A daydream // private, pincher // in the nightmare

[jacob w.c.]

Jacob couldn't believe he wasn't stuck in a cell anymore. He was moving behind the man who hadn't even introduced himself yet. Jacob didn't care who he was, he just knew that he'd come to save him. There hadn't been time to put his bandages and sweater on. Jacob, understandably, had wanted to escape as soon as possible and he'd just scooped it all up and followed after the man that apparently was in control around here. He'd seemed angry with the woman who captured, who he learned was named Guru, but Jacob wasn't thinking about her or what consequences this would all bring to her. He just wanted to get wherever the captain was taking him so he could put all his bandages and sweater back on.

Finally, after what felt like ages of walking, they arrived. They'd barely talked the whole time and Jacob was still wiping at the tears in his eyes. He felt so pathetic before the man who was essentially his guardian angel but he couldn't help it. He still hadn't stopped shaking and, even now that he was standing still in what appeared to be a bedroom.    "Uh, th-thank you so much-" his voice trembled and shook. He couldn't even bring himself to look at the man. His trembling paws were desperately trying to wrap the bandages as tight as he could. He glanced at the other man, terrified of what he'd see there. He could still remember the disgust on Guru's face when she'd seen them. He dared to look for only a moment before his gaze fell back to his legs. "I-I-I'm so-so s-s-sorry-" his voice trembled and it seemed he'd burst into tears again at any moment. The smell of smoke still hung in his memory and his mind only panicked as he was reminded of the other man watching him fumble with his bandages and sweater as he tried to hide away the scars he hated so much.

★ though the scars remain and tears will never dry, i'll bless my homeland til i die ━

[PINCHER]

the devil's backbone

DENIZ "PINCHER" ROUX — MALE — THE TYPHOON — CAPTAIN — DOBERMAN

His plan had been fucking compromised and now he had to deal with this. He had ideas and strategies on how to get snowbound on typhoon's side when all the sudden, guru had decided to cause trouble with them. He had heard the whispers about her injuring a snowbounder as well as capturing one when he had returned from his lone travel to the territory to see what they had to offer. Worn and exhausted, the captain did not have any patience for whatever stupid wrongdoing any of his members had done while he was gone. Sure, guru and him had some...chemistry that was simply more of a physical desire than anything, but she still was under his leadership. Pirates didn't really believe in the whole patriarchy that everyone else had decided to follow including Pincher but he knew it was better to lead a group that was still quite new and that he was prepared for it. There were moments of doubt that lingered inside his head when he thought if he was leading well and by guru's taunting torture towards jacob, someone would view it as good. But not pincher. When he had heard the news, the fuming canine had gone out to hunt the striker and the prisoner in the hidden underground catacombs behind the temple. as he stepped in, he remembered locking eyes with someone. someone...different. The imaginary flames had hardly phased Pincher and instead had only fueled his draining stability for patience. He had barked out an intense order of halt and quickly tried to ensure to step between Jacob and Guru, his upper lip curling to expose rows of shark-like teeth. After that had been settled, Pincher had quickly demanded for Jacob to follow him, clearly not wanting to wait for Guru to piss him off even more.

The sleek broad-shouldered dark male had stalked out of the catacombs, glowing snake-like ocean blue eyes locked forward as he didn't bother looking back to see if Jacob was following. The gangster knew he was. Small puffs of warm breath danced out of his lips as he walked in the murky darkness of the island, the sky hardly visible under the thick overgrowth of the canopy trees. Yet as they grew closer to reaching the ivory sandy hills of Barracuda Bay, Pincher's muscular form was outlined with silver as he briefly halted, tipping his head ever so slightly to the side to glance back at Jacob. So he was following afterall. Pincher blinked twice as he felt himself stiffen ever so slightly when he caught himself gazing at the male. What the fuck? He quickly snapped back to attention and headed towards the stranded submarine that was right beside the Tempest. Pinch would have allowed Jacob to go find a room in the Capricorn Tavern but for some reason, felt that it was better if he was with him. For tonight, of course. The silent brooding male quickened his pace until he reached the door of the submarine, halting and standing to the side to allow Jacob in before entering. Lowering his ink black head to his front left leg, the Captain snatched up a bone white cigarette from his arm band, a small grunt softly escaping his lips when he bumped into the trembling husky. Slipping casually away from Jacob, Pincher muttered "Oi, take it easy, alright? You should take a few breaths. Sit down." The blue eyed canine simply brushed off the thank you with a light shrug before turning around, aiming to sit in a relaxed sitting position, his back on Jacob. He was going to give him some privacy to change when his velvety pointed ears pricked at the apology. Why the hell was he apologizing for? The older male's fictional brow furrowed and he gnawed on the end of the unlit cigarette before deciding to answer...or well, question him.

"The hell you sorry for? You didn't do anything wrong. But uh, tell me when you're done with putting on your shit, I can't sit here all night." Pincher responded, his low rumbling voice hardly showing any emotion or interest. However, inside his mind was a sudden spark of confused curiosity. He didn't know the guy but there was a softness that Pincher found oddly comforting, one that he had never been able to really experience or receive from anyone. He remained silent for a while, stirring the thoughts inside his skull like some sort of mixing pot. Part of him was thinking of how to use Jacob as some trading chip. The other part...was lost, empty. Not an emptiness of boredom but self-conflict. The snowbounder seemed troubed and Pincher wasn't entirely what to do but he allowed a soft sigh to escape his lips as he rose to his caramel brown colored paws and turned to face Jacob, hardened cold expression suddenly becoming soft like a veil. His hypnotic oceanic blue gaze locked onto the gaze of Jacob, unfazed by the burnmarks that littered the figure of the other male. He remained silent before stepping forward to the point he was almost nose to nose, his muscles loose as he leaned forward to gently brush his muzzle against the scar on Jacob's cheek before pulling back. "Hmph. They don't look bad to me...not infected." He stated, adding quickly to the end as he took a few steps and sat casually down once again. He allowed a faint ghost of a smile lace his muzzle for encouragement, hoping that Jacob knew he was not in any sort of danger.
"SPEECH"

#psychosocial.

[jacob w.c.]

Jacob flinched when he felt the other man bump into him, ever muscle tensing. Even while he saw the man as an angel, it seemed he hadn't let go of the fear that someone would come to hurt him or take him away again. He only nodded in response to the man when he told to sit down and take deep breaths. Yes, that'd help. His legs were trembling horribly and he was worried they'd give in at any moment. If he sat, that'd release the pressure and his damaged muscles and nerves wouldn't have to work so hard. So, he sat and tried to control his breathing. He knew if he didn't that, it'd turn back into hyperventilation and he could pass out from that. He couldn't pass out here, especially not like this when everyone could see what he was. He had noticed the glances that the man spared him on the way to this and, while the image of Guru's disgusted features burned in his memory, he noticed that these looks weren't like that. He didn't look afraid or disgusted. Jacob wasn't sure what he looked like but he found himself occasionally meeting it, looking into the blue eyes that stared back at him. Maybe under other circumstances he would've even smiled. But not tonight.

As he sat in the little room now, taking deep breaths, he was able to slow the trembling and wrap the bandages as well as he could around his forelegs and his torso. In what looked like a nearly impossible maneuver, he wrapped his hind right leg, where there were some burns that wouldn't be covered by the sweater. He glanced up when the captain asked what he was sorry for and he froze for a moment, unsure of how to respond. "Uh, well, jus'... ya' know... I usually got all this mess covered," he finally managed, unable to lift his eyes even to the doberman's back as he spoke the words. How could he? It was like confessing how afraid he was to a complete stranger. Yet this man didn't feel like a stranger. He'd saved him, he looked at him without any fear or disgust or pity. He just looked at Jacob like he'd look at any other person. Jacob wasn't an idiot. He saw the way people's eyes lingered on his bandages, on the one that covered his face. If they stared in such ways at his coverings, what would they think of the bare skin beneath it? He never wanted to find out.

He pulled on his sweater and added, "'M 'bout done, but I dunno' if the bandage I gotta' use for my face'll go on. I usually gotta' have a clean one for it ta' stay. S-S-Sorry that ya' gotta... ya' know..." When he looked up, he saw the man had come even closer to him. They were mere centimeters away from each other and he found his eyes drawn to the other. His guardian angel. There was a part of him that knew that was a hopeless fantasy designed by his desperate mind to find anyone here that would care for him. But he ignored that part. Sometimes fantasy was better than reality. Confusion swam in the wolf dog's gaze when the man began to lean forward and then pressed his muzzle against the side of his face. Usually he would have recoiled immediately, especially from such contact on one of his scars but he didn't move. This stranger, this angel, didn't make any sense to him. Guru had looked at him with such disgust and he had viewed himself as vile for so long. Could anything but an angel care for the way he looked and simply say it didn't look too bad? Usually he would've tried to argue that he hadn't seen the entire thing but he had and he still hadn't looked at him that way. "N-No, sir, they weren' infected ever. I took care ah' 'em myself as soon as I could," he hesitated for a moment before adding, "Uh, I was in a fire. My Pa was there. He was real sick; had lung cancer from smokin'-" his eyes drifted briefly to the unlit cigarette. Now wasn't the time to talk about that. "He wasn' my real dad n' he was a horse so I couldn' really move 'im. I tried but, uh, I stayed a li'l too long n' some beams fell between me n' 'im. I had ta' leave." He wasn't sure why he was saying all this. He didn't owe this man any sort of explanation. "That was what she was showin' me." What he didn't bother to add was those visions were frequent in his nightmares and hallucinations.

Jacob suddenly flattened his ears and added in a rushed tone, "Sorry, ya' probably didn' wanna' know none ah' that. I talk a whole lot when 'm... uh, well when I get like... like this. Anxious n' all that. At least sometimes I do, when I don' got nothin' else ta' focus on. Otherwise it jus' gets worse. Sorry." He stopped once again before, after a moment of silence, he spoke, "'M name's Jacob, by the way. Jacob Wickliff Corleone." He wasn't sure why he gave his full name. He supposed he knew that the likelihood of this man being familiar with any of his names was low so it was safe.
 

★ though the scars remain and tears will never dry, i'll bless my homeland til i die ━