TAIX - The Adventures of Ink and X

Chapter 39 - X

I pull away from the hug as I make sure Ink understands I'll protect him with my life, even if what I was 'living' in before wasn't real. I grab Ink's gloved hand gently because I see the blood slowly drip down. "I'm here. You're safe with me. Now, lets go somewhere safe, okay?" I say to him. He gives me a nod. "He's so vulnerable." I think to myself as I make way out of the laboratory. I look down at my belt full of weapons only to notice bright red marks around my wrists. "Must have been from those chains" I think to myself as I lead Ink out of the lab and to my lair. "It should be around here..." I mumble under my breath. I reach an abandoned building, I enter it and motion for Ink to follow, I reach a wall and enter in a pin code before the wall moves away and opens to my lair. "Well, it is still here" I say to Ink as I walk further in, it looks how I remember, a big room, a decent sized closet and bathroom, a bed, and a drawer full of weapons. Ink decides to make himself comfortable in here as I take off his hoodie. "I...I dont know what to...to believe..." Ink tells me, he seems distressed so I go to hug him. "It's okay, you're safe with me bud, it's going to be okay" I tell him as I lay us down on the bed, he shakes only a small amount as I hang his hoodie up. Now all that Ink has his hoodie off, all he has on is a t-shirt and long pants. He seems more relaxed, now that he looks like a weight has been lifted from his shoulders. He wraps me in a hug, I can tell he's stressed from people reminding him of his past, deadnaming him, and misgendering him. "It's going to be okay bud, I'm here. You're safe now, nothing can hurt you, and you're a strong guy yourself." I tell him, trying to use masculine terms. Ink tears up at that and he seems to barely musters out "T-Thank you..." I lay beside him and he wraps his arms around me. I rub his back while keeping him close to me. "I won't let anything happen to you" I whisper to him, he falls asleep and as the moonlight starts to peek through the curtains, it lands right on his face, making him quite literally, the center of attention. For once, it seems that he feels safe to sleep. After all those kidnappings, at least in that simulation or whatever, it must've taken a toll on him. "Everything seems so peaceful...why can't it always be like this..." I think to myself as my eyelids inevitably shut and I fall asleep beside him.