"Breathe." Obadiah works his hand down Tony's back in time to the word, from between the shoulderblades down to the curve of the back. It's a long, reassuring kind of motion, designed to soothe. If Tony could control his breathing -- it seems to happen entirely on its own, controlled by a part of a brain that he has nothing to do with, in fact, Tony if Tony weren't panicking so hard he can barely hear Obadiah's voice over his thumping, heaving heart, he'd remember just enough of the neuro abstracts he's seen to know that it does have to do with another part of his brain. At the bottom. Right by his spine.
Obadiah touches the back of Tony's neck when he starts the next of those long, reassuring strokes.
"Breathe. I've seen the test results, too. I just didn't know you'd actually built one of your own, you dumb son of a bitch. Here, you can look at it."
And Obadiah actually puts the device on the bed, right in front of Tony, but it doesn't calm Tony. He actually manages to make a wild kind of noise and try -- try. He can't get up. He can think the thoughts of getting up, but he can't make his arms or his back or any part of his body obey him, and his heart starts to soar again. He can feel something pulsing and twitching by his eye, and oh God, he's going.
"Breathe, Tony." The hand doesn't go all the way down his back this time. It just rests on the back of his neck. It's a big hand. "You dumb fucking son of a bitch."
Tony can't say anything, and when Obadiah disappears from his field of vision, he's so terrified that he tries and tries to flail until he gets one arm stuck underneath him, and oh God, please let him start to be able to move a little more. Please. Oh God. He can't even fucking turn his head to see the fucking door if Obadiah walks out, and Tony doesn't can't move and he can barely make any noise, and. Obadiah's hand comes down on his back again and holds him still, and then Tony realizes that Obadiah is tugging the back of his shirt out of his trousers, and the hand that bumps against his side -- Obie reaches underneath Tony.
"Breathe." Working from touch, Obadiah undoes Tony's belt, and then, more softly than he's said anything else so far: "You shouldn't want things this badly, Tony."
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branchandroot
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Date: 2008-06-26 02:48 am (UTC)Obadiah touches the back of Tony's neck when he starts the next of those long, reassuring strokes.
"Breathe. I've seen the test results, too. I just didn't know you'd actually built one of your own, you dumb son of a bitch. Here, you can look at it."
And Obadiah actually puts the device on the bed, right in front of Tony, but it doesn't calm Tony. He actually manages to make a wild kind of noise and try -- try. He can't get up. He can think the thoughts of getting up, but he can't make his arms or his back or any part of his body obey him, and his heart starts to soar again. He can feel something pulsing and twitching by his eye, and oh God, he's going.
"Breathe, Tony." The hand doesn't go all the way down his back this time. It just rests on the back of his neck. It's a big hand. "You dumb fucking son of a bitch."
Tony can't say anything, and when Obadiah disappears from his field of vision, he's so terrified that he tries and tries to flail until he gets one arm stuck underneath him, and oh God, please let him start to be able to move a little more. Please. Oh God. He can't even fucking turn his head to see the fucking door if Obadiah walks out, and Tony doesn't can't move and he can barely make any noise, and. Obadiah's hand comes down on his back again and holds him still, and then Tony realizes that Obadiah is tugging the back of his shirt out of his trousers, and the hand that bumps against his side -- Obie reaches underneath Tony.
"Breathe." Working from touch, Obadiah undoes Tony's belt, and then, more softly than he's said anything else so far: "You shouldn't want things this badly, Tony."