Friend and Slave chapter 2 - Different
Friend and Slave chapter 2 - Different
Nicas' time in the sock is long, at least it feels long. He sits there, taking in the scent of mouse feet that surrounds him, slowly getting used to the smell while he thinks.
"I wonder when he's going to let me out this time..." sighs the wolf to himself, wrapping his arms around his legs and hugging his knees to his chest. He remembers that the last time Cole did this to him, he didn't get out until it was lunch time; a full 4 hours from when the bus normally picks the mouse up.
Things used to be a lot easier for the little wolf, nothing was expected of him except that he'd be with Cole; at least that's how things were up to about 4 months ago, right before Cole turned 18. Nicas still remembers the day well...
It was three days before Cole's birthday and Nicas had been been just as elated over it as Cole had been. Cole and his parents had gone out to buy him a present and so Nicas was left with Serenity and Kiara.
"I wouldn't be so excited about it if I were you, Nicas." Serenity frowns a little, settling on her bed and crossing her legs in front of the little wolf. She rests her elbows on her thighs and lets her head settle inside of her palms.
"Why not? It's his eighteenth birthday, what's not to be excited about?" Nicas says, sprawled out before the giant mouse. Kiara is settled next to Nicas, giving him a pleasant scritch behind the ears. "It's his coming of age, he has to take responsibility for you now, he has to teach you how to behave properly." She says gently, still rubbing at the wolf's skull gently with her claws.
"I'm sure it won't be that bad, Cole's nice. I mean, he might play a little roughly at times but we're friends."
"You're his -slave-, Nicas." Serenity shoots, emphasizing the word. "I know you've known him for a long while and I know Cole isn't going to hurt you or anything but... it's going to be different. Let me ask you this, Nick, are you happy with your situation?"
"What do you mean?"
"Being a slave, Nicas."
"What kind of question is that? I like being with Cole, we're friends. Besides, he already said that he wouldn't be treating me like a normal slave. We've known each other for nearly thirteen years, Sera."
"A lot can change when they turn eighteen, Nicas. And all of us live with our masters starting from a young age." Kiara begins, looking up to her mistress to make sure it's alright. Serenity nods softly and Kiara continues. "A disobedient micro is as good as dead once their master comes of age; giants that can't control their charges are usually viewed as weak."
"So I'll do what he tells me to do in public. Cole won't put me up to anything I can't handle," replies the wolf with a slight frown. Why're they on his case today?
Serenity only sighs. "Well, just... don't be surprised if things change, alright, Nicas?"
Later that night, once Cole is home again, Nicas sits on the floor before his master's looming frame. "How was it, Cole? Did you get anything good?" Cole looks down at Nicas, giving a slight smile but Nicas senses something slightly off about it... as if Cole were actually looking down on him, somehow pitying him for something.
"It's Master Cole, Nicas, and yea, I picked out a laptop." He shifts his foot forward and holds a toe before Nicas' muzzle. "How about a kiss for Master, Nicky?" He asks, watching as the wolf hesitates for a second. Why is Cole acting so strangely? He tries to shrug it off, standing up to walk over to the huge, pink toes.
"Sounds nice, can't wait to test it out with you. And... no one is around, I thought it was alright if I call you Cole when we're not around your parents?" He rubs at the mouse's foot, pressing his palms against the sole and moving his hands in circles.
"I said kiss, Nicas, and it's not alright anymore. I'm your master and you have to call me that from now on." He says, wriggling his toes and pushing the wolf backwards a little. Nicas, feeling a little indignant, does lean to kiss at his Master's toe. It's a little salty, having obviously been sweating a little earlier in the day. The smell isn't entirely unpleasant but Nicas doesn't quite want to spend too much time near his owner's feet.
"Good boy." States Cole, bringing a toe up and rubbing against the top of Nicas' head. The wolf shifts and smiles a little bit. "Can we talk about why it's not alright? It's just... Serenity said things are gonna change now and I didn't believe her but you've never... you've never enforced the whole terminology thing before, at least not until just now..."
"There's nothing to talk about, Nicas, this is how you were supposed to act in the first place." Cole says simply, continuing to pet the wolf gently.
The simplicity of the statement confuses Nicas. There's no way Cole just did a 180 because of the notion that he was always supposed to act that way. "You know you can talk to me about anything, Cole... right? Did your parents tell you something while you were --"
The foot suddenly sweeps out and knocks Nicas backwards and Cole's heel comes down on his chest, forcing the air from his lungs. He attempts to curl up but the foot blocks him so all he can do is let out a sharp whine and writhe there beneath the mouse's heel. Cole frowns slightly, watching Nicas struggle for about ten seconds before he brings his heel up and settles his foot down next to Nicas, framing the tiny wolf between his two large, pink footpaws.
"Master Cole, Nicas. I told you to call me Master, is it that hard?"
Nicas groans and rubs his stomach. What's going on? Why is Cole doing this? He looks up at the towering mouse. "M-Master, comeon, lay off, alright? T-that really hurt." He says, afraid of the towering form of his friend.
"If you do as I say then you won't have to be punished, Nicky, that's all there is to it." The mouse says before reaching to grab his laptop. "Get up and fetch my socks, Nicky. My feet are a bit cold."
Nicas looks at Cole incredulously, it's almost like he's a different person altogether. He begins to wonder what happened on that trip to the store... it did take them 3 hours just to pick up a laptop. Nicas, not wanting to be stepped on again, stands and limps over to the two huge, somewhat dirty socks lying in the middle of the room. He grabs at them and starts to drag them across the floor, bringing them over to Cole before settling them at his feet.
"Master Cole? What ha--"
"Why're you standin' there, Nicky? Put them on." He says, splaying his toes out for the wolf barely an inch tall in comparison to him. Nicas feels like he's in the twilight zone or something, he can't believe Cole would insinuate that he could accomplish something like that. Still, the pain in his midsection makes him try, at least. He hooks one end of the sock over Cole's leftmost toe and then tries to stretch it to reach the rightmost. Cole doesn't exactly cooperate, and after several tries Nicas becomes frustrated.
"Cole! Wh-why are you doing this? What's gotten into you? I-I can't do this stuff without your help, why are you--" He winces, holding his hands over his head as Cole suddenly brings his foot up into the air and then slams it down mere inches from the wolf.
Nicas is tossed into the air by the sheer force of the stomp, landing on the ground with a groan. He stares at the foot settled next to him, the one that nearly crushed him moments ago and then slowly and hesitantly rolls over to look up at the towering frame of the rodent above. He shivers, feeling his fur frizzle and his mind moving several hundred miles per second. Why is Cole doing this? Did he do something wrong?
"You're my slave, Nicky, you have to do what I tell you to do when I tell you to do it, alright? I've been too easy on you but I won't be making the same mistakes anymore."
"M-master, why? I-I liked our relationship, we were friends..."
"We can still be friends, Nick, but you have to do as I say, you can't ever talk back to me, and you must refer to me as your master; these are the terms. If you don't then..." Cole frowns a little. "Just don't disobey, alright, Nicky? It'll be okay. Now, I will help a little so that you can get the hang of it. Put my sock on..."
The next day, Cole leaves with his parents again and Nicas is left with Serenity once more.
"I don't get it, Sera... what changed? Why did he suddenly want me to... to..." He frowns slightly. "To be proper?" he dislikes the word, but this is, of course, what it is. Up to this point he'd treated Cole like a larger best-friend. Now it just feels like Cole doesn't feel the same way, as if Cole is, for the first time, realizing that he has a slave, not a best friend.
"I told you, Nicas, things change after eighteen."
"But they didn't for you and Kiara! I mean, sure, she's your slave and all but I don't understand why you two get along so well, I've never seen you do the things Cole just did to me to her."
Serenity frowns slightly, looking to Kiara for a moment. Kiara smiles a little, walking over to hug Nicas. "You and I are different, Nicas." She begins to purr when the wolf hugs back, squeezing into her slightly larger frame.
"What do you mean different?" The wolf asks, peering up into the eyes of the tigress. "Well, I-" She tenses slightly as Serenity tugs at her tail, pulling her backwards. "We can't tell him that, Ki. It's Cole's responsibility, not ours." Serenity picks the tigress up and settles the micro feline between the warm embrace of her breasts, squeezing gently to get the tigress nice and snug.
"Can't tell me what? Please, Sera, I feel lost, you're the only one who can help me right now..."
The fact of the matter is that she shouldn't even have started speaking to Nicas about this. She should have let it go and allowed Cole to handle it. Serenity takes on a serious look as she peers down at the little wolf, thinking about something for a while before she finally sighs. "You can't tell Cole that I told you what I'm about to say, Nicas. If I find out that you told him, I'll take care of you myself, is that understood?"
Nicas hesitates, Serenity has never threatened him even remotely in the past. Still, he has to know, so he nods a little. "...yes, Mistress Serenity..."
"I can't tell you everything, but I'll tell you why this is going to be harder for you than it was for Kiara. You might not believe me but, when you feel yourself doubting, ask yourself if there's a reason I'd be lying right now." She takes a breath and gets on with it, "Domestic micros, shortly after they're born, are injected with a special gene-altering compound that makes them naturally more submissive and obedient. It's really only required for a minority of micros as you are all adopted at a fairly young age. You become used to the treatment early on and don't question it later in life. The minority is the population of micros that -would- question it if it were not for the compound and even, perhaps, attempt to overturn the system."
"What does that have to do with me, though?" Questions the little wolf, winning him a slight flick from Serenity, knocking him onto his back. "I'm getting to it, calm down."
The mouse giantess presses her finger to Nicas' chest and holds him to the bed for a moment, choosing her words carefully. "You're... defective, Nicas. It's not obvious for the first few years of a micro's development whether the compound worked or not. Of the minority that the compound is needed in, you're in an even smaller minority... you're somehow immune to it."
Nicas noses against the pink finger of the mouse's hand, lowering his ears as he listens. "So... what does that mean?"
"You're a wild card. You haven't conformed completely to being a servant, and it's apparent that the compound won't work on you. Micros that aren't domesticated aren't treated well, Nicas. You don't have to deal with it because you have a Master. If they ever conclude that you might attempt to rally other micros or, somehow, disrupt the way this all works then... then Cole will be charged with getting rid of you... Permanently."
A chill runs down Nicas' spine at the last sentence, it becoming obvious to the wolf why Cole had a change of heart. "Why? You're saying that Cole can't treat me even remotely like... like he would a friend?"
"Yes, and I can't tell you why. I've already told you more than I should've... I'm sorry, Nicky..."
That night, after Cole returned, Nicas is sitting on the mouse's desk while Cole does homework. The wolf stares over the sheet of paper his master writes over, staying silent and watching the mouse work through math problems. He's somewhat mortified today as his master returned from the shopping trip with something new for him... a cage.
He avoids looking at it, figuring this means he won't be sleeping with Cole anymore. He can't help but be filled with questions. He wants to plead with Cole, to convince the mouse that he can put on an act that any of the other giants would believe... that he could be treated just like Cole had always treated him in private and act as a slave in public.
"Master?" He asks gently, causing the mouse to peer over towards him."Could I... make a request?"
Cole frowns a little but doesn't do much more than sit up and set his pencil down, giving Nicas his full attention.
"Could we sleep together for just one more night? You don't turn eighteen until tomorrow. I promise I'll try my hardest to adjust to this but... just once more...please?"
It's obvious that Cole is wrestling with himself a little, his eyes narrow a little and when he reaches for Nicas. The wolf feels as if he made a terrible mistake in even bringing it up as Cole's fingers wrap firmly around him and lift the small wolf up to his muzzle. Nicas closes his eyes, wondering what Cole is about to do but just as he assumes the worst, the mouse simply nuzzles against him.
When Nicas gathers the courage to look up again, Cole's eyes and facial features have softened.
"Yes, Nicky, one more night. I'm sorry for yesterday, I was probably too harsh. Things are gonna be different from now on but I tried to change you too quickly. I'm gonna take it a bit slower from now on, 'kay?"
Nicas smiles, nodding quickly and hugging his Master's muzzle. "Thank you, Master."
A sudden jolt wakes Nicas from his walk down memory lane, reminding him that he's trapped in one of his master's dirty socks. He rubs his head and hears the students getting off of the bus. He also hears Cole's voice and it sounds like he's talking to Mont, a raccoon-morph.
"I'm beginning to think they were right about him, Mont." Cole says, giving a bit of a sigh as he walks behind the 'coon to get off of the bus. Mont looks a little sympathetic, wrapping his arm about the mouse's shoulder. "Nicas won't let you down, he's a good little wolf. I hear that, if you're able to train a resistant micro, then you get more bang for your buck compared to the other non-resistant type."
"Maybe" Cole says, smiling to the raccoon. "Still, he's clumsy, and my parents are getting impatient with him. I kinda feel like I need to start being harsher..."
Nicas blocks the rest of the conversation, covering his ears so he doesn't have to listen. He tried! He was trying his best but Cole had to go move his foot. "What was I supposed to do?" He says to himself, frowning. "There was nothing I could do..."