Sea moved quickly, catching Oswald and then grabbing him by the back of his neck, squeezing to make him bend forward, making sure he'd be in just enough pain to not think about going anywhere. "He does have good cheekbones, for a nerd."
He was just saying, as he watched Roman trace Edward's face. Edward was trembling, but he tried to pretend that he wasn't.
"It's not anything bad! They seem to be getting along, Lucius is just dating him for the week! You know, the same as that girl last week. Or the week before."
"Then why did you call it an experiment?!" Seemed kind of weird. He didn't like it. Roman leaned forward and inspected Ed, stroking his cheek bones before he reached out and tweaked his glasses. "What kind of games are you nerds playing, huh?"
"Experiments aren't that dangerous!" Oswald pleaded, whimpering in pain as he tried to struggle free from Sea's horrible grip. "He just wanted to see if he was gay or not!"
"... Really?" Roman pulled a face and then looked at Ed. "He can't work that out alone?"
"It takes two to tango, right? I mean... I don't know what you think, but people like Lucius and us don't exactly have a lot of opportunity." Not as if he was taking any girl out to an arcade although he actually sucked at games, just because he happened to have stupid muscles and a dumb, handsome face. Edward decided to breathe past his own frustration, given how dire the situation was. "Lucius wanted to test out his theory, that he's gay, without causing any pain. Heartbreak and all."
"Guess he caused some pain," Sea observed casually, while squeezing Oswald again. Fun.
"Ow, ow, ow!" Oswald whined as he struggled to get free. Learning the truth, Roman frowned and then pulled out his phone, sending the information to Roman with a heart so he'd make sure his bestie knew all the facts. With that out of the way, Roman looked at the two before reaching out and stroking his fingers through Ed's hair. It was kinda curly, it was cute.
"Look, I had to check. I'm a good friend. If that's all it is then I'm rational, I get it... if that's not what it is and Victor ends up hurt, I'm going to kill you." Roman grinned a playful grin. "Promise."
"Yes, fair enough! Now can your-- Can Sea stop hurting my friend? Please." Damn it. "Sir."
Edward wanted Roman to not touch him, because that was weird. He was not sure what to make of it. It felt strange, but he also didn't think he could make him stop, so he just let it happen. Hey, at least it didn't hurt. Unlike Oswald.
Of course, Sea didn't let go of Oswald yet. If this was the only hurting he got to do for now, he wanted it to last as long as possible.
"Okay, sure. If he admits that all mothers are whores." Roman playfully put his arm around Edward's shoulder and looked at Oswald as he wriggled and struggled in Sea's hold. "Say and I'll tell Sea to get off. Don't say it and I'll let Sea do something. Just one thing but something. And something is always a bad thing."
Looking at Edward, Roman grinned. "Do you think he'll say it? Are you a betting man? Cause this one has bad odds but a big pay off."
Oswald looked at Edward desperately, unable to bring himself to say it. His mother was a saint! Why did he have to say that? "Some mothers ar--"
"...I believe in Oswald." Mostly he believed in Oswald being a stubborn bastard entirely too attached to his mother though, so that wasn't really saying much, given the current circumstances. Edward's heart beat fast and he tried to think of some way to distract Roman. "Hey. So. You are in a room with 3 monkeys. One monkey has a banana, one has a stick, and one has nothing. Who is the smartest primate?"
Maybe a riddle wasn't the best distraction, but it was all his brain would bring out in panic. Sea looked confused, then dismissive, looking down at Oswald, his own voice low. "Say she's a whore. Do it. I'll spread the word around the neighbourhood for you."
"The stick. You can beat them all to death. Wait, hang on, what kind of monkey? One of those ones that eat each other? Like baboons? Then I guess they all have weapons." Roman smirked and then looked over at Sea, amused by how Oswald's eyes were so wide with horror and outrage. What an angry little nerd.
"She's not! I'm sorry, my mom actually loves me! She's a good mom."
Okay, he regretted that. Roman met eyes with Sea and there was something dark there. "Hurt him." Turning back to Ed, he entirely dismissed what was happening to focus on him. "Tell me about those monkeys..."
"It's-- See, technically humans are primates, so if you are in the room with them, you'd be the smartest one." Edward smiled vaguely, trying not to look past Roman at Oswald, since he had been told off about not focusing before. However, it was not easy to look away from it, as Sea had suddenly let go of Oswald.
He waited for Oswald to try and escape before he made his move, slamming him into the wall. He punched his face once, then he opened up his knife, holding it right against the side of Oswald's face, looking into his eyes. "I should do you a favour. Cut off the tip of that nose. You've got a bit too much of that, huh?"
"Oh. That's clever, I like it." Roman smiled and then reached out, pulling Ed's face around so he was looking at him and not looking at Oswald and Sea fighting it out. "Depends on the primate, I guess. What if one is human and one is a fucking chimpanzee? Cause I think the chimp is smarter, it'd rip everyone apart and get the banana and the stick." He gnashed his teeth at Ed's face, biting very close to his cheek but just missing the skin. "You ever seen someone's face after a chimp attack? Ew! It's so gross."
Oswald cried out and tried to move his face back, his eyes wet with tears as he tried to avoid the knife. "Don't! Please, don't! I beg you! I--I won't be able to hide it, people will know you did it. That's not good!"
That was a positive reaction to his riddle, Ed supposed. Kind of. he finally flinched a little at that almost bite, staring at Oswald and Sea and trying to think again. "Chimpanzees can be quite dangerous, you are right about that."
And his best friend was about to get very hurt. What did he do?
"Are you threatening me? You want to be a snitch?" Sea seemed entertained rather than angry. Perhaps a more dangerous thing. "Boss, we got ourselves a snitch."
Edward had to think of something quickly. "Why don't we play a game! For Oswald's safety. Please. Sir." Whatever, he'd just stick with it. Seemed to be working. "I'm sure you'll win."
"No, no, no! I just -- Stop!" Oswald cried out, as loud as he could, hoping to attract a teacher or something.
"A game? ... SEA! STOP!" Roman held up his hand and then turned to Ed, looking at him in wonder. What? He was easily amused and proud of it. "Let's play! What are we playing? Oswald is at stake so it better be fun and worth my time."
"...I ask you three questions! I'll write the answers down. If you answer any of them correctly, then you can hurt Oswald. If you get them all wrong, then Oswald doesn't get hurt." Edward already reached for a notepad, he always had a pen ready. He had no idea whether this would work, but at least it might buy them time.
Sea sighed, but he listened. Of course he did. He also covered Oswald's mouth with his hand, putting a finger on his own lips so he'd get the idea. "Unless you want your tongue cut out."
Oswald whimpered, looking desperately at Edward and hoping he knew what he was doing. He was scared, he didn't want to lose his nose! As ugly as it was, he kind of liked having one. He trembled in Sea's hold as he watched Roman reach out for the paper when Edward was done writing.
"Lemme see. Me and Sea can probably get at least one." He wasn't very good at this sort of thing but he did like games so there was that. "Sea's smart, you know?"
Ed lowered his head to hide his sneer. No, he didn't know that Sea was smart. He was fairly sure he wasn't. He didn't think either of them were overly smart, honestly, which was kind of what he was counting on. So he pushed his hair back from his face and then looked at Roman, smiling a little. He could try to make this entertaining. "Riddle me this! I'm the part of the bird that's not in the sky. I can swim in the ocean and yet remain dry. What am I?"
"That's a dumb question." Sea was just saying.
"Nothing is dumb for someone smart enough." Untrue, but... He was hoping for Roman's vanity here.
"I don't know. I don't like this kind of thing, it's stupid. NEXT!"
Roman was hoping he'd get one but given his brain didn't quite work how Edward's did, this was a big struggle for him. He could barely read half of the time so trying to puzzle out riddles? Not something he wanted to do. He looked at Sea and frowned. "I don't like riddles."
"No problem, sir. This next one isn't a riddle at all, just a simple maths question." Edward adjusted his glasses and hoped this would work out for them. He recited the question slowly. The real issue here was not angering Roman too much. "There is a patch of lily pads on a lake. Every day, the patch doubles in size. If it takes 48 days for the patch to cover the entire lake, how long would it take for the patch to cover half of the lake?"
"Sounds like gay bullshit." All those flowers. Sea was just saying.
Roman just stared at Edward and then realised, upon reflection, that he didn't like this game. It wasn't a game, it was just like math and weird school type things. "God, you two really are nerds. I don't do math outside of school." Reaching out, he took the notepad that Edward had and pulled it from his hands before whacking him on the head.
"Third question, go on. Bore me. What is it?" He assumed it'd be more bullshit he didn't care about.
"What occurs four times in every week, twice in every month, only once in a year but never in a day?" Honestly, Edward had expected to get whacked way before this, but the point of this was really just to keep Oswald from getting hurt, even just by buying them time. Maybe a teacher would come by eventually?
"Can I just hurt them both?" Sea felt that was a valid option.
Without giving any warning, Roman punched Edward in the face and then pulled his hand back, pouting a little. His fingers hurt now, how unfair! He huffed in annoyance and threw the pad away, coming over to Sea instead. "The game was fun but rules are rules, I guess we can't slice off bird boy's nose. This time." And Roman didn't want to seem like he didn't know how to keep a deal. "Just beat his ass."
Looking back, he gave Edward a bored look before shrugging. "I still kinda like glasses though. I'll think on how to punish him. I put more thought into my loved ones."
"Whatever you say, boss." Sea rolled his eyes and finally moved his hands off Oswald's mouth, just to punch him in the stomach a moment later. Boy was a snitch, so he wasn't about to make things easy on him by marking up his face. Instead he focused on his sides, chest and arms, finally kicking his legs out under him and then stepping back, relaxing his hands. "I went easy on him."
Wasn't he a good boy? He looked at Edward, who he felt looked just a little bit too smug about this outcome, so he snapped his jaw at him, satisfied when the boy flinched back.
Edward breathed out slowly, swallowing. "Nice talking to you, sir." There, respectful and everything. Hopefully he'd never have to do this again. "Are you all right, Oswald?"
Roman leaned over and whispered a plan he was forming for Ed into Sea's ear, already plotting his revenge. Not today, he had to go and see Victor but definitely soon. He did, however, point at Edward to get his attention. "I'm going to hurt you a lot. Just FYI. No games next time."
Oswald struggled back onto his feet and held onto Edward, his eyes wide with fear as he looked at that psychopath. Sea was insane, he really didn't want to piss him off again but he sensed it was a bit too late to get out of their line of sight.
"I'm okay." Oswald lied as he not so subtly hid behind Edward.
"...thanks for thinking of me." Well, fuck. What was he supposed to do about that? But he couldn't focus too much on that now, he just let Oswald stay behind him and rubbed his face to check how badly it might bruise from Roman's punch. Luckily, Roman didn't punch as hard as some other people in his life, not that it was a picnic either.
He looked at them both, Sea's eyes now entirely on Roman, clearly ready to do whatever he wanted. How did that work? Was it money? He didn't even know, he just hoped they'd leave soon. "Day one of Lucius dating Victor Zsasz."
"Come, let's go get food." Roman took Sea's hand as the two psychos walked away and Oswald fought back tears as he leaned on the wall, his side really hurting. On the plus side, maybe he had an excuse to not go to school tomorrow. He could play it up, tell his mother he was sick. There was always a silver lining.
"I hate Lucius. I'm going to kill him when I next see him."
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He was just saying, as he watched Roman trace Edward's face. Edward was trembling, but he tried to pretend that he wasn't.
"It's not anything bad! They seem to be getting along, Lucius is just dating him for the week! You know, the same as that girl last week. Or the week before."
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"Experiments aren't that dangerous!" Oswald pleaded, whimpering in pain as he tried to struggle free from Sea's horrible grip. "He just wanted to see if he was gay or not!"
"... Really?" Roman pulled a face and then looked at Ed. "He can't work that out alone?"
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"Guess he caused some pain," Sea observed casually, while squeezing Oswald again. Fun.
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"Look, I had to check. I'm a good friend. If that's all it is then I'm rational, I get it... if that's not what it is and Victor ends up hurt, I'm going to kill you." Roman grinned a playful grin. "Promise."
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Edward wanted Roman to not touch him, because that was weird. He was not sure what to make of it. It felt strange, but he also didn't think he could make him stop, so he just let it happen. Hey, at least it didn't hurt. Unlike Oswald.
Of course, Sea didn't let go of Oswald yet. If this was the only hurting he got to do for now, he wanted it to last as long as possible.
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Looking at Edward, Roman grinned. "Do you think he'll say it? Are you a betting man? Cause this one has bad odds but a big pay off."
Oswald looked at Edward desperately, unable to bring himself to say it. His mother was a saint! Why did he have to say that? "Some mothers ar--"
"EHHH. No. That's not it. All or nothing."
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Maybe a riddle wasn't the best distraction, but it was all his brain would bring out in panic. Sea looked confused, then dismissive, looking down at Oswald, his own voice low. "Say she's a whore. Do it. I'll spread the word around the neighbourhood for you."
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"She's not! I'm sorry, my mom actually loves me! She's a good mom."
Okay, he regretted that. Roman met eyes with Sea and there was something dark there. "Hurt him." Turning back to Ed, he entirely dismissed what was happening to focus on him. "Tell me about those monkeys..."
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He waited for Oswald to try and escape before he made his move, slamming him into the wall. He punched his face once, then he opened up his knife, holding it right against the side of Oswald's face, looking into his eyes. "I should do you a favour. Cut off the tip of that nose. You've got a bit too much of that, huh?"
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Oswald cried out and tried to move his face back, his eyes wet with tears as he tried to avoid the knife. "Don't! Please, don't! I beg you! I--I won't be able to hide it, people will know you did it. That's not good!"
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And his best friend was about to get very hurt. What did he do?
"Are you threatening me? You want to be a snitch?" Sea seemed entertained rather than angry. Perhaps a more dangerous thing. "Boss, we got ourselves a snitch."
Edward had to think of something quickly. "Why don't we play a game! For Oswald's safety. Please. Sir." Whatever, he'd just stick with it. Seemed to be working. "I'm sure you'll win."
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"A game? ... SEA! STOP!" Roman held up his hand and then turned to Ed, looking at him in wonder. What? He was easily amused and proud of it. "Let's play! What are we playing? Oswald is at stake so it better be fun and worth my time."
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Sea sighed, but he listened. Of course he did. He also covered Oswald's mouth with his hand, putting a finger on his own lips so he'd get the idea. "Unless you want your tongue cut out."
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"Lemme see. Me and Sea can probably get at least one." He wasn't very good at this sort of thing but he did like games so there was that. "Sea's smart, you know?"
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"That's a dumb question." Sea was just saying.
"Nothing is dumb for someone smart enough." Untrue, but... He was hoping for Roman's vanity here.
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Roman was hoping he'd get one but given his brain didn't quite work how Edward's did, this was a big struggle for him. He could barely read half of the time so trying to puzzle out riddles? Not something he wanted to do. He looked at Sea and frowned. "I don't like riddles."
He didn't like being called dumb either.
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"Sounds like gay bullshit." All those flowers. Sea was just saying.
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"Third question, go on. Bore me. What is it?" He assumed it'd be more bullshit he didn't care about.
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"Can I just hurt them both?" Sea felt that was a valid option.
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Looking back, he gave Edward a bored look before shrugging. "I still kinda like glasses though. I'll think on how to punish him. I put more thought into my loved ones."
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Wasn't he a good boy? He looked at Edward, who he felt looked just a little bit too smug about this outcome, so he snapped his jaw at him, satisfied when the boy flinched back.
Edward breathed out slowly, swallowing. "Nice talking to you, sir." There, respectful and everything. Hopefully he'd never have to do this again. "Are you all right, Oswald?"
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Oswald struggled back onto his feet and held onto Edward, his eyes wide with fear as he looked at that psychopath. Sea was insane, he really didn't want to piss him off again but he sensed it was a bit too late to get out of their line of sight.
"I'm okay." Oswald lied as he not so subtly hid behind Edward.
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He looked at them both, Sea's eyes now entirely on Roman, clearly ready to do whatever he wanted. How did that work? Was it money? He didn't even know, he just hoped they'd leave soon. "Day one of Lucius dating Victor Zsasz."
It was going great so far.
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"I hate Lucius. I'm going to kill him when I next see him."
He was going to get him and Edward killed!