Dominance - #7: Pain
Disclaimer: Digimon, Ken Ichijouji and Daisuke Motomiya aren't mine (**sniffs sadly**) and neither is anyone else. Nothing's mine except the fic and everything's borrowed and no profit's been made. So don't sue.
The first thing Daisuke became aware of when he came back to awareness was that his head hurt! There was a dull throbbing in the centre of his forehead that spread out to completely cover it and go down to his temples. He suspected it was in fact turning into a migraine, as black dots danced crazily before his eyes and made vision extremely difficult. He groaned, reaching up to rub his eyes. Then he realised he couldn't as his wrists were chained. More drowsy than angry, he let the warm, fuzzy feeling in his head take over again as he slowly closed his eyes again and drifted back into the darkness.
Veemon stared down at his once more unconscious partner, worry evident in his eyes. He didn't like how Daisuke was acting, especially the fact his cheeks were flushed unnaturally and his breathing no more than a low rasp. Looking up at the figure standing near them, he asked quietly, "What have you done to him? Was this supposed to happen?"
Ken shook his head slowly. "No, it wasn't supposed to happen, but I know what it is. I wouldn't worry digimon, it's just a side affect to the liquid I made him breathe in. He'll be fine once he sleeps it off." Approaching the still form of his pet, he bent down and gently caressed his hand across one of Daisuke's scarlet cheeks. "Besides," he said, looking down at his captured love, "you know well I wouldn't give him anything that would endanger him."
"I suppose so. It would be rather inconvenient for you, wouldn't it?" Veemon didn't try to attempt to hide the mistrust in his voice. No matter what the Kaiser said regarding Daisuke, he found he couldn't believe him, not fully. He had been their enemy for so long, it was hard to believe anything else.
He visibly shivered as Ken sent him a flaming look, but he refused to back down this time. Daisuke could be seriously hurt and if it turned out he was, then Ken was going to pay dearly. Ken's normally calm face was now twisted in an ugly rancour, his beauty now marred for a few moments. Then, his hands clenched tightly, he turned and stormed from the dungeon, the door slamming behind him.
Veemon sighed, his fear not fading as he listened to the Kaiser's departing footfalls gradually become dimmer. Shuddering slightly, he curled himself against Daisuke and slowly dozed off. But even in his dreams, the same question haunted him - Why?
Daisuke groaned loudly, as he groggily opened his eyes. His reward was for stabbing pains to hit his head and he hissed, trying to reach upwards to rub his head. He found he couldn't and looked down to find chains firmly around his wrists. He felt his jaw drop slightly, as he realised where he was. The Kaiser's dungeons.
For someone who claims to treat what's his properly, he sure lies convincingly, Daisuke thought, as he struggled up to a sitting position and felt his eyes adjust to the dimness of the cell. Looking around, he realised he wasn't all that bad off after all. It was visibly better than other dungeons he had been tossed into and was actually rather clean. Instead of the usual one barred window that let a crack of light into the room, there were two, quite large windows above him, pouring in a fading light. They were barred obviously, Ken never took unnecessary risks.
It was then he wondered what time it was. From the colour of the light he guessed it was late afternoon. With a sickening feeling in his stomach, the full realisation hit him. Was Ken going to keep him here for days? What about the others, did they know where he was? Did they even care, after the way he had acted he couldn't blame them for deserting him. Well, maybe a little ... But what about his parents? They'd be sure to notice if he never came home for days. They might think he had run away or something. What was he going to do? Plus the fact his head really hurt!
"Daisuke!" He winced as the cry reached his ears and did a good job of jarring his head. Then he groaned as a large body fell against him and he was hugged almost to death.
"Don't yell so loud," he moaned, unable to hug back due to the chains. "My head can't stick it." Even in the dim light it was impossible not to recognise Veemon. "Happy to see you too Vee'."
"I was so afraid Ken had done something terrible to you!" his digimon sobbed, holding on to him even after his hug had ended. "You looked so sick, I thought you'd gone into a fever or something!"
"Hey, hey calm down!" he answered, shocked at how hysterical Veemon sounded. "It's okay, I'm awake now and I'm fine, apart from hurting everywhere but that's a fairly usual occurrence for me." He didn't know why he was making stupid jokes in an obviously desperate situation like this, but it was better than having a nervous breakdown wasn't it?
He frowned slightly , as he fought to remember what had happened. Slowly memory returned to him. Running from the Digidestined ... meeting Ken and getting into the argument ... Ken putting his glove to his face that had something on it and him passing out. He shook his head fast, wishing everything wasn't so fuzzy! Ken had obviously taken him then and put him in here. "How long have I been unconscious?"
"A couple of hours at least," Veemon replied. "Night's only coming now. Ken came in about every hour to check on you. I think he was a bit worried about you, even though he tried to hide it. He said that you had a rather strong reaction to the stuff he made you inhale, but he figured you'd be okay."
"He was worried about me," Daisuke mused, hardly able to believe what he was hearing. "I can't believe that he'd be so concerned." Doubt began to appear in his conscience - maybe he should try and trust Ken after all. He had been the one who had admitted belonging to him now and he was the one making a proper mess by taking it all back. He was the one breaking the rules, not Ken. This was too confusing. It wasn't helping his head anyway.
"Do you trust him Daiuske?" Veemon asked slowly, peering up at him.
"I'm not sure," his partner answered honestly. "Some part of me wants to and is beginning to doubt that Ken's going to do anything seriously bad to me. I think if I just agreed that I was now his and stuck to the rules, he wouldn't do anything to me. I think I'm just making it difficult for myself." He sighed, wishing the pain in his head would just go now. It was making it incredibly hard to think.
"Maybe," his digimon answered doubtfully. "I have a hard time trusting him. But then I haven't been as close to him as you have," he added absently.
"Veemon!" Daisuke cried, his cheeks reddening, this time from shame. "Stop saying that!"
His digimon stared at him in confusion. "Why? It did happen after all. Do you like Ken, like you used to like Hikari?" He didn't understand what was going on, perhaps it was because Ken was their enemy and Daisuke couldn't admit he liked him. But still, seeing Dai-san spluttering like that was not helpful.
"Uh ... em ... d'ya remember what I said about girlfriends and kisses and crushes and all that and how I said I liked Hikari?" Daisuke said at last, unable to believe he was having to say this. Veemon nodded. "Well, um, I don't think I like Hikari anymore."
"I knew that," Veemon replied immediately. "You like Ken now, right? If you don't want to admit it because he's our enemy, then that's okay I understand ... sort of."
"No, it's not that," Daisuke muttered uncomfortably. "It's ... well, boys are supposed to like girls. Like I liked Hikari."
"But you like Ken," Veemon repeated. "What's the problem?"
"That. I'm not supposed to like Ken. Boys aren't supposed to like other boys. Understand now?"
For a moment silence. Then, "Oh dear."
"My thoughts exactly."
"What are you going to do?" Veemon asked, feeling well and truly lost by now. Humans were so complicated!
Daisuke sighed, shrugging helplessly. "I don't know. My head tells me I should ignore Ken's advances and go back to my friends. But ... something else tells me to just stay with him and forget them." My heart, he thought sadly.
"You mean your heart?" Veemon suggested. Upon seeing Daisuke's stunned look, he shrugged. "I saw most of the Valentine's Day TV ads. Nearly all of them mentioned hearts. Was I wrong?"
"Uh ... no," Daisuke choked out at last. Could it be possible? Was his heart really the Kaiser's now? If it was, then this was more serious than he had originally thought. Veemon was right, this really was an 'Oh Dear' circumstance. No wonder his head hurt.
Both digimon and human froze as they heard the door being unlocked and pulled open. Moments later Ken stood before them, face expressionless. Daisuke and Veemon both glared up at him, beginning to just feel a little tired of all this. "What the hell did you make me breathe in?!" Daisuke snarled, pure loathing on his face.
Ken smirked. "That's for me to know and you never to find out. Let's just say majoring in Chemistry has its advantages." He chuckled slightly at Daisuke's look of horror. "Don't worry, I didn't give you anything poisonous. I am a genius after all."
"As I've heard numerous times," Daisuke growled. He was really getting fed up of Ken now.
He expected Ken to hit him or kick him at least. No one ever got away with offending the Kaiser like that. Never. What he didn't expect him to do was to haul him to his feet and kiss him. That hadn't exactly been on the list of 'Things that Ken Ichijouji a.k.a. The Digimon Kaiser usually does'. If he could just find that list now ... But he discovered that Ken wasn't called a genius for nothing. Kissing him was definitely better than any slap or kick. While part of him loved it, the other part despised it but couldn't pull away. Perfect torture.
Pulling his lips away, Ken flung Daisuke back to the ground, letting him drop hard to end up as a wide-eyed heap that was breathing hard. "Glad you co-operated," the Kaiser said, smiling sweetly. The smile was about as genuine as lies.
"To hell with you," Daisuke snarled, feeling exhilarated and disgusted at the same time. Perhaps it was because of the dungeon. He had enjoyed it a lot more in his room ... Hold it stop thinking like that Daisuke. Stop that right now!
Ken laughed. "I think not." Bending down he caressed Daisuke's cheek lovingly. Leaning in, the dictator whispered into his ear, "Admit it Daisuke, you want me desperately, just as I want you. While your mind is disgusted, your heart and body crave me." His soft, seductive tone soon sent Daisuke into a shiver he couldn't stop. His mission completed, Ken stood up and prepared to leave.
"Wait!" Daisuke called. "You're just going to leave me here? What about my family and friends? What will they think?"
Ken turned. "Oh yes, I meant to tell you. I'd forget about your friends fast, my Daisuke. Do you honestly think they're going to waste their time searching for you, after what you did? I don't think so. As for your family - well, that's easily sorted."
"Oh? How?" Daisuke was unimpressed. Until he heard some solid, plausible explanation on how Ken was going to explain his disappearance, he wasn't believing anything.
Ken smiled. "Simple. You come back with me tonight. The Veemon will have to go back to a smaller form naturally, since you take it back with you as a stuffed animal. I'll take you back home and you'll gather your things."
"Gather my things?" Daisuke replied dumbly. "Uh - forgive me for sounding completely stupid, but why?"
"I can't let you go around on your own Daisuke, that's too much of a risk. So, instead you're staying with me for the weekend." Ken's smile was cruel and yet charming at the same time, as he whirled around and stalked from the dungeon, leaving a dumbfounded Daisuke and Veemon behind.
For several moments, neither one spoke. Then Daisuke said in a shaky voice,
"This is definitely not good."