you turned the ones you love into the angriest mob; [Pidge]

[givenofox]

[ Despite typically trying to keep himself distances from Strade's...'activities', Ren pretty much always knows what's going on in the house. Really, Strade is more than happy to regale him with the gruesome details when he has a new 'friend' over.

So once Strade's found Pidge in the basement, taking advantage of her unconscious state to get her tied to the pole, Ren's already aware that someone is here. Somehow, some way some unfortunate person has magically found themselves in Strade's basement.

Of course, Strade is kind enough to wait for Pidge to awaken on her own before he starts questioning her. After all, he wasn't in the habit of hurting kids, so Pidge presents...a problem. His basement is pretty damn obvious, what with the bloodstained floors and the excessive amounts of power tools. Sure he could just kill her but for her to be here, it meant she must have lived in the neighborhood and got in somehow. And if someone's kid went missing...

So with a frustrated sigh, he'd made his way back up the stairs, calling back that he'd talk with her more in the morning when he'd figured out what to do with her.

And so Pidge sits in silence for a few hours, only the occasional sounds of footsteps making it into the soundproofed basement.

But as the hours pass, something changes.

The basement door opens, but not with the enthusiastic force it normally does. It's slower, quiet. Like whoever is doing it doesn't want to draw attention to it. It's hard to see that area of the basement in the dark, but hearing the light footsteps on the stairs is much easier. Then the sound of bare feet on cement, cautiously approaching. Something about the movement sounds uneven like every other step is slightly difficult to make.

From the direction of the stairs, a pair of familiar eyes shine in the dark, focused entirely on Pidge. Once he's sure she's still restrained though, Ren approaches slowly, unsure if she's sleeping.

He looks far worse than he ever did in Duplicity, even dealing with the most ridiculous of the city's bullshit. Where Ren in Duplicity is cheerful and confident, this Ren looks...exhausted and terrified. He's covered in various shades of bruises, both on his face and across the parts of his chest and his arms that his tank top exposes. What isn't covered in bruises is marred by angry red knife wounds, some stitched up and some scabbing over. Even approaching Pidge, he looks timid and ready to bolt any second. There's something metal and bulky around his throat, like a collar. A red light shines faintly on the side of it.

In a word, he looks far worse than anything he could have ever actually described to her.

He turns briefly back to the basement door, biting his lip and ears twitching as if he's listening for something. ]

What is he even doing? Y-you look like you're just a kid...

Comments

[pidgeypidge]

[Waking up in Duplicity and being immediately informed that she's a lower class citizen was irritating and insulting. But ultimately she'd gotten past that and found a way to compartmentalize most of what the city threw at her, because she'd always believed she'd find a way to go home.

This was not home.

This was some weird basement that looked like it belonged in some horror movie, and Pidge could honestly say that waking up here, tied to a pole, was never going to be her favorite memory. Of course, having some strange guy hovering over her just as she woke up probably didn't help anything, but whatever. She'd dealt with worse. Maybe.

Trying to speak to him was pretty much pointless as well, because it seemed like he was just as confused by her being here as she was. Which meant either he was lying, or he genuinely had no idea how she got here. At this point, Pidge isn't sure which of those she prefers.

Either way, there's nothing she can really do while he's sitting there gawking at her. As soon as he leaves, though, she's tugging at her wrists in an attempt to free herself. Unfortunately, he's better at knots than problem-solving, and eventually she gives up when it starts to hurt.

She can't be sure how much time passes, or even what time it is, but the fact that she still can't feel Green is somehow worse than that. Pidge was hoping that if she ever managed to get away from Duplicity, the bond would fix itself, but apparently that's not happening.

Or maybe she's still in the city somehow. At this point, it's anyone's guess.

It's only the sound of the door opening again that snaps her attention away from those sorts of thoughts. Only something's a little off this time, and she can't quite put her finger on it.]

If you're not going to let me go, you might as well-- ...Ren?

[She'd automatically looked up at the sound because, frankly, there was nothing else to see when it was this dark. But seeing Ren here, in shitty horror movie basement world, was probably the last thing she would've expected.]

What are you doing here? What even is this place?