Chapter Text
Aaron brushed the rain off his shoulders and sighed. Such a shitty day at the lab today. He couldn’t wait to get home and curl up on the couch with a hot cup of something with a little bourbon in it, some action movie on the TV, and his adorable pet doll Prince in his lap.
He’d gone home an hour early because of the rain, but he hadn’t managed to beat it home. Now he was soaking wet and cold and miserable. His coworkers had warned him as he left.
“Don’t forget your umbrella, buddy!” Kirk had said, brushing a little bit of blood from his gloves onto his lab coat.
“Yeah, that’s why I’m cashing in some personal time.” Aaron groused, sighing and looking out the window. “I gotta walk home and I forgot my umbrella today.”
“Ooh, tough luck, man.” Kirk had joked back. “Enjoy your walk home. Say hi to Prince for me.”
And now he was finally home. Thank god.
When he caught sight of Prince in his cage, perking his little blonde head up at the sound of the door, that was enough to make things better, at least a little.
Aaron stepped over, learning down to the wire bars and peering in with a tired smile.
“Hey, Prince.” He murmured, pressing his finger against the wire. Prince stood up, stepping over, and pressed his tiny little hand to the proffered fingertip.
“Welcome home, sir.” He said in his soft little voice. Ugh, everything about him was soft! He had those big, soft brown eyes, his skin was smooth and delicate, and his hair was like a patch of blonde mouse fur. He was so adorable. A perfectly formed human, just four inches tall.
He was so small that his hand, fully spread, barely covered Aaron’s fingernail. His arm just barely fit through the green, waxy wires of his cage.
“Did you have a good day?” Prince asked, carefully, scanning Aaron’s massive face above him.
Aaron sighed and brushed a hand through his thick dark hair, brushing the last of the raindrops from it. He shook his head.
“Nah, dammit. Acquisition brought in a batch of wild-caught dolls and they’re a total pain. Even Alice couldn’t calm them down.” He clicked open the latch on top of Prince’s cage and reached in, gently closing his fingers around his own little doll.
Prince was so warm and soft in his fist, and he didn’t fight, not anymore. He just sat still and content while Aaron lifted him out.
“I couldn’t get any of my own work done because none of ‘em would calm down, so Ryan was up my fuckin’ ass all day over it. I might get written up because of these little fuckers and none of them seem to care.”
He’d managed to have a good morning, at least. All his regular dolls were as compliant as could be. PX-401 through PX-450 got the placebo, while 451-500 got the new Andrazepam test dosage. None of them had fought the needle, and he’d managed to get through all hundred injections without breaking a single limb.
If was only after lunch, when they’d come in with the newest batch of wild-caught dolls, that things had taken a turn.
“Great morning though, no asset damage reports.” Aaron said with a shrug. Prince nodded his tiny head.
He opened his hand, letting Prince rest with his legs out to the side. He rubbed his little hand over the base of Aaron’s thumb and made a sympathetic face.
“I’m sorry, sir.” Prince said gently, and Aaron let out a soft sigh and smiled.
“Ah, it’s not your fault, little guy. Just the little things like you.” He said, rolling his eyes. “Wish you could tell them to behave. Maybe they’d listen to you.”
How long had it been since he pulled Prince out of the acrylic enclosure at his workplace? It was probably a few months already, but it still felt like yesterday.
The poor little thing hadn’t been doing well, he’d been involved in one of the drug safety trials, but the injections affected him worse than the others. At that point, he only had a lab designation, PX-493.
They’d said that he was getting put down, but Aaron hadn’t been able to resist those tragic little eyes.
He’d been warned about taking in a sick doll and the extra responsibilities, but something about the wan little subject curled up in the back of the enclosure tugged at his heartstrings. It had been a bit of a fuss with his boss, but eventually he’d been cleared to reclassify PX-493 from subject to pet. He’d even filled out the asset replacement form to get a new PX-493 in place. He was nothing if not dedicated!
That was when Aaron had named him. He’d heard that dolls that were given names thrived more in the home environment, especially if they hadn’t been pets before. He didn’t know if Prince had been a pet before, but Aaron doubted it. He was pretty sure his paperwork went back the entire seven years, so he’d been in the lab the whole time.
Aaron had never bothered to wonder who Prince was before the event seven years ago. Suddenly, without warning, 5% of the human population had turned into these smaller versions they called dolls. For a while, it had been absolute chaos, the world trying to figure out what to do with these new tiny things. Capitalism and bureaucracy had won in the end, and they’d been designated as a different species, and given various legal classifications.
Dolls were the same as any small animal, regardless of what they’d been before. Well, they weren’t exactly the same. They made better medical test subjects. You couldn’t ask a mouse what it was feeling. And a hamster couldn’t ask you about your day.
“What did you do today, Prince?” Aaron asked, reaching for his pet’s back. Prince lay in Aaron’s palm, facedown, and let Aaron stroke him gently, sighing gently.
“Nothing, really, sir.” He said quietly. “I just waited for you to come home.”
“How are you feeling? Any worse than usual?”
“No sir.”
It was the usual question, leftover from his poor condition back when Aaron had rescued him.
“What do you want to do tonight, Prince?” Aaron asked, enjoying the softness of Prince’s skin under his fingers. His hair was so fun to touch. He just couldn’t get enough.
“Whatever you want to do, sir.” Prince said in his adorable little voice.
All in all, Aaron considered himself pretty lucky. He knew some of his friends with wild-caught dolls, or ones they discovered way back right after the Event that were way worse behaved. Prince was gentle and docile and had never really had a problem with training.
It had only taken a few days of wearing the bell before he learned to be still, and he’d only had to use the fear method once to get him to stop crying.
And now Prince was as devoted as any doll could be. His friends were jealous of his temperament, and Aaron got to lord it over them that Prince was a rescue. It made him feel good, like he was making a difference.
Aaron gently ran his thumb under the flimsy sleeveless shirt that Prince wore. Without words, Prince shrugged it off, leaving him in just the thin black cotton shorts.
“The usual, master?” Prince said, pushing himself up to his knees. Aaron nodded, undoing his own belt.
“Yeah, I wanna take it easy today, Prince.” He sighed, pulling the belt off and tossing it to the side. “Nothing too crazy, okay? Just… quick as you can.”
Prince nodded, bowing his little head. Aaron didn’t bother to look closer, or he might have seen those nearly invisible fists clench so hard the knuckles went white.
Aaron undid the button and opened his pants, lowering the hand with Prince inside. Once his hands were free, he clicked on the TV to the action movie he’d been craving all day, shivering at the sensation of Prince getting his bearings in his underwear. For a minute, he could only feel the tiny body thrashing around, but then…
Then Prince wrapped his little arms around his dick and began to move.
Yeah, this is what he needed. He let out a low, comfortable groan.
Just his movie, his pet in his lap, and a pizza on the way. The perfect thing after a shitty day.
Aaron had just finished giving Prince a bath in the sink when his pizza arrived. He sighed, leaving the little guy on the counter on a washcloth.
“I’ll be right back, okay? Don’t go anywhere.” Aaron said, pointing a finger. Prince nodded, and Aaron grinned. It wasn’t like his little doll could actually go anywhere, not stranded on the counter like this.
He left the bathroom and padded down the hallway.
“Coming!” He shouted through the door, zipping his pants up and redoing the button. He ran his hand through his hair and checked himself in the mirror before opening the door.
He paused. The people in front of him didn’t have a pizza bag in their hand. They didn’t look like delivery people at all. There was one man, and one woman. His eyes were drawn to the woman, with straight dirty-blonde hair and sharp hazel eyes.
The man only glared, his dark hair cut short and spiked in the front. His skin was rough and lined with scars, even though he looked young.
Both of them looked harsh and angry.
“What the hell?” He asked, curling his lip. “Who the hell are you?”
The two people only glared at him, their eyes narrowed. The woman folded her arms.
“You know a man named Nicholas? Nick Warner?” The woman said, tilting her head. She was pretty, but she seemed furious. He had no idea what her deal was, but he wasn’t in the mood to deal with people like this tonight. Prince had taken longer than he wanted, and he just wanted to eat and relax. Aaron scoffed.
“No. Now get the fuck off my porch.” He snapped, reaching for the door. Before he could make in any further, the man sprang to life, his fist flying through the air. It connected with Aaron’s nose. He felt a sickening pop and stars flashed in front of his eyes.
“Holy – what the fuck?” He shouted, and the man shoved him back into his house, following him inside. Aaron put his own fists up and swung wildly. The man jumped back, dodging him easily, and delivered another solid blow to Aaron’s ear. His head started ringing and he doubled over.
The man looked down at his fist and grinned, flexing his fingers and looking at the spots of blood from Aaron’s nose.
“Oh, shit. That feels damn good.” The man said quietly. The women laughed.
“Hah! Ugly fucker finally got what’s coming to him!” She said gleefully, and Aaron felt icy confusion grow in his gut as he groaned, trying to push himself up.
“Who are you? W-what the fuck do you want?” He managed, just in time for the man to punch him straight in the mouth. He felt his lip split open and he tasted blood spread through his mouth. He groaned.
“I want Nick Warner, you son of a bitch.” The woman said darkly. “I want you fucking out of my life.”
“Wh – I told you, I don’t know him! Who the f-fuck are you?”
“Take a good long look at me, and see if you remember.” The woman said, and Aaron blinked at her, his mouth open in pain. He scanned her face for something familiar, but nothing about it was ringing any bells in his head.
“I swear, I don’t know who the fuck you are! What do you want??” Aaron begged.
The woman scoffed, shaking her head, her lip curling.
“Jesus, you’re more arrow than I thought. God, you know… I wish I could fuckin’ kill you.” She spat onto his face, and Aaron let out a disgusted noise. He lunged forward, aghast at the disrespect.
“F-fuck off!” Aaron shouted, swinging his arms desperately.
The man didn’t hesitate. He swung again, right into Aaron’s temple, followed with a knee to the stomach. The man’s fist was heavy with metal. He was wearing a handful of metal rings stained with blood. Aaron groaned, his vision swimming.
“Fuck, you know how long I’ve wanted to do that?” The man growled into Aaron’s ear, ignoring the pained whimper that escaped from his lips.
“W-who are you?” Aaron whispered, his eyes pooling with tears of pain and shock and confusion.
“You disgust me, teener.” The woman snapped, gripping her hands through Aaron’s thick dark hair and pulling until he cried out. “It pisses me off that you don’t even understand how much I fucking hate you.”
“Do it, Anna. Stick him, stick him!” The man said, his voice shaking. He gripped Aaron’s collar and sent his knee right into Aaron’s chest. Aaron gagged, doubling over. The man’s grip was solid on the back of his shirt, keeping him bent forward. “Oh, that feels GOOD!”
Aaron pushed to stand up, but the man drove his knee into Aaron’s face and tightened his grip.
“Don’t fucking move, teener.” The man spat. He said the word like a slur, but Aaron had no idea what it meant. He moaned, letting blood and saliva drip out of his mouth and pool on the floor. “Feels fuckin’ good to say that, ya damn torque.”
The woman opened a bag and withdrew something he couldn’t see.
“Double dose, Ian?” She asked, and Aaron heard the man grunt in reply.
“You ask me, torquin’ teener deserves a fuckin’ quadruple! Mmmmm, can you imagine?” The man said. Aaron let out a whimper. What the fuck was happening? What the hell had he done?
The woman sighed.
“Quadruple would kill him. You know that’s not the point. I want him to suffer.” She said, lowering herself down to look into Aaron’s eyes. She dragged her finger under his bloody chin, forcing him to look up while the man held him down. “Though you know how much I want to be the one to end him.” She growled, and Aaron’s lip trembled.
“Double, then, sweetheart.”
“Where’s the silkie?” The woman asked, glancing at the cage. The man scoffed.
“Shakin’ drogo probably killed him.” The man said cruelly. He said this new word, drogo, like it was covered in slime. Aaron took a shaky breath.
“What are you talking about?” Aaron asked, his mind reeling. The woman slapped him, letting her nails scratch across his cheek.
“Your fucking doll, dumbass.” She spat. “If you killed him…”
“I… I didn’t kill him!” He said through his aching throat. “I’d… I wouldn’t hurt him! Jesus, I… I swear! I love him!”
He felt in the way the man responded that that was the wrong thing to say. The man tightened his grip, and the woman sucked in a breath. Without warning, her knee came up to his face.
“Fuck…” She hissed. She followed it with a kick between his legs. “…You.”
Aaron’s legs collapsed and he let out a real cry. The man kept his solid grip on his shirt collar.
“I… w-why are you doing this?” Aaron whispered painfully. The woman flicked the syringe in her hands and stared down at him, her lip curled.
“Seriously, you don’t recognize me?” she asked, shaking her head in disbelief. “You really don’t know why we’re doing this, huh?”
Aaron shook his head desperately.
“No! I… you’ve got the wrong guy! I swear, I haven’t done anything—”
“Oh, we have the right guy, Aaron Carver.” The woman spat, as if his name was covered in filth. Aaron paused. That was his name. How did she know it? He’d never seen this woman before!
“I’m sick of this teener, babe. Come on.” The man said gruffly, grabbing his hair and lifting Aaron’s head, exposing his neck. The woman huffed and stepped forward. Aaron threw his hands forward, trying to stop the needle from approaching. They glanced off the woman’s arms. The woman spat into his eyes, then kicked his hands away.
“You’re gonna pay for that, drogo.” She hissed, plunging the needle into his neck. He screamed. It felt like fire pouring into his veins. “You’re gonna pay for everything.”
The man let out a whoop behind him, finally releasing him to the floor. Aaron’s neck burned where they’d stabbed him, and he felt his heart begin to sear with pain.
“Alright, dick. Where’s your silkie?” The woman asked, kicking Aaron squarely in the face. He sobbed. The pain in his face and the fire in his body were clouding his mind.
“Hey, torque.” The man said, delivering one final kick to Aaron’s stomach and kneeling close. “Where the fuck is the little one you keep in that cage?” He hissed. Aaron let out another sob.
“I… I won’t… let you have him.” He wheezed out, his lips bleeding. His head screamed in pain.
“Tell me where he is, or I’ll make you regret being fucking born!” she snapped, her voice rising in frustration. Aaron only groaned.
They heard sirens in the distance, and the man’s jaw tightened.
“Come on, Annie.” The man said, grabbing the woman’s shoulder. “We can’t stay. Fucking torquie won’t survive the night.” The woman let out a furious cry and stomped her foot into Aaron’s face. “Let's go, we’ll come back tomorrow morning.”
“T-this isn’t over, teener.” The woman said, pointing. “F-fuck you…” She whispered, and he could have sworn there were tears in her eyes before she was tugged out the front door. It clicked closed behind them.
Aaron couldn’t move. His muscles felt like they were on fire, his body aching and bleeding. What the hell was happening? What had he done to deserve this?
He let out another scream as pain ripped up his spine, and finally, blessedly, his eyes slipped closed.