Chapter Text
Emily knew she shouldn’t be here. The music was so loud, the floors and walls vibrating. Everyone was high, or drunk, or some combination of the two, swaying and moshing. She was drug tested regularly, and she was close to finishing her residency, and this was a very stupid decision, she thought. If someone recognized her, she was going to stand out, and that was the last thing she wanted. The woman she’d been stalking was here though, and no one would pay any attention if she got drunk and Emily helped her out to her car.
“Hey, pretty girl, you here alone?” The guy pushed up on her, reeking of alcohol, and she wrinkled her nose.
“Em? What are you doing here?” The woman she’d been looking for shoved through the crowd. “Why don’t you fuck off, she’s not interested,” she snapped.
“Ain’t interested in you either, freak,” he said. The woman cocked her arm back and he held his hands up, backing away.
How fortunate, Emily thought. Lute worked security at her hospital, and she was completely perfect. To her, anyway. She’d known her for just over a decade now, and had been dreaming about saving her for almost as long. Emily had stolen her medical records, and knew she had a genetic defect. One look at her face made that apparent, with her golden eyes. The same defect that caused that would also kill her before she was thirty if untreated.
Emily knew Lute couldn’t afford the medicine anymore. She barely could in the first place, and now she was here almost every night, trying to drink her problems away. Emily could afford it though, trivially. Her parents were rich enough on their own, and Emily almost had her medical license. Lute would be an absolutely perfect housewife, and she’d spoil her so rotten, take such good care of her. Emily had wanted to date her normally, but Lute had blown her off. Emily knew she’d come around, she loved her more than anybody else in Lute’s tiny social circle.
Emily fingered the syringe she’d stashed in her pocket nervously. She pulled her hand out, and clasped her hands together, feigning fear. “I think my friends found someone to go home with and left me,” Emily said with a laugh.
Lute looked concerned. “You need a ride? I can run you home,” she said.
“I wouldn’t want to bother you, I can call an Uber or something,” Emily said. She touched the syringe again, making sure it was still there.
“No, no, I got you, it’s no big deal. It’s not really safe,” Lute said firmly. She took Emily’s hand and started gently pulling her through the crowd towards the door.
It was warm outside, and Lute released her hand and motioned to the passenger side. “I gotta jump it with a battery pack, engine’s rusted out,” Lute said. She ducked under the hood and then leaned in through the window, twisting her keys in the ignition. “It’s safe, it’s just temperamental,” Lute said, looking nervous. She closed the hood and settled in the driver's seat, dropping the battery pack next to her.
Emily reached out and neatly sunk the syringe into her thigh, emptying the needle. Lute looked almost confused, those pretty golden eyes blinking at her. “What the fuck?” she slurred weakly. Lute fell back against the door, fumbling with the handle. Emily calmly reached across and held the door shut until Lute went completely limp.
“I’m sorry,” Emily told her. “But I’m going to take really good care of you, I promise.” She moved her as carefully as she could into the passenger side, buckling her seatbelt. She needed to stop for gas, and then she could take Lute home. Home for now, since she knew it might take a while to convince her. She had found a nice little cabin on the outskirts of town, deep enough in the woods that Lute would have a hard time if she wanted to run away. It’d be a bit of a commute for her to get to work, but Lute was worth it.
Emily carefully sat Lute down on the bed in the basement. She was so perfectly tiny, and Emily wondered why she’d chosen to do security. It didn’t matter now, Emily thought, she didn’t have to work ever again if she didn’t want to.
Emily took the metal cuff and clicked it shut around Lute’s ankle, carefully pulling up her sock so it wouldn’t rub. She tugged nervously at the other end, where it was sunk deeply into the floor. Lute would wake up soon, and she was going to be mad. The room only had a bed, bare otherwise, because she was planning to reward her if she behaved. She had read so many books on psychology, although it wasn’t her specialty.
Lute stirred, and Emily watched her eyes flutter open in fascination. She moved back, far enough that Lute couldn't grab her. Lute looked puzzled, staring around the room before looking at Emily. The chain rattled as Lute started to get off the bed, and she froze. “What the fuck?” she breathed.
“It’s okay. You’re okay,” Emily soothed.
“You stabbed me,” Lute snarled. She grabbed the chain, yanking at it. “Are you fucking insane?”
Emily carefully picked up a vial of Lute’s medication, showing it to her. “I saw your medical records and your paystubs, I know you don’t have any left. Your heart is failing. I promise I’ll take care of you, you won’t have to worry about it again,” she said.
Lute slowly sat back on the bed. “I don’t want it,” she said finally. “Let me go.”
“You’re going to die!” Emily cried.
“I don’t fucking care, let me go,” Lute snapped.
Emily knew she had made a mistake now. Lute was stronger, and more used to fighting, and she couldn’t physically overpower her to force her to take it. She had sedatives, but Lute might be able to take the syringe from her and use it.
“I don’t want anything from you, please take it,” Emily pleaded.
“You are a fucking liar,” Lute snarled.
Emily didn’t want to do this, but she needed to risk the sedative and keep her restrained tighter until she understood. She had Lute’s lab reports, but she didn’t know how badly or for how long she’d been rationing. Emily slowly took another needle out of the case.
“I will take that and put it through your eye,” Lute growled out. Emily reached into her pocket and lobbed the keys across the room. “You’re going to fucking kill me anyway, at least I’ll take you with me,” she added with a snarl.
Emily made a pained expression. “I’d never hurt you,” she said. Lute barked out a hysterical sounding laugh, and Emily faked a lunge, immediately pulling back. Lute had put her whole body behind her whiffed swing and she overbalanced, and that was all Emily needed. Emily gently stroked her hair, watching her perfect eyes flutter open and shut as she fought.
She had all sorts of things, things she hadn’t wanted to use. She cuffed Lute’s hands above her head first, and hoped she wouldn’t pull too hard. Her medicine was next, and Lute stirred briefly at the needle sting. Emily hugged her to her chest, and she was so warm and soft. She ran her fingers through Lute’s hair, thinking. Lute fighting so hard about her medicine meant she might do the same with food and water. Emily chewed on her lip, because constantly sedating her was unsafe. Keeping her so tightly restrained that she couldn’t pull out an IV or a feeding tube was even more unsafe.
Emily grimaced, but came back with the shock collar. She couldn’t use this either, because Lute’s heart was weak, but Lute might respect the threat. She was so underweight too, Emily really didn’t want to play these games with her. She wanted to take Lute home for real, to a plush bed full of soft pillows and sheets, and everything Lute could ever want. Not this awful, sterile room.
Emily turned the heat up a little more for her, because she was so little, and sat down to wait again. Lute pulled sluggishly at her wrists, and then whipped her head around to look at Emily. She wasn’t really sure what to say that wouldn’t set Lute off again.
“You need help, Em,” Lute said finally.
“I’m not the one who needs help,” Emily pointed out.
“You kidnapped me,” Lute said carefully. “I can get you help, okay? Everything will be fine. Just let me go.”
“I love you, and I’ll take care of you,” Emily told her.
Lute’s eyes flashed. “You don’t, if you loved me, you wouldn’t do this. Adam knows I’m missing, he’s going to call the cops.”
That hurt, and Emily played with her lanyard. Lute just didn’t understand yet. “He doesn’t care,” Emily said softly.
“He does,” Lute said. “There’s a club full of witnesses, and I’m going to miss work tomorrow. I don’t have to tell anyone, Em, just let me go.”
“You need to eat something,” Emily said, changing the subject. Lute hesitated, and then shook her head. Emily fiddled more with her lanyard, and prayed Lute wouldn’t force her to do anything she wouldn’t like. “You can have whatever you want. I’ll let you have a radio or a TV. It’s going to be really boring otherwise,” Emily pleaded.
Lute slowly looked around the room. “Fuck you,” she said, but she sounded almost afraid.
That bothered Emily a lot, and she wanted to pick her up and take her away. “I can force feed you,” Emily warned. “It’s not pleasant, and I have to leave you tied up so you don’t dislodge the tube. I work 12 hour shifts.”
Lute spat at her, and that sent a brief flare of anger through her. She leashed it, because Lute was afraid and lashing out. She kicked at her, but Emily cuffed her ankles down too. “You’re a fucking psychopath!” Lute screamed, thrashing around.
Emily got up to retrieve a number of things she never wanted to use. Lute cried as she forced the tube down her throat, gagging. Emily worked a soft bit gag in her mouth next, because otherwise she’d bite and pull. She swallowed nervously, because Lute looking like that made her want to do things to her. Lute made panicked muffled noises as Emily started to cut her pants off.
“Catheter,” Emily told her, because she wasn’t a monster. Lute shook her head desperately, making more pleading muffled noises. Emily hesitated, because she didn’t really want to do this to her, but Lute wouldn’t learn. She didn’t want to have this fight again.
Emily ignored Lute’s pussy as best she could, but she wanted so badly to pleasure her, make her forget how scared she was. She wiped over her with the antibacterial wipe, and watched in fascination as the tube sank into her. “Good girl, all done,” Emily murmured. Lute wasn’t really being good right now, but it didn’t matter.
She was staring at Emily in disbelief, her eyes still glittering with tears. Emily folded a blanket carefully around her, hanging up the feed. She wanted to stay here with her tonight, but she had cameras, and this was a punishment. Emily turned the light off, and Lute made a desperate noise, shaking her head.
“You’re alright,” Emily said softly. She’d give Lute another chance in the morning, and if she ate, she’d forget all about this. She wanted to tell Lute that too, but it wouldn't be as effective. Emily desperately didn’t want to continue her punishment while she worked. She trudged up the stairs, pulling the door shut behind her, and leaned back against it. Emily sniffled softly, because she didn’t want to have to do any of this.
She had so many nice things here for Lute, if she cooperated. Even more nice things for her when she was her wife, and she could take her home. The view of the forest was beautiful, and there was a lake she could swim in. Fluffy bed, and a warm bath, and she could find whatever music or movies she wanted. Lute’s apartment was so awful, and she’d owned barely anything. Emily had all of it carefully stored, because she wasn’t sure exactly what was important to her or not.
She dropped her laptop on the pillow, and wished it was Lute instead. The basement was pitch black, and maybe she’d blindfold Lute and leave the lights on instead so she could watch her better. Emily watched her until she stopped thrashing around, and hoped she’d at least get some sleep.
Emily intentionally made noise as she came down the steps in the morning. She stared, concerned, because Lute’s eyes dilated sideways when she turned the light on. Lute might not have been rationing, she might have been out of medicine entirely for a while. She was awake, and she made a pleading noise, her eyes flicking to the tubing. Lute needed to eat, but Emily needed to check something else first after seeing her eyes.
“I need to look at your back,” Emily said. Lute started to shake her head, and then stopped. “If you let me look, and you eat, I’ll take the feeding tube out. We can talk more,” Emily added. Lute slowly nodded.
Emily unlatched her ankles, leaving the chain binding her to the ground. She made sure the tube was empty, and pushed at her to roll on her side. Lute gritted her teeth but went. She had feathers on her shoulder blades, and Emily exhaled. She would have lent Lute any money she needed, because she hadn’t been treating this for a while. Emily slid her fingers under Lute’s collar, checking her pulse. She seemed alright, but she needed to have a cardiologist look at her at some point.
Emily pulled the gag loose, and Lute choked as she carefully extracted the tube from her throat. “Is that a shock collar?” Lute rasped.
“Yeah,” Emily said quietly. “What do you want to eat?”
“You have to let my hands go to eat,” Lute tried.
“I don’t,” Emily said.
“That was a lot,” Lute said, faltering. “Just something small. Please.”
Emily appraised her. It probably was, she might be uncomfortably full already. She unwrapped a granola bar, breaking off a piece and offering it to her. Lute looked queasy, but she took it, her teeth briefly pressing down on Emily’s fingers before she thought better of it.
“I have to work today,” Emily told her. “I have cameras, I can see you.”
“That’s a long time,” Lute said. “Please don’t leave me like this.” She looked afraid again, and Emily looked down, feeling guilty.
“There’s a bathroom there,” Emily said, nodding to it. She got up, stacking the boxes of shelf stable food on the floor next to her. The TV was out of Lute’s reach, so she was going to be stuck with whatever was playing. “I’ll let you up, and let you reach it. But if you do anything bad, I’m going to punish you again.”
She could see the anger in Lute’s eyes, but she just nodded. Emily uncuffed her hands, and Lute was on her before she could even register it. Her hands wrapped around her throat, and Lute’s teeth were bared in a snarl. Emily scrabbled desperately, she just needed to get off the bed, because Lute couldn’t follow. Lute had gone absolutely berserk though, and Emily realized she might die. If she did, Lute would die too, down here, alone. That gave her enough strength to hit her and twist backwards, and Lute lost her grip as Emily fell.
Lute screamed in rage and terror, and Emily was suddenly terrified that she would badly injure herself in her desperation to kill her. Guilt flooded her, because this was her fault, but she hit the shock collar anyway. Lute went rigid and then collapsed sideways across the bed.
“I’m sorry,” Emily told her helplessly. She shouldn’t have let her do that. Lute was unresisting as she re-cuffed her ankles and wrists, and the feeding tube and gag went back in. Lute had miraculously not ripped her catheter out, and Emily hesitated, swallowing nervously. In Lute’s meager belongings, she’d had a bullet vibe. Emily wanted to press it inside her pussy, and see what she’d be like after twelve hours of being teased. She pulled the blanket over her instead, and froze.
Lute was watching her, and the sheer disgust and hatred in her eyes made her flinch. But there was fear too underneath it, and more was leaking into her gaze. Lute’s breathing was starting to get ragged, and Emily pulled the gag loose, avoiding her teeth. “Please just let me go,” Lute breathed.
“You’re okay,” Emily told her, gently stroking her hair. She’d bathe her tonight, hopefully an actual shower if Lute behaved. “It’s twelve hours, plus my commute. And then we’ll talk again.”
Lute shook her head. “You don’t have to do this,” she tried.
“I can’t let you run wild,” Emily said. She needed Lute to let her take care of her, while she showed her how much she loved her.
“I won’t,” Lute said.
She had been trying to kill her only a few minutes ago, and Emily didn’t believe that. Lute was going to hurt herself, and it was a small pain now to save her from a larger pain later. Emily moved to pull the gag back up, because she had to get ready.
“You can fuck me,” Lute said, twisting her head away. “That’s what you want, right? I’ll take the meds, and you can fuck me whenever you want. At work, wherever. Just let me go.”
That wasn’t really what she wanted, and it hurt a little that Lute thought that. “Just be good, please. It’ll be over soon,” Emily said. “I’ll bring you takeout, and you can pick out any movie you want tonight.” Lute tried to twist away again, but Emily wouldn’t count that because she was scared. She tugged the gag back up despite Lute’s fighting.
Emily checked her phone again. Lute was doing as okay as she could be, but she must be going out of her mind in boredom. She really wished Lute could have just behaved. She tucked it back into her pocket before one of the nurses came around to start bullying her.
“Hey, Emily, have you seen Lute? She’s not picking up her phone,” Adam said, slamming his hip into the wall next to her.
Emily set her jaw, because she wasn’t fond of Adam. She reached out, flipping his sleeve up, and he immediately yanked it back down, looking around nervously. “You’ve been stealing from her,” Emily said flatly. “She’s sick, Adam, and what little she does have doesn’t need to go into your veins or up your nose.”
Adam narrowed his eyes, rearing up to his full height. “I don’t give a fuck what you think of me. Was she with you, or not?” he snapped.
“She gave me a ride home from the bar last night, I haven’t seen her since,” Emily said.
Adam slumped. “Her car and all her shit is gone. She broke her lease. For real, Emily, did she tell you she was leaving?” he asked.
Emily shook her head. “Could be a clinical trial, something like that,” she said.
Adam looked dejected. “If you’re covering for her, I get that. If you talk to her, tell her I’m sorry. I’ll repay anything I took, with interest. I just wanna know she’s okay,” he said quietly.
Emily nodded, but tightened her grip on her clipboard. She wondered if Adam had been stealing and reselling what little medicine she did have, because Lute was so sick. It didn’t matter anymore, and she refocused on her next patient.
Emily had gotten the takeout, just in case Lute cooperated. It smelled good enough that hopefully she would, just a little bit. She’d take any excuse to spoil her at this point, no matter how small. The cabin felt empty, and she wished Lute was curled up on the couch waiting for her.
Lute had dozed off, and Emily set the bag of takeout down along with the heart monitor she’d picked up. She jolted awake, shaking her head, and she looked almost relieved to see her. Emily tugged the gag off, but Lute was quiet.
“Are you hungry?” Emily asked softly. Lute hesitated, looking like she was trying to figure out what she wanted to hear. “You don’t have to be, it’s fine,” she said.
“I’m not going to attack you,” Lute said. Emily very badly wanted to believe that, but she wasn’t sure. “Let me shower, use the bathroom at least,” Lute said. “I don’t want to repeat today.”
Emily weighed that. She didn’t look like she was lying, and she probably didn’t want a repeat. “If you do, there’s escalating punishments,” Emily said. She removed the feeding tube and catheter, because she didn’t trust Lute to do it, and Lute made a relieved noise. Emily carefully unlocked one wrist, and Lute just tucked it back against her chest, rotating it. She dropped the key on her stomach. “Cuff your hands to the shower,” she told her. Lute stared at her, but took the key, and Emily backed up.
She could adjust the chain on her ankle remotely, and she gave her enough slack for the bathroom. Lute was fumbling, and Emily felt guilty, because she’d been restrained way too long. She stumbled when she got up, grabbing at the bed, and Emily flinched. Lute gave her a wary look, but just went into the bathroom. “You have cameras in here too, you sick fuck,” Lute called.
Emily did, and she honestly didn’t feel guilty about it after Lute had tried to kill her. “I’m not watching right now,” Emily said. “Just let me know when you’re in the shower.”
“I can’t fucking shower with my hands chained up,” Lute said.
“I’ll take care of you,” Emily said.
Lute was quiet, but she didn’t hear the handcuffs jingling. Emily went back and forth, because she didn’t want to punish her, and she prayed Lute would just do it. “You’re so fucked up, Em,” Lute said, and she heard the handcuffs click in. She double checked the cameras, but it looked like Lute had obeyed. “Can I have clothes after?” Lute asked.
“Yeah,” Emily said. “You can pick out whatever you want.”
There was a steel ring in the wall, and Lute had been smart enough to cuff herself there. Emily tugged at it, but it looked like she hadn’t tried to cause trouble. Lute was so beautiful, and she’d look prettier in a hot tub, or against silk sheets. She knew she was staring dreamily, but Lute had already cottoned on that she wanted her.
“There’s water here,” Lute said. “I could kill you, and try to see if I lose enough weight to wiggle free.”
Lute was honestly always like this, and it was hard to tell how much was Lute being Lute, and how much was genuine disrespect. She didn’t want to risk discouraging her, or making her afraid again. “You don’t have any weight to lose,” Emily said sadly, tracing down over her ribs. Lute slowly leaned away, clearly trying not to provoke her. “There’s a hot tub upstairs,” Emily said.
“I’ll never get to see it,” Lute said tonelessly. Her eyes looked lifeless, staring blankly at the plain white wall. “Are you ever going to let me see the sky again?”
Lute’s expression scared her, and Emily immediately hugged her close. “Of course,” Emily said. “I’ll give you anything you want.” Lute’s laugh choked off into a ragged sob, and she sagged. Emily took her weight, so the cuffs didn’t pull, and tucked herself more around her as she cried. “It’s okay,” she crooned to her. “It’s okay, it won’t be that long. You’re so good, you’re so perfect. We’ll go home soon, I promise.” She pulled Lute out of the way, and turned the water on. “I love you so much.”
Lute twisted away from her. “Just let me fucking shower. You’ve fucking taken everything away from me, just let me fucking shower.” She sounded hysterical.
“Okay,” Emily said softly. A lot seemed to be hitting Lute at once, and it seemed better to just let her process it. “I can leave you alone, but I can’t uncuff you.” Lute turned so her back was to her, and leaned heavily against the wall. Emily took the opportunity to study her feathers. She had a lot, too many, and laying on her back all day had irritated them. She’d come back, and Lute might be in a better mood.
Emily twisted her laptop around to watch Lute, because she was worried. She changed the sheets, even though they didn’t really need it, and picked out some of Lute’s clothes for her. Maybe she’d let Emily pick out some nicer things for her later, but Lute probably wanted her own things right now.
She readied another syringe of medication for her, and really prayed Lute wouldn’t throw everything away tonight. She’d been being so good, and she wanted to feed her takeout and watch a movie, and let her sleep in any position she wanted.
“I have to give this to you now,” Emily said quietly. “You look like you’ve missed a lot of doses.” Lute hadn’t moved, and that concerned her. “Can you come out of the spray?”
“Not really,” Lute said. “You cuffed me to the fucking wall.”
Emily just turned the water off rather than fight with her, and crouched down to wipe the disinfectant over her thigh. Lute tensed, but let her give her the injection. “It should start feeling better by the end of the week,” Emily said. “Your feathers.” She dropped the needle in the sharps box, because Lute wasn’t going to be able to break into that.
“You’re not going to let me just fucking shower,” Lute said.
Emily thought about it, but shook her head. “You tried to kill me,” she said. She would admit she mostly just wanted to take care of Lute though. She pulled the shampoo over, and Lute just ducked her head. Emily ran her fingers through her hair, and it was still so soft despite the fact she really needed a shower. She wanted to tell Lute that she could grow it out if she wanted to, that she didn’t need to keep it short for work anymore. That seemed like it would provoke another episode though, so she didn’t. Emily took her time washing her body too, careful not to linger too long on her breasts and pussy. Lute was going to have to deal with some discomfort eating, because she was too small.
She had a nice soft bathrobe for her, and Lute had been very good, she deserved it over the scratchy towels. Emily left that for her, taking what remained of her original clothes to wash. She uncuffed her from the wall, but left her hands bound together in front of her. That might actually be more dangerous, because she’d given Lute a garrotte instead of her bare hands. Emily watched her nervously, but Lute just draped the bathrobe over herself. She kicked the ankle chain almost angrily out of her way, giving Emily a dirty look, but sat down on the bed.
Emily shortened the length again, and Lute continued her death glare. “I can take a piss without your supervision,” she said.
“If you’re good, I’ll let you,” Emily said.
“I’m not your fucking dog,” Lute snapped.
Of course she wasn’t, but she didn’t really want to escalate things. Lute’s fight or flight response seemed to be permanently set to fight with the handle broken. “What movie?” Emily asked, thinking about the takeout. Lute could probably put a spoon through her if she was motivated enough, but that seemed like the safest option.
“I can’t put my fucking pants on over the chain,” Lute said. “Or this.” She held up her bound hands. Emily got up to put in a Transformers movie, because Lute normally enjoyed watching things be violently destroyed. “I’m fucking talking to you,” Lute snarled.
Lute was going to try again, she could see it in the line of her too tense body. Her tenacity was really endearing most of the time, but right now it was just frustrating her. She’d wanted to let her change into something that would maybe make her less stressed. “The door is locked,” Emily said quietly. She drew an imaginary line down Lute’s bedroom floor. “The collar goes off here. And it’s miles of forest.” She looked at Lute’s bare feet, and she tucked them underneath her.
Emily picked up the takeout, because maybe Lute would be willing to just sit, at least long enough to eat. “Let me get dressed,” Lute said. Emily moved around behind the wall, looking for a plastic spoon. “Hey!” Lute yelled abruptly, sounding afraid, and Emily immediately moved back into sight, concerned.
Lute even looked surprised, closing her mouth and looking unsure. “I was just looking for a spoon,” Emily said, suddenly guilty. She set the food where Lute could see it, quickly ducking back around. “I wasn’t going to leave,” she added.
“I don’t give a fuck if you do,” Lute said, but that didn’t sound like the truth. Emily chewed on her lip, sorting through the utensils, looking for something that was just soft plastic.
“I’d never leave,” Emily said, because Lute had sounded frightened. “No matter what you do.” She backtracked, offering Lute the spoon and box of takeout, leaning a bit away so Lute couldn’t grab her.
“You are fucking certifiable,” Lute said, roughly pulling them out of her hands. She pushed backwards, bracing her back into the corner, and warily watched Emily as she started to unwrap the spoon. Emily really wanted to sit on the bed with her, maybe give her a foot massage, but she dragged a chair over instead. She wanted to just stare at Lute instead of the movie, but that would probably weird her out.
“Everything there is really good,” Emily said. “We could go there sometime.” She’d take her anywhere she wanted, really. She glanced over at Lute, and the way she protectively hunched over her food, wolfing it down, was breaking her heart.
“What do you want for the fucking pants?” Lute asked, around a mouthful of food.
Lute would look really beautiful in dresses, and the ankle chain wouldn’t interfere. Lute didn’t own any, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t like them. Lute didn’t own a lot of things she knew she liked. “I just want to take care of you,” Emily said absently. She heard the plastic spoon snap, and that dragged her out of her thoughts.
Lute’s eyes were slitted in anger, and her thumb dragged across the broken plastic. It looked too dull still, but maybe she should take that from her. She flicked it through her fingers like it was a knife, and that just ratcheted up her unease. Lute abruptly whipped it at the wall, and she watched it clatter to the ground. The takeout box followed, even though Lute had already eaten most of it. She rolled over, dragging the blanket up over her head, tucking herself into the corner as much as possible.
That wasn’t exactly being good, but it also wasn’t exactly being bad. Emily cleaned up the mess, watching Lute’s unmoving form under her blanket. A lot of people in Lute’s life had abandoned her, or mistreated her, and she was just scared. And when she got scared, she got violent. She reset the movie, just in case Lute wanted to peek, and settled down to watch over her, wishing she could cuddle up to her back and comfort her.