http://bossisawitch.livejournal.com/ ([identity profile] bossisawitch.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] capeandcowllogs2009-03-06 12:06 pm

[only want your pressure if it's to stop the bleedin'] [INCOMPLETE]

WHO: Nico and Teddy and possibly Billy
WHERE: In a handy-dandy abandoned warehouse
WHEN: Some nebulous time this weekend, which probably makes it both future and past dated. Will update when that's firmed up.
WARNINGS: Gothbeating, violence, possibly some language
SUMMARY: Great-Grandmother let Nico in on the secret of unlocking her personal power---EXTREME MASOCHISM!!!1one!---and Nico has enlisted Teddy's help to beat more power out of her. Literally.
FORMAT: Paragraph



The more pain you learn to take, the more power you will control.

Her great-grandmother, the Witchbreaker, had told Nico this as she'd sent a volley of ghostly blue imps to crawl and writhe and sink invisibly wicked teeth into every inch of her exposed skin. It'd been funny, the way she'd made it seem like she was doing her this great big favor by stabbing, electrocuting, and shredding her---no, maybe not funny. Funny wasn't the right word for this situation, because it wasn't something that Nico could laugh about no matter how far removed from the situation she was.

It'd never be funny because the torture that she'd inflicted had, ultimately, been for her benefit. Nico's stomach rolled and twisted painfully at the thought, a dry nausea that she'd been fighting since she'd woken up. Her chest burned weirdly, nerves tight and jangling until she felt like she'd throw up everything she hadn't eaten in the past two days. She'd tried to learn as much about the Minoru heritage as she could, coming up with next to no answers as to why she'd been born into a line of wizards and witches who put whole new spins on suffering for art.

Nico's lips twisted hard into a frown. And that was what today was all about, wasn't it? Suffering for the dark arts, pushing herself further than the Witchbreaker had just so she could feel like she could handle whatever this city threw at her friends. She hated to ask Teddy to do something like this, but...who else could she ask? Who else could she trust?

She picked nervously at her peeling nail polish, waiting for Teddy to arrive.

[identity profile] skrullactually.livejournal.com 2009-03-12 06:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Halfway through the teleport, Teddy began to realize that this was -- quite possibly -- a really really bad idea. Granted, he'd known that already, or at least had had an inkling, just based on the way his face had tightened and his stomach felt a little queasy the last time he had spoken with Nico. But this time around there was nothing to distract him from it, nothing to focus on and draw his attention; not like before, when he was too busy concentrating on Nico to give it much thought.

Philosophically he understand what is that he was meant to do, what Nico in turn was trying to do and the reasons why she was doing it; but still there was the very large, very obvious hump, the thought that I have to beat the shit out of Nico, that made Teddy feel sick and anxious and not ready for this meeting at all. In the end, though, Teddy knew -- if not him, then who? Nico wasn't only a friend, she was a friend from back home, and as much as some of the other heroes were honest and trustworthy and good, Teddy knew that kind of connection held much more meaning. A kind of unspoken understanding that he could tell Nico got too.

"Right," he said simply as the warehouse materialized out of blue light around them, Nico a dark smudge at the far end of the long empty room that turned to look at them both. He gave Billy a sideways glance and then muttered with a kind of grim moodiness: "Great, the gang's all here."

[identity profile] skrullactually.livejournal.com 2009-03-18 08:40 pm (UTC)(link)
Teddy did what he could to eke out a smile back in Nico's direction, but even then, he could tell that it was pulled taut in strange places and could guess -- rather correctly -- that it probably wasn't very pleasant to look at, at all. Almost immediately he flattened this lips back out into a thin a line. He felt the very strong urge to say something or do something reassuring. But Teddy knew that anything of the sort -- whether or it be a kind word or a hug or even the lightest nudge to Nico's arm -- would just make what he eventually had to do so much harder.

So instead, Teddy just nodded, glancing to the side to break eye contact, before looking at Nico again more squarely. "Thank me when this is over, Nico. Not now."

He stepped towards her, but kept a wide berth -- as if somehow that distance would translate in his mind and through some mental smoke and mirrors, make this situation seem not nearly as messed up as it actually was. It didn't work. Teddy sighed.

"So," he said quietly, his hands playing with the hem of his shirt.

[identity profile] skrullactually.livejournal.com 2009-03-18 10:24 pm (UTC)(link)
The words were enough to get Teddy to wince, his entire face contracting in a grimace of pain, as if she had somehow managed to physically hurt him. There was a twist in his gut again -- nausea mixed with adrenaline and fear -- and Teddy made a harsh dissatisfied noise with his throat as he pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it over to Billy. "Fuck, Nico," Teddy said -- his voice shocked and moody, looking at her again with his brow lowered. "This isn't...Fight Club or whatever."

After a moment his face softened into something much more apologetic as he took a step closer, standing in front of her now with his shoulders slouched. "And you and me?" he said, the corner of his mouth quirking up into an almost sad looking smirk. "We're not Tyler friggin Durden, last I checked."

Up close, Teddy was struck by now slight Nico suddenly seemed -- how thin her arms were, the delicate bone structure of her face, how far she had to tilt her head to look up to him. It made him uncomfortable to know that in a few minutes, she'd seem smaller still. It made the reality of what he was supposed to do to her all the more clear. He frowned again. When he spoke again, his voice was lowered into a whisper, even though there was nobody there to keep secrets from.

"We need. We need a word or something." His frown deepened.

[identity profile] skrullactually.livejournal.com 2009-03-19 12:08 am (UTC)(link)
"Poodle," Teddy repeated, somewhat incredulously. He was beginning to wonder in the back of his mind whether or not this scenario would come off as somehow humorous to an outside observer. That if somebody were just to add some really cheesy music and a laughtrack, that this would suddenly seem like a really big joke and not nearly as grim as both his and Nico's faces were making it out to be. Probably not, but he had to admit -- Poodle. What the hell, Nico?

Sighing, Teddy lifted his shoulders and then rolled them, tilting his face up towards the blown out ceiling of the warehouse and breathing steadily. He let his eyes fall shut, trying to concentrate not on the gross, twisted-up feelings he had worming away inside, but rather the physicality of his own body, how it felt when he changed. He almost didn't want to open his eyes again, to have to look down at Nico (so much smaller, he was right, then before), but Teddy could hear her breathing, could feel the promise that he'd made her clawing away already at his conscious, and so he did, tilting his head to one side to look at her questioningly, as if to say are you ready. When he raised his hand towards her, resting it lightly on her shoulder, a whole section of her torso seemed to disappear beneath his fingers.

"This. It's for a good reason, right?" Teddy asked then, quietly.

[identity profile] skrullactually.livejournal.com 2009-03-19 01:02 am (UTC)(link)
Teddy didn't answer. Just stood there, for a very long while, his large hands now hanging limply at his sides and Billy barely breathing somewhere at the edges of the room where Teddy couldn't see him, but could still feel him. They seemed to stare at one another for a very long time, his face sad and with an expression written all over it that read don't make me do this, I don't want to do this, I really really don't want to do this. He half expected himself to chicken out, to look away or break down or start shouting uncle uncle, you win, Nico, please tell me you've been joking all this time and I've just been punk'd. But that moment never came, just more silence, because Teddy knew -- deep down inside -- that's why Nico had chosen him in the first place, because Nico knew that Teddy would never let that moment happen.

Because Teddy was a nice guy and he had made a promise and nice guys like him didn't break promises like these. Even when they wanted to. And boy, did Teddy want to.

The longer that he stared at her, the more that the thoughts about these things, the more of Teddy's sadness seemed to fall away, and even though it didn't really disappear (it simply moved to another place, away from his face), his expression eventually grew harder, more resolved. Until Teddy realized his hands were now clenched to fists at his sides and his breath was coming hard through his nostrils -- barely under control.

He took a step forward, raising his hand slightly, his face faltering into regret for only a moment as he blurted out (barely loud enough for Nico to hear): "I'm so sorry, Nico."

And then Teddy hit her.

[identity profile] skrullactually.livejournal.com 2009-03-19 01:54 am (UTC)(link)
"Get up," Teddy said, his voice flat and unmoving and pitched so low that it almost startled him, just how cold it sounded. He wasn't sure where it came from, but Teddy did what he could to hold onto it, gripping tightly to whatever that distance and that detachment was, even though he could feel parts of himself already slipping into doubt. "I said get up." Gritting his teeth beneath his lips, he reached out and gripped Nico tightly by the shoulder, lifting her up and off the ground, holding her out at arm's length. When he looked at her face -- flushed with what he imagined was pain -- he grimaced slightly but did not blink.

This, he realized in that moment -- this was the hard part. Because as difficult as it was to hit Nico the first time, having to do it again almost felt unimaginable. Especially now that he could see the results of his handiwork all over Nico's face, had heard it in his ears and was now watching it dangle a few inches from the floor. It made his stomach reel, but still Teddy looked Nico levelly.

In the back of his mind, he was still very aware that Billy was somewhere there with them, watching. Perhaps searching for that moment when Teddy would start to buckle, show signs of hesitation, something that would indicate to Billy that this was at least half of the really bad idea that they had all thought it was. And when that happened, Teddy knew that Billy would make him stop. Rather than allowing himself to openly falter, Teddy glared a bit longer a Nico, his free hand clenching and releasing like a pulsebeat at his side. Conviction, that was all that he needed, and he had it, but it kept slipping away from him every time he pulled back his arm to take that second swing.

So instead of taking that second swing, Teddy paused to remind himself exactly why he was bothering to spend his Saturday afternoon doing something so royally fucked up. He thought about what he would do if he was in Nico's position -- if he had an opportunity to try and protect the things that he wanted and cared for and loved. How far he would go. How many things he would pull down or destroy to keep those things safe -- even himself.

He thought about Wanda and how she had unmade the universe to make Billy and Tommy. And he thought about Billy and the Warden how hard he tried to want the bastard dead. He thought about Sarah.

And when he did, Teddy's fingers found the will to make a fist again. And when he hit Nico a second time, he didn't regret it.

[identity profile] skrullactually.livejournal.com 2009-03-20 09:59 pm (UTC)(link)
"Shut up, Nico," Teddy barked forcefully, the harshness of his voice betrayed by the expression on his face; it pitched and wavered between a forced kind of anger and something more like fear in his eyes. But still, Teddy did not blink, simply breathed hard and heavy through his flaring nostrils, his jaw set and his muscles clenched and his grip on Nico still tight as he shook her once as she continued to hang there in the air in front of him. He had the very strong urge to toss her away, to say fuck this and fuck you for asking me to do it, but he didn't, just allowed that sentiment to fester a bit -- something like bitter resentment shaking hands with regret, until finally Teddy released her from a large height, silently watching as she crumpled to the ground.

He wanted, in that moment, to hate Nico for bringing him here in the first place, for relying on him and trusting him, for so many things. None of these things, of course, were actually Nico's fault; so much of their lives just were -- regardless of blame. But still, Teddy needed a way to make swallowing his own guilt a bit easier, and since there were alone, far away from anyone and anything else -- it fell to Nico, and fell hard. So Teddy tried and, oh god, did he come close, but in the end it wasn't possible. It wasn't him.

He simply felt hard inside, but only because he knew he had to be and in a way that felt barely held together by the knowledge of what he had to do. It was like the way his body grew scales and armor and plates of bone over every one of his knuckles, and Teddy knew his emotions needed to be covered in the exact same way -- protected, unshatterable -- at least for as long as was necessary to get the job done. Whether or not it was possible, whether he'd hold out long enough, Teddy didn't know, so rather than waiting for that moment to happen, he lunged forward again and grabbing hold of both of her shoulders, threw her towards the nearest wall.

The impact made a dull cracking noise as the plaster split and cratered slightly, Nico dropping heavily to the floor as Teddy growled out an angry: "You have no idea."
Edited 2009-03-20 22:00 (UTC)