#auroragehenna

"You know I'm gonna come back," she drops the knife tip to his chest, "Where else am I gonna go? It's cold as shit out there and--" "C'mon, you're pretty enough, why wouldn't they take you?" "Shut up." "You know they would. But you'd have a baby in you by spring." "You're disgusting." "Ah, but I haven't pumped into you, though," he says, eyes relishing her reaction, "That's why you trust me, isn't it?" Ruby tilts the knife against his neck, "What, is that a threat you're gonna?" "Ha! Any guy can do that. A swing and a dick and bam! another crotch monster nobody wants. At least give me credit for being creative." "Creative?! You didn't even bother tying me up right!" "Let me out and I'll show you what 'right' is," he smirks. She laughs. Not long but she still does. That cold edge to her is softening. Adam is starting to like this new throne of power he sits in. And he can feel the rope around his wrists loosening just enough to squeeze a hand out. He needs to keep her talking. "Okay so, even if I gave you those codes...what are you gonna do for me?" Adam asks, daring to puff out his chest even in spite of the blade pointed into it. "I won't kill you," she says. His shoulders slump, "Bitch, we've established that. I mean after." Now she seems annoyed, too. "I don't know, maybe if you let me drive around and buy some actual ingredients, I could cook us real food, you frozen-dinner psychopath." Adam throws his head back laughing. "Okay, I'll bite. You want to play house." "I want to go places for a reason. I want use the fricking resources I have, not sit around all day, pretending to play sadism simulator." "You seem to be taking to that just fine," he remarks. Frowning, she swirls the knife over his chest, shaving a few of his chesthairs in the process. But she doesn't verbally deny it. His right hand finally gets free of the rope. Thank god she tied them behind him so she doesn't notice. "So you want to use my money, my car, my kitchen, and my house," Adams lists off, "And I'll get a meal or two out of it--assuming you don't put bleach in them--but it still seems a little lopsided." "...so what do you want?" Ruby says. She's tipping the scales towards him, letting him take the power back. Thoroughly riding on this, Adam locks eyes with her. "I want you to be at my New Year's party." When her face pales, he adds, "Just--be there. Mingle. Have fun. I want you to enjoy yourself." The knife lowers. "Why?" "Because I enjoyed this. I want to return the favor." "You'll pass me around--" "As my cousin's niece, in town for college," he leans closer, "You want an internship, don't you?" Her chest loosens as her mind races. He's hit a weakness and oh, he's going to exploit that in the coming weeks. But for right now-- "Go to the numpad and I'll tell you the code." He feels the slight hesitation in her limbs before she pushes herself off his lap. This is a once in a lifetime gift he's giving and she knows it. He calls out the numbers, one by one, slinking his arms off the back of the chair while she's not looking. By the time the garage door is opening, Ruby is totally unprepared for the ambush Adam gives her. She puts up a struggle, of course, but he pins her down soon enough. "How did--?" "You gotta tie your ropes a little tighter if you want to get on my level," he scolds. She writhes as he binds her wrists. "Asshole! We made a deal--!" "You'll have time to go out tomorrow. And don't worry, I'll only change the number code at the end of the week," He cinches a rope around her elbows before hauling her tied figure over his shoulders, "Y'know, I think that extra knot does do a good job securing you better."

"...Good girl." "I'm not your girl." Her voice is a little clearer now. Maybe the hangover is wearing off faster than he thought. "There's perks there if you change your mind," he grunts, laughing. The whiskey bottle sits half empty on the side table. He decides to reach for it. His hand doesn't follow the thought. Before Adam fully processes this, Ruby sits down in his lap, one arm around his shoulder, both legs propped over the armrest. "No, Mr. Adam, there'll be perks if you change your mind." Something catches the gleam of the Christmas tree's light before Adam feels a cold and dangerously sharp pressure against his neck. This little bitch, he chuckles to himself. "Put the knife down, Ruby." "Why?" she asks, glaring at him. "You're gonna tie me up? Again?" He smells the blood more than feels the nick she gives him. He doesn't panic but she's crossed a boundary he has to punish her for. When he intends to throw her off, his wrists chafe each other instead. He only then notices the searing ache in his shoulders. Like a tension wound too tight. Is he--? Adam pushes a glance over his right shoulder. He can't see so much as feel that his wrists and elbows are tied together. "Turns out tying up the elbows, too, makes escape harder," Ruby says flatly, letting the tip of the knife drag along his adam's apple. "Not that you cared to test that. I'm smaller than you and you're lazy." "Okay..." Adam grunts, pressing his eyelids together to squeeze out the last of his hangover, "You want me to treat you like a big girl, you gotta stop throwing tantrums like this." "You're bad at keeping me down." "Am I?" he throws it back at her, smiling even as a trickle of red marks his neck, "I've been out cold for hours and your pretty little mind couldn't crack the number codes." She frowns, tossing her long hair to the side. "You don't know that." "Oh yeah, I do. You think this little tantrum is because you had to give me one last goodbye before you left?" he leans closer until their foreheads almost touch, "If I knew how special I was to you, I--" Ruby stabbed the knife into the chair post, just left of his head. The heavy sound shook him. He lifted his head back, but didn't quite pull away. He couldn't let her see she startled him. His bound hands flexed as his mind scoured for a plan B if things got too gnarly. She lifted her eyes, her gaze broken by her disturbed hair. "I hate you...I hate you so bad," she says, voice so steady, he can feel the tremors in her chest. "I just--what's it going to take for you to--" she runs her hand through her hair, pausing to clench it on top of her head, "--to get out of my head..."