Dean woke up in the middle of the night.
Although his body was in such a state that he wasn't feeling anything anymore instead of pain, he could still perceive that something was rubbing his wounds.
He got thoroughly beaten on that night. That was, by far, the time when he got spanked the most. He couldn't even bear remembering what happened.
The boy tried to act tough and didn't cry nor screamed, but inside he felt like he was almost dying.
He fainted a lot of times, but always got awaken somehow. His face told that he was in pain, but no one could notice his expression since he was all covered in blood and was overly swallowed.
When he woke up, he couldn't even open his eyes properly. The night made it even more difficult to see anything around him.
Slowly, he got the hang of it. Even if his eyes were half-opened and there was just the bare light of the campfire, a figure began to form beside him.
Dean could see the face of a freckled boy that had tanned skin and depressed eyes. His short hair had a standard brown color that didn't outstand at all, also like the rest of his plain-looking face. What drew attention the most were his empty chocolate-colored eyes. The boy seemed a robot, not a human at all.
Anybody could notice that he was deprived of all the positive feelings that he had within his heart.
"P-Paul?" Dean asked. Afterward, his throat hurt. He didn't know why, but even though he didn't scream at all during the spanking, his throat was still worn out.
"W-Why m-my voice doesn't...?" He began to cough.
"You can't talk properly right now. While you were semi-conscious on the ground, you began to moan really loud because of all the wounds on your body. It must have been the reason why you are like this right now." Paul explained.
He was holding straps of cloth. A bucket with the clean water of the lakes was beside him.
"They didn't want to treat your wounds. Any of them. It could end up killing you, but Rick was so angry that he didn't afford Hector to take care of you."
Dean blinked sometimes, trying to get rid of that dizziness that he was feeling, but it obviously didn't work.
"Why... Why are you... t-taking care of me, then?" He asked this kind of question because Paul could get in trouble for going against Rick's orders. He could be punished as badly as Dean was.
The freckled boy shrugged his shoulders (a habit of his) while looking away. He seemed to be embarrassed by saying that.
"You know... hmm, I just happened to... to find it really cool when you intervened on that negotiation. I saw a lot of slaves coming to Rick's group to get sold, and none of them were as resolute, strong, or courageous as you. They would surely think two times before saving a little slave girl from anything that could happen to her. Even if they did as such, it would be impossible to hold their heads high when getting that kind of punishment that you got a couple of hours ago."
Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he glared at Dean right on his eyes.
"So, when I saw you punching that client and saving that girl from living such an outrageous life, I envied you..."
Dean gasped, turning his head even more and trying to return his glare, but it made him the more in pain. He moaned, returning to his original position.
"I... I don't understand."
Paul shook his head, focusing on cleaning Dean's wounds again while still talking.
"Well, you aren't a slave for time enough, nor is as broken as the average slave, so you wouldn't understand. Anyway, what you did earlier..." He shrugged his shoulders again. "that was definitely the dream of most slaves out there. All of us want to react, but we lose this ability after some time. We want to do the right thing, but fear prevents us to do so. We want to be something more than slaves, but it seems impossible. However, you overcame all these limits and did what you wanted to do. The way you seem to be free, even though you are trapped by the same chains as me, is very, very cool.
"That's why, when you were moaning in pain during the night, I couldn't just turn a blind eye. Not after what you did. If I can't have the initiative to save a little girl to be violated, then I must at least help someone hurt, despite the consequences."
Upon hearing his explanation, Dean smiled. He was glad that he could help someone so insecure about himself to do even this small thing. That was surely his first step to start to react again and become someone that he would be proud of.
After so much time spent with Paul, Dean thought that he was just a coward that gave up too easily on everything, even though he had a brilliant mind. Nonetheless, he was wrong. That boy was just struggling to survive, but differently than Dean. He had his own reasons to be the way he was. He was a human, and his motivations were deeper than anyone could ever comprehend.
'Also... he is trembling from fear now. He is frightened as hell, looking all the time to the tents. This boy seems about to cry. Nevertheless, he is still cleaning my wounds. He is still helping me.'
Dean chuckled, though it hurt him.
"W-What is it?" Paul asked.
"Nothing... I am... j-just glad."
The boy tilted his head.
"I am just taking care of your wounds though. It's not something big."
"No. Not because of that, only." Dean gave a pause, allowing his throat to recover a little bit. "I am just glad because... a-after all this time... I finally made you talk."
Paul felt his cheeks warming up. Just now he realized how much he talked about himself.
"J-just keep quiet while I aid you, ok? They will hear us if we keep talking."