CW: Pet whump, institutionalized slavery, multiple whumpees, caretaker new master, mention of branding, asking to be hurt, brief mention of blood and vomit.
Eri went down to the basement wishing he had taken longer in the bathroom, the bath was way too short to Eriâs needs at that moment, but at least he wasnât covered in vomit and blood anymore, the cold water helped him cool down his head, and oh god, he needed to cool his head.
The basement was, of course, still covered in vomit and blood, both fresh and dry, screaming about what happened there, Ero held in a sigh, Clean the basement and take the chain out of it, the list was getting way too long.
âHey guysâ, Eri said, ignoring the blood and filling the awkward silence, the two could be statues for how still they were, and even though Eri really wanted to let them take their time they just... didnât move at all, and food canât wait so he had to force things forward while approaching as slowly as he could in the situation. More easy said than done.
Eri thought about the approach while in the bath, guard dogs are still âpetsâ, so maybe the âtrainingâ was alike to the others, Eri remembered how Beige reacted to pats, so maybe it could be a good approach, he raised both his hands slowly, showing that he meant no harm, and slowly put them over their heads, Night leaned just a bit, eyes still glued on Eri, something between wariness and fear.
Day on the other hand melted, it was unfit, he was even larger than Night but he acted like a small touch starved child, âGood boysâ, Eri said, hoping it would help, and it did, Nightâs eyes widened at the praise, and he glanced at Eri as if he didnât believe he would say it, âThatâs rightâ, Eri smiled, âThe both of you are good boysâ, Night looked slightly less wary now and Day was almost purring on his hands.
Eri felt his heart aching when he retreated his hands, Day had an expression of an abandoned dog, he looked betrayed, âIâll pat you again laterâ, Eri promised and Dayâs face brightened, Night was back at the wary look as if he would jump on Eri if not because of the chain.
Eri put his hand on his pocket and both pets stared at him with the metallic sound, âNowâŠâ, he said pulling the keys out and picking the one he thinks is the right one, âIâll unchai-â
Eri had to step back, Day was growling at him, Night wasnât any better, barking and baring his teeth, he even tried to bite Eri, but the too-short chain attached to his collar made him choke instead, which didnât stop him from barking again.
âEasy, easy thereâ, Eri said, hurriedly putting the keys back in his pocket, and raising his hands, as if surrendering, âWhat is the matter? Could you tell me?â, Eri said in a patient voice, trying to look harmless, he really wasnât expecting this.
âOnly Masterâ, they both said at once, obviously a trained sentence, Day was back at the statue-like position and Night was still baring his teeth, both looking at Eri as if he was a dangerous intruder.
âButâŠâ, Eri said, more than confused now, trying to grasp the meaning of that robotic phrase, âIâm⊠your masterâŠâ
âOnly Masterâ, they repeated, shocking their heads, there were afraid, Eri could see that, but they still looked stick to the belief that only master can unchain them, father probably.
âOkayâŠâ, Eri said, trying to think of a way out, he had left his cellphone upstairs so no google on his side now, âHow can I⊠hmm⊠prove that I am your⊠master?â, Eri asked hesitantly, he didnât have a good feeling about this, not a good feeling at all, and their faces turning pale wasnât exactly calming.
âBraddingâ, they said in a small but mechanical voice, there was fear stamped on their face, Night had an even more sharp look and scared as if Eri had just threatened him, and Day had scared shaken pupils.
âNotâ, Eri said determinedly, he didnât know what kind of sick tradition was that, but he wouldnât follow it, âNot branding, something else, I⊠have the papers, that prove this, isnât them enough?â
Day glance briefly at Night, âM-master has to, to branding guard dogs⊠after buying themâŠâ, he was glancing down, moving only his eyes, âSo so so-â, the words were failing to leave his mouth, he was getting too anxious.
âSo we know our placeâ, Night completed in a small voice, glancing fastly at Day, âSo we⊠can be betterâ, they both glanced down, afraid, of course, they had just declared that they need to be hurt and with hot iron of top of that.
Eri thought about it and it made sense, in the context of the pet culture, pets are kept underweight and weak, guard dogs donât, they need to be strong, stronger than their owner so, of course, owners would have an inferior complex so they torture them to show that they are superior, makes sense, a sick sense, but still makes sense.
Eri sighed, Day flinched in response and Night bared his teeth again, âYou guys⊠want to be good?â, Eri tried, ignoring the way those words made his stomach turn, he would have so much trouble dealing with it, âWant to be better?â, he swallowed hard.
Both of them nodded, faces showing more fear than before, being better means pain, they know that, but donât be better is even worse, they need to be better.
âThere is a way to see if you really want to be betterâ, Eri said, tricks were better the a fucking hot iron, so for now he would forgive himself for the way the two in front of him were full of dread, âHere how things will go, I believe both of you are good boys, right?â
They both nodded, Night seemed to like the words of praise, âI wasâŠâ, Eri put the calm mask over his nausea, âtesting youâ, Both pets widened their eyes, shivering at those words, âBut you pass!â, Eri said hurriedly with a small smile, âBoth of you know⊠your place, or else you wouldnât ask me to brand you, right?â, Eri said, stepping closer, âSince you already know your place I donât need to make you remember.â
Eri wanted to say he would never hurt them, but it wouldnât work, it would make things worse, how could he expect them to believe him when he saw the state of that house?
Night froze when he heard it was a test, which part? when? It was just their first day with Master Eri and he was already testing them, it canât be good, was it the pats? They shouldnât lean on the touch, that must be it, guard dogs are not to be soft.
âBut you passâ, Master said, smiling, not a dangerous smile, just a suspicious one, but sometimes⊠Night thought, sometimes suspicious is worse.
Did we pass? was it not the touch? We arenât going to be punished? Is that another test? a trick? a trap? maybe he is just making fun of us, maybe he will do someone worse than branding, maybe-
âBoth of you know your place, or else you wouldnât ask me to brand you right?â, Master said slowly, making sure pets can understand, this master seemed more... kind than the old master, he was just testing if they knew the rules, and it was too suspicious to be true.
They both nodded, a bit confused and hesitantly but they nodded, hopefully, that is, if Eri was allowed to something like hope, it would be enough to make them give up on the branding idea, Eri felt as if he was just making things worse but he had no options, so he slowly put his hand inside his pocket, taking out the keys once again.
Day looks easier, he thought as he got closer and patted his hair with one hand and unchained him with the other, Day didnât move, he just kept kneeling, even after unchained, now Night. Eri held his breath and braced himself to get bitten at least once as he unchained the second one.
But Night was too scared to attack him, looking at his scared eyes Eri felt that it would be better to get bitten, âOkay, you both did great!â, he said in a fake happy tone, glad he was a good liar, âYou both deserve a treat now!â, The pets peeked up at the word, âWe are going up there and get some nice thing to eat, alright? Can you do that for me?â
âY-yes master, thank youâ, Day said, leaning on Eriâs hand, blushing slightly.
âYes, Masterâ, Night said right after, glancing at Eri, Eri could read his I-donât-trust-you look so easy, but he pretended not to notice, giving off more praises, he was exhausted, the day was being so long, and he had so much to do yet.
âSo letâs goâ, he smiled, destroying every hope he might build by the root, I really need to read the rules.
If you liked it please reblog.
Taglist: @cupcakes-and-pain, @whump-blog, @wolfeyedwitch, @octopus-reactivated, @sufferfictionalcharacters, @rat-father, @badluck990, @onlybadendings, @inpainandsuffering, @mazeish, @neuro-whump, @freefallingup13, @sideblogformindtrash, @temporary-username
