Fic: Altered Trajectory (cont.)
Hazel did what she could to comfort Rufus, which wasn't much. She could only hold onto him as the shakes ran through him, rocking him as he wept like a cubling, as the twisting of his gut bent him nearly double. “Shh, Ru. You're okay. I'm right here with you all the way. You'll be all right soon.”
He shook his head, face buried in her shoulder. “No, Hazel. They're just going to come back and shoot me up again until I talk. And I... I will talk. It was like I was never off the stuff. Oh, Holy Den Mother forgive me, it felt so good.”
“You're stronger than that Ru Ofanius, I know you are,” she murmured, petting his head. “I won't let them hurt you again.”
“I don't want be an addict again.”
“You won't be. You're not.”
“I will...” He raised his head up, eyes red, his paw gripping her arm so hard she thought he might leave bruises. “Promise me... If it looks like I might talk, if you think I'm going to break... Promise me that you'll kill me.”
“What! Are you insane?” She pulled his paw away, gripping it tightly between her own. “You can't ask me to do that!”
“I can. I'm your sovereign lord. I order you to do it, Haz Elin.”
“I refuse,” she replied firmly. “And if you try to commit suicide I'll sit on you.”
He looked at her for a long moment. Then, still shuddering, he shook his head and said, “That... that could be fun. Under the right circumstances.”
Hazel looked him, biting down hard on her tongue. The her shoulders began to shake and she dissolved into peals of high pitched laughter, unable to catch her breath, as they held onto each other like drowning sailors hold onto floating driftwood.