Slavery Legalized - Chapter 11: Laundry and Lamentations

Story by Draugr on SoFurry

, , , , , , , , , ,

#11 of Slavery Legalized


Slavery Legalized

by Draugr & Element

Chapter 11: Laundry and Lamentations


[["Creative](%5C)](%5C)

This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License](%5C)


Kana smiled while working with with him, and ran a second rag over a few other things. She looked over at Randall when they were done.

"Okay, now that that's done, we have vacuuming, upstairs and down." Kana walked over and pulled out a clunky-looking vacuum, with the motor connected to a long tube that came to the vacuum pump. The shepherd wheeled it over to the living room and looked at him. "Do me a favor and cover your ears, the initial surprise of it can be a little scary, hehe." She remembered her own experience as she walked in, popped in the cord, and turned it on, where it began to emit a furious racket.

Randall had grabbed the tops of his ears, folded them down, and stuffed his fingers in his ears, deciding to heed Kana's advice - but nevertheless, even though he was expecting it, the sound still startled him enough knock him off his feet. He sat back up, shaking his head a bit.

"Wasn't expecting it to be that loud!" he shouted over the noise.

She chuckled and looked at him. "It's really easy to use!" She shouted as she went over the rug and looked at him. "Here, give it a try! Then you do the upstairs!" The shepherd showed him how to use it, and how to turn it off and on.

Randall grabbed hold of the vacuum, and started going over the rugs and carpets. He did an okay job - he missed a few spots on the carpets, but got around the edges of the room pretty well, which was where most of the dirt was anyway. The wolf lugged it up the stairs with a little difficulty. He hadn't wrapped the cord back up, and it caught on one of the chairs, tugging back and almost sending him tumbling back down the stairs. He set it down on the lower platform, where the two flights connected and switched directions, and then got the cord, wrapping it around his arm. With much greater ease, he managed to get the machine upstairs, and repeated the process up there as well.

"I'm done!" he shouted down the stairwell.

Kana heard the phone ring, and grabbed it. "Randall, Master Georgio's on the phone!" Needless to say, he shot downstairs just as fast as his legs could carry him, tripping on the bottom step and sending him flying into the kitchen. He scrambled to get back up on his feet, and picked up the phone, pressing it tightly to the side of his face.

"Master!" he exclaimed, tail wagging just as furiously as before.

The lion chuckled as he was in his office, leaning back into his chair. "Hello, and here with me calling two minutes late I would think you'd be upset with me, but you seem very happy. Kana told me you used the vacuum? How's that going?"

"It's kinda loud but I think I got the hang of it. Almost tripped down the stairs because I didn't wrap up the cord...I guess I'll remember to do that next time, though. I didn't even see the clock...When are you coming home?" he asked, eagerly.

Georgio chuckled at his wolf's eagerness. "It's ten now...I get back at five, so that's seven more hours Randall, but you be good okay? Master has to go, he has a meeting that's very important, okay? Goodbye, I'll see you in an hour."

"Okay...." Randall said reluctantly as his master hung up the phone. He put the receiver back on the hook.

Kana looked at him and tilted her head. "You really miss him don't you? Is it because you love him, or you are scared of me still?"

The wolf blushed a bit as he said "I miss him...'cause I love him. He keeps me safe. And he treats me like I'm not worthless." The wolf let out a long, pained sigh. "Seven hours..." he said aloud, feeling like that may as well be seven years.

The shepherd smiled and hugged him gently. "Aww, you poor thing. Well, how about we keep working alright? We have to make Master's bed now, you up for that? Hehe, we could take a nap on it after if you want to help you pass the time."

"Ummm....okay, I guess," he said noncommittally, his prior exuberance gone now that he'd been reminded of his separation from his master. He went up the stairs with Kana, looking in at the bed.

"B-but are we allowed up on there? Master isn't home." One of things that was beaten into Randall by the trainers was that you never go up on a piece of furniture unless your master gave you permission.

"Hmm...well, that depends, did your Master say you can sleep in his bed whenever you want?"

"Umm...I guess he didn't say I couldn't..." They walked into the room, and examined the bed, that Randall had made earlier. "It's not that bad really, you just need to tuck it in." The shepherd showed him how to tuck in the corners and make it nice and tight. "How come you don't know how to make a bed, anyways?"

Randall sat down on the floor with his back against the bedpost. He buried his head in his arms, feeling ashamed and embarrassed about his past. For some reason it was harder to admit his past to someone who was his equal than it was to someone who was his better - his master, to be specific.

"I...I wasn't used for..."

He paused a few seconds to gather his emotions.

"For that kind of work."

She knelt beside him and hugged him gently, his head against her bosom. "I'm sorry, my masters did say something about that, I shouldn't have asked...I'm sorry Randall...how about we go take a little nap, your Master will call in a little less then an hour so we can sleep for just a little bit."

"Mmmkay...that sounds good. You're sure he won't be mad with us?" Randall asked, as he climbed up into the bed and completely burrowed under the sheets. It didn't take too long before he was asleep.

Kana looked at him and chuckled as he passed out, having intended to nap on top of the sheets. She crawled up beside him, over the sheet and snuggled up to him passing out as well. While they slept, three hours passed - but the sleeping pair was awoken by the sound of the phone ringing off in the distance. "mmmm hm?...o!? Randall! The phone!"

Randall slowly blinked his eyes, awoken by the odd, high-pitched ringing sound. He wasn't yet quite conscious when Kana had figured out what it was. "Mmmm...hm? Oh!? Randall! The phone!"

He stumbled out of bed, still trying to get his bearings straight, careening into a few walls. He managed to get downstairs without any bodily injury, and picked up the phone right on the last ring.

"Huh...huh....huhhhaaaaaaaaaahhh....hello?" he yawned.

The lion chuckled as he was walking back into his office and smiled. "Well hello hello! How have your chores been going? It's already one, you missed two calls...I was starting to get a touch worried, you having too much fun learning with Kana?" Kana walked down and yawned, seeing the wolf on the phone.

"Umm...we got a few things done. We were gonna take a quick nap for an hour but I guess that turned into three...sorry, Master." Randall yawned again, still not completely woken up.

He smiled "A nap? Well I hope you laid somewhere comfortable like my bed, you know you can sleep on it anytime you want, right?"

"Oh, okay...that's good! I was a bit worried about that," Randall said, relieved that he was allowed to sleep on the bed.

"Well, as long as you're not being punished, but no other furniture, you know better. You can always sleep in my bed of course, you're always welcome in my bed." He meeped and blushed, realizing what he'd just implicated.

"It's nice to sleep with you in your bed too, Master," he said happily, not really noticing his master's faux pas.

"Well, I mean, um, Randall, it's, uh...always nice to have you to keep me warm, heh...um...I mean those sheets are, uh....really thin and I get chilly, is all. Now what else do you have to do for chores?" he finished, trying to change the subject.

"Umm...I think we still have laundry to do. I can't remember the rest. Kana still has the list though." His tail was wagging again like normal as he woke the rest of the way up.

"Hmm...well, I think the kids are back from school at about three, do you think you'll go next door?"

"Umm...I'd rather stay here...but if Kana is leaving I'm going too, I don't wanna be here alone."

Georgio cleared his throat and sighed. "Well, you stay or you go, you pick, okay? But if Kana has to go, then go with her if you need to."

"I'll just stay with Kana, wherever she goes...she's nice. When are you coming home?" he asked, hoping that maybe this time it would be earlier than the time before.

The lion smiled and chuckled as he calmed down a bit. "Well, I'm sorry but it's still five, Randall, you're just going to keep asking untill I say something sooner, huh? Well I'm sorry I can't come home early...but like I said, think about what you want to do. I'll talk to you later, goodbye Randall." He hung up the phone, then saw Kana smiling over at him.

"Was he upset we missed a call?" she asked.

"Nope, he didn't seem to be. And he was okay with us sleeping in his bed, but no other furniture!" he said, mimicking his master's stern tone of voice as he said the last part. "What's next on the list?" he asked Kana. While he waited for her to check, he suddenly realized he had fallen asleep right next to someone who wasn't his master, and had not flinched or trembled or been fearful one bit. Maybe he was getting better?

Kana grinned at his imitation, then checked the list. "Well, we have the laundry, come on." She walked upstairs and went up to the lion's hamper, and, grabbing all the clothes, passing them to Randall. "Here, carry these, okay?" They made their way back downstairs, and into the laundry room. Kana opened the washer door while Randall piled everything on top. "Okay, you separate really bright colors, dark ones, and whites/grays, and if the clothes are well worn and washed several times they can all be washed together pretty much...got all that? Let's do a load of whites and grays first, okay? Let me go grab the list quick to see what else we have to do." She left then, figuring it was safe to leave Randall on his own since he had done so well with the other chores.

Randall tried to remember all the complex information about washing clothes, but a few things escaped him. As she left, he started loading the grays and the whites in - he remembered back, and if he had any more questions, she would be back soon enough.

Hmm...there is still a bit of room left...and it would be faster to get things all done at once, right?

The wolf separated out dark colors and bright colors, that much he remembered, still. He stuffed in the bright colors...and about half of the dark before no amount of pushing nor shoving would get any more in.

"Oh well, I guess it can be done in two loads." He tried shutting the door, but for some reason it wouldn't latch. Too many clothes in there.

He tried getting one of the shirts out, but it was stuck. The wolf growled, growing a little frustrated with the situation. He grabbed hold of the sleeve, wrapped it around his paw, and yanked. Still nothing. He braced himself up against the washer, his foot-paws placed up on the front of the machine, and leaned back. The sleeve ripped off from the shirt, sending him flying backwards and crashing into the wall. He smacked his head pretty good...the wolf tried keeping his temper down, but it got the best of him.

"Aaaarrrgghgghghgh!!!" he growled, very loudly, blaming the washing machine for his stupidity. He raked his claws across the wall, slashing into the wallpaper, then turned around and yanked a few more of the clothes out, shredding a few in the process. He tried shutting the door again, and it still wouldn't shut.

He put it in place as best he could, and tried kicking it - resulting in more damage to his foot than to the metal door, although he did leave a visible dent in it. He howled aloud at the pain.

"Arrrghggh! Shit!" he screamed.

Kana was in the kitchen, looking for the list, realizing she had left it tucked in the band of her loincloth. She rolled her eyes, feeling like a dummy, and had just turned around to head back when she heard Randall scream. She ran back to the laundry room, finding the wolf in a rage, holding his foot. "My god, what happened?! Randall are you alright? You look hurt!"

"The...the...the....argh! The clothes wouldn't come out!" he was practically spitting the words out, he was still so mad at what had happened.

She sighed and looked at him, taking on a more stern disposition. "Go sit at the kitchen table, I'll take care of this, and then I want to look at your foot." The shepherd swatted his nose before he could leave though, eliciting a yelp from the lupine, and then proceeded to give him little stern scolding. "Shame on you, I know your master would be ashamed of that temper, look what you did, it looks like you shredded some of his clothes."

Randall grabbed at his nose and whimpered as he was scolded by Kana. He ducked down a little instinctively, thinking he was about to get beat, but the reaction was not so strong since Kana was a slave like him. The wolf's temper slowly disappeared, and gave way to feelings of shame and he looked at the destruction he had caused - several of Master's clothes were ruined, likely beyond repair, the wallpaper was scratched, and there was a dent in his washing machine. He hung his head low and limped out to the kitchen. As his head cleared and the situation in its whole became more clear to him...he felt absolutely awful. He sat on the kitchen floor, wringing his hands together, dreading Master's next phone call. He began to realize he hadn't just disappointed his Master, he'd probably disappointed Kana, and made a bad impression to boot. He hoped he hadn't gotten Kana in trouble too.

Meanwhile, Kana just sighed and took the clothes out of the machine, placing only the grays and whites back in. "I knew I shouldn't have left him alone, the note even said so on the bottom, after "Don't Read Aloud." I hope I don't get punished for leaving him be..." The shep gathered the tattered clothes, setting them in a pile to the side, then turned on the washing machine. She walked over the the kitchen where she sat beside Randall, taking his foot in her paw.

"How's this feel?...This?...Can you move them?"

"I can move them...they just hurt a bit," he winced.

She looked up and him and put his foot down. "I'm glad you're alright...but my goodness, what were you doing? I told you darks, lights, and whites and grays, why did you put in all three!? You can't over-stuff a washer, it has its limits..."

"I thought...I thought it would get done faster with more in it..."

Randall's eyes began to tear up a bit, and he looked down into his lap. "I didn't get you in trouble, did I?" Randall asked, ears folded to the side of his head. He was worried about himself, sure, but he was more worried about getting Kana in trouble. He didn't want to make the first slave he'd met since coming home with his new master hate him.

Kana sighed and looked away "I hope not, but I'm gonna tell your Master when he calls, alright? Unless you want to do it?" The shepherd didn't know what to say to him but only to scold him a bit, since she couldn't punish him. "You need to learn to curb that anger, if you don't, your Master could very well have you sleeping on the floor untill you learn to behave..."

"I know...I just...I...I don't know why I get so mad at things." The wolf sighed. "You'd better tell him...I...I don't know what to say...but I wanna talk to him after you're done...I feel horrible. I let him down and I let you down."

Randall hoped his master wouldn't make him sleep on the floor, although with what he had just done, he wouldn't be surprised if he was punished many different ways...his other masters had been plenty fond of multifaceted punishments. On the floor, he could imagine himself spending all night awake, absolutely terrified...the one comfort he had, whether he was being good or bad, was that his master would at least hold him still, and let him know he loved him.

"I never acted like this for...for the others...I guess I'm just...bad." Randall spoke the last word as though it were a death sentence.

Kana pouted and took him into her arms and rocked him a bit. "Shh, there there, it was a mistake, but you learned somehow to watch that anger of yours, didn't you Randall?" She looked down, wiping the tears from his eyes. "You also have to ask questions aloud to others instead of experimenting like that, alright? Especially with your master's things." She stroked along his cheek, like his master often did, and smiled gently. "You didn't disappoint me or your Master, I'm sure he knew something might happen, but as long as the house didn't go up in flames, I'm sure he won't be too upset, and as for me, I think I may get a scolding at most, but that's it, alright?"

Randall took a deep breath, dreading the sound of a phone ringing in a not-distant-enough future. He felt a little bit better knowing Kana would only get scolded. He let the shep hold him, the rocking sensation calming his nerves a bit.

"I guess I'm just too eager for my own good..." he said. Every time he tried to take some big initiative to make someone else happy, and show that he could be useful, life threw it right back in his face.

She looked at him, frowning at his self-depreciation. "Well, maybe you're trying too big....it's like...if you make a giant feast for one person, they'll only get too full and a sore tummy, see? So try smaller leaps, and if you're curious, ask, please! Ask!"

Randall thought that seemed like good advice. He probably was trying too big...'baby steps' as his master had told him several times. That was what he needed to take - baby steps.

Her ears popped up as the phone rang and she got up to answer it. "Hello...yes...well, I have something to tell you..." She explained the situation and handed the phone to the wolf, who took it reluctantly.

"I'm glad you're okay Randall, is your foot okay? Now....tell me nice and calmly, I'm not mad mind you, now what happened?" The lion really was not mad at all, having figured something like this might happen, and he knew that being upset would only make things worse on Randall, with all the wolf's past experiences.

"I'm fine, Master..." Randall said, sounding absolutely miserable. He took a deep breath before going, trying to gather himself together. "I tried to wash the laundry...but there was too much in it, and stuff got stuck inside. I got mad, and ruined some of your clothes, and the wallpaper...and I put a big dent in the machine." The wolf somehow managed to stave off another storm of tears, resigning himself to his fate.

"Don't be mad at Kana, it was my fault." he added.

He sighed and rubbed his eyes for a second. "Randall, I've told you about this temper of yours. Frankly, I'm not going to say I'm disappointed, honestly I'm actually pretty happy. It's better that you make a mistake like that, rather than when you're cooking and burn yourself or the house down. Kana won't be punished, I promise, I assume she just left you for a second....but I'm just relieved you're okay and for now, that's all that matters.

"Yeah, she was only gone for a second...she just left to get the chore list from the kitchen," he confirmed. "I just...lost control..."

"Well...for now, I want you to promise me you'll try to smile and stay happy for me okay?"

"I don't think I can smile, Master...but I'll try..." He was too preoccupied dreading whatever punishment he was going to receive. This was even worse than the pancake incident...at least then no permanent damage had been done.

The lion sighed. "Well, for now, you have no punishment, alright? But we are gonna sit and talk about this, and that isn't code for 'I'm gonna beat you or rape you' or anything, it means you and I will sit down, and we will discuss this, alright? Good, then I'll talk to you in an hour...and Randall, you're going with Kana in an hour to her place. Bye." Randall hung up the phone and sat back down. Kana looked over at at the wolf, her eyes showing concern. She was scared for him, and wasn't sure what had happened.

"Well?" she asked.

"He said that he'd talk to me about it whenever he got home...then I suppose I'll be punished. But he said he won't beat me or rape me. He's not like other masters..." the wolf said, perking up a little bit as he realized this. Whatever Master decided for him, he knew it would be fair.

"I'm s'posed to go with you to your house whenever you have to go."

She nodded as she hugged him. "It'll be okay, Randall, your Master is a good fur." The shep headed to the stairs. "Come on, we have to remake the bed, the kids will be back in an hour." She took him upstairs and showed him the proper way to make the bed again.

"Alright, well, let's see...the laundry load should be done now, but I think I'll do the next one this time." Kana walked down and took the laundry load out, placing it into the dryer. She knew she was supposed to explain how to set the dryer up, but considering how things had just gone...

"Maybe its best if Master talks to you about this, okay?"

Randall simply nodded at everything Kana told him, feeling too worried sick to talk much. He followed her around and tried to commit everything she did to memory.

He did speak up once, however, a bit shyly. "So...how did you end up a slave?"

At that point, they were working on drying the second load of laundry. Her ears popped up, looking at Randall curiously.

"Oh...me? Heh...well, I guess it's not exactly a happy story.." Kana stopped for a moment and looked down at the shorts in her paws. "Well...I was sold....more like forced into this by my parents....they sold me because they said they didn't love me anymore." She looked away, feeling embarrassed and sad. "I...I told them I liked girls, and not boys....and well...next thing I knew the slave police came, collared me and escorted me to a processing plant, I spent six months being "tamed" and broken by them..." The shepherd looked up at him for a moment, realizing how Randall might interpret that.

"They beat me...a lot...but I'm lucky I was a virgin, so they didn't do anything like that to me, I guess my worth skyrockets because of that..." Her paws tightened up a bit, but she tried to keep smiling a little. "But...I "graduated" obedience training...and, well...I was being shipped and...and your Master saw me....dirty, broken, feeling hopeless, but...he pet my head and looked at me with...the kindest eyes I had ever seen, and said 'Hey...you look like you could use a good home, little one.'" She blushed and looked away from the wolf.

"And I found myself with Master Tom and John, they needed a nanny to take care of their kids and were so kind, even though I was so scared of them, I bet you can imagine." Kana leaned against the dryer after she had loaded and started it up. "I spent so long scared of them, but I trusted your Master and quickly learned to trust them and...they knew my attraction for females, your Master saw the same on my information file, and he said he thought I would be a good nanny for them." She kept blushing, then looked back up at him.

"Master Tom and John treat me like their own...they even said I'm the daughter they always wanted." Tears came to her eyes as she tried to wipe them. "They are the loving parents I never had, and I'm happy I'm theirs, I have a family that loves me and sees me as if I was their own pup, I can't ever repay what your Master has done for me, but I promised I would try my best to repay his kindness."

Randall couldn't help but tear up himself at Kana's story, it was awful, nearly as bad as his own. He went up and hugged her tight.

"I think both of us are super-lucky my master found us when he did." He looked back at her, meeting her eyes for the first time since he'd met her. There was an odd lucidness in his eyes, as though suddenly the years of torture and abuse had suddenly been stripped from him, and he was the grown, mature wolf he would have been without all the negative influence in his life.

"Parents are not parents only because you're born to them. Parents are the ones who love you unconditionally, no matter what. Some of us that means our birth parents, others, not." His own parents had merely tolerated him, they hadn't sold him off...but he wasn't sure they ever really loved him. If he had been an alpha wolf, sure...they had tried to force that on him so bad, but not everyone can be born an alpha.

"Master sort of cracked my shell, metaphorically speaking. I've spent so long being treated less than dirt, I was convinced that was true. I just holed up inside myself and built up a wall so I couldn't get hurt...and I guess I just needed someone that actually loved me. He cracked through, and yeah...I get hurt now. But I don't care, because I know Master will be there for me." Randall's eyes quickly fell away again, falling back into his normal, more juvenile self - it had taken a lot to maintain eye contact with another living fur that long, even with an equal, much less a free fur. Randall had spent so much of his life avoiding eye contact that it was unlikely that would ever change to a great degree. Possible - but not likely. But this is life's tragedy - some furs are broken beyond repair, only love and mutual respect can hope to even begin to fix them.

She looked at him and hugged him back tightly as she reclaimed her senses. Kana wiped her eyes and nodded. "You're right, Master Tom and John are the only parents I ever want, and my little brothers, I'll always look after." The shep kissed his cheek and smiled. "Thank you, Randall....and you're right, we both are lucky Master Georgio found us and I'm glad he's broken your shell..and I think I may have made a dent myself."

"Yeah...maybe, you might have..." the wolf trailed off. He was feeling a bit better though, and his tail wagged back and forth just a couple times.

Kana smiled more, feeling much more cheerful as well. "Well, we have a bit of time before the machine is ready for a final load, what shall we do?"

Randall thought a moment. He wasn't really sure what they should do. "I guess...let's work more on that list. Maybe Master won't be as upset with me if we get more done."

She nodded and smiled. "Well, all we have left is to show you to cook, and the boys will be back soon, so I think we can try something simple like sandwiches for now. Not really cooking, but it is preparing food, your master wants you to be able to do that." They went into the kitchen where Kana grabbed the bread and a cutting board. "Okay, do you have any idea what you like in a sandwich? PB&J? Cold cuts? Meat? Anything?"

Randall looked at her quizzically. "I didn't ever often have real food like this. I don't know what I like. Meat sounds good, though." he said, licking his chops.

She smiled and nodded as she went to the fridge and grabbed out some cold cut meats. "These are pre-sliced meats from the store, so you can just put on what you like." The shep made him a sandwich with some various meats on it and a little mustard to soften it up a touch, making sure he was watching so that he could learn how. She was still amazed that simple tasks like this escaped the wolf, but she understood why that was. "Here give it a bite...you like it?"

"Itsshh goovbb!" Randall said, his mouth completely full of food. He devoured the thing in seconds, since his master wasn't around to scold him.

She watched him eat and poked his nose. "Now I didn't think I had to teach you manners....you don't talk with your maw full and you don't shove it down like an animal, thank you very much!" Kana looked at him and shook her head in disapproval. "Your master wouldn't approve of that you know, shame, Randall."

Randall folded his ears back against his head, and wiggled his nose a bit after it was poked.

"Sorry...in the past I had to eat really fast because I might not have it for long...hard to change habits." The wolf knew his master wouldn't approve of that, he just thought he could pull a fast one and get away with it - obviously not under Kana's watchful eye.

"That seems easy enough to make," he coughed, trying to change the subject. He quickly made another one on his own, and ate much more slowly, this time. He was cleaning off his teeth with his tongue when the chimes on the clock indicated it was 2:55. Randall suddenly looked a little bit nervous.

"Getting close to that time, isn't it?"

Kana peered at the clock and nodded. "Yes, after Master Georgio's call, we'll head over to my Master's home with the boys...you okay with that?"

He looked downward, and mumbled something about being okay with going over with Kana, but it was clear that the idea made him a little nervous.

She smiled and hugged him a bit, and kissed his head. "What are you so scared of anyways? Is it my masters? Because they are really are so kind, I promise, and the boys aren't total terrors, they're really well behaved."

"I don't know...there's a lot of things that I don't know why I'm scared of. I just am," Randall sighed, in sort of defeated way. "It's just scary doing anything without Master...it was hard enough just to be here with you without him...and now leaving the house?"

The wolf paused.

"It's not rational at all, but the fear is still there..."

She smiled and held his paw for a moment. "Well it's just next door, and you did get use to me didn't you? I bet your Master wants you to do this to grow a bit, ya know?"

As the phone rang, signaling three o'clock, Randall looked over at the phone, not sure what to do.

"You talk to him, and I'll do the last of the laundry," Kana said.

"I suppose..." Randall said as the phone rang, although he didn't feel much better about it.

The wolf slowly padded over to the phone and picked up the receiver.

"Master?" he said, timidly. He wasn't sure what to expect after his earlier behavior.

Georgio smiled, hearing his wolf's voice. "Hey....what's wrong, you seem upset, did something new happen? Are you excited to go over Kana's home? I'll make sure to call there at four too, just so you know."

"Nothing new...but I got in trouble, remember?" he said. "I'm worried...you won't be there and it's a different house. There's gonna be a lot of furs there..."

"Yeah, I know you got in trouble, and I said don't be worried about it. You are not being punished at all for it yet, we are just going to talk about this first, alright? You sound like you're terrified, and you know I'll call there and that I'll come over and get you, I promise. And the furs there are very nice, I promise, okay? Can you be brave for me Randall, please?"

"I'll try..." he said, making a few whining noises. Randall thought this was asking quite a lot out of him - he just hoped he would be able to make it.

Georgio smiled and nodded. "Good. Now, Randall, I'm going to say goodbye for an hour, but fair warning...Don't. Touch. Anything! Without prior permission! I can't protect you from a punishment if you do something at John and Tom's, they can punish you if they need to, or correct you, I called them and already told them such. So be a good boy. I realize you're just taking the initiative and trying to help...but baby steps Randall, okay? And for god's sake, ask a question when you're curious, alright? I'll see you in an hour, bye." The lion hung up and sighed, leaning back in his office chair. "I hate being stern with him but he's so damned timid to ask a question, he needs to learn...and if he screws up at the guy's house...well, he may learn faster..."

Kana came in smiling "How's your Master? Are you ready to go?"

"I think he's a bit upset with me...but he doesn't wanna say it over the phone. I can't really tell for sure." Randall seemed a bit dejected at this thought. The wolf took in a deep breath.

"I guess I'm ready..." he said, inching towards the door with Kana, quite reluctantly.