Page 111 of Discordant Cultivation

“Stop.”

He froze, trembling, his hand hovering a centimeter from his own damaged skin.

“Again.”

For an hour, Vale conducted a symphony of self-inflicted pain—Kieran’s body as the instrument, Kieran’s wounds as the strings, Kieran’s broken sounds as the melody. By the end, the gauze wrapping his palm had been soaked through with fresh blood, and the puncture wounds on his chest wept in patterns that looked like art again

“Do you understand now?” Vale asked, lips brushing the shell of Kieran’s ear as he shook in Vale’s arms. “This belongs to me. Your pain, your blood, your beautiful breaking—none of it is yours to give away without permission.”

Kieran nodded, unable to speak, unable to do anything except sob against Vale’s chest while gentle hands rewrapped his wounds.

“I’m not angry that you bled,” Vale had continued, “I’m disappointed that you gave something precious to strangers when it should have been offered to me first. Do you understand the difference?”

The memory sat heavy in his chest now as he traced his healing wounds, the ghost of Vale’s fingers still wrapped aroundhis wrist four days later. The lesson worked exactly as intended—every time his hand drifted toward the scabs, he felt Vale’s presence like a phantom limb.

The guitar case leaned against the far wall, untouched. His notebook sat on the coffee table, closed.

Vale appeared in the doorway carrying a cup of coffee that smelled exactly right, with the perfect balance of cream and sugar that Kieran never asked for but somehow always received right when he wanted it.

“Good afternoon,” Vale said softly, settling onto the couch behind where Kieran sat on the floor. “How are you feeling?”

Kieran didn’t answer. Vale’s hands found his wrists and drew Kieran’s arms down to his sides.

“You’re going to hurt yourself worse if you keep doing that.” Vale’s breath was warm against his neck. “The scabs need time to form properly.”

Kieran closed his eyes, leaning back against Vale’s lap despite every rational thought that screamed warnings. He didn’t care. Vale’s lap was warm and soft. He wanted things to be soft for a moment.

“Talk to me, sweetheart,” Vale whispered as he pressed a kiss to Kieran’s forehead. “What’s really wrong?”

Kieran’s silence stretched between them, heavy with everything he couldn’t bring himself to voice. He heard Vale cycle through a few offers: a shower, watching TV together, listening to the radio, but none of them connected in his mind. He didn’t know if he should want those things. He didn’t know if he wanted to speak.

He was just…adrift.

Then Vale’s energy shifted.

The change was instant and absolute—protective warmth transforming into something sharp-edged and dangerous. His grip on Kieran’s wrists tightened from soft redirection tosomething that would leave marks, digging into his skin with a pressure that made Kieran gasp.

“I see what this is,” Vale said, his voice dropping to that register that made Kieran’s spine go rigid. “You miss it, again, don’t you?”

Vale was already moving, sliding off the couch behind Kieran and wrapping his arms around Kieran in a tight embrace, turning comfort into captivity. One hand drifted up to find Kieran’s throat. “You don’t want comfort, sweetheart. You want direction. You want someone to make the decisions that feel too overwhelming for your beautiful, broken brain to handle.”

Even as Kieran’s mind recoiled from Vale’s words, his body was already responding, his tension melting from muscles that had been fighting themselves for days, his breath evening out despite the hand at his throat. The edge of terror was familiar and comforting in its clarity.

“So let’s stop pretending,” Vale murmured in his ear, tracing his jugular with his thumb. “Let’s stop acting like you want independence when what you really crave is someone who understands exactly what you need, even when you’re too scared to ask for it.”

He guided Kieran’s head back and Kieran didn’t resist, because resisting was pointless when Vale had a hand on his throat and he was already jelly in his hands. Vale kissed him. It was a soft kiss. Gentle. The kind that made Kieran’s mind go blank and his stomach feel warm and ashamed.

“There’s my good boy,” he said softly. “Are you ready to stop lying to both of us about what you actually want?”

Kieran stared at him, something crystallizing in his chest—like a feeling of falling, waiting for the parachute to open.What does he want me to say? What do I want to say?

I don’t know anymore.

Vale’s hand moved up to Kieran’s jaw, his fingers digging into the skin with just enough pressure to focus Kieran’s scattered attention.

“Answer me.”

The pressure, the proximity, the weight of weeks of being trapped in this house—it all crashed together, and Kieran felt more cracks forming in the wall protecting what was left of his mind.