roneal | (no subject)

"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?

By contrast, Jade's entire posture is relaxed, his spine curving gently against the backrest, thighs slightly apart. He raises the cup to his lips, sipping slowly, eyes half-closed as he watches Shinjirou fluster.

"I'm glad you think so." He's still smiling, his voice low and warm. "Tomorrow, you'll be lying here and spreading yourself out."

"Want me to take a nap tomorrow?" No, that's most likely not what Jade's trying to say. But deliberately playing obtuse is better than asking any other questions and therefore thinking about real possibilities.

Before Jade can correct him, he empties his cup again. He's not a fortune teller, but he's pretty sure he'll have to be at least a bit drunk to accept whatever's coming out of Jade's mouth next.

Jade obligingly fills his cup again.

"I'm afraid not." He can be patient. He knows something like this is difficult to accept, even if he doesn't understand why - it's not like Shinjirou has any problems with spreading his legs for strangers. The come stains had taken awhile to clean off the couch.

Besides, in this case, he's not even asking him to whore himself out, just submit to a physical examination. "I told you you'd be entertaining my guests. One of them is visiting tomorrow. He's the one who introduced me to the market, and he's told me that he'd like to look at my purchase."

It's entirely possible that things would go further than that, but Jade won't risk allowing things to get too extreme, not without Shinjirou's consent. He's hoping to use him for a few months yet. That would be impossible if he alienates him two days into their partnership.

Look at doesn't sound too awful. He tries to force his body to still be tense, hiding his immediate relief. Being referred to as a purchase certainly helps with that. He's yet to find a good reason for why anyone would even be interested in buying him, and then actually doing it too. But that's what he is now, something that's been bought. Like a loaf of bread.

"Uhm, okay?" This time, he doesn't gulp down the sake and puts it onto his thigh, rolling his thumb along the edge of the cup. "If he's the one who introduced you, why'd he need to look at me? Just curious what you picked?"

He's spent time with slaves -- not very talkative folks -- but not with any, uh, owners. Maybe it's less like being a loaf of bread and more like a new vase. New decoration. In that case, he can kind of get behind the idea of wanting to show off. His own morals stand on slippery, sandy ground. He's not going to judge.

"He's gonna be disappointed, but that's your problem."

"No, he won't." Jade sounds very confident as he lowers his cup, looking directly at Shinjirou with intense red eyes. The corners of his lips curl up with the barest hint of a smirk. "Admittedly, your appearance could do with some work, but it shouldn't matter too much. He likes his boys pliant and docile. As long as you don't resist him, he should be satisfied."

He looks almost meditative as he sips at his sake again. "Well, really, he prefers females more, but I suppose there's no helping that." Very deliberately, his allows his gaze to slowly trail down Shinjirou's body, coming to a stop at his groin. "So, do you think you can handle acting subservient for a few hours?"

There are always other methods: drugs, bondage, gags. His associate isn't picky; he likes helplessness as much as he does submission. Jade just prefers to do things the easy way.

He makes no attempt to hide anything from Jade. There's no point in being bashful after throwing yourself at a guy once. He even lets one leg drop to the side, baring himself to Jade's stare. His body isn't anything special, but if Jade honestly likes looking at it, whatever.

"Don't resist him ... for a few hours? That sounds like a long time for just looking at me." The sake's getting to his head, he can tell. Can tell when he edges closer to Jade, instead of keeping a safe distance between them. "What is he going to do and where are you going to be?"

"But you won't tell me that yet, right." Shrugging, he empties his cup of sake and puts it on the table. He shouldn't drink more than that. His head and chest are already feeling fuzzy and warm. That's bad, seeing as he won't be allowed to run off in the morning. "Hope you're charging him."

"You'll see tomorrow," he promises. It's good that Shinjirou already has a sense of how he operates; Jade doesn't have much patience for spelling things out all the time.

Almost lazily, he drapes an arm around Shinjirou's shoulders, tugging him closer. The sake had lent slight flush to Shinjirou's skin, and when Jade runs his thumb across along his cheek, it feels warm and smooth. "But no, I won't be charging him. You aren't worth it yet. Besides, what sort of host makes his guests pay for the entertainment?"

They'll still be doing plenty of paying though, in information and connections. But right now, Shinjirou is little more than a token of goodwill, a gift freely given to and shared with his acquaintances.

Shinjirou knows he shouldn't let his guard down this easily, but he closes his eyes at the gentle touch, pushing his face into the crook of Jade's neck. His lips touch skin when he speaks up again. "Yet? I will be?" It makes him wonder what Jade expects of him and whether he'll actually be capable of it. He's only good at making mistakes.

"I'll try being nice." He says this now, in a state where he can't tell if he's just a bit under the influence of alcohol, or already properly drunk. His hand on Jade's chest suggest the latter; he doesn't remember putting it there, but now he can feel a pulse under his fingertips. "I think I can be nice."

They're close enough that he can feel Shinjirou speak, all pleasant vibrations and soft lips against his neck. Jade has to stifle a chuckle at the earnest words, the sincerity. It's amazing what a few drinks can do to a person.

Setting his own cup back on the table, he drapes that arm loosely against Shinjirou's back.

"You're being very nice right now," he murmurs, the words meant as a praise. His thumb brushes against Shinjirou's cheek again, then traces down the line of his jaw, coming to a rest just under his chin. He pushes up, very lightly, a wordless request for Shinjirou to tilt his head back. It would be nice to kiss him; he seems to respond well to physical gestures.