[closed] save me

[altusimperius]

WHO: Benedict, people with clearance to see him
WHAT: Benedict is in baby jail resulting from some poor decision-making.
WHEN: the days following this
WHERE: BABY JAIL (the Gallows dungeon, solitary confinement)
NOTES: It might get dark? There will likely be talk of abuse. Also, only certain people will be allowed to see him, so please PM me if you want to get in on it!

The attitude is more difficult to maintain when no one's around, and it didn't take Benedict very long to cave. Between the magebane, the darkness, and the quiet, he's been an emotional wreck; he has outright refused to eat the rations slid to him through the slot in the door and would shout at the guard who put them there, a barrage of desperate pleas and empty threats.

As despair has settled in, Benedict has gone quieter, ending his hunger strike by picking at the tray even if he never finishes it, weeping often and becoming increasingly convinced that he's going mad.
Someone like him was never prepared for the likes of this.

Comments

[altusimperius]

Benedict stalls briefly. He doesn't want to sound like he's asking for help, especially not pleading, nothing so undignified.
It comes out as more of a command when he says, "I want to play again." He narrows his eyes, tensing his shoulders, anticipating the slam of a door and darkness again.

[ragweed]

Maybe someone else would caution Kit against giving Benedict what he wants, even in such small measure. Another set of eyes might see manipulation alone; Kit isn't blind to it, not really.

In this case, though, what's the harm? Madame de Cedoux and that Templar wanted Benedict to look to him as a source of security in an uncertain world. They've gotten their wish.

The least Kit can do is make it more than a ploy.

He shrugs, eases himself back down onto the stool, and gestures at the cards. "You deal this time."

[altusimperius]

Though it is manipulation in its way, it's manipulation in its simplest form: a homeless person asking for coin is performing a manipulation in the way a prisoner is currently asking for company.
Benedict watches sourly as Kit deliberates, but seems to relax when he comes back, and, after an awkward attempt at shuffling, painstakingly deals the cards out the way he saw the dwarf do it earlier. He scowls in concentration, anxiety no doubt affecting his expression as well.

[ragweed]

They play through the game two or three more times; this time, Kit doesn't go quite as easy on him, and wins more often than he loses--but he makes sure to point out to Benedict just how he was able to win, what he looked for in a good hand, or in an opponent's tells. Maybe with another opponent, he'd be quick to grin and savour his victory, but this is a lesson of more than one kind. This really isn't about cards, after all.

Eventually, the guard comes by and knocks on the door. "Messere Gandir," he prompts nervously, "your time's up."

"All right, give me a minute," Kit calls back. He glances back at Benedict with a small grimace, apology in his eyes. "I've really got to go now, kid."

[altusimperius]

Benedict couldn't possibly look like he's having less fun, but he's an apt pupil and learns the game fairly quickly, even if he loses. He always sneers when he does so, but seems willing to accept the defeat when Kit explains it to him.
And despite how little he appeared to be enjoying it, his faces takes on a fearful, childish quality when Kit picks up to leave a second time.
"No," he says, urgency creeping into the request, "please don't."

[ragweed]

He's not cruel or harsh with Benedict, but this time he doesn't sit back down, even though some part of him is almost wounded by the note of desperation in the boy's voice. Instead he very gently reaches out as though to touch his shoulder, then stops short of doing it, just in case the gesture might spook him. He exhales, looking both sad and weary.

"I have to," he says steadily, then adds with raised eyebrows, "but I'll come back tomorrow. Okay? You hang in there 'til tomorrow?" He doesn't take the cards back, but stacks them up neatly and presses them into one of Benedict's hands. "You keep these, kid, and you practice until I come back."

The way he says it and holds Benedict's gaze makes it a promise.

[altusimperius]

Benedict reluctantly concedes, accepting the cards with a nod and a downward glance. There was a time not so long ago when he'd be able to summon the most pitiful of crocodile tears to get his way, but while he seems on the verge now, there's nothing reptilian about them. This has been the only kindness extended to him since his arrival, the only humanity allowed him since he was put in isolation, and now it's being taken away again.
He holds the cards clasped in his hands and watches Kit go, holding himself together with a weary desolation. He doesn't know when tomorrow will be, he doesn't even know how many days he's been here. Time is meaningless.