Work Text:
Jack felt like he was in a butcher's shop, hacking away at his arm with a kitchen knife, desperate for relief from the thoughts in his head.
Until this moment, he'd never considered just how tough human skin was. Or perhaps he was just weak. Either way, it was a pain in the ass.
Eventually, though, he broke the skin enough for blood to start dripping through, though he kept hacking away.
It hurt, of course, but it wasn't quite in the way he'd been hoping. It wasn't painful enough to truly distract from his emotional pain, just painful in an uncomfortable way.
He'd slashed about eight or nine shallow cuts in his arm by the time the washroom door opened.
"Jack, hey, hey" the Baker's voice soothed, carefully removing the knife from his hands. Tears began to prick at Jack's eyes.
I'm such an idiot.
"Let's get you cleaned up" the Baker said gently, going to grab soap, a pail of water, and some liquor.
No words were exchanged as the Baker washed the cuts. Jack winced as water, soap, and alcohol cleansed the fresh wounds, but he didn't scream.
At least the Baker wasn't mad at him.
Once the cuts were cleaned and bandaged up, the Baker awkwardly wrapped his arms around the boy for a moment, then sat back in front of him.
"Do you want to talk about it?" the Baker asked. Jack opened his mouth to speak but found no sound came out.
Of course, he thought, frustrated. Of all the times for my voice to stop working.
The boy shook his head, and the Baker simply nodded.
"How can I help you?" the Baker asked, feeling a bit at a loss. He'd never been great at handling emotional issues, let alone this. But, he knew he had to try.
Jack shrugged and yawned. He was so tired.
"Alright" the Baker stood up, then carefully lifted Jack up in his arms. Jack didn't protest this, nor did he protest when the Baker brought him to his room and lied him down, tucking him in under his blanket.
He's being too nice to me.
"I'll be right down the hall, okay?" the Baker asked. Jack nodded. The Baker patted the boy's knee, observed him for a moment, then left the room. Jack sighed.
I'm such an idiot.