Hold On (I Still Need You)

One

This story is dominantly being posted on Archive of Our Own. My username is s0sullivan and readers on there will receive regular chapters. On here it's whenever I remember.

Happy early birthday to me!Chuuya was cold, the wet weather chilling him to the bone, and needed to take the edge off. His mother would have criticized him. Heading to a bar in the slums on the night before his birthday. She would have made him look her in the eyes and tell her that he was going to be home by dinner. She would have asked what flavor he wanted his birthday cake, even though the answer was always the same. But she was gone. So he shoved open to the miserable place he found himself frequenting and threw his jacket off. There was a rack by the door, but he laid it over his arm and slid into the closest stool. "Back already?" The barmaid asks, he thinks her name is Imari."Whatever you have that's strong." He responds. She just shrugs, setting down the drying rag and taking a glass off the shelf behind her. The place had a metallic tang in the air that some would associate with blood, and pain. Chuuya knew it as a normal.He stared at the wood counter thrumming his gloved fingers against it. One, two, three, four, five, repeat. He heard the pop of ice, and watched as two people were pressed into a dark corner. He sighed, this place was a distraction. Sex, drugs, alcohol, smoking, anybody and everybody was looking for something to dull their thoughts at one point or another. To shut it all down.Him more often than most."Here," Imari sets down a glass of something with little scent and a clear color tinged by the slightest gold. Vodka? Before he could ask, the woman was bustled away to another seat. He didn't care too much though, Chuuya knew what most found with pleasure from another. He didn't enjoy it, the feeling of being left behind in the morning when the sheets were cold irritated him to no end. So he instead lifts his glass to his face, and breathes in through his nose before downing the liquid. Most would consider the sting like they would a burn, but to him it was a welcome sting.He let the bottom of the rim sit against the counter, his finger tilting it enough. The world was louder at first, Chuuya knew this. The drinking made the world feel more vibrant at first, more welcoming. Then you crashed in the morning. Though if you kept going the world soon became dull, and it silenced everything in your head. It blacked out the red hues that would tinge his vision. The tearing in his arms, and hands, and head, when he used his ability. It blacked out the pain and pull that occurred when he was off the ground. His ability controlled gravity. What a joke, he chuckled. It didn't control it, it allowed him enough room to bend it.There was still the pressure of it dragging him down. So Chuuya again lifted the glass to his face and swallowed the rest of the liquid in the glass. Imari bustled over, and he handed her a few bills. She nodded, smiled, and poured him yet another drink. He watched from his seat as a group of men shoved their way in. Saw them tug at the hem of her shirt, and laugh when she pulled away. He'd seen men do the same things to his mother, when she was still working to keep them afloat. The memory was a flash, from the eyes of him as a little boy. Seated behind the counter, while his mom went through her shift. He let the vodka slide down his throat again. After he let the cup hit the counter again he had to stare at the floor for a few moments until the haze just ebbed at the corners of his vision. The red drifted away, for the most part. Chuuya snapped once under the counter, as the leg on one of the men's stools snapped. Then another. The chairs glowing dimly before collapsing, and they were thrown to the ground. He chuckled a bit behind tilting his head so that the brim of his hat covered and his hair covered his smirk. The largest man of the group's head whipped towards him, but he kept his eyes trained on the floor. Feeling the assessment drag over him before turning back to the group. There was a shuffle of feet, and he looked over his shoulder to see the men settle into a booth. Chuuya waves Imari over. Tapping his glass, and letting her take it again. "This one's on the house," She says, smiling in thanks. He takes it, smiles, and tilts his head back, downing the contents swiftly. Then he hears the squeak as another girl in the bar rushes away from the group of men. He grits his teeth, and this time flicks his wrist. The near end of the bench slams into the ground harsher than he had intended. Shit. The rotting floor sheds a few pieces as the men on the opposite bench begin laughing. The same man as before trained his gaze again on Chuuya. "Hey you," He calls, eyes trained on Chuuya. He throws his weight onto his arms, standing up, and Chuuya turns fully to watch intently. "Is there something I can help you with?" Chuuya responds, words thicker in his accent than he had expected. "Yeah, d'you think there are any ability users in here?" The bulky man asks. "I don't see why you'd ask me that," Chuuya says. His words slurring slightly this time. He picks up the drink in his hand, and swallows the last of the liquid before setting it down again. Elbow resting on the counter, he stared down at the man, not controlling the smirk that drifts over his face. You could kill them all, you know. A voice, one that was his own but at the same time his worst enemy, whispered in his head. The man just frowns, before heading towards the door. A small portion of his crew joined him, the others finishing up what they had before rushing out behind them. Imari smiled genuinely this time she filled his glass. And he nodded in return. When he finished the rest of the vodka this time everything went red in a flash. He grips the cup tightly until it dissipates and he is left with all the noises around him distant. You need to go, his mother's voice in his head whispers. He shakes his head but does stand, albeit on shaky feet, and makes his way to the door. When the cold hits Chuuya again it doesn't sting. It cools the feeling of warmth that had flooded him and he sighs into the air. An abrupt movement to his left leaves him turning towards it. He's slow though, his entire body sluggish. By the time he's able to focus on the man who had rushed out of the alley, he can't hear anything. His head spins for a few moments, before the noise slowly comes back. He hears a crash, and again tries to move. But he's thrown off balance quickly. The first blow to his head is a shock. The pain adds to that already bothering him. He still manages to stay standing, before another strike hits him in the side. He's able to set his hand against it, but his gloved fingers swipe over the fabric. "You're a bastard," Chuuya hears clearly, before something crashes into him from behind. He collapses onto his hands and knees. He turns his head, hat falling off to see the same man he'd made a fool of staring down at him. There was a large stone in his hand. "Catch this with that gravity of yours," The man says, dropping it towards Chuuya's side. And he does try to catch it with his ability, but when he calls on that being to answer nothing occurs. Shit. He attempts to move his hand, and finds it crushed. The weight of the stone leaning right beneath his rib cage and on arm. Chuuya again tries to shift the hand being crushed by the rock. He bites back a scream when pain zips up his arm. Clenching his jaw, and pressing his eyes closed he tried to steady his breathing to find it already slowed. He can't hear again. It's all faded muffled. But when he opens his eyes all that registers is the blurred green street lights, and people moving. Somebody had stopped in front of him, but the shape was impossible to make out. There were others too, standing around him in different places. He couldn't tell who was hostile and who wasn't, and when he tried to increase the gravity around him, all that happened was a loud ringing in his ears and a dizziness overcoming him. So Chuuya shut his eyes. He let the world fade away, because he wasn't going to die now. He was drunk, had some sort of broken bones in his hand, and a group of people surrounding him who would give up once he was down. Some people weren't going to kill him over a bar fight, that would be foolish. There were people moving around him. He felt the thud against the ground of either footsteps or someone collapsing. And Chuuya let himself be taken away by the black flood of unconsciousness.