#tlmgo

2016 Commission by @tenmastrousers for my story that you can read here

Crack

"What is your name?"

"Raphael."

Thud

"What is your name?"

"R-Raphael!"

Crack

A scream wrenched itself out of Raphael’s throat as he was hit again, collapsing onto the floor into a spasming pile. Z stood over him as the goon next to them hefting the heavy steel bar to strike again.

"I asked your name!"

Raphael spat a mouthful of blood onto the floor. His arms quivered as he tried to push himself up. Z put up a arm to stop the man from striking the captive down again. Raphael met their gaze with a cold fire in his eyes. "My name? I am the halfling Raphael Nicolais of the House of Rakell." With each word, his voice grew stronger and louder as he struggled to stand upright. "I am the son of Arkland Nicolais, keeper of the estate of Rakell and son of the Sylvian Nahliam. I am chosen by the late Lord Matthias Rakell to be the protector and companion of Griffon Elias Rakell, heir lord of the providence of Verascass." His chest heaving, he continued to glare into Z's eyes. He stood as tall as he was able. "I am Raphael Nicolais."

Z looked him in the eyes, their face an unflinching mask. "Wrong," they hissed and with that, the metal bar slammed into Raphael's side once more. He crumbled where he once stood a moment before, unable to cry out for lack of breathe. Z crouched beside him, patiently waiting for...something. Finally they spoke, as if explaining something simple to a child. "You are nothing, an animal not worthy of a name. Remember this next time I ask you: what is your name?"

Raphael pursed his lips as if to speak, but only wheezes escaped. Z leaned forward. "What was that?" They inquired pleasantly.

Broken syllables dropped from Raphael's bleeding lips. "I...am Raph..ael Ni...nico...lais." Seething, Z grabbed him by the hair and slammed his head against the wall. As Raphael sank even lower on to the floor, slick with his own blood, he could just barely make out Z walking away through blurry vision, barely heard their next instructions:

Z snapped their fingers and on cue, Brutus torn Raphael’s pinkie back. Z just watched, bemused as Raphael's face tightened in pain and drew in a deep breath. But instead of screaming, they were startled as Raphael began to laugh, chest shaking.

"That was so perfect!" Raphael grinned up at Z. “You MUST have practiced that, don't tell me you didn't."

".....excuse me?"

"The whole 'I snap my fingers, you snap his'? Very clever, well done." Raphael slapped a patronizing smile over his face, hiding the pain that was throbbing in his hand. "You should be quite pleased with yourself." He turned to Brutus, not missing the look shared between Z and their goon. "I must say, you played your part beautifu-LLY!"

Griffon tried to run it though his mind, run through the crucial steps on infection control, but the brain-scrambling nature of his fever in addition to the putrid smell his leg was giving off proved more challenging than he was able to tackle currently. His bag, where was his bag again? Oh. Right there. Beside his green-tinted leg. Was it really that green? He blinked at it, mesmerized by how it shifted and swirled as he turned his head this and that way. The pus that he had could have sworn a moment ago was only seeping out of it was now full on erupting from the wound. He shield his eyes, don’t want to get that nastiness in the face. 

“Hey Griff?” Griffon started with a yelp, wrenching that stupidly heavy leg of his to the side. A monster. There was a towering monster before him. Squeezing his eyes tight, he prayed that it couldn’t see him in return. “By the Ones, firefly, that looks worse than you thought originally right?” Griffon whimpered in reply; he could sense it coming towards him. He had to fight, he had to get away, his leg felt light as a feather right now, he bet he could make a run for it. Wanting to catch the monster off guard, Griffon threw himself to the side, tumbling down the hill with his eyes still shut tight. The monster roared but he was getting away, he was getting away! Then something grabbed him and held him tightly, so tightly that he couldn’t move. Thrashing and screaming, Griffon fought to get away. He could tell his leg was gone by now but he didn’t need it anyway. Something stabbed into his arm and the life ebbed away, leaving him pathetic. Weak. Unprotected. 

No actually! I’m sure it does come across that way tho. Part of TLMGO that I find so important is that platonic, familial love that the two share. Raphael and Griffon have been by each others’ sides since Griffon was born and have been best friends since they have been able to make that choice. There is a narrative reason for that, absolutely, but the end result is them having an extremely close relationship. I see nothing wrong with being able to portray two men who express their love for one another without a thought or to have it looked down on by their culture. They are brothers and would die for one another.