standsonhigh | High school AU open post

"Your consideration is appreciated," Barty replied dryly, obviously a lot calmer than Koschei was feeling. Rodolphus. Well, that would definitely mean that Tom would learn of all this. He chewed his bottom lip thoughtfully for a few moments before quite suddenly closing the distance between them and pinning Koschei against the door he was already so familiar with.

Knife against his cheek, he made sure to catch and hold his gaze. This was important. "You don't tell anyone that I freed you." Just a whisper, just a warning and then he moved his hand behind Koschei to cut his hands free. "You stink," he informed him, then he pointed to the side.

"Look into the mirror first. You might want to scrub your face. Don't worry, Tom won't be back for another hour."

Koschei winced once more, the blade against him, cold and unforgiving. His heart started to race and he could feel it in him, contrasting with the annoying noise that drummed away in his head. He couldn't get another slash to the face, the head of their year was starting to get suspicious and if he even tried to tell off Tom then Koschei was going to pay dearly for it.

He wanted this kept a secret as much as anyone else. It was a matter of self preservation and pride.

Swallowing hard, Koschei pulled away from Barty as safely as he could, tentatively moving to look in the mirror. He didn't even want to look, could it get any worse than the C word? That had been awkward.

The moment he saw it, he knew what it was and it was so much worse. It was backwards but it was easy to read, painfully easy. He went bright red, gaping at the sight. How many people had seen it? Oh God, could this get any worse? Hastily, he tried to scrub it off with his sleeve but the ink was permanent and stubborn.

"No, no, no, no," he muttered under his breath, making frustrated noises as he fought to either remove it or take his skin off.

"Bathroom," Barty suggested after watching Koschei for a while. If he felt pity for him, it at least didn't show, the advice might as well just be practical. He pointed at the door that he hadn't locked, leading to the bathroom he shared with Tom.

"The green towel's his." If he wanted to use it, for the irony. Or if he wanted to avoid it, which Barty could imagine quite easily, too. He was still watching the other boy, trying not to think of where his thoughts had wandered while he held him before. Maybe it was a good thing he had been dunked in a toilet, it kept him from taking these thoughts further than he should.

Strange, anyway. Pathetic wasn't generally his type, what he felt for Tom proved as much. On the other hand, here he was going behind Tom's back and robbing him from what apparently had been meant to be his present. Strange indeed.

Koschei hurried into it, turning on the sink and shoving his head right under the taps, trying to get the horrible toilet water out of his hair and remove a little of the ink. Hey, Barty had offered, he wasn't about to stall. He knew there had to be another motive for this, some sort of trap, but he was taking whatever chance he had to remove the mark before it.

He scrubbed at aggressively with a nearby wash cloth till it had faded, wincing at the feeling of his raw skin. He could still see Tom horribly embedded on his head, outrage shook him and he just couldn't take seeing it. He'd scrub till he bled if he had to.

"You're all so pathetic," Koschei snapped, splashing more water onto his face and hair. He couldn't help it, he was angry and knew something was coming yet so he may as well get his thoughts out while he could. "He's not even that great and you all worship him like a God. He's not even strong or powerful, he just has you all wrapped around his finger. It's sad, really."

"I'm just rooming with him. But, hey, if he has enough people wrapped around his finger to get you in this state for him without even knowing about it, I'd say that qualifies as at the very least quite influential, by school standards."

Barty shrugged, leaning against the door frame with his arms folded. The sentiment wasn't surprising, but he had to admire Koschei's courage in actually saying it out loud.

"Hurry it up, will you? I want to take a shower."

"If you want me to leave then unlock the damn door," Koschei shot back, knowing he wasn't about to sit in their shared room and wait for him to shower before he could leave. If he could avoid a confrontation with Tom, he would. Every time they met, things got worse. And he really didn't think he could take worse, pretending it didn't hurt and he was better than them only got him so far into the day.

Once the lettering was gone, he wiped his forehead with his arm and let his wet hair just drip down him. He didn't need anything off them, he didn't even want to touch their towels. All he wanted to do was leave.

"I want to go back to my room now, I have a lot of work to do and I've missed all my study hours."

"It's only locked so no one can come in and see you here." Barty rolled his eyes, but he did smile when he added: "Moron." That did seem to be one of his favourite words, after all.

He looked at Koschei when he turned to him, wondering where the confusing want to rub him dry with a towel came from. He must be tired or something, he was hardly the protective type normally.

"This is probably going to come back to haunt you. If they find out you got off so easy. But you know that, hm?"

Barty shrugged and headed for the door, unlocking it and then waiting for Koschei to walk past him. "I don't know what's so special about you. Just lucky, I guess."

He resisted the urge to argue, he wanted to but he was just too tired now. His body hurt nearly everywhere, the water was making him cold and he really just wanted to go hide under his covers and pretend this wasn't happening. And hopefully Theta would stay out all night so he didn't have to actually spend time with him.

"Nothing is ever hard enough for them to think I've suffered," Koschei said bluntly as he eyed the door, not making a move for it. Because he didn't trust it and he didn't trust Barty. They were outside waiting to jump him, he just knew it.

With a deep breath, he tentatively gripped the doorhandle, praying he got a break this time.

"I guess I am," Kochei agreed, gently twisting the knob and opening the door slowly, making his mistrust obvious. People weren't nice, they were all liars and cheaters. "He never liked me, not once. I never played his games."

Once he was sure the coast was actually clear, he finally stepped out, a picture of paranoia as he crept free.

"Too bad, Koschei. Who knows, you might win."

Barty looked outside after him, because his paranoia was apparently spreading. But the hallway was empty and there weren't any steps to be heard, either. "See? Nobody out here. Off you go."

Now he should probably clean the bathroom before Tom got back. He never liked a mess.

"Of course I'll win," the Master said with a strange bout of pride, despite standing in the hallway with so much twitchiness that anyone would think he was about to be jumped by a whole army. "I always win. You watch, I'll destroy him first."

It sounded like the words of a desperate kid but hey, he was serious. He would destroy Tom when he had the right moment, he really would.

Without even offering a goodbye, he stormed off, still scrubbing at his head with his sleeve.

High school AU open post

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