against all evidence [nu:carnival; rei & yakumo, rei/huey; teen]

[sodomhipped]

Title: against all evidence [or read on ao3]

Fandom: Nu: Carnival

Pairing: Rei & Yakumo, Huey/Rei, mentioned Eiden/Rei, background Eiden/Yakumo

Rating: Teen

Warning: None

Tags: Canon Compliant, Missing Scene, Science Experiments, Trust Issues, Angst, Kissing, Huey was not a nice man, Unhealthy Relationships

Author’s Note: This was written for the Multifandom Match prompt “innocence and/or experience.” The story is set ambiguously sometime after the Rei H scene. If anything conflicts with information in the game, please just assume it’s canon divergence.

And, as usual, thanks to my partner for editing this and making it far better than it otherwise would have been. I also owe thanks to TheInsaneFox for beta reading and Team Angst for cheering me along!

Summary:

Rei could barely hold the golden needle any longer by the time Huey walked in. He was too caught up in the pain he wrought upon himself and—far better, the success of holding a small chip of his own gemstone in the center of his palm—to notice Huey’s essence approaching.

“What do we have here?”

“Master,” Rei said. He closed his hand, hiding the evidence.

But it was too late, Huey’s sharp eyes already latched onto his ear.

『Or, because of his past experiences with Huey, Rei believes the worst of Eiden—even when Yakumo tries to convince him otherwise.』

---

The three are talking in the main body of the temple, so it is a simple thing to slip in unseen to the room that holds the Water Territory altar.

As Rei steps into the room, he can hear Eiden’s laughter echoing against the walls—followed by the softer laughs of Olivine and Yakumo. Their conversation picks up again after, bright and cheerful.

“These people do everything in a group—how strange, don’t you think, Father?”

Father coos agreement on his shoulder, head twisting towards the voices.

Olivine and Yakumo seem to mean well enough, but they are innocent and inexperienced—meaning there is no useful information to glean from them.

As for Eiden...

He might not be Huey, but Rei does not trust the smiling, bumbling facade. Even if it seems to be true at this particular moment in time, it can only be a matter of time before he realizes the amount of power he wields.

 

 

It was not the last time Rei saw Huey, but it was the last time that mattered:

Rei could barely hold the golden needle any longer by the time Huey walked in. He was too caught up in the pain he wrought upon himself and—far better, the success of holding a small chip of his own gemstone in the center of his palm—to notice Huey’s essence approaching.

“What do we have here?”

“Master,” Rei said. He closed his hand, hiding the evidence.

But it was too late, Huey’s sharp eyes already latched onto his ear.

Huey reached out and touched the gemstone, pressing one long finger into the divot Rei finally managed to make after hours and hours of experimenting. The touch hurt. Huey must have released essence from his fingertip, because it felt as if there was raw electricity running through an open wound.

“Do you despise me so much as this?” Huey asked and released another burst of essence.

“That hurts,” Rei gritted out from between clenched teeth. He was falling, his legs no longer willing to hold him upright.

“I imagine so,” Huey said. “Unfortunately, it’s also the most efficient way to heal the damage you did to yourself. Bear with me another moment.”

Rei fell to his knees, and Huey’s hands followed, one gripping his hair and the other still holding his ear around the gemstone.

“There,” Huey said, sounding pleased. He leaned down, inspecting the gemstone. Rei wished he could see the effects of Huey’s essence himself, but he had no doubt that the stone was now as flawless as before thanks to Huey’s terrifyingly vast reserves of essence.

All that hard work, undone in a moment.

Huey let go of the gemstone, using his grip on Rei’s hair to angle his face upwards. “You did not answer my question—do you regret binding yourself to me so much that it seems preferable to harm yourself this way?”

Rei bit the inside of his cheek so no words could escape. The pain blossomed under his teeth, distracting from the throbbing in his ear and the complaining roots of his hair.

Huey shook him slightly, saying, “Now, now. This won’t do. I would not keep any of my clan against their will—especially you. Say the word and I will strip you of my essence and you can go back to how you were. Has it been so long that you forgot what it is like to have a fraction of the power you do now? An adjustment, to be sure, but you have enough strength of will to manage.”

They were at a standstill, Rei on his knees before Huey and Huey waiting with endless, arrogant patience.

Finally, Rei answered, barely a gasp of air, “No.”

“No? No to what exactly?”

“No, I do not want to be released.”

“Good boy,” Huey said, like one would praise an obedient dog. He kissed Rei on the mouth, a claiming gesture that was devoid of any affection. He allowed his mouth to linger on Rei’s for a long beat—and then he let go, Rei’s confused body crumpling to the floor even as Huey’s essence sloshed inside of him, at once healing and invasive. Huey looked down at him, saying, “Don’t forget that I asked—and this was your choice.”

Then, he left without another word.

Every night after, Rei could not help but remember—and regret.

 

 

And now Eiden has come along to try to confuse Rei further.

As he removes a piece of the water elemental gemstone, Rei reminds himself of the facts he knows: first, Huey was a powerful man, and although he was generally a force of good, he was not a pleasant man. Second, Eiden’s essence is identical to Huey’s, which can only indicate that he will follow Huey’s old patterns sooner or later. Third, he has been on his own these past twenty years and it has been a far preferable state rather than be at Huey’s beck and call.

He’s almost back to the tunnel’s entrance when Father warns him. Rei turns just in time to watch Yakumo enter the room.

“Pardon me,” Yakumo says, looking anxious. “I thought I heard something in here—and I thought I might have sensed your essence.”

Rei hates losing time on unnecessary interactions, but he doesn’t want to have Eiden’s pet following him home either—so he stops, crossing his arms. “Did you need something?”

“I wanted to speak with you.”

Father turns to Yakumo, letting out a displeased noise. Yakumo takes a step back, so easily startled.

Rei agrees with Father: “If you’re here to speak, then speak.”

“I wanted to talk to you about Mr. Eiden,” Yakumo begins. “I get the sense that you don’t like him, although I don’t know why.”

Rei tilts his head, neither meaning agreement nor disagreement.

“Mr. Rei,” Yakumo says. His anxious expression firms into something stronger as he speaks. “I don’t know what you’ve been through, but please give Mr. Eiden a chance.”

Rei raises an eyebrow, waiting for whatever poorly formed rationale will follow.

Yakumo continues, “Mr. Eiden is doing his best to stabilize the gemstones. Please teach me how to help him.”

“And what shall you give me in return?”

The question visibly shakes Yakumo. Yakumo seems to have no protections at all, and Rei cannot imagine how he would fare against actual barbs.

Rei continues, though it feels forced, “It is fair to ask, is it not?”

Yakumo bites his lip, thinking. “I’m not as useful as the others—but I will do whatever I can to aid Mr. Eiden.”

Rei remembers the many trials he undertook, trying to find any way to effectively study his gemstone. He had forced himself through so many experiments, hands shaking through the pain so severely that the various tools he tried would fall to the ground repeatedly. Even thinking about them now makes something inside of his core squirm.

All to discard his chance to walk away from Huey when he could.

But Yakumo stands before him, resolved to the very opposite goal. Where Rei still forces his trembling hands towards independence, Yakumo would bear any amount of torment to be allowed closer to Eiden.

It reminds Rei of the pain-in-the-ass fox, who treasures any scraps of respect Huey might deign to give.

It was how Rei himself was at the beginning when he first met Huey.

The shame of that particular memory comes as something of a surprise to Rei. He had thought that after all this time he didn’t have anything left to feel for Huey—he had spent these last decades guarding his heart.

Another failed experiment.

“I’m going,” he says, voice ringing oddly to his own ears. “I would advise you to take care with the New Grand Sorcerer, but I can see you will not.”

“Mr. Eiden only wants to help.”

As if summoned, Eiden walks into the room, smiling wide; the moment between Yakumo and Rei breaks.

“There you are, Yakumo! Olivine and I were looking for—” he notices Rei and trails to a stop. “Hi, Rei. Didn’t know you were dropping in.”

Eiden comes to stand at Yakumo’s shoulder, positioning himself at his side. Huey would have swept into the room, moving to the front as the assumed focal point. And Yakumo tilts his own body, protective of Eiden.

It’s only then that Rei realizes how tempted he is by Yakumo’s earnestness. But Eiden and the rest of the new clan members are in the early days, so of course they are happy—even with the gemstones degrading further every day and ignorant of how to stop it.

“So foolish,” he says under his breath. Then, more loudly, “I’m leaving.”

He hears Eiden move towards him and turns, giving him a cold look. “Don’t tell me you’re planning to follow me home again. I will not be as accommodating this time.”

“What the..?” Eiden says, spluttering. “Keep dreaming. But next time you stop by, come say hi to us, okay? We still have a lot of questions.”

Rei shrugs, making no promises.

“Mr. Rei,” Yakumo starts.

Eiden puts a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Let him go. We can ask more about the gemstones later.”

Easy as that, they both turn away, naturally shifting back to their own familiar company.

Rei’s ear throbs for no reason at all as he enters the dank tunnel alone. He can hear Yakumo and Eiden talking with each other again. This time, they are less jovial than before, but the fondness in their tone is unmistakable.