standsonhigh | High school AU open post

"I might beg, never say never," Koschei remarked, even if he probably never would, maybe one day Barty would convince him. With a grateful sigh, he stood still and tried his best not to speak. He really did. But Koschei could talk for two most of the time and he did struggle with silence.

He had a strange noise in his head since birth, a constant drumming sound, so the idea of silence was an oddity he'd never have. And neither would Barty as long as he knew Koschei.

Turning around, he held out his arms to make it easier on Barty. then did exactly the opposite of what he asked. "Tom set me up, you know that, right? He made me do it and I went to stand up to him because of it ... and I got this done to me for my efforts. So you really do need to listen to me because God knows, I've suffered enough."

It may seem like a laughable idea but really, you try smelling like he did. It was hardly a picnic.

Barty cut through the tie, doing his best to ignore what Koschei said and ending up pressing his knife against the back of his neck. "Shut. The fuck. Up. And go take a shower, you reek."

He pulled back, knuckles white from how tight he was holding on to his knife. "I'll give you some clothes." Whatever, as long as it meant he'd go into the bathroom and he'd not have to deal with him anymore. Get dressed, give him clothes and then he could just head out himself. Find Tom or something.

"I don't want to listen to you."

He could feel the cold metal against his neck and he knew this tactic wasn't working as well as he'd planned but honestly, he didn't have many other tactics. Turning back around, he gently rubbed his wrists where they'd been tied and gave Barty a slight glare. "Oh don't threaten me, Barty, let's be honest here. You don't have the balls to hurt me."

Maybe taunting him was a bad idea but he seriously didn't like being threatened like that. He wasn't in the mood for these games, not since being pissed on and beaten up again.

"If you don't want to listen then fine but I'm right," Koschei insisted as he moved towards the bathroom, happy to get clean again. "Tom did this, like he does everything. I mean I'm sorry but isn't this a little easy? You make a friend that isn't him and suddenly I become some weird date-rapey nutter?"

Just the sort of set up he always suffered in this place. He could never be normal if Tom was there to twist things.

Great. Just great. Barty turned to the side and put his knife down, opening his wardrobe because he was beginning to seriously hate being almost naked during this conversation.

"Doesn't really matter. You could have fucked me even without drugging me, right? I'm not sure when exactly you think we became friends, but take a shower already and stop insulting me." He put on a sweater, which was weird because he didn't bother with a shirt first and still wasn't wearing anything but a towel on his lower half, but at least he was a bit more covered.

"You are only making this worse."

"Well, I could of!" Koschei complained, throwing his hands up. Why was that a bad thing? Mutual liking of each other was nice. "Don't hold a grudge, I didn't mean it as an insult. Just -- just believe what I say. Tom set me up and now I look like the villain. And I'm not, you know? Villains don't tend to get pissed on!"

The last words were said with a lot of venom and he hurried into the bathroom, slamming the door shut. He made quick work of getting both in and out of the shower, scrubbing at the annoying words plastered on his head. If he was in Tom position, he would of done so much more, he would of been much better at ruling this place. But here he was, always bottom of the pile.

Once he was sure he smelled fresher and less like a toilet, he swiftly wrapped a towel around him and push the door open. "You may as well bin the uniform I left in there, it's unusable now."

Barty just made a vague noise and pointed at the clothes he'd put on a chair. He didn't really have anything Koschei's size, obviously, but he figured it wouldn't be too bad. Laying on the bed, he very determinedly kept staring at the book he was reading, not that he was really getting much past the first paragraph of the page.

"I believe you," he finally muttered, staring at nothing and glad the book provided an alibi of sorts, "Now leave me alone."

It wasn't as if he had ever truly believed Tom's version of the events anyway. That was just Tom's way. Tom's way of showing he was important and Tom's way of ruining lives. That didn't, however, change the fact that Koschei could have handled it differently and didn't bother and it definitely didn't change how he talked to him now.

"If you believe me then why are you even mad?" Koschei asked, looking clearly confused. Because, well, he was an idiot. A genius at anything that required logic but where the heart was concerned, he didn't get it. For a noble cause wasn't it worth being a little beaten? Hell, he got his ass kicked all the time for less. "I did all that for you. For you and for Theta. Do you have any idea how dumb you both are? You see me, getting beaten down all the time, and you don't have the common sense to run?"

If he knew someone like himself, he'd distance away from them. Save his own skin and let the guy handle it themselves because he assumed that was what you were meant to do. Save yourself.

Swiftly pulling on the shirt that awkwardly fell over his wrists, he rolled up the sleeves and got to work on the buttons. "If Tom wasn't here, riding my back, we'd have a chance at something. But get near me and you'll get your head in a toilet. Trust me, you don't need that."

"...you're the one who just came here." Just for the record. Barty closed his book and sat up, leaning back on his hands as he looked at him. "Make up your mind. I know Tom doesn't want me to be close to anyone. He hasn't since kindergarten, so given this time it involves you I'm not surprised the method was more extreme. But you pretty much called me a slut in front of the entire school, so, no, I'm not too crazy about you right now."

Barty rubbed his face and smiled briefly. "I do remember some of that night. I know you apologized then, but you won't apologize now. I did like you, Koschei, and I know what shit you have to put up with, but you're right. I don't need risking everything for a bloke who doesn't treat me right, either." He shrugged. "I help you because it's not right what they do. Tom does. Don't know about Theta. He probably just likes you. And you actually do like him, too, so go to your room and leave me alone."

"Well, yeah, I kind of figured losing you wasn't a good plan so I thought I'd come here. I didn't -- I don't know, I guess I wasn't ready for you to leave my life," Koschei admitted in a sort of mutter because it wasn't something he wanted to broadcast. He awkwardly pulled the boxers and trousers Barty had borrowed him, doing up the fly and rolling up the cuffs as Barty explained it all. Koschei supposed he had a point with all of it. And for once, he didn't quite know how to even begin to argue back.

So he let Barty get what he wanted, he'd leave because staying was too hard. He didn't like the realisation that he wasn't being much better than Tom lately, he was being quite a dick. In fact, the more this war went on, the worse he got. Maybe he seriously just needed to move on and stop obsessing. Maybe one day they'd actually just leave him alone? With a sigh, he gave the boy a quick glance before shrugging. "You're not a slut. And I know I haven't been... well, the best. But I can always be better, I'm good at catching on."

And, with that, he made his way out the door, hoping he didn't run into Tom on the way out.

High school AU open post

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