[Closed RP, Hiei/Kaga] Cowardice

[gourmetchairman.livejournal.com]

[[Takes place after this]]

It was cowardly. Kaga knew this as he sat in the Gryffindor common room. He shouldn't have just left the class after Professor Wednesday pulled out the handcuffs.

But he couldn't stay.

Just looking at them made him anxious, he didn't even want to think about how he'd react with them on. Not well, he knew that much. HOW not well, he didn't know.

It was still cowardly, though. And that class would have actually been beneficial.

He just couldn't let himself be bound again.

Comments

[crispydemon.livejournal.com]

Hiei was the first to leave runes class once the lesson ended. He followed Kaga's energy across the school, his arms hidden beneath his cloak. When he entered the Gryffindor common room, he spotted the chairman sitting alone near the fireplace. There was no one else in the room, save for a house elf or two.

"Kaga," Hiei said, walking up to the man. "You left."

[gourmetchairman.livejournal.com]

Kaga sighed, he had been expecting something like this.

"I...I couldn't. When I saw those handcuffs, I panicked. And if I was nervous just looking at it, I knew I couldn't handle actually wearing them, even shortly."

[crispydemon.livejournal.com]

"I know why you left," Hiei cut off any further explanation. He'd seen the damage firsthand, so he wasn't surprised he'd fled from the prospect of being bound. And that was why Hiei took a moment to steel himself against what came next. No matter how Takeshi reacted, this had to be done.

"You're learning the technique." Hiei stated, producing a pair of handcuffs from within his cloak.

[gourmetchairman.livejournal.com]

He paled. "Must I?" He did look genuinely terrified and ready to flee. "Isn't there a way to learn without those?"

[crispydemon.livejournal.com]

Hiei responded by taking out the rest of the supplies and shoving them in Kaga's hands. He held the handcuffs at his side though; he had no intention of forcing them on Kaga if it could be helped.

"I'm putting them on you. I can remove them from you if the runes don't work."

[gourmetchairman.livejournal.com]

Kaga looked from Hiei to the handcuffs to the things in his hands back to Hiei. He'd be all right...wouldn't he? It's not like Hiei would do anything like Karasu did. And he'd still be able to move.

"Not here. My room," he finally said, getting up to head there.

[crispydemon.livejournal.com]

Hiei nodded and let Kaga lead the way to his room. He would do this on Kaga's terms. It was his trauma, after all.

[gourmetchairman.livejournal.com]

Once they were in the room, Kaga locked the door. He hesitated a bit before removing his gloves; they would get in the way of the handcuffs. And Kaga didn't want the metal to cut into them.

He fingered the barely-noticable scar from when the handcuffs bit into his flesh last time, before turning to his parchment to make a rune. He then turned to Hiei.

"If I go too far...if I get too lost in my head...do what you need to to get me out of it."

Then he took a big breath and held out his hands.

[crispydemon.livejournal.com]

Hiei nodded. He didn't speak, but made eye contact with Kaga before fastening the handcuffs on his wrists. Then he moved back and watched.

He hoped Kaga could use the rune successfully in the first try. His pessimism told him otherwise, but he tried to ignore it. Given the nature of the magic, he supposed it would be helpful if he trusted that Kaga could succeed in freeing himself.

Too bad Hiei had some serious trust issues.

[gourmetchairman.livejournal.com]

Kaga's mind was in turmoil.

Concentrate, concentrate, you just need to get the handcuffs off. Your rune will work. Oh god it's not working. Don't panic don't panic. IT'S NOT COMING OFF! GET IT OFF GET IT OFF!

Kaga began panicking in earnest and struggled to get them off manually.

[crispydemon.livejournal.com]

Hiei noticed. Obviously.

The demon swiftly stepped forward and put his hand on Kaga's forearms. He tried to be gentle, to stop his struggling without making him feel as though he were being held down.

"Kaga." Hiei said, trying to get him to look him in the eyes. "Focus. Use the rune." Though it was normally against his moral code, Hiei opened his Jagan and peered into Kaga's thoughts. He needed to be able to monitor him on all levels if this was going to work...and do some damage control, if worse came to worse.

[gourmetchairman.livejournal.com]

Someone's touching me someone's touching me go away wait it's Hiei he won't hurt you you trust him don't hit him...

Still shaking slightly, Kaga concentrated on looking at Hiei-it was Hiei, not Karasu-and thinking of the rune.

And the handcuffs clattered to the floor.

[crispydemon.livejournal.com]

Hiei let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding and let go of Kaga's arms. "Good," he grunted.

He picked up the handcuffs and looked at Kaga. He was still nervous...so Hiei continued to listen to his thoughts. The last thing he needed was Kaga having another nervous breakdown.

"Can you do it again?" he asked, keeping his voice softer than before. Kaga had a choice now. He didn't have to put the handcuffs on again today if he didn't think he could manage it.

[gourmetchairman.livejournal.com]

"No. No no no no no no no." Childish answer? Yes. But Kaga felt far too strongly about it, and was still a bit in panic mode.

[crispydemon.livejournal.com]

"Alright," Hiei said. He tried to sooth Kaga with his energy. It was something he wasn't used to doing but he did know how to do it. He just wasn't terribly good at it. Still, he tried.

So he held his hands out to Kaga, dangling the handcuffs from one of his pinky fingers. "My turn," he almost smiled. It was only fair he try the runes after Kaga.

[gourmetchairman.livejournal.com]

Kaga felt what he assumed was Hiei's energy and closed his eyes, calming down slightly.

Ah, thank god for Hiei.

He took the handcuffs from Hiei and gingerly placed them on Hiei's wrists, rather loosely, actually, but he doesn't want Hiei to be bound tightly.

I don't want to hurt him.

[crispydemon.livejournal.com]

Hiei almost told Kaga that there was no way those handcuffs could do any damage to him, but he didn't want Kaga to know he was listening to his thoughts. So he just watched him fasten the handcuffs then sketched the rune on a piece of paper.

Hiei had never been very good with written language. His handwriting his rather atrocious and though he could read, he didn't do it often. Or as a pass time, like he'd seen Kurama do. So, predictably, he didn't have much talent with the runes. When he tried to use the magic, the handcuffs shifted a bit but remained stubbornly attached to his wrists.

Hiei wrinkled his nose and glared down at his hands. "Oh, damn it."

[gourmetchairman.livejournal.com]

Kaga looked far too concerned. "Should I..." he reached for the key to them.

[crispydemon.livejournal.com]

"No. I don't need help," Hiei insisted. He had a bad habit of refusing assistance from anyone.

They will work. I've seen them work. Kaga made them work, so they'll work for me too. Hiei concentrated, willing himself to believe that the rune would unlock the handcuffs for him.

One of them almost unhooked. But then they settled on his wrists like gaudy bracelets. He glared again and jiggled them in childish frustration.

[gourmetchairman.livejournal.com]

I've seen them work. It had been a snippet of Hiei's thoughts, but Kaga mistook it for one of his own.

Come on Hiei. I don't want you trapped because of me. That was his own.

[crispydemon.livejournal.com]

Hiei glared at the handcuffs for a few moments more, willing them to drop off of his wrist. Decades of trust issues and depending only on himself, however, kept the handcuffs firmly clasped.

With a grunt, he reached over and tugged the cuff of his wrist. It took little effort and he was free, but now the cuffs were broken. And he was apparently terrible at runes.

"Hm," he frowned. "I need to get a new pair before you can practice again." This was about Kaga, after all.

[gourmetchairman.livejournal.com]

Kaga nodded weakly. He did need to do this, no matter how sick it made him. "Hang on." He pulled out his wand. He said a quick spell to fix them.

Then, sighing and setting down his wand, he held his hands out again.

[crispydemon.livejournal.com]

Hiei kept forgetting they could use spells to fix things. Magic was strange.

He opened the repaired handcuffs and placed them around Kaga's wrists. There was no hesitation before snapping them shut, but Hiei wasn't realaxed. Kaga freaked out a bit the first time and it was likely it would happen again.

Hiei took a step back, giving Kaga some space, and watched closely.

[gourmetchairman.livejournal.com]

Kaga tried not to freak out. He really was.

But he was remembering how Karasu handcuffed him and then betrayed him. He tugged on the cuffs a bit.

Then he thought of how if he had been able to get free, he could have attacked Karasu. And oh, how much he would LOVE to get revenge on Karasu.

Glaring at the wall, he managed to use the wards to free himself. He promptly took the cuffs and threw them at his mind's image of Karasu at the wall, snapping out of it when they clattered.

"I...I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me."

[crispydemon.livejournal.com]

Hiei, on the other hand, knew exactly what had come over him and smirked as Kaga chucked the handcuffs at the wall. He probably shouldn't point out that attacking Karasu was practically suicide for a human...Kaga didn't need to hear that. Not now, anyway. So in an infrequent gesture of understanding, Hiei kept his snarky mouth shut.

"Good," He grunted as he went to pick up the handcuffs. Kaga didn't need to do any more practice today.

[gourmetchairman.livejournal.com]

"I..." Kaga hesitated, before smiling. "Thank you." He reached for his gloves, he had had enough anyway.