Sesshoumaru's Slave

VI: The Collar
6100+ words

Note: Allow us to introduce a few female OCs for your entertainment as they interact with Sesshoumaru and his hot little slave: serving girl Nishi and the deliciously talented leopard youkai Akemi (the latter also appears in CLAIMING KIN).

Sage's memories quiet as a more pressing, real-life need reminds him that he's not asleep, that he's still naked with his New Master's fur wrapped around him, and he has no idea where he can do his...business. This isn't something a slave should wake a master for either!! This is something other slaves tell you or servants...and you have to keep your nose on them so they don't trick you into using the Lady of the House's personal pot or privy. Still...between eating last night and Midori's medicine...well he can hold it. But not indefinitely.

Sesshoumaru wakes when he feels the slave move, his breathing less calm, even. He is not unused to bed partners, though sleeping through the night with them is rare, very rare. Giving a servant bragging rights is dangerous enough, but being able to say one has spent the night? Too risky, and foolish. Yet, he has slept well, remarkably, with his fur wrapped around the slave. He rouses more fully, as does his fur, and he smells the scent of some small urgency in the little dark slave that is his brother. He rises to his knees and scoops up the boy. A morning fuck won't be possible until a morning piss is out of the way. And the little one, of course, does not know where to go or how to ask. It endears him, rouses him, too. Perhaps he'll hold the little cock as he urinates. That ought to provide a nice surprise for the "experienced" little slave. They make their way to the small side-chamber where the china urns sit, awaiting their fill.

His arms go up around Master's neck as he's lifted up and carried towards something he can just smell. He knows he had better say something. Something proper. "Good morning Master," he says very very quietly, even though Doki is quite happy to still be in and out and around Master's big fur.

Sesshoumaru chuckles a single note. "Good morning to you, slave." He puts the boy down and kneels beside him. "You smell as if you have to go very badly."

His nose quivers. Yes, very faint smell of urine. VERY faint. He has to be right on top of it to smell it. It must take a good bit of doing for that. He squirms; wanting to cross his legs or grab his crotch but does neither as neither is proper for a slave before his Master. "Yes, Master," he replies promptly. Piss...why is that bothering...he smells piss and nothing more. That can't be right.

Sesshoumaru points to the empty urn before them. "Aim right in there, little slave. Master will watch." With pleasure.

"Yes, Master," he says as he shifts on his feet and moves his half-hard prick to aim carefully. Oh, he has to go badly enough that he's half hard!! Luckily, modesty is not something he, as a slave, is burdened with. The pee flows well and long and he struggles to suppress the sigh of relief. At least that pressure is off...

"Good boy," Sesshoumaru encourages, inhaling the strong scent. "If you ask permission first properly, this is where you will go to relieve yourself. He points above at a shelf with a shallow bowl of water, soap, and towels. "For cleaning," he says, then adds: "Use a cloth, always, to clean your bottom." He wonders how the boy has formerly kept that little hole clean, but realizes he probably has not, more often than not. His nose wrinkles at the thought. A dog he is, but a clean one. "Now it's time to reapply some of the cream to your back to ensure you continue to heal well." He touches the scarred back gently.

"Yes, Master," he says as he pays attention to everything around him, cleaning himself a little, though he had dribbled only a little. "Clean my bottom? But...I don't understand, Master," he says even as Doki moves from Master's big fur to wrap up around his shoulders and neck, baring his back for Master.

He points to a larger urn with a lid sitting in a wooden stand. Its brim is wide that one can crouch over and even onto it. "What does my little slave do when he must relieve himself of more than piss?" He cocks his head, waiting for an answer that will no doubt entertain.

"Oh yes, please, Master..." The thought of being able to relieve himself of that pressure; the relief is palpable. The medicine will do that, he knows, but there's usually only two doses. The parasites are happy enough to leave his body, given the right incentive.

"Is this your attempt to request to use what we call the 'large urn,' little one? I think you can do better." He indulges himself in demanding a formal request, sensing that the boy truly has to go, and only too willing to let him.

Oh no. He has to ask...and he's not sure how to ask a Master without first getting the wording for that particular household from another slave or servant!! Doki flips down as he kneels and feels the familiar soft, warmth of Doki's tail end across the soles of his feet. "I..." Large urn??? Inside?? Is that what they call it, then? "Please Master, your humble slave asks your indulgence so that he may make use of the large...urn." He keeps his face to his hands to the floor. He had thought he'd no true modesty left, but asking a Master for such a thing...before asking one of his own caste...bizarre and a little frightening.

"Of course," he says casually over his shoulder as he turns to go. "Clean yourself well when you have finished and return to me, pretty slave." He informs the guard that the large urn will need to be removed as soon as Sage is finished. So near to his room, he requires defecation to be removed promptly, always. And he orders tea and sweet rice and whatever ripe fruit is available for when the boy is hungry again. Then, rifling through a cupboard, he finds a soft leather lead he once used on a palace hound pup he considered keeping in his chambers but thought better of when it whined. Spoiled pups his mother raises, always, but wonderful and eager guard dogs and protectors, too. This slave will be even more pleasant in many ways. He considers how best to use the lead in showing Sage around the wing and perhaps the gardens today.

"Thank you Master," he says gratefully as Master leaves. And he's grateful for that as well. Peeing is something that's done...pretty much everywhere. He isn't a puppy who makes puddles on the floor (though he once had a master who wanted him to make puppy puddles so he could then be punished), but he knows from experience that his shit will not be...nice, for the next few days probably. He thanks Midori, silently in his head again and again the whole time he is on the urn. Master had said last night that he might thank Midori when he sees her next...and he wants to thank her rightly. She is very clearly a high-level servant, and yet her touch was so gentle and the medicine was sweetened and...and so many things. So many different things here. But Master is the biggest, most important difference. He hasn't seen much, but he's pretty sure he doesn't want to leave here. Last night...oh oww...that does remind him and he wuffs to himself in amusement. Familiarity is comforting. He hopes Master doesn't get impatient. He is hurrying as much as he can.

Sesshoumaru returns to the guard, tells him to await the command to remove the urn from the back hallway, and asks a second guard to summon Akemi, the leatherworker who does the detail work for his formal armor. The leopard youkai never ceases to annoy him with her forthrightness, but she is skilled and worthy of the respect his family pays her. She and only she will make this slave collar, of that he is determined. And he cannot wait to enjoy Sage's response to the fuss Akemi will make over what he knows will be her pleasure in this little task.

The second guard bows and runs off to summon Akemi. Lord Sesshoumaru must be pretty serious about this slave. They knew nothing except that he has been bathed and medicated and fed. Midori never carries tales to anyone, which makes her very unpopular in some of the little groups of servants, and gives only what information -- to whomever she is getting things from, such as parasite medicine, or special soap or what-have-you -- is needed and not a word more. He passes the kitchen servant on his way with the tray for the young Lord.

Sage finally finishes up and begins to clean himself carefully. Oh, thank goodness for soap and water. He didn't want to resort to cleaning himself...well...when he didn't have access to anything to clean his mouth. Somehow, he doesn't think this Master would care for that very much. But he knows well how to clean himself and he does, very completely, and then washes his hands and face, stroking his damp fingers through his clean hair. He's clean. It's amazing. Gingerly, he opens the door and slips back towards Master.

Nishi nearly stumbles over the burly guard before her. Handsome he is, and strong probably, too. She giggles as she carefully rights the tray with the food for Lord Sesshoumaru. Such an honor to carry it to the guard at the Lord's door! And of course she only has this honor because the girl who should be doing it is ill this day. "Please excuse me," she says in her high clear voice. She helped make the sweet rice herself, and hopes it is to the Lord's liking, even though it is so very uncommon--as Cook says--for Lord Sesshoumaru to order food in the morning this way. Or most anytime.

Sesshoumaru lies on his bed, toying with the slender black lead, soft and supple in his hands. He puts it aside as he hears the door to the back chamber open, and reaches for the medicine and the cream he knows Sage needs. It will be good to have him entirely clean. Then there will be no hesitation about touching and tasting anything and anywhere he wishes.

The remaining guard smiles, and while he can hear the door to the back room click, he must take the breakfast tray first. "Good morning, little one. I see you have my Lord's breakfast tray. Just let me have a quick look." The look is with his eyes and his nose to make sure all that should be there is, and anything that should not...is not. It passes and he smiles at the girl. "Very good." He opens the door and announces the serving girl, instructing her to place the tray on the table near the Lord's bed, and use her most proper manners. When the other guard comes back, he puts him back on the door, so he may take care of the pots right away.

Sage trots a little more quickly now that he can smell Master, and it is easy to hurry next to the bed and kneel beside it, head down, Doki excited but working hard to be still as well.

Nishi's eyes grow big at the command. Surely….no, she was not supposed to actually enter...to be in the presence...to walk right in and…! She was only supposed to give it to the guard! She blushes furiously and cannot speak, but then he is gone off to do some other task and she has no choice but to enter and... Kamis protect her! There is a naked boy in the room, bowing and behind bare in the air with strange fur from his back and she ducks her head down and the tray shakes but she manages to furtively glance around the room until she sees a table beside the Lord's bed but it has things on it -- vials and a bowl of some creamy stuff and will there be enough room for the tray? She bows and slides it carefully onto the table, pushing just a little at one little bowl without knocking anything off and bows bows bows her way backwards without saying a word until she bumps into the door which has closed with her inside!

Sesshoumaru enjoys Sage's demeanor, proper and humble. And he is so very decorative there on the white furs beside his bed. But who is this? A pretty but awkward little serving girl he is certain he has not seen before. He raises his head to her, scratching his cheek. He points to the closed door. "Thank you for the tray, child. You may go now."

There is no describing the sound Nishi makes if it is not a squeak. She follows the frightened little noise with a "Yes, my Lord Sesshoumaru!" and reaches up and up to the heavy door handle, trying to pull it open and free herself from this most terrible of blunders. But she cannot.

Sage squirms slightly. He can smell the girl's want to please and her distress at not being able to follow a direct order from her Lord. He knows that feeling, and his habit is to help a fellow servant/slave...except when he is in Master's presence like this. Doki floofs with the contradictions, but he knows he must keep his focus on Master.

"Let the girl out, Sage. I don't think I can bear to see her flounder any longer." He reclines, white satin robe around him, wondering how the girl will respond to an entirely nude young slave's assistance. He rather wishes it was a familiar servant, someone perhaps a bit higher up in staff. But no matter. This is sport enough.

"Yes, Master," he says, bowing properly before rising and turns toward the servant girl, not noticing or remembering that he's entirely naked. Doki settles, now that he has an order to follow. "You need to move, just a little so I can reach the handle, please," he says quietly and not unkindly.

Nishi bows and lowers her eyes, even though the boy called Lord Sesshoumaru "Master" which must mean he's a slave. She moves to the side a little but stares at the strange little boy. He's not much bigger than her, but she's mixed-blood youkai and her inu part can smell he's part inu, too. But maybe hanyou? "You're a slave," she whispers, awed a bit because there aren't slaves in this part of the castle...ever. Or almost ever. She's certainly not seen one. Not here, or around here, since she doesn't get to come exactly here. Which reminds her that she's not looking around the room to see how beautiful it is, which every one says it is. But the little slave is opening the door and all she can do is look at him. Strange and with that odd dark pelt attached to him and smelling of herbs and medicine. "You're pretty," she giggles as he opens the door and she bows her way out, then runs down the hall as fast as she can back to the kitchen to tell everyone what she's seen.

The servant girl -- mixed-blooded, his nose tells him, sorting out inu, ookami, rat and fox -- stares at him. Notes he is a slave. Well...oh. Right. No collar. He opens the door, and is about to reply to her when she says something he's heard many times, but not quite like this. "You're pretty" and then she's gone and it takes him a moment to pull the door closed and return to his knees at Master's bedside, head bowed. Maybe it was better this way, if the lesser servants were like that.

"I wonder," Sesshoumaru muses, "whether you will put a spell on all the young girls and boys of the castle with that exotic beauty of yours, my slave." It would befit his paternal heritage, no question. "Perhaps some clothing will assist me in keeping your affections to myself." Such fun to enjoy himself so. "Shall I clothe you all in black, little shadow? Or perhaps in some vivid shade -- blue or green -- so you may shock others the more." So many ideas to cause minor upheaval in court expectations flood his mind. He grins and pats the bed. "Well, come along. Let's get this medicine down you and on you first."

He does blush a bit. Servants and other slaves usually either really liked him or really hated him; no in-between. And if a Master was neither exclusive, nor attentive...well he's had plenty of unwanted advances on his person. And some decent fights, too. Those usually went in his favor, even if he was whipped after. They learned quickly not to instigate a fight with him because even if he got a whipping after, the other slave or servant got very messed up by Sage. He didn't mind being punished unfairly for a fight, because he rarely lost one. He climbs up onto the bed, stretching out on his belly and Doki moving up and flopping over his head this time. His neck is hardly sore at all, but he can feel the dryness of some of the wounds on his back and the ache and sharp pains have returned as well. As for clothes..."Master must do as he wishes, whether to clothe me and how," he says, his head turned properly so his voice isn't muffled.

"Yes, yes indeed he must, pretty one." He needs Sage to down the second vial of whatever the medicine Midori provided is, but it can wait. He was delightful in draping himself before him this way, and Sesshoumaru cannot resist leaning over and dipping one hand in a little handy pot of lubricating ointment while the other scoops the salve for his healing wounds. He does not like the look of his back, so scarred at so young an age, but oh he does like that slender ass. He smoothes in some salve and watches the boy relax into it, then dips his other hand down and slips it between his cheeks. Little pliant slave, such a delicious treat to wake up to.

His eyes close as Master begins to smooth the salve from last night over his back. It hurts and soothes and he relaxes, and then he feels the finger slip between his ass cheeks and he wonders if he should move or push into it, but the other hand is still firmly smoothing the salve into his back. He moans softly into the furs and remains still.

Akemi has finished preparing herself for Lord Sesshoumaru's summons and has her tool kit and some leather samples. Her instructions didn't specify what the young Lord wished, so she has a little bit of everything as she heads into the castle to the proper wing, head high and everything properly in place as she makes her way.

It is not a time to risk more than he has time for, with Akemi already summoned, so he toys with the pretty little ass a moment, then reaches under to feel whether he is hard before removing his hand to do the more serious work of keeping his back healing.

His prick stirred more when Master reached beneath him than it did when he was touching him on his ass. Maybe it was wrong. Ohhh, but he feels so relaxed as Master rubs. His brain tells him he should be doing this for Master, and another part of his brain smells the food and tea and fruit.

Akemi greets the guards at Lord Sesshoumaru's door and looks over their armor, checking to see if they need repairs or aren't being properly taken care of. It's habit, and they are used to her scrutiny. The guard knocks and waits for the young Lord to answer so he may announce Akemi properly for her station.

Completing the task to his satisfaction, Sesshoumaru excuses himself to wash his hands properly of the salve, then turns back when there is a knock at his door. "One moment," he commands, wiping his hand instead on a towel beside the food tray and rising to get Sage's robe he wore out of the bath the night before. He pauses to gently slap his bottom, then tosses the robe over him. "Sit up now and cover yourself, little heartbreaker, and we will deal with that impudently hard little prick later." He is about to answer the door when the food comes to mind. "If you're hungry," he waves, "you may eat, so long as it does not interfere with Akemi's work." Then he goes to the door and lets the troublesome and talented leopard in.

He squeaks at the slap on his bottom, and obeys, with a "Yes, Master, thank you, Master," while he wonders who Akemi is. His robe is neat and tied properly and so he reaches for the first bowl of food he can reach on the tray which is cut up melon and eats carefully. Oh it is fresh, still warm from the sun and sweet and juicy, and he watches Master as the door opens and another female comes in. She is tall, but not so tall as Master, and youkai...big cat youkai. He cannot place the name right now with melon exploding in his mouth so delightfully. She smells of metal and oils and leather and coal, charcoal and fire. His eyes widen as the many implications that combination could mean, but he doesn't pause in his eating.

Akemi kneels respectfully as she is let in, then rises. "My Lord summoned me? How may I serve my Lord Sesshoumaru this day?" Her words are as perfect as her work always is.

Oh, the perfection of the bitch. So talented, so intelligent, so proper in word and deed. And such a wild one in bed. They have coupled only rarely, but the cat uses her claws, and he has to be in just the right mood for such a female. And drunk on sake. "Akemi," he says, encouraging her to rise. "Allow me to present my newest possession. This is my slave, Sage." He turns and smiles at Sage, who has a mouth full of some fruit or other, cheeks distended. Delightful little pup.

Akemi raises her barely spotted eyebrows. "My Lord has taken a slave?" It is not actually a question, and she sees the marks around the boy's neck, showing the prints of an ill-fitting metal collar. She moves closer and holds her hand over the side of the child's neck and frowns. "Poor workmanship and bad spells. No wonder he is so marked up -- though he has obviously been recently treated. She looks up at Sesshoumaru and smiles with all her pointy teeth. "What is it my Lord wishes of me this day?" she all but purrs. It will be a delight to craft a collar for her Lord's pet -- and anything else he wishes to decorate the little hanyou with. She loves to serve her Lord, both with her skills and her tools -- and her skills...elsewhere.

Sage puts the nearly empty bowl back on the tray, chews hastily and swallows. He has proper manners, but he also knows how to eat fast before something is taken from him. He wipes his fingers carefully on the cloth provided on the tray, and looks up at Master and the...the...Akemi.

How Sesshoumaru does enjoy when she turns that feline grin upon him. Feral yet controlled -- tame because she allows herself to be so, because she values her position as much as he and his parents value her. "You assess quickly and rightly, Akemi, though you should ask before touching my...property." She will resent the remark, though he has the right to demand it. But then he offers her the sweet prize: "Fashion him a collar so soft you would be willing to wear it yourself. Let it compliment his coloring and make clear he belongs to no one but me." He pauses, wondering how much to leave up to her and how much to dictate. The more freedom she has, the better is her work, but he does love to prod her. "Black."

Yes, she should have asked before touching, but the marks of bad workmanship called to her need for perfection strongly. And her Lord knows her well and she gives him another, sweet smile. "I must measure him, my Lord, first of all." She takes out her paper and charcoal sticks and several measuring straps: some plain with numbers or knots, and others with buckles so she can have an idea of how something will sit on a neck. She does the collars for her Lady's favorite hounds after all.

A collar? Master's collar!! His hands touch his throat, then go to his lap to look down. Master is giving him a collar, having one made...a collar...for him...that he belongs to Master. He fairly trembles, but it is out of anticipation and immense gratitude and the lifting of a great weight he hadn't realized had settled on him since the removal of his old collar.

Sesshoumaru smells Sage's pleasure and Akemi's, too. The dog in him would so enjoy fucking her while he watched her suckle that little slave cock. Not one for taking commands in bed, though, she'd no doubt resist a little, making it even hotter. But he calms himself, enjoying instead Sage's excitement and desire for his collar. He is accustomed to having his favors appreciated, but not with this depth of sincerity. It rouses something new in him, something he is quickly coming to crave. He reaches over and feeds Sage a bite of peach, careful not to get too much in Akemi's way. "Is he not lovely?"

"He is indeed, my Lord," she purrs at him. "It's all right, little one, I will not cause you harm nor pain. Were I to cause you harm, doubtless I would be dead before my corpse hit the floor, and then what would my Lord do with such a mess?" She measures, first snugly, and writes down the numbers, then measures with a knotted string and jots down some more figures. She measures from chin to the hollow of his throat, each side of his neck and the base of his scalp to the top of his back. "Black will suit him, no doubt," she says, turning his face gently one way to sketch down what she sees, watching as Lord Sesshoumaru feeds the boy. "How ever did you acquire him, my Lord?" She rubs out one figure and replaces it with another, then begins to compare measuring collars.

His eyes are wide at her scent and words. She openly teases Master, and he wonders if he should protest. But then the peach is presented again and he takes another bite. This is no barely ripe, hard peach nor a half rotted fruit and the juice from each bite runs over the fuzz on the peach's skin and some, despite his efforts, dribbles down his chin. He is still when Akemi requires it and does not protest any of the measurements, though he has never before had so very many for a mere collar!

Sesshoumaru smiles and leans in to swipe the juice from Sage's chin with a quick tongue as Akemi takes her careful notes. "A fool of a slave trader brought him before me as if he were merely one of many a Lord might purchase. I soon divested him of the little hanyou and sent him on his way. I think little Sage will be quite entertaining on long winter's nights, don't you, Akemi?" He is not offering her anything, but the implication hangs in the air. Who knows what whim might strike him, and the verbal dalliance with Akemi is always worthy.

Her eyebrows raise again as she selects her first measuring collar. "I think my Lord will find many, many games to occupy himself with this pretty little one on long winter nights...and long summer days. Now, this is heavier than the leather I will use, and a different shape, but just let me see how it sits." She buckles the collar so that she can get two fingers under it and no more. Because it is not made to fit the boy, the sight displeases her, but this is about fitting, not her work, yet.

He tips his head back when Master licks his chin, then holds still while Akemi buckles a collar around his neck. Leather. Smells of dog. Thick, heavy. A good collar. Strong. Rough on his tender neck, but not painfully so.

Sesshoumaru watches her work, those nimble fingers, that keen eye. She will make a collar Sage will never have seen the like of, and perhaps even surprise his master with its perfection. It would not be the first time he has expected much and received even more from the fiery and talented creature. He takes another peach from the bowl and holds it to Akemi. "Have you breakfasted?" he asks, longing to watch her sink those fangs into the sweet, moist fruit.

"I ate some dried hare while I dressed, my Lord," she says with a deadpan face, but decides to play along and shows more than a little tooth and bites right down to the pit of the peach in one bite. When she pulls back, she licks with a quick swipe of her rough tongue the tips of her Lord's claws before removing the collar from the slave's neck and selecting a different style and color, though she will use black. This is light tan, lighter, thinner. Hmmm. It seems not. She doesn't like it and takes it off before she's even finished buckling it.

Sage's eyes widen as Akemi takes most of the offered peach in one sharp-toothed bite. He isn't afraid, he's fascinated. She's all pointy toothed. And picky about her collars, he can smell and see as she tries another one on him.

"My my, she does have a bite, doesn't she, Sage?" He holds out the peach for him to see. "We'd best not anger her. Though I shall surely tell her if the collar she makes disappoints in the slightest." He licks the fruit where she bit it, for the flavor does not displease but the flesh would. He points to the tea cup and the rice. "Are you still hungry, Sage? I fear we have no dried hare," he says with a disgusted expression, "but perhaps this fare will do."

"Akemi-san has lots of pointy teeth," he says and smiles as Master licks the fruit. Dried hare is great when his fang teeth are growing back in. They get itchy. Actually dried anything is good for that. But they're past that stage now, even the top ones. "Yes, Master, if it pleases you I would like more food," he says hopefully.

Akemi cuts her green eyes at Sesshoumaru and makes a semi-annoyed grunt in his direction as she swallows the peach, then grabs the rice and chopsticks and puts them in the boy's hands. "He's underfed," she informs Sesshoumaru, meaning that she knows Sesshoumaru intends the boy to do just what he asked, to have more food if he were still hungry.

"Akemi-san," Sesshoumaru says casually, as if he has not noticed her tone, "does not hold back those teeth, no matter what she is doing." He ensures Sage is capable with chopsticks before turning and bringing his face a hair's breadth from Akemi's. "But she is not the only one with fangs," he whispers. "Or the desire to use them."

"I would have it no other way, my Lord," she hisses-whispers back.

Sage eats and watches the two of them. OH. They must fuck. Every now and then, that's the scent and feeling he's getting. And they respect each other. And it is surprisingly calming to have so many sharp teeth around him. He has no idea why that is so, but it is.

"How long until he will have his collar, kitten?" Sesshoumaru asks, knowing exactly how that epithet will strike Akemi, and that she may even choose, in her inimitable way, to strike him for using it.

She hisses, but keeps her claws and fangs to herself, and smiles, choosing instead to lick up the side of his face and murmur in his ear. "This evening, my Lord, after sunset."

Sage sucks on the end of the chopsticks as he watches them. A collar is not difficult leather working, he knows. So he is not surprised by the nearness of her reply. But it makes his belly jumpy with excitement, just the same.

"I suppose that will do." Sesshoumaru frowns. "And now I will smell like a peach...and dried hare." Their golden eyes meet. "You serve me well, Akemi." He turns as he catches a whiff of Sage's interest in their verbal sparring and its implications.

"Have your new slave lick it off," she suggests tartly and bows. "You do me great honor, my Lord."

He turns his eyes to Sage. "And would my slave be pleased to have his new master's collar this evening that we might stroll together in the garden when the moon is up?"

Akemi smiles and turns her head in time to see the boy actually bounce on the furs.

"Oh yes, Master!" Sage puts his hands together. A collar. He'll feel...whole again. But Master is not the only person here, and he feels Akemi's eyes on him and blushes and squirms a little.

Sesshoumaru does not know who to frown at first. "I do indeed honor you," he answers his haughty cat. "I look forward to your return with the collar." And he does. He watches her pack up her tools neatly and nimbly, then returns to the bed to sit beside the bouncy little slave. So easily pleased...pleased to be owned when there are other possibilities. But no. This is what is right. His life would have remained ever wretched if Sesshoumaru had not rescued him. He is no heir, not even a mix of youkai, but some delicious mutt unworthy of even that state which Sesshoumaru will bestow upon him. He will not feel guilty. He will enjoy, and bestow that which he and only he can give. And when his father returns? Well, that will come when it comes. "You will look well in my collar, little one." He strokes the boy's fur with the tenderness it deserves.

He shivers, having discarded the robe as soon as the big cat Akemi left. His bouncing stops as Master pets Doki and he smiles happily at the sensation, and Doki's reactions. "Yes, Master," he says obediently. He looks up at the lingering scent of disapproval and tilts his head. "Have I done something to displease you, Master?"

"To displease me? Of course not. Do I seem displeased?" He brings his mouth down and kisses the taste of melon and peach and rice in Sage's mouth. Lips close to his, he softly reminds, "You are my slave with or without a collar, Sage. You belong to me without question. You will obey me and are mine to command, mine to own and use as I wish." A thought occurs as he brushes back Sage's hair with a casual touch of fingertips and claws. "Apart from its indicator to others in the castle, do you have need of a collar to obey me?"

He hesitates, reminded that he has no collar and no spells to force him to reply. But he wants to please this Master. Still, this is a hard question. It shouldn't be, but it is. It's only his second day with this Master, and he's not been without a collar this long since before he was first put on the auction block. "I...I don't think so, Master," is what he finally says, trembling a little. He doesn't know. He thinks he would obey Master with or without a collar...he's pretty sure...but not entirely sure. Oh, he wishes he had his old collar back, just for a minute, so he would know the answer!

"Sage," Sesshoumaru says, confidently and clearly in a voice innately alpha, "You will obey and receive my favors because I will treat you with respect you have never before been shown. You will belong to me, and I will treasure you as you deserve." He kisses Sage again, sealing a commitment he feels suddenly very deeply. Sage will belong to no one else, ever. Nor will he ever wish to.

He doesn't cry. He hardly ever cries. But Doki winds around Master's fur and his arms wind around Master's neck. Please Kami-sama, make it so, he adds silently. Please.