Sebastian snorted.
"Not even a minute ago you were clinging desperately to me, burying your head in my shoulder." He put his hand on Bryn's shoulder again, this time tighter.
"You can't fool me, not after your little anxiety attack on the stairs. Just don't forget what you are." All of the guilt and shame from earlier were forgotten in the wake of Sebastian's pride and ego. He wasn't letting a demon manipulate him, not by a long shot.
Bryn's breath stuttered out of him and he could practically taste the memories now. Hands on hips pulling him back and down and a hand in his hair that forced his head sideways and the awful voice in his tear telling him to be a good little slut. He stood frozen, teeth clenched and knuckles so very white against the dark wood of the table. "Oh, pig, I wish I could."
Sebastian used the hand not on Bryn's shoulder to grab Bryn's chin, much like he had at the auction.
"Damn," he said, barely controlling his anger, "to think I was actually starting to feel sorry for you. You're lucky I'm the one who bought you; anyone else and you might have been dead already."
Bryn glared back at him, gold eyes alight with the anger only a cornered animal can muster up. He stood proud: chin up, back straight, defiance writ in every line of his body. "Anyone else, and I would be back in my home, suffering with the rest of my people instead of at the hands of yours. You'll join me down there when you die, pig. I hope you know that." His voice cracked slightly on the word die, betraying the fear simmering just below his bravado.
Sebastian might have been a spoiled brat, but he was no fool. He latched onto the voice crack.
"It seems you don't mind if you die. If you want to be with your people, I'll be more than willing to send you down there if it's so much better than with me. Of course, the way there would be… very painful." Sebastian slowly moved both of his hands towards Bryn's neck, as if to choke him out.
"It doesn't matter, really, if you die. There are plenty of well-behaved demons left in this world for me to buy."
Bryn jerked his neck away violently, stumbling backward until he was pressed up against the wall. He could feel the tears welling up in his eyes and he didn't know if we could do this again. Maybe he should just give in, let Sebastian wrap those meaty little hands around his neck and squeeze. Maybe it would be best that way. He could see his family again, hug his mother for the first time in decades. He didn't think it was normal to get used to not being able to breathe this quickly. "Do it."
Sebastian moved towards Bryn again, this time with a dangerous glint in his eyes. He was only a few inches taller than Bryn, but Sebastian seemed to tower over the demon. Slowly, he wrapped his hands around Bryn's neck, squeezing tighter and tighter. However, he didn't actually squeeze Bryn's neck hard enough to kill.
That didn't mean he didn't lift his demon off the ground slightly, to where Bryn would have to stand on the balls of his feet only.
Under normal circumstances, Bryn would've been able to struggle for breath. These circumstances were decidedly not normal. His vision was starting to fade and even though his lungs burned he was smiling, wide and sharp and altogether unsettling when paired with the worrying shade of blue he was turning. He was going home. The last thing he saw before he passed out was the sparkle in Sebastian's eye.
When Bryn passed out, Sebastian near immediately loosened his grip and set Bryn down on the ground. He wasn't going to make things that simple. If this thing wanted to go home so badly, he would have to try harder than that. Picking Bryn up considerably rougher than before, Sebastian carried him out of the office, ignoring the doctor on the way out. He carried Bryn through the maze of hallways to another set of stairs, taking them two at a time to the third floor.
The third floor was Sebastian's playground, and he had just got a new toy to add to his collection.
(Skip to when Bryn wakes up?)
(Sure- he'll find himself on a hard bed in a tiny room with a narrow ass doorway :)
(Thanks!)
Bryn woke up sore and sad and disappointed, rubbing a hand over the tender bruises on his neck. There were no windows, which was probably a good thing. He wasn't sure if he could trust himself around possible ways to die yet. The room he found himself in was small and unpleasant, much like he supposed his stay here would be. "Hello?" His voice was low and croaky.
Sebastian stepped into view, looking bored.
"I see you're finally awake. I was starting to worry I had actually given you what you wanted." He looked very different from the boy who had tried to comfort Bryn on the stairs; he had tried being nice and looked where that had gotten him.
"I wasn't planning on things turning out like this, but I guess that's what I get for thinking what happened when you first came into my home was anything but an act."
Bryn regretted the sharpness of his words in the doctor's office, if only because Sebastian's touch had been so nice. It hurt a little that he'd been so close to setting this human right only for the memories of a different one to fuck it all up again. "Would you believe me if I said I was sorry?" It was just snarky enough to hide the sincerity behind the question.
Sebastian rolled his eyes.
"Haha, very funny. I like it." He took another step forward, at the end of the bed by now. Behind his bored and snarky expressions thus far, Sebastian was actually hurt by what Bryn had done. He thought that maybe, just maybe, Bryn, and demons in general, were more human than Sebastian had been lead to believe. He had let himself be manipulated, and that was not okay,
"The only sad thing is that a small part of me wants to believe you."
Bryn gave him a bitter smile and, slowly, raised a hand up to cup Sebastian's cheek. The skin was smooth under his fingers. It was warm. Bryn dropped it after a few seconds of contact. "It's not sad to be hopeful. You're supposed to listen to your heart, you know."
This seemed to trigger something in Sebastian; he pounded his fist into the bed beside Bryn, eyes near-instantly tearing up.
"Hearts lie," He nearly screamed this, voice cracking.
Of course, they weren't the only thing that lied. A large part of Sebastian wanted to believe Bryn's apology; when Bryn had taken longer to wake up than Sebastian expected, Sebastian had straight up cradled Bryn's unconscious body, terrified that he had actually killed Bryn.
While Sebastian was nearly yelling at Bryn, a small part of him wondered why Bryn had held Sebastian's cheek. Maybe Bryn wasn't lyin- No. Sebastian couldn't think like that.
Bryn flinched, scuffling back a pace on instinct and peering warily over at Sebastian. His mouth dropped into a small 'o' of surprise at what he saw. He wanted to touch this human, to pet his hair and wipe away his tears and also yell at him very loudly until he was the sweet thing from the staircase again. He decided to set his hand out invitingly on the mattress between them instead. "You know what you feel. I'm sorry you have to fight so hard to feel it."
Sebastian pulled his fist away from the bed, pulling his sleeve up and rubbing his eyes vigorously. He sat down heavily on the bed, right next to Bryn, pulling his legs up to his chest and burying his head in his knees.
"Don't pretend to care," he muttered, no weight behinds his words.
Bryn slid closer in tentative little bursts until he was pressed up against Sebastian's side. They were shoulder to shoulder and Bryn only wanted to move closer. Instead, he rested a hand on the back of Sebastian's neck, feather-light in case he needed to pull away. "I'm not pretending."
Sebastian, more than anything at the moment, wanted to hold Bryn. He put his legs down slowly, and settled for putting his head on Bryn's shoulder. He was careful not to accident touch Bryn's neck or out to much pressure on him.
"Don't patronize me," he mumbled, sightly exhausted.
"I'm not doing that either." Bryn relaxed slightly when Sebastian laid down on him, tentatively starting to run his finger's through the human's hair. It wasn't soft the way Bryn's was, but he liked it. In fact, he likes a lot about the way Sebastian looked. It was his personality that always the problem. "And… I'm not always good with being touched unless I invite it. That's why I… I got scared in the doctor's office."
Sebastian enjoyed having Bryn touching his hair; it felt good, and it was calming. Sebastian looked up into Bryn's face.
"I-I'm sorry. It's just… I was concerned you were more hurt than you really are. And I'm sorry about what I did in the office; I really am just a spoiled brat, but I'm usually better about keeping my word…"
Bryn kept messing with Sebastian's hair, watching him. His face was neutral but his eyes were soft and vulnerable. "Yeah, that was pretty fucked. But… I was being an ass. And I'm not going to say that you were right, because you sure as hell weren't but… I was part of the problem too."
Sebastian looked down, ashamed.
"I just…. Promise me that if I get like that again you'll leave the room? I really don't want to hurt you…" The guilt from earlier had come back, and he didn't think he would be able to look Bryn in the eye.