InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "in yo' kitchen, eatin' yo food"

Henry Claus Ceredig (philosophos) wrote in nevermore_logs,
@ 2021-09-27 22:54:00

Entry tags:

henry claus, hermes, lucifer

WHO: Henry Claus, Hermes, Lucifer
WHEN: Monday
WHERE: Basement
WHAT: Hungry
WARNINGS: Torture

"Hermes?" It had been a while since Henry had spoken and his voice came out as a quiet croak. The god beside him stirred, and Henry felt a little bad because Hermes had clearly been drifting between sleep and wakefulness.

And maybe what he was about to ask wasn't fair. Hermes had been down here for months and from the state of him, he was very clearly starving. But Henry had never suffered hunger like this in his life. He hadn't known it felt like this. He hadn't realised his thoughts would be consumed by food. That he would be fucking haunted by the damn sandwhich he didn't finish a few days ago. That he would feel like - if he didn't fucking ask Hermes about food he would goddamn explode.

"Yeah kid?" Hermes said, grunting a little, and shifting to a more comfortable position.

"Do-" Hermes had been here for over two months, according to himself. He had to have been fed something to still be alive, surely... "Does Lucifer ever- I'm hungry," he finally settled on.

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ever_mercurial
2021-09-27 10:05 am UTC (link)

This damn kid. This damn kid and his sweet disposition and his fucking desperate eyes. Hermes looked at him and he almost didn't want to tell the truth, but he didn't want to lie to that face either.

Neither of them had been fed since Henry had arrived. "He feeds me his scraps," Hermes admitted, looking away. "Not often. When he can be bothered. To remind me I'm-" Hermes swallowed and sighed. "To remind me of my place. "Should be soon. I hope it's soon, fuck."

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philosophos
2021-09-27 10:09 am UTC (link)

To remind him of his place? Henry frowned and he leaned his head on Hermes' shoulder. "You're a god. Your place 's fine." He was trying to be more reassuring than that, but he was in too much pain and too hungry to really find the right words. "I could eat scraps right now. I could eat anything right now. Iestyn told me. He said eat whenever you can. You never know when your next meal is."

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	ever_mercurial 2021-09-27 10:11 am UTC (link)
	Hermes was touched by Henry, clearly trying to reassure him. "Thanks, kid. Yeah. Good advice." He sighed and cast his gaze up towards the basement door, but no one appeared. "Maybe you should try to sleep?" Hermes suggested. "Then at least you won't feel it." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	philosophos 2021-09-27 10:17 am UTC (link)
	Hermes was probably right, but Henry didn't think he was going to be able to sleep right now. His ribs ached with hunger, and it was far too distracting. "Maybe." They lapsed into silence again, just sitting. Just breathing. Then Henry broke it by saying, "my family will know by now. I hope the ones who care are okay. My sisters." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ever_mercurial 2021-09-27 10:19 am UTC (link)
	Hermes was trying to parse through exactly what that meant. How could anyone not care about this kid? Sure, he was a little bland, but he was sweet and non-threatening. And yes, if he didn't have a connection to Luna, Hermes might not have looked twice at him, but now that he had, he didn't understand. "Your family doesn't care about you?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	philosophos 2021-09-27 10:21 am UTC (link)
	"My parents don't. I'm the fuck up. Most of my siblings don't either. I have a lot. Immortal parents. But my sisters, they care. And I- I worry about them. Tinse will be trying not to show anything, and Merry will be so upset." Henry tried not to think about how much he longed to be with them right now. To be safe in their arms. "I miss them." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ever_mercurial 2021-09-27 10:23 am UTC (link)
	"Kid, you're working yourself up," Hermes informed him. "Sometimes parents can be shit. Mine adore me of course, but- Your sisters will be fine. Worry about yourself. Keep yourself safe and you'll see them again." That was really the best advice he could think of right now, and honestly as wasted as he was, Henry was lucky to get that. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

philosophos
2021-09-27 10:40 am UTC (link)

Hermes was right. Henry groaned, but he lapsed into silence, staring at his hands. It didn't stop him worrying, not did it stop him from thinking about Merry's baked Alaska.

Yum.

Henry was still planning the elaborate dinner he was going to cook an hour later, when the basement door slammed open. He immediately pulled himself into a tiny ball, staring at Lucifer as the man descended the stairs.

"Well isn't this sweet?" Lucifer said, of his two prisoners huddled together. He stepped forward and pulled Henry to his feet, hauling him halfway across the basement and holding him firmly, facing away from Hermes. Henry yelped in pain and fear, but once Lucifer was holding him it seemed like the devil only had keeping him still in mind.

"What are you doing?!" Henry hissed, his voice shaking.

"It's time for the animals in the dungeon to get fed," Lucifer said, and Henry felt his heart lift in hope, until Lucifer added, "except you get nothing. Not after that ridiculous showing yesterday."

Henry wailed out his anguish and he stood there in Lucifer's grip as he heard other people enter the basement. Surely they were Lucifer's minions and Henry was being held so he couldn't see them. He could hear though. He could smell. Whatever they were feeding Hermes, the smell made his stomach clench in hunger. He could hear Hermes' satisfied sounds as he slurped down the scraps he was given.

Henry couldn't help it. He started to cry. He wasn't used to cruelty for cruelty's sake. Indifference, sure, but this- He sobbed until his head ached, and then Lucifer tossed him to the ground mercilessly.

"Get some sleep," Lucifer warned Henry, "you're going to need it."

Henry landed hard on his good wrist, and he stayed where he was, sobbing.

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ever_mercurial
2021-09-27 10:44 am UTC (link)

Hermes waited until Lucifer and his minions were well and truly gone, before he hissed at Henry. "Hey. Kid. Hey, shhhh! Come here." From somewhere in his blankets, Hermes produced a slice of bread and a half-eaten apple.

Normally, Hermes would have looked at someone else suffering like Henry was, and said, 'sucks to be you kid', considering he was suffering too. And he didn't know if it was the kids big, sad eyes, or the fact that he had been so desperately alone and now he was frantically trying to keep the company he had been given. But something had told him to stash some food away. And, since he was the god of tricksters, he had managed it even while being watched.

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philosophos
2021-09-27 10:48 am UTC (link)

Henry sniffed hard and he glanced up at Hermes. The god was offering him food and Henry didn't know what to say. "Are you...are you sure?" he asked, though that didn't stop him fro inching closer, his eyes trained on the scraps. God he wanted them.

"Don't make me second guess myself," Hermes said flatly, and that was enough for Henry. He took the bread and apple Hermes was offering and he devoured them. His stomach cramped around the food, but god-

"Thank you," Henry whispered. Of course now that he had eaten at least a little, Lucifer's parting words rattled around in his head. What was going to happen tomorrow?!

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	ever_mercurial 2021-09-27 10:51 am UTC (link)
	"Come on. You heard him," Hermes said, trying his best to sound authoritative. "He said you should sleep." He held the blanket out so Henry could come back to his spot by Hermes' side. Hermes tried to make it look like it wasn't for his own benefit. But it was. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	philosophos 2021-09-27 10:53 am UTC (link)
	"I don't want to do this any more," Henry mumbled. He crawled back over to Hermes side, and curled up there, letting the god smooth the blanket over the both of them. "I can't- I can't handle it. I can't handle the pain-" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

ever_mercurial
2021-09-27 10:56 am UTC (link)

"Shhhh, hey-" Hermes said, rubbing Henry's arm again. He had been doing this a lot. "Suck it up. I don't mean to be a dick about it, but you want to get back to that boyfriend, right?"

Henry glanced sideways at Hermes and Hermes found the mortal staring at him a little disconcerting. Henry looked hurt, but Hermes needed to be firm here. "It's awful," Hermes admitted. "It's the worst shit you're going to ever go through. But if you hold on, you'll make it through." Hermes didn't know if that was true or not, but what did it matter if it helped? "It's just pain. It's just your body. You keep your soul, hmm? You keep you."

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	philosophos 2021-09-27 10:57 am UTC (link)
	Henry didn't know about that, but he was too exhausted to argue. So he nodded, and let his eyes fall closed, the presence of food in his belly lulling him to sleep. (Reply to this) (Parent)