“You will obey me, or face the consequences.” His voice was deep and gravelly, seeming to shake the entire room.
They nodded quickly. That was easy to understand, that was familiar.
The cuffs around their wrists were not. Too loose, too light. They should be digging into their skin, dragging their shoulders down with their weight.
“You belong to me, and only me. Is that clear?”
Again, they nodded, feeling a surge of relief. It was so much easier to only serve one owner. No conflicting orders or trying to memorize different rules, just one set of rules and instructions.
“Good. The better you obey, the better off you’ll be. Now stand up.”
They tried, they really did, but it was hard with their hands behind their back and how weak they were.
He watched, frowning slightly, and they managed to struggle to their knees, trying to brace their back against the wall to push themselves up further.
Finally, he seemed to run out of patience, just grabbing them by the upper arm and pulling them up. But it was quick. Rough but not painful. No nails digging into skin or shaking them around.
That was much easier, and they obeyed quickly. It was only natural to flinch when they felt his hands on their wrist, but the only thing that happened was the click of the cuffs unlocking and they were turned back to face Whumper.
“This is a privilege, to have these off,” he shook the cuffs, making them jingle, “It only takes one wrong move to lose that privilege. Do you understand?”
They nodded quickly, tears forming as they looked down at their free hands. They hadn’t been out of cuffs for god knows how long…
He paused, his brow furrowed as he seemed to look over them again, before continuing.
“You will go where I tell you to go, do what I tell you to do, say what I tell you to say. Is that clear?”
Another relief, and another nod. No walking on eggshells or trying to figure out what they wanted, just orders…
Their voice is hoarse but their words were clear, and he nodded in satisfaction.
“You will sleep when I tell you to sleep, and eat when I tell you to eat.”
He began digging through his bag, then pulled out a small blanket, a water bottle, and a paper bag. He held them up like he had the cuffs, shaking them slightly and making the bag rustle.
Their stomach growled at the thought. The blanket looked soft and safe, and they hadn’t been warm for god knows how long… But their eyes were on the water. Clear, clean water. Almost a liter by the looks of it.
After a sluggish second, they realized that he seemed to be waiting for an answer.
“Yes sir?” they try, hoping that that was what he wanted.
He tossed the blanket into the corner, then the bag and water bottle to them, which they managed to catch, to their surprise.
“Eat. Then go to bed. Don’t try anything stupid.”
He was almost out the door, keys in hand to lock it behind him, when their words stopped him.
“Thank you, sir,” they half sobbed, “thank you thank you thank you, yes sir…”
Raw gratitude was all they could feel as they sunk to their knees, trying to unscrew the lid of the water bottle with weak hands.
Everything around them had faded away, nothing but the water held any focus, so when he reached down for the bottle, they weren’t prepared to stop the weak sob that escaped. They thought the order to eat implied to drink as well…
They wanted to beg, plead for him to take everything else, put the handcuffs back, anything, they’d do anything…
So they just watched, unable to fight the few tears that escaped, as he cracked open the seal of the water bottle and twisted the cap off.
They expected him to drink it, or to dump it out on the ground to laugh as they tried to lap up as much as they could. But, he just set it back down in front of them, tossing the cap beside it.
They looked between him and the water, silently asking for permission, heart in their throat. They couldn’t bear to make the same mistake twice.
“Yes sir, thank you sir-“ they managed, lunging for the water with both hands.
The first gulp ripped a sob out of their chest, relief overpowering everything else once again, and they managed half the bottle before needing to stop for air.
They noticed him still watching, looking down at them with an unfamiliar expression. They paused, still clutching the water like a lifeline, hoping it wasn’t a trick… They couldn’t handle it if all of this was a trick.
“You’re not like the others…” he mused, his voice a little softer than before, “Why do you seem…happy?”
Happy might not have been the right word, and they didn’t know what the others were like, but they understood, vaguely, the answer that he was looking for.
There were a lot of things they could say, but they couldn’t sort their thoughts into a coherent pattern.
“You- you took them off,” they gestured with their bare wrists, “and-and water, food, and a blanket, sir. I am grateful, thank you sir…”
“I’m not the worst person you’ve met, am I?”
