For yooooou! [Rina!]

[Rhi-Rhi]

"Pain isn't good, Cass. It means something's wrong," Asher said with a sigh, taking Cassius's hand in his own and pulling it down from his face. He held onto it so he couldn't keep prodding at his wound, and leaned against the kid.

Cassius's next question made him pause. He shifted awkwardly, looking away. "Huh? Oh, uh, I dunno. I don't know that many...what kind do ya want?"

[Anonymous]

"No, it means that I'm still here." Cassius squirmed, wanting to poke at his nose. Asher's question distracted him a little and he frowned, "Um...I want an adventure!"

[Rhi-Rhi]

"Ya don't have to hurt yourself to confirm that, Cass," Asher said with a frown. "I could as soon touch ya and confirm that just as well."

Shifting a little on the bed, Asher wrapped an arm around Cassius's waist and pulled him back against the pillows with him. He wasn't good at this shit. Wasn't even really interested in telling a story. It was kind of embarrassing and stupid. But he'd freaked out at Cassius, punched him, and guilt made him feel like he owed it to him.

"So, er, adventure." He racked his brain. He wasn't so broken yet that he couldn't remember his past or had gone totally off his rocker, which perhaps made being here hurt more, because he could remember his childhood, remember his parents, and he could remember it with absolutely nothing clouding reality.

"I do sorta know this one about this space pirate that was actually a good guy. Sparrow or somethin'. Ya ever heard about him?"

[Anonymous]

"Pain makes it easier. Pleasure could be a lie." Cass shifted again, squirming a little, his voice getting an odd edge to it. His mind was irreversibly broken, even he was aware of that on some level. And when he tried to express his own warped view to the rest of the world, it tended to end in frustration.

He blinked rapidly, still shifting, finding it hard to get comfortable, agitated with the repressed energy from earlier, the need to touch his nose and feel that rush or pain and the irritation of not being able to express himself. He shook his head, "Sparrow? No, no. I don't know him. Tell me about him. Please?"

[Rhi-Rhi]

That made no sense to Asher, and he wanted to ask what the difference was. Pain, pleasure, it was all physical sensations. Why was one more real than the other? Pain could just as easily be a lie, whatever that even meant.

But that was a question for later--and he didn't count on getting an answer that made sense, anyway.

"Well," Asher said, still keeping a grip on Cassius's hand, "there's a lot of different stories. But Sparrow was a pirate--but the good kind. Stole supplies from greedy corporations and supplied 'em to folk that couldn't afford shit."

He felt a little foolish, telling stories like this, but when he was a kid he'd devoured those stories like crack and his mom even made up new ones to put him to bed. Seemed like the sort of thing Cassius would like, so why the fuck not? Wasn't like there was much else to do.

"The catch was that his girl? She was the daughter of a bigass loan shark. He had a thing for her, she had a thing for him, but daddy had a hit on him. So he had to get creative. So like this one time..."

It was easier once he got going, so he launched into one of the stories his mom had told him, if modified a little. He didn't remember everything (so he improvised) and there was a deal more foul language involved in the telling, but he managed to tell the story--and got more into it as he went, gesturing with his hands and even using different voices by the time he'd gotten halfway through. It was a tale about a time when Sparrow had sneaked into corporate, with the help of his lover, and liberated them of a good amount of money, a tale full of close escapes, a lot of sneaking around, brutal brawls, and sex in an elevator.

Well, alright, so that hadn't been in the original story, but c'mon, the guy went weeks to months between seeing his girl so he had to figure...

"So there they were, cornered in the elevator, her shirt half off--probably flashin' some nipple--and six armed men surrounding them...but we'll have to leave their darin' escape for another time," Asher finished with a yawn. "Can't spoil it all in one go, yeah?"

[Anonymous]

Cassius kept quite and still when Asher spoke, staring in bright eyed wonder. He edged closer every time things got intense, his hands gripping Asher's pant leg, mouth hanging open. But he never uttered a sound, too scared that he might break the magic Asher was weaving.

Not until the end. He made a low, upset sound, tugging at Asher's pajamas, "Oh please don't stop! Asher! I wanna know what happens! Do they get away?! Asher! Please!"

[Rhi-Rhi]

Asher grinned, pleased that he'd done a fair job at that. "Nope, nope. Can't tell ya. You're just gonna have to wait until tomorrow. If I tell it all to ya now there'll be nothin' left for later!"

[Anonymous]

"Promise? Promise you'll tell me the rest?" Cassius squirmed, nervous and worried that he wouldn't get to hear the rest of the story, "I wanna know the rest! I'm not tired yet! Can't you tell just a little more?"

[Rhi-Rhi]

"No, no, no. If I start now, I'll just have to tell you 'til I finish the story, then you'll want another one, and another, and then I'll be all out." Grinning, Asher ruffled Cassius's hair. "You're just gonna have to squirm until tomorrow."

[Anonymous]

Cassius looked ready to explode, clinging closer to Asher. He nodded, then buried his face against the other man, "Promise then! Cause I really want to hear the rest! You tell good stories!"

Eventually, Cassius managed to fall asleep, cuddling tightly against Asher, twitching softly, locked in his dark dreams.