horrendousness

[onapalehorse]

From this.

"You will find strength, and peace."

He promises, with belief.

Comments

[onapalehorse]

Bane slides his chair over, reaches for him, and drags him up by the hair, forcing Bruce to rest his cheek on Bane's knee.

[lasiurus]

The rough comfort will make him laugh later. Right now his mind is just trying to come to terms with the idea that Banner has been alive and well; that Tony isn't dead.

That he might see Fox and Alfred again. And that, of all the things that might have happened to him personally, he is with another exile of the League. He stays just as he is, cheek on Bane's knee, unfocused and empty.

He doesn't hear when an email comes in expressing interest in Bruce. It's signed, simply, Meg.

[onapalehorse]

Bane answers curtly that he'll only speak to friends, webcam stream necessary.

That he must go, but that Bruce Wayne will be taking calls this time tomorrow.

[lasiurus]

Oh but we're looking to buy. :) Even for a night. High prices, three wishes, whatever you want, we got. I mean it. Think it over.

Is the last thing Meg will say for the day.

Bruce won't notice that either. His mind has circled around to guilt, and abandonment, and suspicion that it's all an elaborate trick by whoever it was they'd seen on screen.

[onapalehorse]

Bane now has a semi-catatonic slave to deal with.

If he were a gentle man, he'd hold him until he came out of it. Instead, he tucks him close, and puts a hand over his mouth and nose.

[lasiurus]

Bruce comes out of it screaming, not just out of rage this time, and clawing at Bane's face.

Somehow this results in him pulling Bane close and knocking the chair out from under him. He fears being suffocated again, and buries his face against Bane's broad chest to stifle the screams since he can't stop them yet.

[onapalehorse]

There they are. He holds his wrists, in case of damage to the mask, and lets him catch his breath, hanging on to him tight like that, sprawled on the carpet underneath him.

He rubs his back through the screaming, listening to hear if he starts to settle, or if he wants to hurt him again.

[lasiurus]

He settles, fortunately. Humiliation and self-loathing lick at the edges of his mind, but he tries to focus on Bane instead.

"Sorry."

[onapalehorse]

"For what? That was gratifying. Is the suffocation fear the same as the grasping at the throat, or did I just startle you? I'm going to do it again, now."

Flipping them over, pinning him hard against the rug.

[lasiurus]

"You just star--"

And then he's muffled and thrashing, but not in the same frantic, fight-or-die way that he does when it's his neck.

[onapalehorse]

"Perhaps I am a sadist. For you."

Hand still and inexorable over his mouth, mask close to him, Bane's eyes are bright.

[lasiurus]

There's the panic. The League of Shadows eradicated the idea of using this as play, and he's fairly sure it did for Bane, too. If in fact he ever knew how to play to begin with. Which means this is a potentially fatal situation.

He manages to get one hand free, and goes for Bane's eye.

[onapalehorse]

He scores, and Bane rolls off him, hand pressed over his face, quiet. No permanent damage, he can tell right away, but his eyes are watering and there'll be a scrape at the corner of one. He blinks quickly.

[lasiurus]

Bruce rolls onto his side, steadying his breathing, aware that he's not dead. And very well could have been. Which means that he overreacted, most likely.

"Are you okay?"

[onapalehorse]

"Fine. I'll pin your wrists next time."

Lowering his hand, revealing the absence of damage.

[lasiurus]

Bruce glowers at him, but doesn't argue or try to stop it. This is part of the lesson, and he won't back out of it.

"What comes after you choke me out?"

[onapalehorse]

"Nothing. I'm not actually going to take you that far."

Shaking his head.

[lasiurus]

Bruce considers that, and nods. And then scoots forward.

"All right."

Green light.

[onapalehorse]

"You have enough to not think about."

He informs him, settling down over him again, easing onto the carpet.

"This is mercy."

[lasiurus]

Everything inside him is in turmoil right now, which is why he's willing to see this through. But he resists the way Bane lays him down, and instead he turns so his head is in Bane's lap and he can look up at him.

He clasps his hands over his chest.

"Let's see if we can do this without you pinning me."

[onapalehorse]

"Very well."

He agrees, hand stroking slowly along his jaw.

"Tap out if you require, Bruce."

[lasiurus]

He takes Bane's other hand, squeezes it and lets it go, and relaxes.

[onapalehorse]

"Do you think they'll be able to enhance the resolution of that picture enough to see the come you still have on your chest?"

He whispers, and then he's suffocating him again.

[lasiurus]

The question gets a gasp, which is cut short by the sudden clamp of Bane's hand. But god, what a thought, what terrible timing for sex in today's world, what a hideously bad thing it would be if they knew. Bruce feels the stirrings of arousal just picturing it.

[onapalehorse]

"Do you think they'll come steal you away before you have a chance to ride me?"

He asks, breathless himself, watching his eyes.