A story high above the low, recorded by few, disputed by later.

[enigmaestro]

WHO: EDWARD NYGMA and POSSIBLY YOU.
WHERE: NOHoPE.
WHEN: August 8th - August 14th.
WARNINGS: Sweep you all up on a corner and pay for my bread.
SUMMARY: You know that I cannot believe my own truth.
FORMAT: To show what a truth, it's got nothing to lose.

Comments

[enigmaestro]

The hiss that exuded between his teeth was a frustrated one, a sound that lasted a few seconds. He kept a chilled gaze trained on his heroic company before a contrary smile split his face. It was an unbalanced look, this warmed grin under cold eyes.

"You're not going to help me out of a highly uncomfortable jacket, but you're inclined to demand information? Goodness, Spider-Man, you're one of those heroes who play hard, aren't you?" Eddie shook his head, chuckling. He continued to squirm for a moment, jerking his shoulders back and forth. "It's a rather long story, I'm sure we don't have time for all of it. You know about the whole kidnapping bit? How I was kidnapped, and no one bothered -- even thought to look for me? That's likely my favorite part."

He was breathing hard, sweat lightly popping on his forehead. His body was morphed even more angular under his straitjacket, elbows fighting against the restraint.

"Less favorable was the darkness and torture and sensory deprivation. And then coming here, framed as crazy? Dr. Sofen proclaimed it a psychotic breakdown. A psychotic breakdown! Me!"

There was a sickening pop! that was muffled by canvas and leather. A shoulder joint moved out of socket. Eddie's eyes rolled up for a second and he clenched his teeth, stifling a groan. Then, very pointedly, he glared at Spider-Man.

"Ow. That was entirely preventable, you know."

edited to point out the irony of such PURPLE prose

[incywincyhero]

Kidnapped, and no one bothered...
... Darkness and torture and sensory deprivation...

The words rang in his ears, counterpoint to the beat of his suddenly-pounding heart. But timed, perfectly timed, to the phantom pain that prickled over his skin and made his bones ache and his palms break out in a sweat. It was exactly what he'd been dreading; Norman Osborn to the core. Yet somehow hearing his supposition confirmed made it real again, made the forcibly-buried memories rise to the surface. It was another voice Peter heard now, tender but firm, stern father to the wayward but loved -- no, coveted -- child.

I’m going to have to undo you, Peter - make you want the darkness.

The all-too-familiar snap of a popped socket was enough to bring Spider-Man back to himself, barely, remembrance of electric white and soothing black pushed out of the foreground. Eddie's complaint was still hardly more than buzzing in his ears, and for seconds that dragged to almost a minute he only hung there, unmoving. Then he licked his lips, dry under the mask, and reached out -- stoppped himself, barely, from pushing a hand into camera range. Instead he pulled himself upright on the line, the better to examine the joins of glass front to walls and ceiling.

"Can I get in there without setting off alarms?" he croaked at last.

That's how I RED it.

[enigmaestro]

"The door isn't locked." Eddie made this observation with a somewhat dour tone. The darkness obscured most of his expression, but his voice carried the emotion. "I was just recently jacketed, you see. The guard hardly assumed a twelve-digit code and a double set of keys was necessary, when clearly I've been properly restrained. Once again I've been severely underestimated."

His attitude was a cover. All the while, he was watching Spider-Man's stillness. His stony silhouette against the luminescent hallway lighting. The croaking voice. The unmistakable frozen movement that alluded to something far deeper than mere appearances would allow.

Oh. How fun.

"You really don't have much time. An hour, maybe two, and rounds will resume." Eddie had stopped wiggling in his straitjacket, his one arm loosely dangling within the bounds of cloth. Hidden. "Unless you're having a moment? I wouldn't want to interrupt that."

[incywincyhero]

A single bound had Spidey clinging to the ceiling behind the security camera, but it took him two tries to fumble out the tiny utility knife he kept in his belt, and another three to open the camera backing and fray the wiring just so. The next person to look inside would see only a simple equipment failure -- an error in quality control at the factory.

"Oops." The joke was lusterless, banter on autopilot.

With the barest shrug, he dropped down to the floor, sliding the door open just enough to slip inside. "I don't know how much time that gives us ..." But even knowing the need for haste, he hovered near the sill: scarred himself, waiting to see if the wounded animal would snap and bite.

[enigmaestro]

Eddie watched the camera interference quietly. Smirking. Now he had the opportunity for more engaging behavior, once Spider-Man left. Staff maintenance wouldn't pick up on the 'malfunctioning' until waking hours, at the earliest, and his door was unlocked. What a perfect coordination of events.

"Probably not as much time as desired," cooed Eddie. He hung back, still sitting on his bed. The inch of slack he could now afford earned him enough room for movement. His working fingers snaked around, within. "But when do we ever possess that?"

Eddie winked over at his guest.

"You're here for a reason. Let's not digress too much now."

[incywincyhero]

Spidey perched awkwardly on the bed next to Eddie, uncharacteristically hesitant. This wasn't exactly the meeting he'd had in mind when he'd come to visit. The plan had been to debrief Eddie -- to interrogate him, however gently. Instead, the encounter had become ... raw. Almost intimate. Somehow, with all his theorizing about what had happened, he hadn't thought as far as considering how he'd feel knowing the truth. Whether he was able to know the truth.

His touch was light as he undid the buckles and straps -- avoidance as much as it was compassion, minimizing contact. "Here, that should do it," he said at last, starting to pull the garment off while minding Eddie's shoulder as much as possible.