HIIII im loving ur defanged Kayne AU hell Yeahh torture that guy βΌοΈ
Anywaysss I was thinking. What would happen if Arthur somehow sees all this. Like if he somehow made it to the waylay or if the manager takes Kayne out for a walk on earth or something and Arthur sees whatβs been going on.
Arthur would definitely be horrified at this, heβd be a bit conflicted and maybe confused at first bc like. Itβs Kayne. The malevolent evil god who tortured him and tried to end the world. Heβd be scared Kayne made it out of the nightmare realm but then heβd look a bit closer and see what the manager has been doing with Kayne and heβd be horrified. Like sure Kayne was awful to him and undoubtedly evil but surely no one deserves *this*. Heβs being tortured, humiliated, all that jazz. Arthur is empathetic, and thatβs awful for anyone to go through.
Or maybe heβd be more conflicted bc after all, that is what kayne did to him, with all the torturing & killing over the years. Surely he deserves this sort of punishment for what he did.
heβd also be horrified at the manager, too, I think, even though he was a bit hesitant he still trusted the manager, they worked together when it all went down and the manager had seemed nice, heβd thought maybe he was a good version of Kayne, less murderous and sadistic. But he is still a nyarlathotep, maybe thatβs just how they are. Maybe he just got lucky when the manager had helped him before, he was in a difficult situation and so maybe he only helped Arthur so he could be free.
not to mention how horrible Kayne would feel about all this, Arthur Lester, the man heβd obsessed over for so long, they guy he just couldnt get enough of seeing him like this, he would SO hate it, maybe even more than having it done to him in the first place. Who knows
anywayy this ask is getting long af so Iβll js leave this for you to ponder, no pressure ofc just my silly thoughts on your AU ^^
YAY THANK YOU and yes yes one hundred percent ofc always π«‘πΌπ
Okay so!! This spawned a lot of thoughts. This is real long and Iβm gonna put it into two posts, this one possible ways this scenario would occur, and the next Arthurβs possible reactions. Sorryyy lol, I just. It was a fun thing to think about ^^ ty for it <3
First!! Arthur getting there. So, The Manager did, I think, explicitly? essentially ban Arthur from the Waylay, however, he could absolutely backtrack on this. Kayneβs whole (gestures broadly) throwing him off could be an extenuating circumstance that The Manager, losing his grip on things, thinks to bring his favorite toy in to try and throw Kayne off too (not because he needs Arthur, his winning pawn β no, itβs to throw off Kayne, whoβs clearly not going through enough). And then maybe Arthur will help too (bc letβs be real, last plan was all Lillith LOL, so someone needs to come up with something and heβs not really doing a great job and he cannot tell Lillith about this). However, The Manager canβt actually just grab whoever he wants whenever, Kayne was the only one who could do dimensional shenaniganery like that, The Manager can only scoop people on their way to hell. But, itβs not like Arthur dying is a difficult situation to come by, so it could absolutely just. happen. and The Manager reaches for him like a lifeline.Β
For Kayne being seen on a walk, as The Manager isβ¦ostensibly doing this to control Kayne for the wider Existenceβs safety, I think it probably wouldnβt happen. However!! If Kayne were able to muster up enough power to blip out, and The Manager was sufficiently distracted, his heart may lead him back to one Arthur Lester, as I presume all roads do for Kayne.Β
Imagine with me, if you will, Jarthur minding their own business spying on some neβer-do-wells when β pop! And Squelch, and Wheeze, and kkkkghACKghmph β they turn.Β
βArthur, a man stands before us, bent over as if in immense pain. I- I donβt know where he couldβve appeared from, thereβs, thereβs no way for him to have gone around us-β
And he falls suddenly, deathly silent. Arthur asks whatβs going on, John does not reply. The concerning noises Arthur hears are stifled, apparently from a man. The slight shuffling and shifting before him is so heavy and wet, a thin and ragged wheeze and whistle comes inconsistently, and if Arthur focuses he can hear the pits and pats of droplets hitting the pavement.Β
Silence stretches for a good while beyond these sounds, John continuing to not say anything.
He gets like that sometimes though, after touching a dead body or witnessing something truly horrible β needing a moment to collect himself. The man must truly be very hurt, but presumably not a threat, as John has never left him on his own for such things.Β
Arthur will let John collect himself, heβll say something if necessary, and the man in front of him clearly needs help.Β
βHello?β Arthur starts, moving over slowly to not seem a threat, speaking gently and soft,β Excuse me, Sir, are you okay?βΒ
John snaps back, urgent, afraid β βArthur-β
But thereβs another pop, and Arthur feels suddenly, tangibly, the absence within the space. The alley as silent and hot and empty as it had been all day previous. They stand in silence for a bit.
βJohn..?β Arthur asks tentatively.
John, once more does not respond.
βJohn.β Arthur says more firmly, now afraid.
βY-yes! Yes. Sorry, Iβm here.β John stutters, shaken.
Arthur takes a deep breath,β John, whatβs going on,β he asks, βWho was there? What happened to them? Did you see where they went?β
βI-Iβ¦β John trails off. Arthur huffs frustratedly and John picks back up, βIt was a man. Wearing a suit, white and pink pinstripes, he lookedβ¦fine, but his face was twisted in agony, and blood dripped in steady streams from his jaw.β (small aside, I have just decided the part of Kayne jaw Arthur ripped off never heals properly and drives The Manager nuts but Kayne is just deeply subconsciously attached to its loss β you may call it madness and all that jazz β and it always sloughs off after a while)
John continues his description but Arthur cuts him off, asking why he sounds so scared, that it seems like thereβs more, something specific that is setting him off.
βItβ¦I donβt know Arthur I could be,β he sounds so afraid," I could be imagining things butβ¦it, the man, he looked like..Kayne.β
Arthurβs blood freezes.Β
βWhat would that mean?β Arthur asks. And both of them stand there in the fear that something may have happened to the Waylay.Β
Of course, they have no way to get there, presumably they would try contacting Lillith, which actually brings me to what I thought of as the most likely option for this scenario!Β
Lilith either having some way to check-in the Nightmare Realm or sense if Kayne is out of it, because thereβs no way she just trusts heβll never get out or that The Manager wonβt ever do something (to become the next Nyarlathotep or otherwise). Whatever the case, her popping into the Waylay (she has some way of doing it, theyβve met at planned and talked before), to tell The Manager Kayne is out. Seeing him. Them. The Situation. 180ing and leaving β I donβt think she would fight or argue, not when either one winning in this scenario would be inevitable and horrible). Her Favorite suddenly getting nightmares of The Manager laughing manically, blood covered and grinning, him looking broken and disfigured β so very peculiar, his teeth arenβt even sharp. I think they both just edge around till they get in an argument and John snaps about βnot being stupid, you should know Iβd know you were speaking to Lillith because Iβd see all the warping glass.β And Arthurβs blood runs coldβ¦warping glass? Then he tells John, and theyβre like. Holy Shit something is wrong in the Waylay and Lilith has been trying to tell us Oh Fuck. I think they should be attacked by some of Lillithβs cultists, and thatβs why John snaps, he thinks Arthurβs hiding something that's putting them in danger (and also excluding him to hang out with a different Eldritch Entity buddy :( ) When they finally figure it out they try to find the cultists and let them know, hey we know something is up and where can we talk to Lillith. And they kill him.Β
β¦The Manager can only scoop guys ;)Β
Arthur is in pain (yknow, getting stabbed to death or something), John is screaming and begging and crying, theyβre both thinking Fuck You Lillith, then they wake up in the Waylay (Lillith-Nyarlathotep psychoanalzying skills for the win) The Manager standing before Arthur mid spiral, he didnβt really think, he just. Reached. He just did. Heβs been doing that a lot recently. Arthur reaching out to comfort The Manager, as he does John speaking very slowβ¦assessinglyβ¦as if heβs not sure how to proceed.Β
βArthurβ¦The Manager clings to usβ¦his bloodstained hands soak red into our clothes where they grip, white-knuckled. Heβs a mess butβ¦behind him Arthurβ¦β John sounds, unreadable. βI thinkβ¦itβs Kayne.β
β¦Whatβ¦? Arthur Thinks, as The Manager quakes in his arms.
βHe stands straightβ¦a pinstriped suit, pink and white. Very clean. Not a drop of blood on him at allβ¦but his hands seem. Scarred. Heβs wearing shoesβ¦β John sounds perturbed βHis hair is neatly styled, the swoop of it covers the tips of his ears just so, yet the curve of them seems they areβ¦clipped. His eyes are dilated and hazy, he stares straight ahead, his breathing is quick, but beyond that he gives no indication of being aware we are here.β
They are all silent for a long while. The Manager seems to collect himself very suddenly, he pulls away. Arthur looks at him, βWhatβ¦is going on..?β he asks, slowly, cautiously.
βSit.β The Manager says.
βHe waves us to a chair to his right Arthur, the same we sat in last timeβ
βSit.β The Manager says again, it is firm, threatening.
β...Kayne has,β John starts, β Kayne has, tensed, at that. Arthur.β
Arthur slowly walks to the seat, sits down.Β
βThe Manager sits before us with his palms in his hands, breathing.β John does not say anymore, Arthur doesnβt move to start. They all sit there in silence for a while
And Iβm going to make a second part to this! Umβ¦itβll take me a while though like seriously it took so long for me to make this coherent at all I was just writing stuff fr </3 LOL β sooo, if youβre reading this lmk if youβd prefer a second post and a link on here or a reblog of this oneβ¦ty!!! :>
izzy806
ellievsbear
blakekathryn
origamiaround
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
kianamaiart
