roneal | (no subject)

No, he doesn't think you need discipline for that, but then he's been living on the streets. What does he know about housework and how much discipline is needed to do the job properly, or rather the right, Jade way. He barely manages not to say it out loud, chewing on his bottom lip and the tip of his tongue.

Jade's knuckle pushing into his skin, he swallows hard, his throat shoving back. "Help me?" With what, asshole, he wants to spit out, but then again ... there's plenty of things he could need help with. What if, Shinjirou thinks, what if he became more disciplined, learned to control himself? What if it saved someone's life. He can't resurrect Ken's mother, but Jade might just help him prevent a thing like that from ever happening again.

"Okay." It's worth a try. He feels an odd, calming heaviness in his chest that he doesn't want to explore any further. Letting it settle, he curls and uncurls his fingers. It's surprisingly hard, just standing there doing nothing. "So, uh, are you going to tell me more about those duties yet or how's this going to work?"

He feels a distinct sense of pleasure as he watches the way Shinjirou's expression changes, from apprehension to anger to slow acceptance. As much as Jade wants to deny his darker impulses, he doesn't lie to himself; holding this much power over someone is thrilling. He can use Shinjirou however he pleases, mould him into something useful, a perfect tool to be used -

Having so much power in his hands makes him uneasy. It's for the mission, Jade reminds himself harshly, burying his concerns behind a lazy, satisfied smile.

"We'll discuss that later." He eases his fingers away, then nods in the direction of a little door that leads to the storeroom. "Focus on cleaning up. All the supplies you need should be in there. If you need me, I'll be in the study."

"Yeah, alright." Jade's secrecy makes him both curious and a bit uncomfortable. Might be that these duties are entirely harmless, if obnoxious tasks that Jade simply doesn't want to do himself and Shinjirou's worrying for no reason at all. Maybe he's just being tricked into thinking there's an unpleasant surprise up ahead waiting for him. That weird smile Jade's giving him could mean either.

He throws the chain over one shoulder to get it out of the way, then walks off towards the storeroom. "Just, uh, is there a reason I gotta be naked for this?" Seems kind of pointless, especially when no one's around to watch. He's not familiar with this slave thing, so he figures it may be part of that, but that hardly means he understands the reasoning behind it.

He raises an eyebrow.

"I would have thought that was obvious." Tucking his hands into his pockets, he grins, red eyes bright with a hint of mischief. "You'll hardly be inconspicuous if you do decide to escape. Besides," he adds, almost as an afterthought, "I enjoy looking at you."

"Now that you put it that way, yeah, it's pretty obvious." Grimacing, he turns away. Asking less questions is what he's planning to do, most importantly. The answers are just never much to his liking and when they are, he doesn't want to slip and show it.

It's a mystery to him why anyone would enjoy looking at a street rat like him, but maybe that's some weird fetish.

He doesn't wait for Jade to leave before he starts working, hopefully proving himself worthy of vacuuming when he makes sure to get into every corner and below the furniture. The noise numbs his mind; that's a plus in his book.

He checks on Shinjirou a few times, giving his work a quick glance and an approving nod, but for the most part he leaves him alone. It's not until he's almost finished that Jade exits the study for good, sitting down at the couch to watch the news while he waits for Shinjirou to be done. By then, the clouds outside are streaked with the yellows and deep crimsons of sunset.

"Brew me some tea," he orders, once the vacuum cleaner is packed away. "Then get started with dinner. I'd prefer something light tonight."

And, as an extra incentive: "After that, I'll tell you how tomorrow will go."

Most of the time, Shinjirou isn't aware of Jade's presence when the man decides to take a quick look at how he's doing. Which is bad, because it means that Jade can see how at ease he is while not being watched. He takes the task seriously, though, and the floor is even more spotless than before his arrival once he's done.

Putting the vacuum back into the storeroom, he keeps one eye on Jade. Not that he expects Jade to jump him any second, it's just that he's not used to any sort of domesticity, even if it's only between slave and master.

"Tea and dinner. That's easy." He shrugs and stops in front of Jade.

"Uhm, you got a hair tie?" Jade deserves a hair or two in his soup, but cooking is one of the few things Shinjirou regards important enough to do right. Especially if doing it right now also means getting to know what to expect the next day. "It's not sanitary if I do it like this."

"So you do know what you're doing." Jade sounds very pleased.

He usually keeps a hair tie on him, just in case, and he takes it out now, dangling it from his fingertips for Shinjirou to take. "There's also an apron if you need it."

Then he settles back and relaxes again. He could get used to this, even if he misses his privacy. It's not often he has his house this clean - he keeps things in order, yes, but he had spent most of yesterday tidying up just to make an impression.

"Huh?" Pulling his hair back into a tight little knot, he blinks. "Told you I can cook, didn't I? Already forgot about that or what?"

An apron sounds good, too. Being naked isn't that bad, getting dirty however he can do without. Especially after that very thorough washing session done by his oh-so-kind kidnapper. If being dirty equals scrubbing until his skin feels raw, he'd rather be careful. Besides, hot sauce hitting bare skin isn't very appealing when it happens accidentally.

"Ah. Am I supposed to cook for you or for the both of us?"

"Telling me is one thing. Proving it is another matter entirely." Lounging back against his couch, he tilts his head slightly to make sure Shinjirou had located the apron, then turns his attention back to the news again.

"We may as well eat together." It's not like he eats extravagantly anyway; he won't be wasting much money by allowing Shinjirou to share his food. Besides, he doesn't want to treat Shinjirou too poorly. "Make enough for both of us."

"Too bad. Means I can't spit into it," he mutters, tying the apron behind his back. It tickles his thighs where the loose ends hang down. Well, he's going to get used to that, he figures, once he's busy actually preparing dinner.

After opening the fridge and checking what it has to offer, he decides to do just what Jade requested: something light, so salad it is. Letting the water boil in the meantime, he cuts a piece of turkey breast into small slices. A bit of protein, a bit of fiber. Little to no fat and carbs. That'll hopefully be light enough.

"Did you say something?" He's more amused than anything, but at the same time, he wonders if he's being too loose. He prefers Shinjirou this way, honest and spirited, but he knows his "friends" would like someone more acquiescent. Soon, he'll have to train Shinjirou into behaving properly in front of guests. Perhaps he could gag him at first...

But that can wait until after dinner.

"No, nothing," he says, trying to sound as sickly-sweet as possible. The edge is audible, though, and his smile is forced when he brings the tea. Without needing to be prompted, he pours Jade a cup.

However, he's neglected to bring sugar and milk. That's not the way he drinks tea and he's mostly survived on discarded soda cans and tap water in public restrooms. Drinking isn't half as interesting as cooking so he doesn't spend much time thinking about it.

"Don't burn your sharp tongue on that."

Without warning, his hand shoots out, grabbing hold of the chain and giving it a firm tug. Not enough to really hurt; just to choke him up a bit.

"This sort of tea requires milk." He says calmly, releasing the chain as if nothing had happened. "Go get some from the fridge. A little bit will do."

Not that he really think Shinjirou had done anything wrong. Jade is not unreasonable; he knows that it's unlikely for someone like Shinjirou to be familiar with the minutiae of tea preparation. This is just another test. An experiment, to see how Shinjirou reacts to being tugged around, and how he responds to corrections.

He stumbles a step forward at the sudden pull, eyes wide. Deep wrinkles appear on his forehead as he tries to figure out why the fuck that was necessary and what he could snap back at Jade. But then he smiles.

Silently, Shinjirou takes the chain and wraps it around his neck until only a tiny short bit of it is left to dangle around. It barely reaches his collarbone. "Right. I'll get some."

A surprisingly subtle approach. But as much as he'd like to, Jade can't let blatant insubordination slide. Shinjirou is his; his property, his new project. He can't treat him like he would an acquaintance.

Without any hesitation, he says: "First, though, I'd like you to unwind that chain again."

Perhaps he should have seen that coming, Jade not letting him go around with that leash rendered pretty much useless. He doesn't move for a moment, though, holding Jade's gaze. And he'd try to be more of a challenge if he hadn't left a sizzling pan in the kitchen. Oh well.

Rolling his eyes, he obeys and leaves to make sure the meat hasn't turned black in the meantime. Thankfully, that's not the case and the milk's easy enough to find. He returns to Jade's side, putting the milk down beside his cup of tea with a stiff, "There you go."

Although he meets Shinjirou's gaze steadily, he's quietly relieved when Shinjirou decides not to challenge him. It'll happen eventually, he knows, but better for it to happen later on, when he's had more time to learn what makes Shinjirou tick.

In the meantime, he settles down to enjoy the smells wafting out of the kitchen and smiles appreciatively when Shinjirou brings him his milk. "Thank you."

"Tch." He doesn't need thank yous, not when he's basically forced to do whatever is demanded of him; he doesn't see the point of gratitude when you can get what you want anyway and he stalks off without any you're welcome.

It doesn't take much longer and he's finished dinner, the table set and two plates waiting to be filled. The slices of meat are a nice crispy addition to the salad and, without waiting for Jade to actually join him after calling out to him that dinner's ready, he starts eating.

He's hungry, after not getting any food for two days in a row, and so he's munching on the salad in a rather unsophisticated manner. There's not really much of a change once Jade arrives at the table.

He's silent throughout the meal, observing Shinjirou openly, but keeping his thoughts to himself. Afterwards, he has Shinjirou take the dishes to the sink and give them a quick rinse. While he's busy with that, Jade grabs two cups and a bottle of sake, much like he had during that first night. The couch feels like a better place to hold a conversation, being more intimate, so he relocates there and gently sets the sake and the cups down on the tea table.

As soon as Shinjirou is finished with his task, Jade pats the space next to him. "Sit down." He invites, with a placid smile.

Shinjirou is admittedly wary of the situation, but not enough so to stay on his feet. He can still be on guard while sitting down. Keeping his body turned towards Jade, he crosses his arms and plops down beside him.

So he's going to be fed well and apparently get alcohol, too. He glances at the two cups. "Will I need a drink after you tell me what tomorrow's got in store for me, or is that just you trying to be nice?"

"Neither." He sounds almost cheerful. "It's simply no fun to drink alone."

Something Peony is all too glad to remind him of whenever Jade tells him he has no time for drinking together, but he tries not to think about the other man.

Leaning forward, he pours the sake for both of them. He still roughly recalls Shinjirou's tolerance levels (which is space in his brain that should have gone towards remembering more important things), and would have given him enough to make him tipsy, but the cups were too small.

He holds out the cup for Shinjirou to take. "Though I suppose you can think of it as a reward. You did good work today."

"Huh. Alright, if you say so." He can accept that. Drinking alone is pretty sad. Taking the cup out of Jade's hand, he takes a first nip. It tastes nice and warms him up from the inside out, putting his mind at ease. He doesn't think that he's earned a drink for making salad and being naked, but he's not going to argue as long as his cup is still full.

Of course the cup is empty rather soon. Maybe if he gets drunk enough he's going to forget that this isn't some naughty game. "Don't reward me for stuff that's that easy. I'm not a kid."

Is he purposefully trying to get drunk? Well, no matter, it's along the lines of what Jade is aiming for anyway. He refills Shinjirou's cup for him, and adds a dash to his own cup, even though it's barely been touched.

"No, you're not," he agrees easily. He had been referring to Shinjirou's acceptance of the situation rather than the quality of his work, but he doesn't see the need to elaborate.

"Speaking of which," his smile widens, gaining a sly edge, "do you remember this couch?"

A quiet "thank you" slips out despite himself when his cup is refilled. Jade really doesn't deserve his gratitude. Probably doesn't need it either.

It's one thing to sit around naked with a collar around his neck and a chain draped across his lap; it's another to be reminded of an earlier date when all that hadn't yet been the case, except for the naked part. Choking on a sip of sake, he coughs and tries not to let it show what exactly he remembers about this couch.

His neck and face is heating up quickly, unfortunately. He groans and averts his eyes. "Yeah, well. It's just a couch. Comfy and shit." No big deal, right?