Lucrèce watched in disbelief as Alcides took the pastry, and then just…sat with it. He supposed he should have expected nothing less, particularly when Rafael returned with an empty tray. They were all messing with him. Rafael included. He clenched his jaw, shooting a narrow glare at Rafael, then to Alcides and the pastry in his hand. What kind of sick game was this? He hardly believed this was happening at all. This was a prank from his brothers, obviously. With that sudden realization, he let out a sputtering, albeit weak laugh. “This…this is just hilarious, you all. You got me. Tell Laurent I fell for it. He can have his damn bragging rights.” Maybe it was blind, desperate hope, or else he was just succumbing to his injuries.
(Lmaooo “What kind of sick game was this?” kinda fits)
(XD)
(The friends are so fun)
Alcides let his eyes slowly travel from Marian as Lucrèce spoke, looking at the man.
"Who?" He asked, chuckling some himself.
"Aw, it's delusional," Marian said with a pout. "You hit it too hard, Alcides, don't tell me it's broke." Alcides rolled his eyes, looking back at his friend.
"It's denial, Marian. It'll get over it eventually." Rafael didn't react to Lucrèce's glare, eyes on the tray. He'd just done as he was told, he wasn't the one denying the other food.
(Yess I love it lolol)
Lucrèce blinked. The so-certain smug expression on his face slowly began to dissipate as he realized his captors truly weren’t in cahoots with some trick of his brothers’. “Laur-Laurent,” he stammered. “He put you up to this, right?” He furrowed his brow as the dread came back, nestling like a serpent in his gut. His bottom lip caught between his teeth anxiously, and he chewed at it while he had to process everything all over again. Marian was right, and so was Alcides in a sense. His head had been hit too hard to think clearly, and he was in denial all the same.
"Never heard of them," Alcides said, looking away. "If anything, Luca did. He's the one who paid his debt with you." The man chuckled again, setting the pastry on the end of his chair arm.
"Sit down, won't you? You're not in any condition to be standing there in defiance." The man still didn't eat the pastry, but it was there, taunting.
"Hell, I'll even let you have this if you can manage to get back over here." The man smirked as he spoke, not saying a key part of what he was doing out loud. Lucrèce could find out the hard way.
The offer was tempting, he had to admit. Lucrèce mulled over the thought for a handful of moments, staring at the pastry on the armrest. He made his decision at the same time as vowing never to visit Luca’s bookstore again. That might have been a given, whether he ever escaped from his predicament or not. He stayed against the wall as he slid back to Alcides’ chair. The last thing he wanted was go anywhere near the man again, but at the moment the promise of food was far more desirable.
At last he reached the point where he was before. Lips pursed, as he reached for the pastry again.
"Aren't you even going to say please?" Alcides chided. He picked the pastry up once more as Lucrèce's reached for it, holding it just out of the man's reach from where he was. Marian giggled some as she and the others watched. Would Lucrèce swallow his pride for the food?
The gleam in Alcides's eyes made it quite clear- if Lucrèce didn't, he wouldn't be eating anything that day.
Lucrèce’s lips dropped more into a frown than it already was. His nostrils flared with controlled anger. It was just a word, one he’d used plenty of times in the context of polite dining and house gatherings. Then again, never in this context. It was just a word. So after a long moment of tense silence, he finally spoke. “If you…please.” It took all of his effort not to snarl.
Alcides seemed to genuinely be considering not giving the pastry to Lucrèce, but after a moment he smirked and handed it over.
"See, that wasn't so hard," he said, a deep chuckle escaping his lips. "You'll have to get much, much more broken into this, it seems." Marian laughed lightly, drawing Alcides's attention back to her.
"As if you have any problem with that," she teased.
Lucrèce took the pastry into his hand and did his best to ignore the two’s jeering as he slid down the wall. Mindlessly staring forward as he took bites, one by one, savoring the taste. It wasn’t as good as his favorite breakfast from home, but it was food, and that was enough for now. He didn’t want to draw their attention back to him. If he did, who knows what his captors could have in mind next. As such, he had no intention of finding out.
Alcides and his friends ended up ignoring Lucrèce once again, their talk going from Lucrèce to the slave trade in general.
"Any news on the shipments?" Alcides asked, looking to Marian.
"No, actually," she said, shaking her head. "None since we last spoke." Alcides had to keep the frown from his lips, his smirk just curling down instead.
"We need another way to secure our goods, then. It won't be able to get here in time, and we have many people who are waiting for their goods already. We're lucky they aren't picky."
Lucrèce was about to ask what Alcides meant by what he said when he reminded himself that captors likely wouldn’t even bother sparing him another glance, let alone get an informative answer. Whatever it was they were talking about he figured it was illegal. Likely some sort of slave trade, he supposed, considering his current position. And Rafael. He doubted these people were law-abiding, tax-paying citizens. In the absence of a napkin, Lucrèce used the side of his hand to wipe away the stray crumbs from his mouth once he’d finished eating. It didn’t satisfy all his hunger, but at least he had more energy to stand up for himself for whatever Alcides planned next.
Alcides tapped his finger lightly against his armrest, Rafael leaving the room at the cue. He came back with a new tray of food, standing at the ready again. The man of the house shook his head some, letting out a long breath as he held his pipe in his teeth.
"None of this is going to be good for us if we don't solve this quickly. Any word from Daren?"
"No, none. We fear he was caught." Alcides did scowl at that.
"He always was a cocky bastard," he growled, the muscle in his jaw twitching some.
Lucrèce stated idly at the ground, but not after curiously glancing at what Rafael had on the tray. He wasn’t in the mood for anything else. Not at the moment, though there was no doubt he was be hungry again soon. He distracted himself with his captors’ conversation since there was obviously nothing left to do. No way to escape. No way to walk around the room, or look for his clothes, and especially not join in on the discussion. He didn’t want to anyway, thinking that if he did manage to think up something to say, he might be ill.
Alcides's and his friends talked for some time after that, things of no importance. They had let the subject drop when Marian noted how Alcides reacted to the mention of Daren and his possible situation. He seemed to calm after the subject change, falling into easy conversation and laughter at times. The subject of Lucrèce and slaves in general didn't come up again the entire night. Friends would leave occasionally, and by the time the sun was setting it was only Alcide's and Marian.
"Break it good, eh?" She said as she hugged Alcides in farewell, glancing at Lucrèce.
"But of course- I'd have it no other way!" Alcides laughed some as Marian walked away, standing in front of Lucrèce with his back to the naked man.
"Rafael," he said when it was just the three of them, "Go get some coverings for it. Can't have it freezing to death when it goes in it's cage."
Lucrèce brought his attention back to the present once he saw Marian leaving, as he heard the final words of their conversation ending with him as the subject. He curled his knees a bit tighter to his chest. Narrowed gaze at Alcides’ back, pushing a snarl since his face wasn’t in view. He alternated his glare between both Alcides and Rafael. The highest degree of anger pointed at Alcides rather than a slave who had no choice in the matter. “Cage?” He set his jaw. “No. No cages.”
Alcides laughed loudly as Lucrèce tried to demand he didn't go in the cage. Rafael left the room, leaving them alone. Alcides turned on his heel, foot coming up- it wasn't hard to imagine what came next, as he kicked Lucrèce in the gut, the same area he had punched the man before.
"You have no right to try to tell me what to do-" He said, pulling his leg back to give Lucrèce another kick.
"Then again, you don't have any at all." He laughed deeply, his grin and gleam in his eyes not matching the anger in his actions and words.
Lucrèce seized around the first kick, and yelped, followed by a low groan escaping from his throat. Then after taking a moment to recover, opened his mouth to argue. The second kick took him by surprise, and it took him even longer to recover. He groaned again. More painfully, as he doubled over to rest his forehead on the floor. His arms wrapped around his stomach and the gathering bruises. “Still more than you,” he answered breathlessly. His words muffled by the floor beneath him.
Alcides laughed tartly at Lucrèce's words, his foot coming up to dig into the man's back.
"Oh, quite cheeky, are we? Rafael used to be too, but it's hard to do without a tongue, isn't it. Too mad I know you're going to need yours~" Alcides pulled his foot away as Rafael returned to the room. The clothes he brought were threadbare, and would end up being much too loose on Lucrèce, but they were clothes.
"Dress it," Alcides instructed, pulling away. Rafael bowed, moving to kneel next to Lucrèce and help him up so he could get his shirt on.
Lucrèce suppressed a whimper at the foot digging into his back. It didn’t hurt nearly as much as his other injuries, but that heaped with everything else, it was almost too much to bear without showing that he was affected. He responded to the taunt with nothing more than a half-hearted scowl, hidden by his face pressed to the ground.
Lucrèce groaned again with protest as the man helped him up. Now being upright, he swayed. Shrugging into the shirt Rafael brought for him. Compared to being bare, the albeit threadbare coverings felt warm, and welcome.
Rafael made sure Lucrèce didn't fall over as he dressed the other, helping him into the pants as well. They were too loose, so Rafael tied them tightly around Lucrèce's waist to keep them up. Alcides didn't say a word, beginning to walk out of the room. Rafael moved to wrap an arm around Lucrèce, helping him up to his feet to follow after their master.
"Let's hope this is enough to keep you from freezing," Alcides remarked with a smirk, not looking back.
"Even if you were free, it would be a waste of money for you to die so soon."
Lucrèce gratefully leaned against Rafael for the duration walk. His pride a bit bruised, but it was better than trying to both walk and stay upright all on his own. The new clothes felt…off, much too big, and he wondered why they couldn’t have just gotten him his own well-fitting clothes. At the very least his undershirt and breeches.
“Money?” Lucrèce attempted a scoff under his breath, but it wasn’t very fierce. “As if taking me actually costed you anything.”
"The money I'll be making off you," Alcides corrected. "No one is just a slave, you'll have your purpose same as the rest. You're meant to pay off a debt that is owed to me, and I fully intend on making it all back plus interest." Alcodes chuckled deeply, head moving back slightly with the sound.
He led the two down a flight of stairs, the stone beneath cold and steadily more damp as they went.
Lucrèce clenched his jaw again, which was beginning to ache thanks to the stress of the past several hours. “What exact…purpose?” He asked, entirely not expecting an answer. Particularly since Alcides seemed not to bother answering any other pertinent questions of his. He shivered at the chill in the air as they went farther down. The cold, damp stone against his feet.
"You haven't figured that out yet? And here I was thinking you could actually be smart. I've given you plenty of hints, but it seems I'll have to spell it out for you." Alcides made his way to the bottom of the stairway, the sound of rushing water growing louder as they went.
"But then again, why bother? You'll know by tomorrow, after all." Alcides laughed as he turned to Rafael and Lucrèce.
The cage Lucrèce had been told he was going in rested on a ledge, water rushing by below. A chain was attached to the top, and it wasn't hard to guess what was going to happen.
"Put it in," Alcides instructed Rafael. He bowed some, leading Lucrèce.
"I would suggest keeping still," Alcides said as he watched. "These chains have been rusted for some time, and have been known to break."
