Ah, why not. I'll try not to trample over your plans, though, thus...

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Alex (1)

“Come on in.” Jona smiled at him, then continued inwards through her house.

Alex cautiously stuck his head around the corner of the entranceway, and for his trouble almost immediately had to dodge an incoming missile. He swung his clarinet case out in his place, to take the impact.

“Aleeeeex… oof!”

In short, a him-sized red-haired missile known (to people other than her mother) as Ruby, who had chosen of her own free will to wrap herself around his clarinet case every single time he’d come to visit. It absolutely wasn’t his fault, in any possible sense.

Seriously.

“Cruel! So cruel!” Ruby whined from on top of the case, her head propped up with her hands. “Why didn’t you stand there and take it like boy, hmm?”

“There are a lot of things I could say to that,” he said, then sighed. “Help me put this away, why don’t you?”

“Sure!”

xxx

Alex and Alyssa’s parents were, by their own reckoning, two of the very few people on Mars who had jobs that really mattered, which was to say jobs where things could go seriously wrong if they didn’t show up to work on time. For an upside, they were rich, but for a downside, they didn’t exactly have much free time to spend that money in. That was one of the reasons why the two of them spent so much time on their own.

Jona and her daughter Ruby, by comparison, didn’t have a job at all.

Well, that was slightly unfair. Ruby was a teenager (nearly his age, she often pointed out), and wasn’t expected to. Jona *was*, but like most people she had to make do with what she could get. In her case that amounted to being a personal instructor for people who could afford it, such as Alex’ parents.

It made for slightly awkward relationships, but Ruby was never one to care. Being a grade-level younger than him, Alex felt it was his duty to keep her enthusiasm tamped down.

xxx

Several hours later. The final notes of Shubert’s Ave Maria faded, to be replaced by Ruby’s energetic clapping.

Jona, always more reserved, simply nodded.

“Excellent work today, Alex. Keep this up, and you’ll be able to join the orchestra in no time. Now, then…”

Alex waited patiently as she leafed through her music index.

“Hmm.”

Ruby stretched luxuriously on the sofa, showing off her figure. His eyebrows twitched.

“That’ll do. It’s a bit obscure, but how do you feel about Scott Joplin’s works?”

He’d never heard of them, but couldn’t say that. He shrugged.

“For tomorrow, then. I’m sure you know this, but your mother asked me to take care of you until Sunday. You have the rest of the evening off, and—“ Ruby’s eyes lit up with a manic glee. She immediately grabbed his arm, leaving him barely enough time to drop the clarinet, and practically dragged him up the stairs to her room. “Try to survive?”

For once in his life he doubted that that would be a problem.

xxx

If you’d asked Alex what Ruby was to him…

Well, he wouldn’t have said ‘a bratty little sister’, for all that he might think that on occasion. And he couldn’t have said ‘a best friend’, if only because they didn’t meet often enough for that. ‘Girlfriend’, of course, was right out, though more from inertia and old familiarity than a true lack of interest. That being said, neither one had any interest in finding someone else.

Alyssa might think she was the first one of the twins to go on a date, but for all intents and purposes Alex and Ruby had been dating for years. They merely didn’t realise it.

If you asked Ruby what Alex was to her, her answer would have been far more certain. “A slowpoke who should figure it out already.”

She’d tried nearly everything, except actually telling him.

xxx

Nine o’ clock in the evening.

“D sin x?”

Alex’s tired voice fell like a wet noodle across the bedroom.

“Cos x.”

A bit more time passed as they worked on their respective math homework. If you were hoping for something different… wait, what were you hoping for, Ruby? They were, at least, on the same bed. On their backs, staring up at their respective homework slates and not doing anything that might be described as ‘fun’, but they both thought it was a *little* less annoying this way.

“x over cos x dx?”

“That’s…”

Time moved, in much the same way arrows fly. Slowly.

“Integration by parts? No. E to the power of… um.”

Time moved like a potato.

“Aaah! Are you kidding me? Are you sure that’s what the problem says? Let me look.“

It wasn’t. Alex had misread it. Not like that that helped him much, when Ruby pushed herself on top of his chest to look at his slate. A manoeuvre that wouldn’t normally be worth mentioning, except that in so doing she also pushed him right off the bed and—

“Aah!”

“Oof.”

The slate went spinning off into a corner of the room. Ruby hit her head on the floor, thus getting to go stargazing. And Alex, who on balance should have seen this coming, re-broke several rib bones from the impact.

Ruby scrambled off after the slate, leaving him to try, and fail, to catch his breath. Which left him in a pickle. On the one hand, he was in his (best?) friend(?)’s bedroom. On the other, he couldn’t breathe, and his attempts at doing so only produced a kind of rasping gurgle. On the third, fourth and fifth—

“Are you okay?”

Ruby leaned over him, her face not so much concerned as curious. This despite his rasping not-a-breath, which… ‘No, I’m not okay’, was what he wanted to say, but all he really could do was lie still and slowly turn blue.

His hands were acquiring that kind of numb pins-and-needles sensation that meant he’d soon be losing consciousness, and still in Ruby’s room, and that was *not okay*—

Looking back at it, he might have panicked a little. The worst that would have happened was he’d go comatose for a couple minutes, but there was something very scary about the notion of doing that next to Ruby.

So he pulled his t-shirt off, ignoring Ruby’s sudden blush, then poked his fingers through the still-fragile, barely-healed skin at his sides and physically grabbed the broken ribs, pulling them *out* of his lungs and back into place.

The blush rather immediately went away.

A few seconds later he could breathe again, leaving him with:

- Hands still inside his goddamned chest. He slowly pulled them out, and they were slimy. (Although not for long.)

- Ruby looking down at him, her face as pale as a ghost.

- And a full-body blush, because of course.

“You… I…” He tried saying something smart, but nothing came out. “Er.”

Ruby sat down hard, on the floor, then resumed her wide-eyed gaze at him from next to him. Finally, he managed to pull the t-shirt back on.

xxx

He opted for full disclosure, because Ruby had threatened to tell Jona otherwise, and *no matter what* that would be far too embarrassing. Lying was, in any case, unacceptable. It was unfortunate that he was coming to believe the truth was also unacceptable.

“She literally chewed your arms off? I’m not sure what to say. That’s, that’s… Oh god.”

He’d been prepared for Ruby to be disgusted, and he’d even wondered what he’d do if she got upset at Alyssa. Which she *had*, until he’d made it clear that they were trying to be friends again. He wasn’t prepared for *this*.

“Ahahahaha!” Ruby twisted on the bed, laughing her head off. “Oh god, I can’t breathe. You know, because someone—Bwahahahaha!”

“Glad you find it so amusing,” he said sourly.

“Well, yeah! Because, because—*Bathtub?* *Seriously?*” She slammed her head into the pillow, trying to muffle her laughter. “M whih M kho see ‘hat. Oh my god. Hey—“ She took a deep breath, visibly calming down a little. “Did you *like* it? Getting pulled apart? I’ve never lost so much as a fingernail.”

He frowned. “Of course I didn’t.”

“Then why’d you keep doing it?” She stared at him, now looking like she was trying to solve a puzzle. “You could have called a truce at any time. Why didn’t you?”

“Alyssa wouldn’t have cared.”

“But you said she managed it for gym class…” He shrugged. “Well, whatever. But you’re going to cut me apart first chance we get. I want to know what it’s like.”

One cthulhu. Two cthulhu…

“What?!” He hissed, once he’d gotten over the shock.

“I’m pretty sure you heard me,” Ruby said matter-of-factly. “I’d do it myself, but I don’t think that’s safe if I’m going to touch the brain. I want to try it.”

He stared at her.

“What?” She said defensively. “It’s something you’ve tried that I haven’t, and that’s not okay. We’ve got all the tools we need. Mom will be out for at least half the day tomorrow. Besides… you know what’ll happen if you don’t, right?” She smirked at him. “I might just have to start talking.”

Great, this was great. Juuust…

“Fine.” He sighed, deeply and deliberately, though on the inside he could think of one or two benefits to doing that. He just wasn’t sure if he wanted to go there. “You know what, Ruby? Fine. If you want me to cut you up so badly, then I’ll cut you up. Just don’t start complaining afterwards.”

“That’s my Alex.” She grinned.

“Just…”

“Hm?”

“You realise I’ll have to see you naked, right?”

“…”

xxx

(Viewpoint: Ruby)


“It’s not a big deal.”

She said, while pulling off her sweater.

“I mean, we’ve gone swimming together.”

That was true. The last time was two years ago. They’d both been embarrassed, but only until they got in the water, and it wasn’t the same. There had been dozens of other people. She hadn’t cared at all once they started splashing.

Alex’ face had gone from amused, to red and confused, and she hadn’t even gotten more than her sweater off. Her hand hovered over the zipper in her pants.

Gulp.

“And, um. You’re… probably my best friend.” She didn’t have many others. “Which means it’s fine, right?”

She had, in fact, invited him to cut her apart, just out of stubborn curiosity. It probably wasn’t fine.

Double gulp. She shut her eyes, tried to ignore the tears in their corners, opened her pants and pushed them down. When she opened them again she caught Alex rapidly looking away, his expression guilty as sin.

That was funny. What did *he* have to be embarrassed about?

Therefore, before he could look back, she quickly pulled off her t-shirt and panties. When he did look back, attracted by the sound, he yelped and fell back onto her bed. Heh…

“Don’t fall off, I’m not helping if you break yourself again,” she heard someone tell him. It couldn’t have been her. Her ears were buzzing, and she was blushing so hard, she felt like she might catch on fire at any moment.

She was naked, and she was about to get more naked… naked-er… what was the term? She’d be completely at his mercy.

Somehow, her blush managed to get a little deeper.

“O… okay. Right.” He looked at her from the corner of his eye. “So should I get started, or do you have any… um, preferences?”

For being cut up? Er…

“Never thought about,” she admitted.

“Right. Then. I’ll just…”

“Wait. Let me dial down my pain response first—” She poked at her arm, bringing up a menu.

“Your mom lets you *do* that?”

“Sure,” she said distractedly. “She trusts me not to use it for… um, I guess this? So don’t tell her!” She’d set it down to… not zero, then she wouldn’t able to feel anything, but right above zero.

“I won’t. Promise.“

“Right. So…”

Uuu…

She scrunched her face up. Fear, embarrassment, excitement, uncertainty… it made for a powerful cocktail. Her heart was beating rapidly, waves of heat lashing across her entire body. She was really doing it, really… well, who knew what he might do to her today, because she certainly didn’t. She trusted him not to be cruel, but not to not be a boy.

She was secretly hoping he would. Some parts of her tingled more than others.

She let herself fall back onto her bed, feeling the covers against her bare back. Her head ended up nearly in his lap, and she smiled up at him, magnificent blush or not. Then she splayed her legs, because… she didn’t know. She actually wasn’t sure. It just felt right, to do so.

Then she blinked, and grinned.

“I just had a thought,” she said. “I want to take a bath with you. But the bathtub isn’t large enough. So…” She whispered the rest of it.

xxx

Maybe… maybe she’d gone a little bit too far.

“Stop moving already!”

But she couldn’t help it! She whimpered. The touch of the metal on her hips was pure agony, although of a different sort than pain. She had an itch, and it was growing more pronounced every second, and she wanted so badly to scratch it—and she couldn’t, she didn’t even have the arms to do it.

Alex had cut them off, right at the shoulders.

He’d cut off a leg, too, and was working on the other one. It wasn’t what she’d expected.

Not that she’d known what to expect, but she’d had dreams, damnit. And in the dreams, losing a limb had felt like more than a distant itch. That was her fault, wasn’t it? Not that she liked the thought of being in pain. But the effect…

She tried to scratch another itch, this one on her nose. Couldn’t do that either. Her *arms weren’t there*.

“Aleex…” She whined. He was trying to hold her down, without actually touching her. It wasn’t working too well. “Nose.”

He scratched her nose for her. Ah, bliss.

Maybe she should ask him to scratch the other one. Maybe not. He’d probably faint.

She even tried to rub her legs together, but it didn’t work. She only had the one leg. No, only half a leg now.

“Hold still, I told you!”

And then…

“Phew.” Alex looked uncertainly down at her quadriplegic self. Her limbs were left were they fell, mostly on the bed next to her, one arm on the floor. “That was a lot harder than I’m used to. Good enough, or..?”

She shook her head. She’d wanted to take a bath with him, and that meant *one thing in particular*, after last night’s revelations.

xxx

Therefore, shortly after, they were off to the bathroom. Alex, Alex’ limbs, and her. He filled the tub; she did nothing in particular, except talk, and they couldn’t quite get into their usual banter this time.

“Ready?”

He nodded, then raised an eyebrow at her, saying, “Just so you know, I want you to know that you’re crazy.”

“I do. Yup.”

“Then it’s your funeral.”

Not exactly a funeral~

Finally they’d started on what she wanted to call the main event, as Alex approached her with a scalpel she’d found. Even if she’d wanted to run away—she didn’t, but *if*—she wouldn’t have stood a chance. She imagined the scene. A young girl, with no feet to run on or even arms to drag with, against a violent maniac—no, against Alex.

Forced to sit still as he approached, even her twisting doing nothing but show off her assets.

The scene was ruined a little by Alex’ continued refusal to look straight at her body, but soon enough he’d no longer have a choice. In the meantime…

“Here we go.”

Stepping behind her, he held one arm across her shoulders as the other went down to her navel, and though she couldn’t feel any pain as the scalpel cut it in two, she absolutely could feel other things. A vague sense of release, as the skin pulled itself to either side. Coldness, despite the warm bathroom air. Core-deep vulnerability.

He continued, and soon, astonishingly, there was a deep cut running the length of her torso, all the way from her throat to her crotch. Her breathing grew ragged, more so when he reached in and, somehow, opened. The skin fell down, like a piece of clothing being removed. He’d leant her slightly backwards, maybe so nothing would fall out.

He continued the task, and she realised he was skinning her in earnest. She hadn’t asked for that, but she wouldn’t protest. She didn’t know how to do this.

No, but wait. That, of course—

She managed a mewl of dissatisfaction as he cut off the front of her chest, all the way down to her ribs without ever touching her breasts. Off they went, and then down into the tub. Shortly thereafter the rest of her torso’s skin followed it, everything except what was on her head and her hips.

Of course, it was difficult to keep her innards inside her in this state.

Maybe it was because of the comfortable temperature, or maybe just being touched by someone she trusted, but she could feel herself getting drowsy. When he started fooling with her intestines, massaging them as if wanting to see what was inside, all she did was lean backwards—as much as she could—and enjoy the bizarre sensation. She actually might have fallen asleep for a bit, as the very next moment she found that he’d cut them off right at her bum, and… er.

What was he doing?

He’d put the lower end of them into the toilet, and now… what was he doing? Unscrewing the showed head? Wait, he couldn’t—

A yelp was all she did manage, when he cut a hole right above her stomach and started filling it with water. Body-temperature water, and slowly at first, but she immediately felt bloated—and then, when something gave and the water started flowing, he turned up the speed until she felt like she was turning inside out. She could hear—noises—from the loose end of her intestines, over in the toilet, and when those were replaced by running water, all that meant was that it had all flowed through her.

She gaped, and tried to talk, but at some point she’d lost her voice. Maybe when he’d cut her throat open.

She really was at his mercy.

She gulped, though it didn’t feel like it had an effect.

xxx

Well, after that, he took the few organs still remaining in her torso and dumped them in the bathtub. Still attached to her, for what it was worth; it wasn’t much, since he’d cut away her backbone and dipped it separately.

Seeing her heart underwater, still pumping blood but in no way part of anything that could be called a body, was maybe the oddest sight she’d ever seen. Her liver, her kidneys, all detached from her skeleton but still attached via the major blood-vessels.

Her hips, sitting on the side of the tub while he tried not to look at them. Damn it, Alex.

He didn’t get in himself, because he didn’t want to hurt her, a sentiment she found both sweetly endearing, frustrating, and completely absurd. One of these days she’d get him to understand that she wanted him.

…not that she’d really shared that opinion until just now, but she couldn’t deny it anymore.

But all things come to an end, and in the case of her bath, they came to an end after less than ten minutes. Not only was it not that comfortable a bath, in the end, but they also had to clean this all up and put her back together before Mom could come home.

…that evening she found that, just as he’d suggested, it took more than an hour or two to heal that sort of trauma, so—being a reasonable sort of girl—she detached an arm and a leg before sleeping, the better to sleep on her side. She later found that this meant a world-class case of pins and needles in the detached limbs when they reattached, but she hadn’t known that.