Seren led them through what felt like the entire camp, before stopping in front of a large tent that was set a little bit back from all the rest. "I will take Nikolas now, and the guards will escort you back to the cell." he told Kaylum.
Kaylum stopped and studied the tent. Then he frowned at Seren. How was Nik supposed to stand? Was Seren going to give him assistance? Was there a walking stick in the tent? Kay glanced at Nik awkwardly, then back to Seren. He couldn't make himself move. If he just let go, Nik would fall, and Kay didn't think he would appreciate him lowering him on the ground and leaving him there.
Seren raised his eyebrows. "Well?"
Nik took a deep breath, carefully extricating himself from Kaylum. "I've got it." he said to the other prince, standing on his uninjured leg while the other one hovered a few inches above the ground.
(“Sir, your torture victim is disabled and traumatized already—“)
(lmao yeahh)
Kaylum let his hands fall to his sides. He nodded, relaxing when he saw Nik standing somewhat on his own. He stayed silent, but shot Seren a glare before letting the guards take him away.
The guards escorted Kaylum back towards the cell, silent as they did so.
Seren, for his part, reached out to half drag Nikolas into the tent, pushing him roughly into the edge of a table. "Sit down." he ordered. Nik, helpless to do anything else with how bad his leg was, sat.
(timeskip to afterwards? I'll do it)
(Yeah, there’s not much for Kaylum to do meanwhile lol)
(yeah lol)
(Boop)
(shiiit sorry!)
Seren brought Nikolas back after a few hours. The tent that the torture had been in was sound-proofed, so Kaylum wouldn't have heard anything. A guard was the one to half carry, half drag the prince, and put him down roughly on the floor. Nik's clothing was on him, but there was bloody marks staining the back and sides of it. His left leg was bloody too, though it had been haphazardly wrapped in a bandage that looked like it would come off in one pull. He looked exhausted, eyes half open as he glared at Seren.
"Just think about it." Seren said before leaving.
Nik was lying on the floor where the guard had unceremoniously dropped him, and pushed himself upright with trembling arms, taking a few deep breaths.
(All good!)
Kaylum was back in dragon form, trying to do exercises. Without Nik in the cell with him, he could take up the whole space and even unfurl his wings halfway. He had managed to climb onto the ceiling of the cell and was moving his wings in certain patterns, working the muscles there and in his forelegs. Small feathers were littered everywhere, including the larger flight feathers that Kay had to remove the previous day.
He almost fell when Seren came with Nikolas. His muscles twitched when he caught sight of the other man’s wounds. Once Seren had left, Kay climbed down to the floor and shifted into a human. Cautiously, he placed a hand on Nik’s shoulder, trying to help him sit up.
“That’s it, that’s it,” he murmured. “Just breathe.”
Nik closed his eyes for a moment. "I'm fine." he said quietly, though the words were pretty clearly a lie. He was in pain, and it was obvious with each movement he made. "Shit." he opened his eyes, looking up at the ceiling and still just taking deep breaths.
“Don’t talk,” Kay said. “Just breathe.”
He watched him for a moment, then grimaced. “Actually, you should lay back down.”
After letting him back down, he moved to examine the wound on his leg. Removing the bandage was easy enough. He winced at what he saw, then did his best to clean it. Soon his hands were covered in blood. He rewrapped the bandage around Nik’s leg, holding it fast with one of his feathers. Better extend the time he wouldn’t be able to walk from days to weeks.
Nik winced when the bandage was unwrapped and the wound cleaned, clenching his teeth but not making a sound. The old wound was a nasty, gnarled scar, with a newer but shallower one crossing it. This newer one was the one that was bloody; the old one, thankfully, had remained unopened. Had that scar been torn open, the damage would have been far too bad for Kaylum to be able to fix.
After rewrapping the bandage, Kaylum moved to face Nikolas. “We should look at your other wounds,” he said. There was a question in his eyes, an uncertainty. He was almost afraid to say anything else.
Nik grimaced. "They aren't that bad." he replied softly. "It's…it'll get worse before it gets any better." the torture would, anyways. The wounds…well. He didn't know what would happen with the current ones.
Kaylum was about to insist that they should check them anyway, but stopped himself. He sighed, pulling his knees up to his chest. “Is there… anything else I could do?”
He shook his head a little bit, moving to lay on his stomach to keep the pressure off of anything. "No. Not really. Unless one of your magic abilities is healing or something." he replied in a soft tone.
Kaylum shook his head. There were psychic dragons who possessed healing abilities, but he wasn't one of them. "Even if I did, my powers still aren't working."
He nodded faintly. "Right. Of course." he ran a hand through his hair, just trying to breathe. He sighed softly. He had a high pain tolerance, but it still hurt quite a lot.
Kaylum had tried using his powers again while Nik was gone, but hadn’t accomplished much. His gaze began to waver as he fell into silence. Soon he shifted again and climbed up onto the ceiling, returning to his exercises. He stretched and bended his wings in certain ways, sometimes holding them for several seconds.
Nik closed his eyes, still just trying to breathe and adjust to the pain level. It hurt, and he knew that Seren would do it again later. That Seren would keep hurting him, over and over and over.
(Not sure if I want to time skip or not)
(idk either)