pet palace (mafia AU)

seeing red

Red groaned as he rolled his head back. Something hard was squeezing around his neck; it was uncomfortable and made him feel claustrophobic. He lifted his hands to his neck, the clanking of chains filled him with dread as his hand were stopped short. Reds eyes snapped open, darting around in his sockets. The room he was in was dark, and the silhouettes of furniture seem large and looming.

Panic set into his bone as he began to struggle. Was this some twisted punishment papyrus had come up with? No. he knew red couldn't stand the dark. He was cruel but not this cruel. He tugged at the restraints twisting his wrists and scraping at the bone. "Papy?" he whispered, tears filling his eyes. God please let this be a nightmare. Turn on the lights oh god please turn on the lights.

Red tugged as hard as he could, the metal bruising the bone until the tension became unbearable. He fell back on his heels as his eyelights flickered. He wanted to scream. He wanted to tug on the chains until his hands broke off. But if this was his brothers doing that wouldn't help his situation. He squeezed his eyes closed, tapping his head against the wall lightly. If he kept them closed he could almost force himself to believe he wasn't in a dark room, with plenty of cracks for shadows to watch him from, and places for cameras to hide, and memories of a hellish childhood to come flooding back.

Tears flooded from his eye sockets as he broke, erupting into desperate wails. It didn't matter if papyrus came in and smacked the shit out of him, at least the door would be open and there would be light. "PAPY!? Papyrus i'm sorry if i did something! P-please turn the lights on!" h cried, slamming the back of his head against the wall until he saw stars. He was gasping and trembling when the door finally opened. red forced his eyes open, despite the brightness, as he leached up the light. He expected to see a tall figure standing in the doorway, but there was a short one instead. The lights were flipped on and the figure rushed to him. "Oh hunny! whats wrong?" they asked, kneeling down and cupping reds face in his hands. Red looked up and saw his own face. It didn't matter. He helped him. Red leaned his face into his clones hands "thank you" he croaked "help me. Please help".

His clone stroked under his eyes "shuu, it's ok, calm down" his clone said calmly, reaching forward and fiddling with the metal collar. It dropped down to reds chest as he undid the wrist cuffs "It's alright" he assured. As his ankles were freed red slumped forward into the chest of his double "t-t-thank you" he whimpered. Soft, gentle fingers stroked down his back as he was slowly lifted up, and carried across the room, being laid out on a large bed. "Thank you...?" red whimpered not sure how to address his double.

The clone smiled "blue" he said, stroking reds cheek "you call me blue". Red fell to blues lap, trying to calm down his breathing. In, out, pause for 3 seconds. In, out, pause for 5 seconds. As his head slowly cleared and he became more lucid, the offness of his situation settled in. He sat up. "What. Who. Where?" He stammered; blue reached around his shoulders and pulled him back into his chest. "Shhhh, you're safe" he cooed, stoking reds neck. He frowned as his fingers hit reds collar. He flipped it around and looked at the tags. "Hmmm" he muttered. Red glanced up and watched as blue opened a drawer in the bedside table, pulling out a pair of heave scissors. "Wait" red squeaked as one of the blades was slid between the leather and his neck "I'll get in trouble"

With a loud snip red felt the collar fall into his lap. He was so used to having the cold leather resting against his shoulder at all times, that now without it he felt naked. God, boss was going to kill him. "No" he croaked, pushing blue away, making him frown " no. i need to go home". Red tried to stand put his legs buckled under him, and he fell with a yelp. Blue grabbed him roughly and yanked him back on the bed "no. you're not going anywhere. This is your home now" he snapped. Red yanked his arm free "NO! Don't touch me!". This time when he stood he only slumbled a bit, making his way quickly to the door.

As he reached for the doorknob a heavy weight pressed down on his sternum. It felt as if someone was stepping on his chest, and his limbs froze in place. It was a dreadingly familiar feeling, and his heart sank as he was dragged across the room. His heels smacked painfully against the wood bottom of the bedframe and two hands grabbed his shoulders, slamming him to the bed. An upside down face entered his vision. And it was angry.

"No. you will listen and obey me, or you will be punished" blue hissed as he unwound a chain from the bedframe "You will learn to like it, or i will make you like it". A thick leather collar cinched tight around his throat; though sinking dread set over him, the feeling was familiar, almost comforting. The weight on his chest lifted and his hands shot up to his neck. He tried to pick at the latch but it was sealed closed with a strong magic energy. He lunged across the bed, grabbing at the scissors, but blue lifted them out of his reach. "Absolutely not" he snapped, standing up and walking to the door "you will sit here and think about how you can change your attitude". He opened the door and turned off the light. "Wait" red squeaked.

"I'll come back later and see if you've taken my advice" blue hissed, shutting the door and locking it behind him, drenching the room in darkness. Red quickly and instinctively drew his legs off the floor and into his chest. He was stuck In the dark, tethered to the bed... alone in the dark. The looming, loathing dark.