[jmm] 22.4.1 - white
NOTE: Sal is we_standalone and used without permission, but much love. Mike is the_nextmaven, and is mine to use and abuse as I see fit.
The pristine white porcelain of the bathtub was hard and unforgiving against his back and shoulders as he settled in, laying back as he fought his body’s natural reaction to the ice cubes that filled it. Shutting his eyes, the color still blinded him…as he screwed them closed more tightly, he didn’t see stars, but ice cubes sparking fire as they caught the light.
“Something’s wrong.”
“Easy does it, bub.” Sal’s voice was steady and encouraging. “Slow, deep breaths, ai’ight?”
Nodding, he sank back further and slouched down, shivering harder as he dragged a thick layer of them over his body. Sal’s arms slid in to help as the running tap filled the bath with cold water as well.
“Lay back.” Mike’s voice, brisk but even somewhere beyond. “We’re shooting for ten minutes or more.”
Tommy nodded again and set to work regulating his breathing. It was dry, raspy in his ears, his heart hammering as his body protested in a fit of spasms and shaking he had to fold his arms and cross his legs to control.
In, out. Slow, deep breaths that burned his lungs. His body shook, demanding more oxygen as it exerted itself. The snow white tub burned against his skin, reflecting his own energy back at him.
Fear cracked his concentration, letting the cold in and tearing the world apart.
With a scream, his spine bowed beneath the ice, spraying cubes everywhere as cold, burning cold agony ran through his veins like liquid Freon. Wounds suffered had healed, but left scars in places no human eye could see, places no hand could touch to soothe. A black hole opened in his soul, draining all light from the world. The coming dark held no power, only solitude and despair that cut him like knives.
His body slammed into something hard, softness touched his skin but he cringed away from it. He was raw and bleeding, his throat sore from the animal howls and whimpers that tore from deep in his chest. He was mad, bludgeoned and left for dead by nothing more than scar tissue.
If the wound had still been open, he would have died. As it stood, it was all he could do to keep the pain inside, not to share it with the one person who could take it all away from him.
Some time later, he realized water was beating down on him…he could touch, he could feel again. Heat…heat drove back the cold, waterlogged clothes and robe covering his body as he sat cowering in the shower, Sal’s hands holding him steady beneath the spray.
“Tommy, talk to me, goddamnit! You ok?”
His only answer was to shrug off the robe and towel and peel off his t-shirt, letting the water pour over bare skin. Only in the oppressive steam could he breathe, draw energy from the air and the man before him. His heart slowed, his breath came naturally…and the scars were pink again, throbbing knots that ached invisibly just over his heart.
“This escape,” he sighed, raking his hands back to smooth his wet hair off his face, “just got a whole fuck of a lot more complicated.”
Muse: Tommy Karras
Fandom: Original Character
Words: 534
The pristine white porcelain of the bathtub was hard and unforgiving against his back and shoulders as he settled in, laying back as he fought his body’s natural reaction to the ice cubes that filled it. Shutting his eyes, the color still blinded him…as he screwed them closed more tightly, he didn’t see stars, but ice cubes sparking fire as they caught the light.
“Something’s wrong.”
“Easy does it, bub.” Sal’s voice was steady and encouraging. “Slow, deep breaths, ai’ight?”
Nodding, he sank back further and slouched down, shivering harder as he dragged a thick layer of them over his body. Sal’s arms slid in to help as the running tap filled the bath with cold water as well.
“Lay back.” Mike’s voice, brisk but even somewhere beyond. “We’re shooting for ten minutes or more.”
Tommy nodded again and set to work regulating his breathing. It was dry, raspy in his ears, his heart hammering as his body protested in a fit of spasms and shaking he had to fold his arms and cross his legs to control.
In, out. Slow, deep breaths that burned his lungs. His body shook, demanding more oxygen as it exerted itself. The snow white tub burned against his skin, reflecting his own energy back at him.
Fear cracked his concentration, letting the cold in and tearing the world apart.
With a scream, his spine bowed beneath the ice, spraying cubes everywhere as cold, burning cold agony ran through his veins like liquid Freon. Wounds suffered had healed, but left scars in places no human eye could see, places no hand could touch to soothe. A black hole opened in his soul, draining all light from the world. The coming dark held no power, only solitude and despair that cut him like knives.
His body slammed into something hard, softness touched his skin but he cringed away from it. He was raw and bleeding, his throat sore from the animal howls and whimpers that tore from deep in his chest. He was mad, bludgeoned and left for dead by nothing more than scar tissue.
If the wound had still been open, he would have died. As it stood, it was all he could do to keep the pain inside, not to share it with the one person who could take it all away from him.
Some time later, he realized water was beating down on him…he could touch, he could feel again. Heat…heat drove back the cold, waterlogged clothes and robe covering his body as he sat cowering in the shower, Sal’s hands holding him steady beneath the spray.
“Tommy, talk to me, goddamnit! You ok?”
His only answer was to shrug off the robe and towel and peel off his t-shirt, letting the water pour over bare skin. Only in the oppressive steam could he breathe, draw energy from the air and the man before him. His heart slowed, his breath came naturally…and the scars were pink again, throbbing knots that ached invisibly just over his heart.
“This escape,” he sighed, raking his hands back to smooth his wet hair off his face, “just got a whole fuck of a lot more complicated.”
Muse: Tommy Karras
Fandom: Original Character
Words: 534