Chapter Text
Ten turned in bed, rolling over on his side. Then he did it again and tossed back over. Nothing was comfortable anymore. Ten pried his eyes open, and his hand lazily searched the nightstand for his clock. Ten blinked a few times as he read the numbers.
“11:27?” He muttered, he never slept this late. Ten flipped back over with a huff when a sharp pain pierced him.
“Augh!” Ten yelped as his eyes shot open, he jolted upright in bed. There was an ache infecting him. A fierce pain in his neck and shoulders, like his flesh was twisted into a knot. Tens eyes shifted down.
“Oh god.” He mumbled as his eyes widened. Neatly wrapped around Ten's shoulder and up his neck were thick medical bandages. Anchored beneath both his arms to ensure they stayed in place. With a thickly soaked spot of blood where it pressed against his neck. Ten reached up and ran his hand over it.
Fourteen.
The sight had renewed Ten's memory. Fourteen attacked him last night. Starting feasting on him again, but hadn’t gotten far. Thankfully, Fourteen upheld their little agreement, even when Ten was out cold. It was just one bite like he promised. One deep, passionate, hungry bite. It might’ve been two if Ten hadn’t interrupted. One on each side, or maybe even a bit lower. Ten shook his head to sling those thoughts away. His face slightly red from embarrassment.
But as he recounted the story, he couldn’t recall ever tending to the wound Fourteen left. Ten didn’t even see it, or at the very leas,t he couldn’t remember it. His thoughts dropped off after he came to his rightful senses and shoved Fourteen off of him.
Ten's bedroom door clicked open, and it stopped his replay of the memory. In walked a purple figure, with glasses perched on their nose, and a sweater hanging off their body.
“Five?” Ten muttered out, “What are you doing here? We weren’t supposed to meet today, were we?” He asked them as they approached Ten's bedside, watching as Five came and sat right in front of him.
“God,” Five huffed, “You can’t really be that dense, can you?” The back of his throat was lined with irritation as he rolled his eyes. “You woke me up with your screaming last night. I rushed to get here. Fourteen attacked you again.” Five explained to Ten, who shifted their weight.
“Well, yeah, but-“ Ten started before being cut off by Five’s rant.
“The last time this happened, you were unconscious on the floor in a puddle of your own blood with all your skin missing!” He furiously stated, sternly pointing a finger at Ten, “You are so lucky you’re still in one piece.”
Ten glanced away from Five, eyes lingering on the closet's open doors. He reached up and lightly scratched at the bandages that rubbed against his arm. Did it really have anything to do with luck?
“When I got here last night,” Five continued, “you were out cold again! Right here!” They pointed at the spot where Ten had been sleeping, “There was a bunch of gauze sloppily taped over that hole in your shoulder. Your window was wide open, but I was too late to catch Fourteen.” Five groaned in agitation.
“Don’t stress about it, Five.” Ten calmly replied, “I’m sure you’ll catch him. He’s not exactly sneaky.” Ten's voice cinched at the end of his sentence. Fourteen's approach wasn’t flawed, it was the aftermath he never cared for.
“Oh, I’ll catch that animal if it’s the last thing I do.” Five lowly grumbled with their arms sternly crossed. He then sighed, and his body relaxed. “I managed to fix you up while you were out. But what happened last night?”
Tens throat tied, and it definitely wasn’t a good time to do that. He felt sweat fall down his neck as he avoided any and all eye contact with Five. He fidgeted with his hands.
“Oh well-“ Ten hesitated, “Fourteen-“ His brows furrowed as he frowned slightly. His mind seemingly worked on something as Five watched and waited. “I was just lying here in bed, getting ready to go to sleep. And-“ Ten's voice faltered, and he went silent for a second. His head fell and hung low.
“And?” Five asked for the rest with a gentle gleam behind their glasses.
Ten perked back up and focused on Five. “And he broke through my window and jumped at me. We fought for a little bit, but” Ten paused as they let out an unsteady breath, “he managed to bite me.” His face scrunched up as he looked away from Five and to the window Fourteen had ‘broken through’. Five had shut and locked it, for obvious reasons.
This story tangled into Ten's ribs, it made his chest ache slightly. But it was better this way.
“But then you fought him off?” Five questioned, ”Because there’s no way Fourteen would have just one bite. He’s a maniac!” They exclaimed and caught Ten's attention as their head snapped back.
“Yeah, exactly,” Ten quickly replied, “I kicked him in the gut. I guess at that point he decided it wasn’t worth it, because he crawled back out the window.” Five’s assumptions made this easier for Ten than it should’ve been, as long as Five didn’t ask too many questions.
“So, that’s where he bit you?” Five asked as they traced a path from their own neck down their shoulder.
“Yeah,” Ten responded as they rubbed their hand over the sore spot, “I tried to take care of it but I think I passed out.” Ten took all the credit for the work, but he’d never actually be that careless. Not as careless as somebody like Fourteen.
“Explains why it was so messy.” Five replied, “You were barely conscious!” He took Ten's explanation without question. Ten had crafted it just carefully enough to make sense, to seem plausible.
“I was stumbling all over the place trying.” Ten fakely chuckled a bit, “Thanks for taking care of me.” At least the thank you was genuine.
“Well, I can’t just leave you to bleed all over the place.” Five lightly joked back, then his face shifted. The small moment of joy quickly soured as his head fell. “It's a really bad wound, Ten.” He told them with a sudden stiffness, “There’s so much missing, so many teeth marks, it’s bruised badly.”
A sigh slipped out of Five's teeth as his face twisted. He suddenly looked up and reached out to Ten, gently taking the cover that was folded over the integer's stomach. “And that’s not including these.” Five peeled it back, and Ten gasped at the sight, “I found them while I was taking your shirt off to patch you up. Fourteen's definitely a savage.” Five grunted with disgust.
Ten's wide eyes stared down at the mess. Scaring his waist were bright red scratches. Four of them on each side, where Fourteen's claws had dug into him last night.
“Oh god,” Ten murmured, “I don’t even remember him doing that.” He turned slightly to observe the wounds. Fresh, but thankfully already scabbed.
“Who could blame you?” Five lowly replied, “You were fighting for your life.” They locked eyes with Ten. Past their glasses, Ten could just see the sympathy seeping out. Ten’s stomach churned a bit as he frowned.
A silence stole the air from them as Ten glanced away from the integer on the edge of his mattress. Five just sat there, looking at Ten over again and again, like he was expecting more. He was studying Ten, it’s what Five knew to do. He was good at it, but not good enough to see through the seams of Ten's story.
“Well, I should get going.” Five announced as they stood from the bed, “I got a cannibal to catch, and I'm putting him in that cage again. Zero had such a stupid idea by chaining him.” They huffed with frustration as they fixed their glasses. Turning back and hesitating to step towards the door.
“Yeah,” Ten mumbled back, “It didn’t work very well.” He didn’t even think of that. How did Fourteen even escape that chain? Was he really that desperate for another taste?
Five came to the door and opened it, before turning back to Ten, who kept rubbing the bandages on his shoulder. Head low, eyes lost, not entirely present.
“You’ll be okay by yourself, right?” Five asked from the doorway, Ten flicked their head back up.
“Don’t worry about me, Five.” Ten dismissed with a wave of his hand, “I can take care of things myself.” He smiled reassuringly at them.
“Okay,” Five replied, “If you need anything, do not hesitate to call me.” He stated in all seriousness.
“You know I won’t.” Ten gently responded. Five stared at him one last time, lingering in the doorway. Before finally turning away and pulling the door shut behind him.
Ten fell back into the sheets with a groan, as he ran his hands over his own face and tugged at the skin on it. Before staring at the cream colored ceiling above as his arms flopped to his sides, awakening the ache in the one Fourteen had bit into.
What was he doing? Creating a fake story just to uphold his image? It was fine, some of those things were actually true, like him kicking Fourteen. That had to make the lie less offensive, didn’t it? But he fed this lie to Five. Ten cringed a little bit. That was wrong. The last time this happened, Five was the only one who heard him scream and actually came to look. Even now, he was covered in Five’s sturdy handiwork, they had tucked these bandages so neatly. But Five couldn’t know. No one could know.
This would stay underground, where it belonged. Everyone would just believe Ten was attacked, and nothing more. Fourteen would be caged again. Ten wouldn’t have to confront him. It was all so easy.
The only thing he’d have to deal with is the guilt. The guilt that was bright red, that bled, and was carved into his skin. Carved by Fourteen.