[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

[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.