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“Demonic” page 2
His head throbbed viciously, his stomach was churning and his entire body ached. Everything hurt, muscles he didn’t know existed where burning, and the headache he felt was similar only to one he had gotten after someone had forced their way into his mind. It was strange, but feeling this pain also made a strange sense of joy well inside him, a sense of triumph.
Chiaotzu blinked his eyes open and stared in wide-eyed, open-mouthed horror at the room around him. It was barely recognisable as the cabin he lived in with Tien. The room was a shambles, shattered furniture and destroyed clothing scattered around. It looked as though a bomb had gone off, completely annihilating the interior of the cabin.
His lips curled up in a wide smile, and then he started to laugh silently. Oh Kami, what had happened? Why was their home destroyed? And why couldn’t he stop laughing?
“Oh shit!”
He tottered a little on his feet, swaying uncertainly as he turned to look at the open door to the kitchen. He could hear footsteps and horrified swearing that made him smile. Tien never swore unless it was startled out of him, and in this one moment more profanities than Chiaotzu had ever heard were now filling the cabin.
“Oh shit, oh crap. Kami damn it, what the fuck happened in here!?”
Chiaotzu’s laughter, suppressed to silent gasping, now burst forth in a raucous, joyful sound that wouldn’t be contained.
“Chiaotzu!?”
Chiaotzu was still swaying back and forth, unable to control it, his laughter dying to hysterical giggles, when Tien appeared in the doorway, still looking back into the room he had left.
“Oh thank Kami you’re in here, Chiaotzu, I was so worried. Someone’s completely fucked up the kitchen, I mean, everything’s gone. It’s… I…”
Tien turned and Chiaotzu’s laughter welled in him again, this time purely from relief. True, there was still a crusting of blood beneath Tien’s lower lip, Chiaotzu’s blood actually, smeared around his mouth, but his eyes were wide and clear, no sign of glowing redness anywhere there, his pupils back to their usual black as he looked at Chiaotzu.
But there was no relief in Tien’s eyes. Instead, horror was filling them, as well as overwhelming concern and fear.
“Chiaotzu, you’re…”
Chiaotzu grinned at him, wondering if his own teeth were coated with blood, before tottering again. Tien was at his side in an instant, his hands gentle as they steadied him. Chiaotzu realised dimly that his skin was cold and clammy, coated in a thick liquid that had gone cold before it had dried.
“Oh shit,” Tien muttered again, his eyes wide as Chiaotzu looked up at him woozily. “Damn, shit, fuck…”
This surprised cursing made Chiaotzu giggle, and as he did something flashed a bright spark of pain in his neck. He flinched, but it didn’t take away his smile.
“Onii-chan,” Chiaotzu said, reaching up one hand towards that kind, concerned face above him. “We’re back, we’re really back.”
“Chiaotzu, what are you talking about? Why are you covered in blood?”
Chiaotzu didn’t need to look down at himself to know it was true. His cold skin told him that much, but there was something wrong, something different, and he had no idea what.
“Oh shit!”
Tien’s surprised exclamation told him what it was, and as Tien scrabbled for a bit of usable cloth he felt the slight warm trickle that traced down the right side of his neck and over his shoulder.
“Shit, shit, shit!”
Tien found something and moved closer, tilting up Chiaotzu’s head as he met his eyes.
“What I’m going to do is gonna hurt, okay?”
“Okay…”
Chiaotzu clenched his eyes shut and braced himself, and the next thing he knew Tien had pressed the shredded cloth (he only just recognised it as part of his surcoat) to his neck and his entire body had lit up in a quick neon flash of pain.
He let out a quiet scream, fighting to get away from Tien’s hand, but a soft soothing murmur from Tien made him still.
“I’m sorry, Chiaotzu,” he said in a sincere murmur. “But you’re bleeding… I don’t know how long for, but it has to be a long, freaking time coz you’re absolutely soaked in it…”
Chiaotzu whimpered as he clenched his eyes shut, his teeth digging into the insides of his cheeks. Tien saw and lessened the pressure a little, frowning.
“You’ve got marks here, Chiaotzu,” he said softly, and tilted Chiaotzu’s head to the left, exposing his neck. Chiaotzu bit back another cry of pain, because he knew if he let it escape it would sound suspiciously like a laugh.
He looked up at Tien and saw the concerned light in Tien’s eyes flicker and slowly be replaced with utter fury, a brutal rage that sparked so hot and bright it was almost like seeing the demonic glow once more. Chiaotzu flinched a little as Tien brushed his fingertips over the offending spot, his touch gentle despite the fury blazing in his eyes, his other hand wrapped securely around Chiaotzu’s upper arm to steady him.
“It hurts, Tien,” Chiaotzu whispered, tears starting to run down his cheeks again. “It really, really hurts…”
Tien’s lips drew back in a furious snarl, baring his still blood-stained teeth.
“It’s a bite mark, isn’t it?” he asked in a low, furious voice. Chiaotzu nodded, unable to help the slight smile that touched his own lips. Tien didn’t seem to notice. Chiaotzu knew his big brother was probably only able to see red and the bleeding holes in Chiaotzu’s neck. He wasn’t even sure they were just holes: Tien had bitten so hard and so ferociously they could be torn, jagged rips in his flesh. He couldn’t be sure, he couldn’t see them.
“They’re on the other side too, Tien,” Chiaotzu said in a soft voice. Tien’s eyes blazed even brighter as he gently turned Chiaotzu’s head to the other side. The holes here (Chiaotzu knew these would be distinguishable, little circular holes in his skin, because of the care Tien had taken the second time around) had probably scabbed over since he couldn’t feel anything trickling down his skin.
“By Kami, they are…”
Chiaotzu fought back another giggle at the sound of Tien’s voice. Tien’s fingertips brushed over these marks too, but they didn’t send the same spark of pain through his body.
“Chiaotzu, you have to tell me who bit you,” Tien said, a slight note of gentle care noticeable beneath his furious tone. Chiaotzu was probably the only person on the planet who would have heard it, so deeply was it buried.
Chiaotzu smiled widely, but before he could answer his knees buckled and he would have tumbled right to the floor if Tien hadn’t been holding him up. Tien’s grip tightened a little and his hands agitated the bruises that marred Chiaotzu’s upper arms.
He took in a soft hissing breath and Tien gently moved him to the ground, laying him flat, his head resting in one of Tien’s palms. The second Tien removed his hands from Chiaotzu’s upper arms his eyes widened again.
“Who did this to you, Chiaotzu? Tell me, I’ll kill ‘em, I swear it…”
Chiaotzu saw the complete conviction on Tien’s face and felt a little flash of fear.
“Don’t, Tien, please…”
His soft whimper broke through Tien’s anger and he calmed a little. Chiaotzu couldn’t stop himself from smiling as Tien said in a gentler tone, “Tell me who did it, Chiaotzu. Please?”
Chiaotzu didn’t laugh, though he really wanted to. Instead he had only a slight smile on his face when he looked up at Tien and whispered, “It was you, Tien.”
Tien’s mouth dropped open in horror and Chiaotzu felt a pang at the pained disbelief in Tien’s eyes.
“I didn’t,” he said softly, horror dripping from every syllable. “I wouldn’t…” He swallowed, his eyes flitting between Chiaotzu’s face and the still-bleeding bite marks in his neck. “I didn’t bite you…did I?”
Chiaotzu let out a tired little laugh, lifting one hand. It wavered in midair for a moment before Tien grabbed it, his own strong hand folding around Chiaotzu’s small one, squeezing tight. Chiaotzu closed his eyes as he smiled widely, partly out of his own woozy tiredness and partly so he wouldn’t have to see Tien’s face when he said the next bit.
“Of course it was you, Tien,” he said, his exhausted smile widening.
“Impossible,” Tien said hurriedly. “I would never…ever…”
“I wouldn’t have let them,” Chiaotzu continued as though Tien hadn’t spoken at all. “It had to be you, Tien, coz I woulda fought if it wasn’t…” He let out a giggle as he felt Tien’s concerned confusion. “I wouldn’t have let anyone else bite me when they were like that, but I let you…”
He yawned widely, and the stretching in the sides of his jaw seemed to pass down into his neck, agitating the bite marks there, turning his yawn into a grimace. Tien soothed him, murmuring softly and gently running his hand over Chiaotzu’s forehead.
“Onii-chan, I’m cold…” Chiaotzu mumbled, starting to shiver a little. “I can’t…stay awake…”
“Oh shit,” Tien cursed again, making Chiaotzu giggle sleepily. “Shit, you must have lost a lot of blood. Don’t worry, Chiaotzu, I’ll clean up this mess…just…don’t leave me, okay? Don’t you dare leave.”
“Okay…onii-chan…” Chiaotzu smiled widely even though his eyelids drooped. “I…just want…to sleep…”
He only managed to hear Tien’s short biting curse before his vision faded to grey yet again, only now under more pleasant circumstances. He could feel Tien’s arms gently slipping around him, lifting him, and he felt a bright spark of pure joy that this time when he fell limp in his brother’s arms he knew he was completely safe.
-
It felt like hours later when he woke up. His entire body felt as light as air, almost empty, and when he remembered Tien’s statement about blood-loss he had an idea that neither of them had any clue just how bad it was.
He slitted his eyes open and saw Tien almost instantly. He had his back to Chiaotzu, but instead of destroying this time, he was cleaning up, sometimes bending to collect broken furniture, sometimes stretching up to reach broken glass and wood that was imbedded in the ceiling.
“T-Tien…”
Chiaotzu’s voice was a hoarse whisper, could barely have carried across the room, but Tien froze and turned, a relieved smile spreading over his face.
“Oh, Chiaotzu, thank Kami, I was so worried.” He dropped what he was holding, the trash scattering over the floor and blending almost perfectly with the rest of the destroyed room. Chiaotzu could feel that the surface beneath him, almost certainly the bed they shared, was clear and smooth, that there was nothing beneath him.
Tien knelt beside the bed, his hand gently catching Chiaotzu’s as he smiled.
“Tien…”
“Don’t talk aloud, Chiaotzu,” Tien said gently, cutting across him. “Your voice is all torn up…” He looked a little upset as he added, “You screamed a lot in your sleep.”
Where are we?
“In the bedroom,” Tien said softly. “It’s…unrecognisable, I know, but still...” He smiled, squeezing Chiaotzu’s hand. “I cleared the bed before I put you down. That’s where most of this stuff came from.” He gestured to the torn cloth scattering the floor near the bed. “I don’t know what happened, but whatever it was only spared the clothes we stood in.”
Chiaotzu snickered, then frowned a little.
What about the clothes I was wearing? Weren’t they…?
Tien flinched and nodded. “Yeah I…uh…”
Chiaotzu noticed that Tien wasn’t wearing his shirt and smiled widely. Oh…
“Well, you were absolutely soaked in blood, your clothes were beyond saving. I threw them out and gave you my shirt,” Tien said, flushing. “I even had to give you another bath you were so bloody. For Kami’s sake, Chiaotzu, I couldn’t have done that to you. I couldn’t have hurt you so bad you bled like that and not even remembered it…”
You were possessed, Chiaotzu sent, still smiling. I think it had something to do with that mist…
“What mist?”
I was holding my breath again, Chiaotzu started, flushing. And the mist came in through the window. I was so scared, Tien, I couldn’t move. When it was gone I went out, and you were… Your eyes were…
He couldn’t finish. No matter how much he wanted to, no matter how much he wanted to ease Tien’s curiosity, he couldn’t say how horrible it had been to see those glowing red points, that wide, malicious smile.
“You don’t have to tell me, Chiaotzu, not if you don’t want to,” Tien said gently. “It’s okay.”
No, I do want to. Chiaotzu bit his lip, fighting back tears. It’s just…hard… The Demon Clan, I know it had something to do with them… They changed you, then when you bit me, I think you changed me too…
“Why would you let me do that, Chiaotzu?” Tien asked. “You know I would never want to hurt you…”
I also know you promised you’d never leave me alone, Chiaotzu sent. And with you like that and me normal, we were both alone. This way we could at least be together.
Tien flinched, then nodded. “I guess so,” he said uncertainly. “But did you really have to let yourself get hurt so bad?”
Yes...because I knew if I’d fought against you even a little, tried to make you calm down, then you probably would have killed me. I don’t know why you bit me…but I wouldn’t have let anyone else do it…
Tien squeezed Chiaotzu’s hand tight, guilt twisting his smile as he looked down. Chiaotzu smiled widely back, his smile filled only with happiness and contentment. He turned his head a little and flinched at the spark of pain it triggered.
“Don’t move your head too much,” Tien murmured, one hand resting on Chiaotzu’s cheek and gently turned his face back to the front. “I bandaged your neck as best I could, but it’s a hard spot to reach. You have to be careful with it, okay? I don’t want it to start bleeding again. You can’t afford to lose any more blood.”
Got it.
Chiaotzu didn’t move his head, but was unable to resist lifting an arm and resting a hand on his neck. The soft cloth that met his fingertips told him that Tien had utilised another shredded item of clothing to form a makeshift bandage. His smile widened.
“I love you, onii-chan,” he said in his soft, broken voice.
Tien didn’t tell him to be quiet, to not use his voice, to speak telepathically. He just smiled and gently kissed Chiaotzu’s smooth, white forehead.
“I love you too, little brother,” he whispered. “Don’t scare me like that again. I swear, seeing you soaked in blood and smiling that ridiculously happy smile almost killed me.”
Sorry for smiling then, Chiaotzu sent, and laughed softly.
Tien laughed too, his voice a little less carefree, and gently cupped the top of Chiaotzu’s head with his palm. His eyes filled with concern and a tenderness that warmed Chiaotzu’s chilled skin, and he murmured, “You really scared me, you know that? I mean…it was a nightmare come true…”
Chiaotzu’s smile wavered, before he closed his eyes for a moment and let out a soft sigh.
I know what you mean, he sent. I felt that way exactly…when I saw your eyes…
Tien frowned. “That’s twice you’ve mentioned my eyes now,” he said softly. “Why?”
They were… Chiaotzu tried to make himself go on, couldn’t, then decided to try a different approach. Remember Piccolo Daimao?
Tien’s face hardened instantly, his jaw setting and fury sparking in his eyes. “Yes,” he said in a bitter voice. “How could I forget?”
Chiaotzu smiled and put his hand on Tien’s cheek. Well, I told you about when I was dead, right? Tien nodded. Your eyes were like that…that red thing I told you about… When I saw your eyes glinting red like that, I almost couldn’t breathe. It hurt, Tien, seeing you like that… I had to follow you; I couldn’t bear to leave you…
“I was a demon clansman?” Tien asked, frowning even more now. “How did that happen…?”
The mist, Chiaotzu said. It had to be the mist…
“So, why are we better?” Tien asked.
Dunno. Chiaotzu’s face split in a wide grin, his eyes sparkling with tears. But it doesn’t matter. We’re back, Tien, and we’re together again. That’s all I care about.
“Well, I’ll postpone the celebrations until your blood-level’s back up, yeah? And you’re not allowed to move until those marks heal.” A humourless smile crossed his face as he said, “I bit deep; it’ll take a while.”
Stop beating yourself up over it, Tien, Chiaotzu sent in a warning voice. There’s no need. I’ve already forgiven you; I did before it happened. Hell, I told you to do it.
“Yeah, I guess.” Tien looked a little uncertain, but at Chiaotzu’s happy little giggle he relaxed. “Okay, I’m going to leave you to rest a little more. I’ll clean up everything. You stay here; if you move so much as a muscle I will be forced to take drastic measures.”
Such as?
Tien smiled, catching Chiaotzu’s hands and squeezing them tight. “Such as tying you up,” he said, surprising a giggle from Chiaotzu. “Now be still. I’ll clean up in here first, then move on to the other rooms.” He looked around and let out a little, sad sigh. “We’re gonna have to get new everything.” He glanced at Chiaotzu, teasing disapproval in his eyes. “Let’s make a pact, right now, if we get possessed again we’ll spare at least a few pieces of furniture.”
Deal, Chiaotzu said, grinning.
“Good.” Tien bent and gently kissed Chiaotzu’s forehead. “Sleep if you want, little brother. Don’t worry; I’ll look after you.”
Mm-kay. Chiaotzu felt his eyelids droop even though he must have slept for a long time just before. Love you, onii-chan.
“Love you too, little brother…”
Chiaotzu felt Tien kiss his forehead once more, before he slipped slowly into sleep, his eyes sliding closed, the few muscles in his body he had been using relaxing completely, his hands tightening on Tien’s for a moment before falling limp. He barely felt Tien gently move them to his sides before the warmth of his presence left his side.
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