No. Harlan. Don't, that's--please, don't. [ He pleads, but he doesn't move. He keeps his voice low and calm and quiet as he can manage. He breathes deep like Harlan reminds him to do, tries to keep the air down in his diaphragm to keep his ribcage as still as possible. He's very obedient, but god oh god he doesn't want a collapsed lung, so he still pleads: ] --don't please don't please--
[ It escalates into stops and nos after that wincing miss. His eyes squeeze shut and he holds still. At least until the knife bites through him and Tim
[ doesn't scream.
[ His lungs and heart and stomach are all clambering to get up out his throat, so there's no real room for a scream. He does bring that knee back up, shoving it against the crook of Harlan's thigh to make a few inches of distance between them--enough that if Tim turns his hands and (painfully, painfully) lifts himself up on the chains, he has enough room to smash the sole of his sneaker into Harlan's hip to knock him back. Now would be the time to make a break for it, of course, but the hooks are still chewing through his wrists, Harlan's work still has him stuck through like a bug, and even without obstruction Tim's feet only just brush the ground.
[ Instead, he thinks about running and sobs. Just once--not much more wants to crawl out from around the knife. ]
no subject
[ It escalates into stops and nos after that wincing miss. His eyes squeeze shut and he holds still. At least until the knife bites through him and Tim
[ doesn't scream.
[ His lungs and heart and stomach are all clambering to get up out his throat, so there's no real room for a scream. He does bring that knee back up, shoving it against the crook of Harlan's thigh to make a few inches of distance between them--enough that if Tim turns his hands and (painfully, painfully) lifts himself up on the chains, he has enough room to smash the sole of his sneaker into Harlan's hip to knock him back. Now would be the time to make a break for it, of course, but the hooks are still chewing through his wrists, Harlan's work still has him stuck through like a bug, and even without obstruction Tim's feet only just brush the ground.
[ Instead, he thinks about running and sobs. Just once--not much more wants to crawl out from around the knife. ]