roneal | (no subject)

He can see the exact moment when Shinjirou remembers his situation. Although Jade smiles, it's just his usual expression, rather than one designed to taunt.

"I'll try to be more gentle next time." He says, clearly not meaning it. "Now, go make some breakfast. I'm in the mood for eggs and toast today. I'd like to have tea, but you can brew some coffee for yourself if you need it."

With how much and how quickly he had drunk last night, Jade would be very much surprised if Shinjirou doesn't have at least a small hangover.

"Now?" He wrinkles his nose, wrapping the blanket around himself so that only his head is still visible. "I'm dirty. Won't even let me take a shower?"

Hot water, hell, even ice cold water sounds like heaven to him. Washing the sweat and come off his body won't erase the past, but it'd at least take the constant reminder away.

"Shit, my head hurts," he murmurs, trying to get up without losing, nor tangling himself up in the blanket.

He grabs hold of the blanket firmly. "I don't recall saying you could cover yourself up." There's a hint of warning in his voice, which only grows when he adds: "You can shower once you've finished the chores I'll set you for today."

Shinjirou is beginning to grow rebellious again, he can tell. It was probably due to embarrassment, or perhaps shame, or maybe he's beginning to resent his situation now that he's sober again. But whatever his reasons, Jade can't tolerate dissent.

Considering his headache, he manages to hold Jade's gaze for a surprisingly long time. He holds his head up high, though that makes him a bit dizzy, and throws the blanket off. "Fine, here you go." His thighs and stomach are the worst offenders. Not just stained, but itchy.

And he hates that Jade will look at it and know that he's the reason for this sight and in turn, Shinjirou will be forced to remember even more distinctly how desperate he was.

Nevermind. If he runs off to the kitchen quickly, then he can wear the apron for a bit until breakfast is ready. It's not the greatest strategy he's ever come up with, true, but he's not looking for great solutions here.

Jade had positioned himself so that Shinjirou would not be able to leave the bed without at least brushing past him. He watches intently as the blanket is thrown off, eyes slowly trailing down to look at the stains that had dried on Shinjirou's skin. All this, just from precome. It's impressive.

Carefully, he runs two of his fingers along the edge of one of the bigger stains on Shinjirou's thigh, feeling some of the dried crust peel off and flake onto the futon. He'll need to be washed before his guest comes, but for now, Jade finds that he enjoys seeing him so visibly marked.

He raises his eyes again, looking directly at Shinjirou. "You did do well last night, you know."

At first it helps that he averts his eyes, but of course Jade has to reach out and touch him. He sucks his stomach in and clenches his fists, breathing himself through the moment. There are various insults lying on the tip of his tongue, ready to be hurled at Jade, but it's too early in the day to start a fight.

Especially in his position. A slave.

He shudders, glancing at Jade when he hears him speak up again. It feels like ants crawling under his skin and heat rises into his face. He shouldn't feel proud; he does, but biting into his lips keeps him from smiling. "Yeah?"

Shinjirou is not subtle. The blushing and lip biting are clear tells, and Jade takes advantage of them. He doesn't respond verbally this time, just kisses him, quick and light. When he draws back, he's smiling with the best approximation of fondness that he can muster. It's not entirely a lie, but it neither does it ring completely true.

"Let's have breakfast." He stands, offering his hand to Shinjirou.

He hates himself for it even as he's doing it, just not enough to stop himself: tilting his head and responding to the kiss as if Jade deserved his affection. This is all Jade's fault. A kick would be more appropriate.

Letting himself be helped up, he gets up and looks away. Not down, just to the side. He's not like the quiet little virgins Jade could have picked, but he feels inclined to lower his head anyway. Most of the time people fight with him, insult him. He's far from used to being appreciated.

"Yes. Breakfast."

After breakfast comes a list of chores: vacuuming again, washing the windows, polishing the shelves and cupboards, doing the laundry...

"Oh, and bring the lubricant into the living room. There's a box in the bottom drawer of the bedside table. Bring that out as well. I don't think we'll need them tonight, but it never hurts to be prepared." He finishes his tea, setting the cup down. "My guest will be here at six. I want you to eat and shower before then, and prepare dinner for two. That should be all."

Being tired to begin with means that each task takes longer than it usually would, but at least they are all simple tasks and require just enough concentration to keep his anxiety at bay. Sometimes memories from the night before spring on him without warning and he visibly flinches, stopping for a second, then returning to his work.

Eventually, of course, Jade has to remind him that housework isn't the only thing expected from him. With goosebumps riddling his skin, he brings both the lube and the box into the living room, setting them down on the small table. Would he like to know what's inside that box? He glances at Jade, wondering if he should ask ... he comes to the conclusion that it's not worth his time. Jade won't answer anyway, probably, and even if he did, Shinjirou may not like it.

So he runs off to take a shower as soon as he hears Jade say that it's something he wants Shinjirou to do. It's the first time he truly feels alone again ever since a stranger dragged him off the streets. He makes sure to return after less than 30 minutes have passed, though. Which is a long time, yes, but he's cleaned himself thoroughly and he figures Jade won't mind him enjoying the comfort of hot water as long as it'll also please his guest.

"I'm not hungry. Uh." Hair still somewhat wet, he crosses his arms. "Does the guy have any allergies? It's not that I wanna poison him. Not yet, I guess."

The shower had done Shinjirou good. He already looks better than when he was first picked up from the market. He actually appears clean, for one, and the hot water had given a healthy flush to his skin. Jade smiles inwardly, approving.

"Please refrain from poisoning my guests." There's an amused lilt in his tone, though, one that shows he doesn't particularly care either way. Not that he thinks Shinjirou would actually try to poison them; he just doesn't like his guests. They're useful, but that was about it. He dislikes their greed, their small-mindedness, and most of all, the way their behaviour is uncomfortably similar to the mask he had put up.

After a short pause, he adds, "Unless I tell you to do so. But no, he doesn't have any allergies that I know of."

"You ... wouldn't tell me to do that." Frowning, he ties his hair back. After all the preparations Shinjirou had expected it to be an important guest. Apparently importance doesn't equal fondness here. "And I wouldn't do it."

For all the people scared of him, he doesn't like hurting others. He does it anyway, too often, for reasons he unfortunately already gave away.

It's great that Jade's fridge is full of food and he utilizes the wide range of vegetables to choose from. He snacks on the dish he's making, though if asked what he's doing he'd call it seasoning. He may not be hungry, but whatever this mysterious guest is about to do to him, an empty stomach could be a disadvantage.

An interesting reaction. Very interesting. Jade takes note of it and files it into the back of his mind, just as he had filed away all that Shinjirou had told him last night.

Outwardly, he only smiles and heads back to the study, leaving Shinjirou to his preparations.

As the clock approaches a quarter to six, he emerges again, finally about to give Shinjirou instructions on how to conduct himself. First, though, he checks on the preparations. "It smells good."

"Thank you," he says, with a heartfelt smile on his lips. He drops it quickly and turns back around towards the stove, but Jade must have caught it. Silently cursing himself, he holds a spoonful of what he's cooked up to Jade's lips. "There?"

"Uhm, and I made dessert. I know you didn't ask for that, it's just pudding, I put it in the fridge so whatever."

"That's quite thoughtful of you. Thank you."

Jade swallows the food down, feeling uneasy. Which is odd, it's not as if he has to fear poisoning. Shinjirou's smile had only added to that unease.

He'll likely never realize it, but he finds the sheer domesticity of the situation unsettling.

After a moment, he nods his approval. "It's good." Surprisingly good, in fact, considering Shinjirou had been living on the streets. "Now, are you ready? You'll be doing quite a bit of standing, so I hope you're not feeling too tired."

It's always better when he's got something else to do while talking to Jade and setting the table is a very sneaky activity here. Better than uncertainly stepping from one foot onto the other.

"Yeah I don't think you really care about me being tired." He is; hell, he'd gladly go to bed already. If it weren't for the adrenaline cursing through his body, he would have fallen asleep on the dirty laundry.

"And why will I be standing around all night?"

Jade does care about Shinjirou's well-being, in the same way one might worry that a tool would become too worn to be effective, but he doesn't think Shinjirou needs to hear that. Neither does he see the need to placate him.

"It's the way things are done." At least, judging from what he had observed when visiting other houses. "You'll stand next to my chair and wait until we have need of you. We'll be talking business after dinner, so you'll be standing for awhile." A brief pause. "But I'm sure we can make it up to you later."

"That's stupid. What's wrong with calling me when you need me?" With dinner pretty much ready, he puts the apron away and the hair tie into one of its pockets. Groaning, he takes note of the slight curl to his hair. That's what you get for tying it up when it's still wet.

"This slave thing got some strange etiquette." He's dealt with other assholes before, so he just shrugs, effectively dropping the argument. "Will try not to yawn too much."

Privately, he agrees, but he keeps it to himself.

"I'd appreciate that." Another pause, then he says conversationally: "By the way, once we have you on the couch, you can signal for me to stop if you need to. Two taps of your foot would do. I'd prefer it if you didn't, but I'll leave it to your discretion."

He had considered the matter for awhile before deciding it was better to have a safeword than not, at least for now. Better for Shinjirou to give an underwhelming performance than to push him past his limits. Besides, Jade is fairly confident that he'll try to endure as much as possible, especially after having been cautioned.

Who knows, perhaps he'll even enjoy it.

That Jade would give him a way out of the situation to come is entirely unexpected and he fails to keep his jaw from dropping. He tries to make a mental note of the sign Jade just described to him and nods a bit too enthusiastically -- truth be told, he's relieved, though he thinks he won't have to use it. The guest probably expects a virgin and at least Shinjirou isn't going to correct him on that assumption.

"Sure. Not going to abuse it, don't worry."

Shinjirou's reaction convinces him that he had made the right decision. He smiles again, very briefly. "Good."

The doorbell rings just then. Jade checks the clock - exactly six on the dot. "Go stand by my chair," he commands, already striding towards the door to usher his guest in.

The dinner and the conversation that follows last for over two hours. There's plenty of small talk, which slowly veers into an involved discussion about the slave market and its suppliers, although both of them are careful to refrain from mentioning any names. A few times, the guest makes references to Jade's "close friend", but Jade quickly cuts him off whenever that happens. Throughout it all, the guest occasionally glances over at Shinjirou, his brow furrowed with something that might have been displeasure.

Finally, the guest suggests that they take a break, and they both stand. Jade's hand darts out to grab hold of Shinjirou's lead, tugging him over to the couch.

"Go on. Lie down, face to the ceiling. Just relax."

It's surprisingly exhausting to just stand around and listen to business talk even when he's been the victim of part of their conversation. He can't bring himself to care about the topics they seem to be so involved in, nor the odd looks Jade's guest is giving him. Once or twice he yawns, and for a few minutes, when he just can't keep them open anymore, he closes his eyes.

He jerks, eyes widening, at Jade's command. Maybe he shouldn't have taken those mini naps. He's dizzy. "Wha? Y-yeah." Shit. Well, agreeing to something isn't that bad, is it? He quickly climbs onto the couch, positioning himself the way Jade told him to. His legs are definitely happy that they don't have to carry his weight anymore and he parts them slightly to make up for opening his mouth.

His heart is beating fast enough that he's almost convinced the other two will be able to hear it, and he keeps tugging on the pillow. Dizzy, yes, but wide awake.

Jade gives the chain a firmer tug. "Quiet," he reminds him, voice cool. Had his faith in Shinjirou been misplaced? He hadn't expected him to slip up this quickly.

"He's eager," his guest comments. "Poorly trained. Was he broken in at all?" When Jade shakes his head no, the man sighs. "Is this the quality of the stock they're putting on the market nowadays?"

"They did offer me a whip." Jade responds lightly, sitting down next to Shinjirou's head and beginning to toy with his hair. "I suppose the seller thought he'd appeal to the people who like to do the breaking in themselves."

Before, he wouldn't have understood the appeal. But when he remembers the electrifying feeling of Shinjirou bending to his will, he thinks he can sympathize.

His guest, however, is not impressed. "They still shouldn't have sold him to a first-time buyer. I could take him off your hands." Moving with an easy familiarity, he straddles Shinjirou's hips. Jade watches, eyes slightly narrowed, as he runs his hands along Shinjirou's neck and upper torso, toying with his nipples. "He's in good condition, at least. Virgin?"

Shinjirou focuses on the lamp above him as they talk about him as if he weren't there. As long as he's not paying them too much attention, he can hold his tongue and ignore what they're saying about him. The guest's opinion on him is obviously not the best. He swallows a fuck you, asshole and glances at the man once he's forced to bear his weight.

No, he doesn't want this guy as his new ... Master. Jade might be a meanie, but he's afraid the guest might just be mean. Nothing cutesy about it. Licking his lips, he bares his throat to the man nonetheless, breathing in sharply when the teasing makes his nipples stiffen immediately. Whether he's supposed to answer in some way, he doesn't know. He nods anyway. It's a lie. So what.

He does shoot a quick glance at Jade, however, to see if it was acceptable.

To react would be to give the game away, so Jade simply looks down at Shinjirou impassively, continuing to stroke through his hair. He's not sure why he chose to lie, but he doesn't see much issue with allowing him this.

His guest is skeptical enough anyway. "Hard to believe. He's a street rat, isn't he? I know his type; they whore themselves out to anyone who so much as glances their way."

He pinches at a nipple, twisting it to the side before he releases it. "Doesn't really matter. Under your care, he's not going to stay a virgin for long."

"No," Jade agrees, watching as his guest runs his hands down Shinjirou's stomach, then lower still, until he's winding Shinjirou's dark curls around his fingers and pushing himself up so he can inspect Shinjirou's cock. "We came close yesterday, but I thought it'd be more fun if I saved him for you."