, and I'm already up to season eight, so it's probably about time to give myself a break.

Yeah.

Enjoy.

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Break my bones and reset me
Piece by piece you break me
Pick up the cross 'cause it's killing time
How can I scream when the pain is
Such a release I get the courage
To pick up the nails 'cause it's killing time

Kill me, heal me
Kill me, heal me
On and on
Kill me, heal me
Kill me, heal me
On and on

~Kill Me, Heal Me (Skillet)

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The very night Ed enjoyed lunch with Hughes, General Hakuro and Edward stayed in the private dormitory suite again. The General at least allowed Ed to eat dinner this time before he barrelled into him, keeping good on his assurance earlier that day that he would 'remind him' of his place. The beating was brutal, and Edward took it silently, refusing to scream, even as he was whipped again with his own collar, that, no matter how many people Hakuro told was for extra caution, Edward still believed it symbolized both his canine (or part canine) genetics and his place as a dog of the military State Alchemist. It also symbolized how trapped he was, completely and utterly under the mercy of the man who had collared him.

It took him over an hour, but eventually he succumbed to his exhaustion and fell into a fitful sleep, dreaming of wolves and alchemy and Hakuro. When he woke, he couldn't remember what the dream was, just what it had contained, and that it had had him sweating and crying when he finally emerged from it's terrifying grasp.

He woke at around five thirty in the morning, and Hakuro had yet to drag his ass out of bed. Ed had slept on the floor again, and when he tried to stand he realised that he had a cramp in his left leg. The stolen one. Doing his best to ignore this fact, he rubbed the sore area with his left hand, trying to dispel the ache. After it finally went away, he looked around the dark, quiet suite and wondered what to do with himself while Hakuro was asleep. As was the habit that had already begun to sink deep into his subconscious, he tugged on his collar a little. Looking back toward the room where Hakuro was currently sleeping, he contemplated taking the damn thing off. He hated it, and would relish any moment where it was not wrapped around his neck nor slapping his back painfully. Should he risk it? Should he take it off while the old bastard was asleep?

Slowly, he raised both hands to his neck, his eyes remaining glued to Hakuro's sleeping form. Fingers shaking, he felt for the buckle, and, upon finding it, he began to slide the extra length of leather through the loop, cringing inwardly when even the slight noise seemed to scream through the silence. His heart beating faster than it should have been for such a simple, mundane task, he tugged on the strap, pulling it free from it's confines, and the collar slipped from his neck and fell into his open hand. Unsteadily, he took a deep breath, expecting Hakuro to awake any second now and hurt him for his crime. But the seconds ticked by, and the man remained asleep. Slowly, Edward began to calm down. He lay back down on the floor and exhaled, closing his eyes for a moment.