Spliced: Part 1, Chapter 5c

[flighty_dreams]

TITLE: Spliced, Part 1, Chapter 5c
AUTHOR: flighty_dreams
WARNINGS: NC-17, most definitely. slavefic. scifi setting. M/m.
WORD COUNT: 2,859
SUMMARY:  Part 1. A businessman finds exactly what he wants at a slave market. Or does he?
NOTES:  Last part of this chapter.

And that was how the two men found them when they walked into the room. Min’s eyes remained on the floor as he sat meekly for his master’s inspection. That sharp gaze pierced him, making his stomach flutter, but he wasn’t sure if it was desire or anxiety churning inside him. The man just unnerved him sometimes.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw feet shift closer, and recognized the shoes as belonging to Hollis. “They look so innocent, don’t they?” the Monlean asked his friend lightly.

“I’m sure your pet is, but mine is another story,” Muldane replied. Min noted that his master sounded relaxed, his words more amused than annoyed. The observation eased his tension a bit; his master was in a good mood. The theater must have been fun, he mused.

“Oh come on, the way you talk you’d think he was a newly branded, completely rebellious slave,” Hollis answered, and Min silently concurred with the assessment. “He’s pretty obedient, and his attitude isn’t insolent,” Hollis added. “I don’t find him offensive.”

“That’s because you’re not Kartan,” Muldane replied, frowning. “On Karta even a moment of hesitation or a hint of insolence are enough to get a slave punished.”

“Yes, so you’ve told me, but we aren’t on Karta. You know things don’t work the same way here, and he wasn’t trained on Karta. You can’t expect him to know Kartan standards.”

“But he’s expected to learn what I want and don’t want,” Matt countered stubbornly.

“Muldane, give him some time, it’s only been a month or so. Besides, you don’t want a mindless Kartan-style slave. Look at those other Andorians you had before. They were perfectly obedient, and you really liked them for a while, but then you got bored. They didn’t do anything you didn’t want, and there was no excitement.” Min turned his head slightly to glance at Nuit, who looked at him at the same time, both of them remembering their earlier conversation.

“It seems to work well enough for you, Hollis,” Muldane objected, his eyes on Nuit.

The Monlean chuckled. “Because we don’t want the same things. I like routine, and I don’t crave excitement in my personal life. But I’ve known you for years, man, and I know that despite your protests and how much you promote total obedience from slaves, it’s not actually what you want in the long run.”

Min’s eyes drifted upward curiously to see Muldane’s reaction. The man was frowning at his friend, clearly not liking his words. “I want an obedient slave, that’s how they’re supposed to behave,” he said, denying his friend’s analysis.

Hollis sighed with frustration. “I’m not saying you want disobedience, just not total, complete obedience—mindlessness. Remember what you said when you first told me about Min? You said he had personality, that that’s what made you buy him.”

That was nice information to know. Maybe there was hope yet. Min was grateful to Hollis for revealing it, and his gaze shifted back and forth between the two men while they were focused on each other.

Then Matt turned to look at him, and Min dropped his eyes hurriedly, but not quite fast enough. He knew his master had noticed. “I don’t think this is the appropriate place for this conversation,” Muldane told his friend, irritation lingering in his voice. He obviously wasn’t comfortable discussing this in front of Min.

Amusement in his tone, Hollis said, “Okay, fine, let’s talk about something else.” He turned to the two slaves, approaching them. Once he was only a step or two away from them, he crossed his arms in front of him and asked, “Did you two behave, Nuit?”

Min kept his expression clear of all emotion and his eyes averted, but inwardly he wondered what Nuit’s response would be. Would something in his reaction give anything away?

“Yes, master,” Nuit replied softly, and Min’s trained ears caught the slight quiver of hesitation in his voice. He hoped it was too faint for the other men to notice.

“Did Min sit on the couch?” Muldane asked, sensing Nuit was a good source of truthful information.

It took effort to keep his body relaxed as Min waited for Nuit’s response. Would the other clone count those twenty seconds on the couch?

He felt Nuit shift uneasily beside him, his calm façade cracking and his body tensing. Although inwardly Min was cursing to himself, he supposed it was too much to hope for that the other slave was a natural liar. Lying well usually took practice. Besides, they had all put the poor boy in a terrible position. He should probably speak up and spare the kid, but part of him was far too interested to see what Nuit would do or say. Yeah, he was mean.

“What’s wrong, Nuit?” Hollis asked, but there was growing suspicion in his voice.

“Minril,” his master said in that familiar threatening tone, “did you sit on the couch, slave?”

He couldn’t lie when asked so directly, especially with a witness; not only would it get him into more trouble later, he also didn’t want to rebel too much. Lifting his eyes to meet his master’s, he was about to admit to it when another voice spoke up.

“No, he didn’t, not really,” Nuit stammered nervously.

“What do you mean?” Matt’s sharp gaze focused on the other clone.

Hiding his amusement, Min let the scene play out. He was pretty sure where Nuit was going with this.

“He took some of the cushions off the couch and moved them to the floor. So he didn’t actually sit on the couch,” Nuit admitted reluctantly.

Hollis burst into laughter, and Min hid the smile itching to get out. His master’s infuriated reaction was everything he’d hoped for, and even knowing he’d be paying for this later, a small chuckle finally escaped. But he couldn’t help it, Muldane’s expression was funny and he was glad that Nuit was partially covering for him. At least he hadn’t gone ahead and told his master he’d actually sat on the couch briefly.

Angered even further by Min’s irreverent response, and his lack of remorse, Muldane reached for him, grabbing him by the hair and pulling him to his feet. Min didn’t resist, allowing his master to step forward and push him against the wall. Matt’s other hand rose to grip his throat above the collar, and looking into his furious face made Min gasp, his heartbeat quickening from fear and arousal. Next to them, Nuit shifted to the side to give them more room.

“Tell me, slave,” his master growled, “you knew doing that would not please me, didn’t you?”

Struggling for breath, he confessed huskily, “Yes, master.”

“Why do it then? Or are you just that stupid? You thought I wouldn’t find out?”

“No, master.” He really wished this questioning would end, but that was a futile hope of course.

“No, what?” Muldane demanded, yanking painfully at his hair. The assault made dark desires rise to the surface.

“No, I knew you’d probably find out,” he admitted reluctantly, lowering his eyelids to hide the flare of arousal in his eyes.

“Then why do it?” his master challenged again, his grip tightening.

Min struggled to form an acceptable response, although there really wasn’t one. He couldn’t say he’d done it just because he wanted to, or to keep his master interested, or because he thought it was a stupid rule. Part of him wanted to admit he’d done it so his master wouldn’t become bored with him, so that he’d keep him longer. But he didn’t want to reveal that much, or make himself that vulnerable. He finally settled on a half-truth. “For attention, master,” he said unwillingly.

“Attention?” Matt replied, shocked, and a harsh laugh escaped him. “You definitely have my attention. Happy now, slave?”

Grimacing in his master’s painful hold, he gasped out, “Maybe ‘happy’ isn’t the right word, master.”

Behind Muldane laughter sounded abruptly in the tense room. His master’s hold slackened, and his glare transferred to a new target. “Amused, Hollis?”

“Very,” his friend replied unrepentantly. “The two of you are as entertaining as that theater.”

Muldane scowled at him. “You’re an obnoxious bastard.”

“So are you, Muldane,” Hollis grinned. “But this is exactly what I was talking about:  excitement.”

“Fuck you and your ashen ‘excitement’, Hollis,” Matt cursed him, glowering. “As for you,” he said, turning back to Min, “you’re going to have one ashen hell of a miserable week, slave.”

Min trembled, caught between fear and that ‘excitement’ Hollis kept mentioning. His legs wanted to spread, to offer himself to the man. Instead he lowered his eyes submissively and said humbly, “As you wish, master.”

His master snorted, unimpressed, and his hands slid down to grip the Andorian’s arms. “Yeah, now you behave properly, with punishment looming in your future. You could learn some lessons from Nuit. He knows how to be a good slave, how to be obedient. He doesn’t piss off his master the way you do.”

The words drawing his attention to Nuit, Min saw the other slave shift uneasily, guilt trickling onto his face. He caught the other slave’s eye and discreetly tried to warn him not to say anything. This would all go better if they didn’t know Nuit had done anything.

Unfortunately Hollis caught his silent signal. “Nuit?” he asked warily, sensing something else was going on.

Nuit stiffened, his face actually flushing guiltily. If Min hadn’t seen his liveliness when they played cards earlier, he would’ve said it was the most emotion the other clone had ever shown. Biting back a sigh, Min turned his eyes away, looking off at the wall to his right. He could feel Hollis’ attention drift back and forth between him and Nuit, and the other slave finally cracked.

“I sat on the cushions too, master,” he admitted fearfully, and Min looked back to observe Hollis’ reaction. The Andorian wasn’t sure how he kept his face blank, because the reaction was almost as amusing as Muldane’s had been a few minutes earlier.

Hollis had been somewhat suspicious, but obviously he hadn’t actually believed Nuit had done anything inappropriate. At Nuit’s confession surprise lit his dark eyes, making them flare for a moment. His breath caught and he looked briefly amused. Then another thought came to him that must’ve angered him because his mouth firmed and his eyes hardened.

Min missed his own master’s reaction, though he was sure it had been interesting too. Neither of them had thought the docile Nuit capable of disobedience.

“Nuit, if Muldane wasn’t letting his own slave do this, why did you do it?” Hollis asked, a coldness in his voice that Min had never heard before, and suddenly the Andorian understood. Although Hollis didn’t really care about Nuit using the couch in his own house, it was an insult for his slave to misbehave in someone else’s house. It reflected badly on him that his slave had done so. Min cursed himself for forgetting how Monlean guest customs would complicate the situation.

Hollis’ harshness also worried Min; he hadn’t meant to get Nuit into serious trouble. Muldane’s anger he was used to, but Hollis’ really unsettled him because the man was usually so easygoing.

His gaze went to Nuit, who was still kneeling and trembling with terror. “I don’t know, master,” Nuit whimpered, lowering his hands and face to prostrate himself against the floor in shame. “I’m so sorry.”

Min’s own guilt rose exponentially at his friend’s pathetic state. Looking directly at Hollis, who was still staring down at his slave, Min announced loudly, “It was me.” Both free men’s heads swiveled to focus on him. “Don’t blame him, I pressured him into it,” he told them, his face reddening with remorse.

The hands on his arms tightened as Muldane’s fury concentrated back on him. Stepping back, his master pulled him a couple paces forward before pushing and releasing him. He tumbled back against the wall, and the impact was painful enough to leave bruises. Biting back a yelp, he slithered to the ground to kneel dejectedly beside Nuit.

“I should have known,” his master rasped, his rage evident.

“Same here,” Hollis commented, still angry.

“What in bloody ashen hell is wrong with you, slave?” Matt asked, sounding bewildered as well as mad.

Flushing, Min remained quiet. There were many things he could mention, but he didn’t think his master really wanted to hear them. Nor would he believe them.

“Well?” Muldane asked impatiently, demanding an answer.

I thought the question was rhetorical, he almost said, but he caught himself in time. Few things could make his master even more pissed at the moment, but an answer like that was one of them.

“I don’t know, master,” he finally hedged.

“Neither of you knows anything. That’s cute,” Muldane said snidely.

I thought slaves weren’t supposed to know anything, master. Another terrible response that he thankfully didn’t use. Deliberately looking over at Nuit, who was silent now but still pitiful, he let his emotional focus return to his guilt instead of his own annoyance. “I’m sorry, master.” His gaze lifted to Hollis. “Please just be angry at me, not at Nuit. He was trying to behave.”

“If he’d really behaved, he wouldn’t have listened to you,” Hollis said uncompromisingly. “We leave you two alone for the first time, and you manage to corrupt him within a couple of hours.”

Min’s eyes dropped ashamedly. He had corrupted Nuit. “I’m sorry, Master Hollis.” He wished he could explain more, that they just didn’t want to be sold. But he didn’t think the information would be understood or welcomed, and the revelation of their fear would expose a vulnerability they both shared. That was never a smart thing to give to your master.

“We know not to leave these two alone ever again,” Matt stated firmly.

Sadness welled within Min, and he realized that was worse than any punishment his master was planning for him. He’d made a friend, and now they wouldn’t be able to speak anymore. He wished he could go back and change things, but he hadn’t known beforehand that he’d grow to like Nuit so much. He glanced at Nuit, who turned his head just enough to meet his own gaze regretfully.

A few minutes later Hollis dragged a disgraced Nuit out of the house. Shortly after that, Min’s punishment began, which extended on and off over the next several days. His master hadn’t been exaggerating when he said sitting would be painful for the next week. So was walking or any other movement.

Intimidated by the discipline, Min’s behavior improved, at least for a while. He was debating whether occasional disobedience was really the way to keep his master’s interest. Perhaps he’d judged the man wrongly, and nothing he did would change the man’s opinions on his slave’s place and capabilities. It was a depressing thought, because overall he liked this one—when Muldane wasn’t letting his narrow-minded Kartan upbringing trump reason.

The following week Nuit appeared at the house for the first time since the incident. Hollis had visited twice in the meantime, but he hadn’t brought the clone with him, which Min was sure was deliberate. And the usual friendliness he’d sensed from Hollis towards him had disappeared since that day. It was another loss to mourn. However, when he finally saw Nuit they were put in the same corner of the den again while their masters talked. Out of the corner of his eye he studied the other clone, noting the tension in him. He looked nervous, which made Min worry about what had happened to him since the last time he saw him. Just how mad had Hollis ended up being? Min had to know whether he was all right, despite the risk involved.

Waiting until their masters were immersed in their discussion, he whispered to Nuit, “Are you okay?”

Almost as if he’d been waiting for it, Muldane’s attention focused immediately on him. “No talking, slave. Don’t make me remind you again.”

Min slumped down, dropping his face into the carpet submissively to hide his hurt. During his punishment his master had forbidden him to speak to other slaves from now on, particularly Nuit. Exercising control, he kept his fists from clenching. His master had probably been keeping an eye on him the whole time, waiting for him to try something. And he’d probably watch him closely for weeks to make sure he obeyed.

As he lay there dejectedly, he felt the warm body near him shift and a hand brushed along his arm comfortingly. It was the quickest of touches, and he almost thought he’d imagined it. But he looked up slowly and watched as Nuit rose and crossed over to their masters, reaching for their empty glasses. As he turned back with them in his hands, he met Min’s gaze and smiled sadly before giving him the smallest of nods.

Min let out a shaky, relieved breath. Nuit was okay, and he didn’t hate him. It would have to be enough.

~         ~         ~

Endnote:  Hope you all liked Hollis and Nuit. =)

Chapter 6

Also See Hollis/Nuit One-Shot Spinoff from this Chapter