Pharmuria (Boy x Boy)

Part Eight

Multiple jeopardy: The notion that the range of factors of a person's identity leading to oppression have a multiplicative effect on the oppression that said person deals with.

It was the day of experimentation and never in my life had I felt so nervous. Max and I spent a couple of days engaging in some roleplay in order to prepare for the moment. Since he had never spoken to me in a formal register, my lover had to practice using professional language. Ditching terms like 'cute stuff' and replacing them with terms like 'subject' was the most painful for him.

I, on the other hand, had to work on playing the part of being sick. Because Max went against his integrity and didn't inject me with the virus as instructed, I had to work on appearing ill even though that wasn't the case. I was informed that the most extreme symptoms were bloody diarrhea, constant vomiting, and dangerous fever, but the only effects I was going to experience at an early stage were coughing, muscle weakness, and stomach pain.

Therefore, I walked around in my cell with my hand over my abdomen and made sure to cough every couple of minutes while Max gave me firm demands rather than polite suggestions. Occasionally, we broke free from our characters and reminded each other of our love, but the rest of the time was spent rehearsing for the greatest escape plan of all time.

Because Pharmuria didn't care about fostering the creativity or talent of the subjects, I was never able to take up acting before. It was so nerve-wracking that I thought to myself that anyone who was able to put up a convincing act was certainly deserving of a round of applause from me.

Sitting on my bed on the day of experimentation, I patiently awaited Max to retrieve me. It was early in the morning, so I didn't have the comfort of seeing his delicate face prior to this moment. My eyes were hardly able to stay open longer than a few seconds given that I didn't sleep much the previous night. Max and I agreed that my sick act would be more realistic if it looked like I hadn't gotten my proper rest. It wasn't as if I would've gotten the sleep anyways. My mind was too preoccupied to shut it down.

Despite my grogginess, some parts of me were active. My leg was very shaky as the nerves started to climb up from my stomach to my chest. I couldn't even recall how many times Max told me not to worry about anything. He kept reassuring me that the escape plan was going to work and that I needed to trust him. Though I originally promised to trust him at first, it was an action easier said than done when reflecting upon the time I already failed to escape from the humans on my birthday.

Just as the wait started to become unbearable, I heard the creak of the cell door open and saw Max walking in. He donned a pair of gloves and a mask. "It's showtime," he said. "Are you ready?"

"Will time slow if I tell you that I'm not?" I found myself inquiring.

My lover chuckled as he began to walk forward, taking my question as a joke when I wasn't entirely playing around. "Relax, you'll do fine. All you need to do is take the pill and once you're back in this cell, the first hurdle will have already passed. This will be easier than you think." Though I couldn't see his lips behind that mask, his eyes conveyed the calm, hopeful expression that he wanted me to reciprocate.

I stood up from my bed, prepared to follow him to the testing room. With a deep breath, I tried my best to dig up feelings of confidence from my field of doubt. "Should we do one of those kisses like in the movies where the characters are about to do something dangerous?" Perhaps the touch of his lips would have helped put me more at ease.

"I'm a sucker for those mushy moments in movies, but it's too late to break out of our headspace now." Max grabbed my shoulders. "When this is over I promise that we'll score ourselves a victory kiss, but now we need to focus on putting on a show. Start playing sick."