#ailesswhumptoberdaytwoexhaustion

[auroragehenna]

AI-less Whumptober

Day 2 Overworked, insomnia, exhaustion

TW/CW: Stress positions, faux gentleness, forced to beg, intimate/creepy whumper, cracking defiance, isolation, sleep deprivation Words: 2'423

Adam rubs his hands over his face. He was getting frustrated with Lyra. Sure she got scared, but she didn’t budge. Not even an inch. “So much energy should be illegal.”, he groaned to himself. And then he had an idea.

---

“Good morning, Thýma!”, Adam said cheerfully as he entered the pool area.

Lyra who was awoken by his goddamn loud glee, pushed herself up into a sitting position. Then she stopped short as her brain realised the nickname. That’s not good. That nickname means pain. “Haven’t seen you in a few days.” She says and yawns.

“I had some stuff I had to take care of.”, he grins.

“Plans to make because you were at your limit?”, Lyra asks innocently but with a shit eating grin.

Adam just chuckled darkly. He went to the edge of the pool, once there he brought his hands fourth, holding long heavy metal chains.

Lyra stared at the chains in his hands, she couldn’t do anything about whatever he was doing right now she decided. So she simply laid back down, head to the side to keep an eye on him. Couldn’t harm to get a few minutes more rest.

Adam chuckled when he saw her lay back down. His plan was looking good. He stood at the edge of the pool and aimed. It took him a few attempts but eventually he got the hook over one of the ceiling bars and down to the pool.

Lyra had watched him and as soon as the hooked chain came down into the basin her face hardened. That’s gonna suck. Adam now jumped into the pool and Lyra was sure he made a point to land extra loudly. But she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing her flinch.

“Hey, Thyma, do you want to help me build this together?", Adam suddenly asked.

She rolled her eyes before she grumbled an answer: “I don’t know who you’re talking about but I’m the only other person here, so I’ll answer. Is that an order or a question?”

 “A question.”, Adam sighed. “But if you don’t have enough strength don’t exhaust yourself.”

Lyra hissed. “I never said that.” With those word she got up and walked over to him. Mentally she detached herself from the situation and tried her best to switch to ‘special-interest-mode’. Once there she yanked the end of the chain more down to her.

Adam grinned. He loved how gullible she often was. He handed her a piece of rope and together with her help they knotted it around the hook. Lyra stepped back as Adam inspected the knots and pulled experimentally on them. When he was sure it wouldn’t give he turned around to Lyra. Lyra who was inspecting him closely. He smirked.

“A stress position. Really?”

“Mmh, that’s part of the process, yes.”, Adam hummed.

“Oh? Do enlighten me, what’s the rest of the process?”

“And ruin the surprise? No, no, no. That’s no fun.”, Adam replied. Then his demeaner changed, the glee left his face and his voice dropped as he spoke again: “Now come here.”

“Don’t feel like it.”, Lyra shot back in a pressed voice.

“Well to your luck it doesn’t matter what you want. Not in here. Here it only matters what I want. So come here before I force you and you go through even more pain.”

Lyra laughed out loud at that. “Do you still not get it?! I will never. never make it easy for you!” Adam let go of the leftover rope and charged towards her. She made a jump back and pulled her arms up. Simultaneously for protection and attack. Two primal instincts clashing. She managed to hold him off for a few minutes, landing one or two good punches and scratches but eventually Adam got a hold of her. Blood was slowly dripping from a scratch on her temple. He dragged her to the hooked chain and started tying her wrists above her head.

Lyra didn’t fight back anymore. She still had fire in her but right now that wouldn’t help. She’d rather save it.

When she was safely typed up Adam climbed out of the basin and went to the railing he fixed the chain on.

Lyra still a bit dazzled from a few punches to her head tried to think straight as she was suddenly yanked up. For one terrifying second her feet lost touch with the floor and her shoulders roared up in pain. Then she could blessedly feel the tiny tiles of the pool floor again. Standing on her tiptoes, with her arms stretched and pulled upwards by the chain she gritted her teeth, gaze finally locking onto Adam standing up on the edge of the pool. He was smirking down at her, of course he was, he always is, bastard!

“You will stay here for a while, and if you’ve had enough, you just let me know. I have this-pulls out a tiny walkie-taky-shaped thing out of a bag-baby phone so you can always contact me if you feel like it. I will also regularly check in with you, to make it easier for you. Don’t worry.”

“Do you even hear yourself!?”, Lyra asked enraged. Trying to ignore the blood still dripping down her face.

“As a matter of fact, I do.”

“Ugh…Well I hope you have time then. I won’t budge.”

“Yeah sure.”, Adam replied sarcastically. Then he turned around and left the swim hall.”

“Oh by the way Adam!”, Lyra called after him.

He stopped in his tracks, but only turned back his head. His captives’ face was dead serious. “Yeah?”

“Fuck you.”, she stated.

Adam just glared grimly and left.

---

Lyra was starting to hear the air shift. At least that’s what she believed by now. She had long given up on counting the ticks of the clock. Especially since Adam had checked in one or twice only to completely disorient her on how much time had passed. Lyra exhaled forcefully and unclenched her jaw. With that gone the pain in her whole body seemed to intensify by a thousand. Just ignore it, come on, as always, you have a high pain tolerance. Can’t give him the satisfaction.

At that thought she heard a crackling from that damn baby-phone. She turned her head towards it, rolling her eyes. “Speak of the devil.”

“Aww, were you thinking about me?”, Adam’s gleeful voice sounded through the device.

“Only about how I’m gonna kill you.”

“You seem kinda tense, you wanna lay down and take a short break or something?”

Lyra just hissed at him and looked away.

“Alright, have it your way, Ballerina.” And with that the crackling died, leaving Lyra alone with the pain she so sought to ignore.

For the next few minutes-hours-who knows she tried to remember every little thing about every topic she ever enjoyed learning. But the cramps were making it harder and harder to focus. So often her train of thought got derailed and she had to bite her teeth together and hold out the new wave of pain until she got back control.

---

After she couldn’t think of any more lore to that one cartoon she saw a long while ago her mind blanked. There was no more distraction material left. And to Lyra’s horror a chocked sound between a whimper and a groan escaped from deep in her throat. Her head, that had long fallen down, the blood long dried, snapped up, her eyes locking on to the baby-phone.

“Oh yes. I heard that”, Adam’s triumphant voice answered the panic flaring up in her.

“You didn’t hear shit!”, Lyra yelled back but it again sounded chocked. She only heard Adam chuckle as a response and the crackling died again.

After a few moments the curtain was moved to the side, gently, and Adam appeared. He sat down at the edge of the pool and then swung himself into the basin.

Lyra watched him approach, there wasn’t much more she could do. Once he was close to her she mustered up enough salvia to spit on the tiles right before her ex-friend.

Adam raised his eyebrows, looked like he wanted to comment something but then apparently decided against it. Instead he raised his arm and gently cupped the girl’s cheek. When she spasmed away he put his second hand on the other side of her face. Careful not to open the wound again, not now anyway. “Come on, you must be in horrid pain.”, he said gently, “If you come down now you won’t suffer from that bad of an afterpain. And we can relax a bit. What would you say to Ramen and Harry Potter? You can even choose which one.”

Lyra’s face was first filled with a burning fire of hatred and pride, later there was a scent of grief mixed into it.

“Unfortunately I have to decline. Asshole.”, she spit out. Even if less fire-y than before.

“Okay”, Adam moved his left hand to stroke her hair as he talked, “just know, if you change your mind you can always let me know.”

Lyra scoffed, held her head up high, even if the muscles were trembling and grinned at him. “Get it silly boy, this won’t work.”

“Oh Lyra…It already is.” And with that he gave her a little swing that drew an involuntary wince and left.

---

Lyra had been repeating her own rules over and over. Back and forth and left to right. She couldn’t fail. Not again. But her brain got slower and slower until at some point she started falling asleep. And eventually her consciousness slipped away completely. Her dreams only brough slight relief though as they were filled with running, falling, lights and shadow figures. Right when she thought she escaped the shadow figures she got awoken by sharp pain exploding in her body. A scream ripped from her throat with eyes flying open. Looking directly at Adam’s sadistic joy.

He removed the taser from her torso and her body fell down again. She hadn’t even noticed that it convulsed but now her arms were in even more pain from the harsh movements. With effort she held back tears as she looked at Adam.

“That. Was beautiful Darling!”

Lyra just stared at him, for a moment taken off guard by the absolute twisted joy painted into her opposite’s mimic.

Adam’s drank in her heavy breathing for another second then he in a matter of seconds calmed down and shifted his expression to one more gentle and caring. “It’s not sleepy time yet, dear”

Lyra bit back her rage at him, didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing it. And since she couldn’t muster up any other reaction that rage she simply ignored him.

Adams sighed, stepped back, and started walking back. When he turned around he mumbled, just about audible for Lyra: “You’re gonna harm yourself more than me.”

---

This had gone on forever. She was hanging here, when she fell asleep he was quick to come and taser her awake again. Her stomach was empty and hurting, her throat had been forcefully given the bare minimum of hydration by Adam. The silence screaming in her ears and exhaustion settling deep in her. She was so exhausted. Every time she made a mistake, every time she even if only slightly gave into Adam’s charade she made a point to double her game the next time. But she was getting fucking tired. Even now she was nearly asleep again, even if she was scared of getting shocked again. But she just didn’t have the strength. Her head jerked up with the new shock but this one was over as soon as it started. Her body dropped and fire erupted in her numbed arms. By now they felt like they were internally bleeding.

Adam helped her lift her head and looked at her.

Since he wasn’t saying anything Lyra took the word: “How…How long…?”

“How long what, Lyra?”, Adam asked gently.

“How…long have I…b-been here?”

“Nine days.”

Nine days. Nine. That’s enough, right? I made my point, right? Nine days is pretty good. I can still do better next time. I just need a break. It’s not giving up, right? I’m not…breaking. “Let me down…Please…”

Adam’s muscles were working overtime to hide how overjoyed he was. “I would love to. But you need to ask me the right way.”

A tiny whimper escaped Lyra’s throat and her gaze drifted off. When she looked back at Adam it was with pleading eyes. As that did nothing, she took a shuddering breath and spoke again: “Please…Please Adam. Let me down, I can’t anymore. Please…”

Adam stroked her sweaty hair. “One more thing, then I will let you down and make you feel better. Just one more thing, come on.”, he nudged her.

A single tear rolled over Lyra’s cheek as she whispered: “Let me down, please, I’m begging you.”

Adam wiped away the tear on her cheek, pulled out a knife and cut her arms free of the rope. She surely would have crumbled together on the floor if he hadn’t put his arm around her waist. “Careful now, careful.” He warned her.

-Lyra knew she hated this, and him but she was so tired. So just for now…-

“Otherwise it’ll hurt too much. Carefully he lowered her to the ground until she was sitting. Then he very slowly helped her lower her arms and held her as she silently cried and shook in pain.

When her fingers finally touched the ground again and the pain was back to normal she was ready to just pass out.

“Don’t fall asleep yet, Lyra.”, Adam intervened, “Let’s first get you somewhere more comfortable. Then you can get some sleep, and afterwards let’s get some soup and a movie, hm.”

Lyra only managed a nod but still, against her will, her eyes fell closed and she didn’t have the strength to keep them open anymore.

Adam sighed, then wiggled his arms under Lyra’s arms and legs and picked her up. With her in his arms he climbed out of the basin and walked behind the curtain of the boy’s changing rooms and showers. There he makes some space on the mattresses he has spread out on the floor and lays Lyra on them. Then he threw the blanket over her and turned off the lights. He left the room to make soup and to in peace feel his triumph.

Taglist: @yourlocalgaefae33, @princessofhe11, @ailesswhumptober