Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

((A close friend of mine has urged me to try this out for NaNoWriMo, so as of now, I have a deadline and I\'m already behind. So, critique an stuff would really help me, and without my muse Imi on sometimes, my motivation tends to lack, so comments would be really appreciated.

I\'ve probably missed half the warnings in the summary, so I\'ll post warnings for each chapter, seeing as it\'s easier that way. ^-^

Oh, and apologies for missing letters as my keyboard is on strike. Anyway, on with the story!))

Chapter Two. -Warnings: None really this time, mostly scene setting and building up to the next chapters. Mild angst perhaps.

Rafael and Leon were placed outside a room with rather ornate looking door. Before the door opened to admit them though, the two guards disappeared off down the corridors, off to do whatever it was that guards did when they were no longer needed, which was probably go and get drunk so that they forgot everything they’d done that day. Either way, it no longer made any difference to the pair of slaves.

As the heavy oak doors swung open, the two young slaves stepped into a room that had the blonde’s mind reeling. It was so similar to that of his old master’s room that he was almost led to believe that he was back, and his master would emerge from somewhere in the room and sweep him into the air, overjoyed that the boy had come home. But there was a dark, foreboding to the room that Leon beheld, and it was that which cemented that fact that Leon was no longer in the safety of his previous master’s mansion.

As the pair stepped slowly deeper into the room, the doors closed behind them, making the pair jump slightly as a solid bang echoed around the room. Immediately afterwards, the master stepped into view, in the same robe he’d been seen in down in the slave cells, looking as majestic as ever. A malicious smirk was settled on the male’s lips as he stalked closer, critically inspecting the slaves for indications of their worth.

Being under such scrutiny was nothing new to Leon as his previous master frequently gave him the once over, but the whole situation was new to Rafael. Coming from a merchant family meant that although he had his fair share of less than adequate accommodation, it had been nothing like the cells he had been cooped up in. And he had usually been fortunate enough to have enough food to satisfy his hunger. What he had been subjected to in the cells was torture for someone who spent their live moving around, standing in the sunshine.

He would wear expensive clothes that only merchants or wealthy landowners could afford after a particularly good sell, and he was his own master, not doing anything he didn’t want to do, living like a free spirit, never staying anywhere long enough to be noticed too much. So having the master’s undivided attention was unnerving to say the least.

“Well now, aren’t you two quite the pretty ones now that you’re out of that dingy cell.” The master drawled as he stepped up close to the pair, cupping the blonde’s cheek in an almost caring manner, a gentle thumb caressing the soft cheek of the boy who just looked into the master’s jade irises as if transfixed by them.

Rafael just stood perfectly still, hands clenched into fists at his sides. Why wasn’t the boy saying anything? Why was he just letting it happen? He was appalled by how the boy was just allowing himself to be touched without protest, did he even know what was about to happen to them? Well, either way, Raf was certainly not going to be so submissive.

Raf could only watch as their master touched the boy however he wanted, light fingertips trailed down the boy’s arm, while the other stayed at the boy’s face, tracing the jaw line, smoothing gently across the pale pink lips. As that same hand began to trace the muscle of the boy’s chest over the top of the robe, not yet touching bare flesh, the other hand trailed past the young blonde’s hand and began to lightly creep across his thigh before carefully cupping the boy’s crotch as if testing for a reaction.

The dark haired slave looked on as Leon showed no adverse effects to where he was being touched, not even as the master gave a gentle squeeze of the boy’s genitalia before taking a step back to look at the boy once again. Another smile curled the master’s lips as the boy’s cheeks had flushed a beautiful light cerise colour at the attention he had received.

Meanwhile, Rafael had a hard time stopping himself from lashing out at the master, he was literally shaking with rage at having to watch as the innocent boy was touched in such an intimate way. But it confused him immensely that Leon was just letting it happen. Then again he had no idea of what the boy used to do, maybe he was used to this, maybe it was what he wanted? Whatever the reason, Leon just stood there as the master touched him.

And then it was Rafael’s turn to come under inspection, but as the master invaded the hell out of his personal space, Rafael took a step back, to put some space between himself and the male in front of him. This made the master, whose name was actually Hadrian, though no slave would utter that name, angry as his eyes narrowed and he closed the space between himself and Rafael once more, frowning deeply.

Seeing the malicious glint in the master’s eye made Raf hold his ground this time, eyes blazing with a mixture of fear and anger as Hadrian’s hands started to map out his body as Leon looked on, confused as to why the slave was making a big deal out of practically nothing. The blonde knew there would be much worse to come, and Rafael would most likely be disciplined for his defiance later.

“Why is it that you dislike about being so close to me?” Hadrian asked softly, running his slender fingers through the jet black locks of the older slave. “You are my slave for me to do as I wish with you…” He purred, and his grip tightened in the slave’s hair causing the affected male to wince and stand perfectly still. “Why can’t you be more like the boy beside you, he knows his place. Maybe I should have you returned to the slave cells until you are begging to return to me and be free of that repulsive filth.” He suggested calmly before releasing his tight grip on the male’s hair.

Rafael clearly blanched at the prospect of having to revisit the slave cells, and the master seemed to know just what buttons to push to get a reaction from the darker slave who shook his head when his hair was free. However, this only earned him a quick backhand that made his cheek sting like he couldn’t believe and his head turned sharply to the right before he turned again to face the master, a red welt slowly forming on struck cheek in light of the blow.

“When I ask a question, you will answer me, understood? Regardless of whether a simple nod will suffice I want to hear your voice.” He demanded, earning a quizzical look from both slaves but no answer from Raf, who then received another slap to the same cheek. “Understood?” He tried again and got an affirming ‘Yes’ from the slave. “And when you speak to me, you will end your words with ‘Master’. Is that clear?”

“Yes.” A pause as the master cocked a brow. “Master.” Rafael added quickly, hoping to lull the master into a false sense of security. Raf wasn’t done yet, a couple of slaps weren’t enough to tame him by far. Even if the second slap had brought tears to his eyes at the biting sting.

“Good. Now, are you going to respect me and stop resisting now?”

“No.” Another pause. “Master.” And a defiant smirk crept across the taller slave’s lips, even as Hadrian’s expression darkened. Nothing was said or done for a moment until Raf opened his mouth to speak again. “I’m not just going to sit down and let you do what you will with me, that’s just humiliating and degrading and I won’t stand for it” He announced folding his arms over his chest.

Hadrian laughed, apparently completely ignoring Leon for the time being in favour of wearing Rafael down, as it was so much more amusing to watch a slave break. But how to go about it? He could focus purely on the dark haired slave and take his time, revelling in the appearance of cracks in the insolent slave’s show of rebelliousness. Or he could possibly break both slaves at the same time. It was always much more satisfying when one tore down the bond that had formed between two slaves, and it was quite clear that Rafael had feelings of some kind for the small blonde male, even if they were only pity.

Rafael was understandably confused about why the master was laughing at him; after all he saw nothing funny about showing that he would not submit to a bully. But Leon was almost flinching as he stood up to the master and he couldn’t comprehend the reasons behind the blonde boy’s strange reactions to his shows of boldness. Raf though that perhaps it would spur the boy into standing up for himself too, but Leon just seemed to be anticipating something and was adamantly not letting himself get involved.

“Dear dear dear.” The master admonished with a slight shake of his head. “Someone needs to be informed of their position within this room.” He chided softly, taking a few steps back to pace slowly before the pair. “Shall we teach him a lesson?” He asked quietly, directing the question at the blonde boy who had said nothing so far.

Leon shuffled awkwardly on the spot for a moment, as the idea of having to watch as Rafael was disciplined was not very appealing. “Yes master.” He answered obediently. His lack of rebellion seemed to please Hadrian at least, as the master moved up to him and gently caressed the boy’s cheek in much the same way he had earlier.

“Now why can’t you be more like your friend? He obviously knows that it is futile to try and resist. So why not calm down? I won’t hurt you, not unless you give me a reason to. And you already have. So, now the question is how would the boy like you to be punished?” He asked, once again directing the question at Leon who looked mildly alarmed at having to choose a punishment for a fellow slave.

“I-I… I think a few lashes would be plenty master.” Leon replied, fear clouding his dulled blue eyes as his reply seemed to anger Hadrian that time.

“You think that choosing a light punishment will spare him don’t you?” He snapped, jade eyes flashing dangerously. “Well, then maybe you need a few lessons in how to select an adequate punishment, and I think the best way to go about that is to subject you to the torture first so that you will know which is best to use on him.” He announced with a pitiless smirk as his demeanour changed from deceptively kind to out rightly cruel.

“Don’t you dare do anything to hurt him!” Rafael all but yelled at the master and a lightly tanned fist was raised to strike Hadrian who just laughed at him once again, causing the dark haired male to pause in confusion and lower his hand once more.

Hadrian’s temper shifted once again to his apparent enjoyment of the situation and it seemed to be a perfect method of making Rafael uncomfortable and puzzled as to what the master would say or do next. “I can do whatever I want with him; he is my slave after all, as are you. And I’ll have you know that you’ll be begging for mercy before I’m done with you.” He purred, approaching Rafael once again. “But you two have both been standing here doing nothing for too long already and I am getting quite bored of this pointless chatter.” He announced, his gaze settling on the blazing eyes of the defiant slave. “If you know what’s good for you boy, you’ll do exactly as I tell you.” He demanded, casting a sideways glance at the blonde who answered exactly as he should and waited for instruction.

“You, my friend…” He addressed Raf, his words accompanied by a caress of the male’s strong jaw bone that was immediately flinched away from and caused Hadrian to smile disarmingly. “For every action in defiance of my plans for you both, the blonde will bear the punishment rather than you.” Hadrian declared, and the way the blonde boy had gone almost sickly pale satisfied the master enough for him to be a little gentler with the younger slave as he pushed the pair towards the bed.

Rafael almost stumbled as he was suddenly allowed to move again, not that he’d stayed on the spot for any real reason other than to be close to the blonde. His forward momentum was halted though when a firm hand was placed on his shoulder and only Leon landed on the plush mattress while he was spun on his heel to face Hadrian who had a disturbing glint in his eye, like he knew something Rafael didn’t and was seriously going to enjoy whatever it was he had in mind.

Hadrian had already mentioned that Rafael needed to be punished, so he would start with that first, and Leon would remain on the bed and watch, just as he’d been told to. “You know, I think the best way to start is to make you more uncomfortable than to really cause any damage, so I’ll have you over my knee to start with. Teach you a few manners with regard to how you treat your betters.” He informed the dark haired male who was glaring daggers at him.

Rafael wasn’t just going to do as he was told though, as he had already said, so as Hadrian reached for his hands to bind them together, Rafael backed away, keeping his hands apart to make life even more difficult. “You think I’m just gonna bend over and let you spank me?” Raf asked incredulously, though his expression was one that was not without a hint of fear. “I won’t be humiliated like that. What makes you think I‘d just let you spank me anyway? I’m not going to submit to you.”

“Ah but you will. I’ve already told you that for every time you defy me, your friend there will be the one to pay for it.” He announced with yet another of his cruel smirks as he reached across the bed, latching onto one of the boy’s wrists hard enough for it to leave bruises. Hadrian then dragged the blonde to the edge of the bed and stood him up, the boy emitting a short yelp as his hair was suddenly pulled. With the youth stumbling along beside him, the master approached one of the walls and reached out to grasp some ribbons that were seamlessly attached to the walls, as if they had been cemented in place when the room had been made in the very beginning.

Rafael could only watch in horror as the blonde boy was attached to the ribbons with barely any protest, even though it looked like the master was pulling his hair out from the roots. Raf tried to take a few steps forward to offer the boy some support but a ribbon that was being tied around Leon’s ankle was tightened enough to make the blonde boy squeak with discomfort as the circulation was quickly cut off. When Raf stopped moving, the ribbon was loosened and Leon relaxed a little, even as his one free limb was bound. At least Rafael could be thankful that they were only ribbons he was being tied up with, nothing like chains and manacles, though Hadrian hardly seemed like the type to tolerate such devices in such a lavish and beautifully decorated chamber.

“You see now my slave? If you submit to me then the boy is safe, at least for the time being. But still, you need to be disciplined for your earlier actions. So are you going to come and bend yourself over my knee or am I going to have to give you more of an incentive to do so?” The master asked, already thinking ahead to what device he could use most effectively break the defiant young male without actually touching him in such a harmful way just yet.

“I won’t. You can’t make me do anything I don’t want to do.” Rafael stated, though his words were beginning to lack their earlier courage and conviction.

The words were barely out of the slave’s mouth when Hadrian was moving slightly to the side so that he was in front of a rather large chest. Rafael’s expression was now one of curiosity, as the master rummaged around with whatever items were in the container that he couldn’t see from the distance he was stood at, and Hadrian’s body blocked his view also when a few items were raised, inspected and then replaced before the master found something he liked. Still preventing Raf from seeing what it was he held, Hadrian moved back to Leon who visibly paled further and it served to make Raf nervous.

So far, after all the touches the boy had endured, he’d made hardly a sound, but whatever it was that Hadrian held in his hand served to make the boy’s lips part in a whimper that only the master could hear. Still though, Rafael said nothing to please his master so Hadrian straightened up and stretched languorously, much like a cat, before smirking malevolently at the bound blonde. Without a word, the master opened the boy’s robe so the front of his body was on display and a light blush spread across the boy’s cheeks at the master’s inspection of his body which made Hadrian smile slightly, nodding in satisfaction of the blonde’s appearance.

“Please… no…” Came a small voice from beyond the amethyst robed figure. It was only then that the blonde boy offered some resistance to what he was being subjected to, but it was already too little, too late as his minor struggles only served to twist his bonds and cut off the circulation as it had when Hadrian tightened them before.

“You see, your defiance is detrimental to /his/ health.” Hadrian explained quietly, admiring his choice of device as he turned it over in his hand and finally revealed the implement to the rebellious slave. To all outward appearances it was just thin piece of metal with a slightly pointed end, but Leon had obviously seen it used before or else he wouldn’t have gone quite as pale as he did. The metal was also made of two elements, so he would not be harmed when he used it on the boy.

The device, although simple and rather harmless looking, could cause excruciating amounts of pain if used in the correct manner and it was something Hadrian enjoyed using if for no other reason than to brand his slaves and it’s two separate components meant that one end would heat, while the other remained cool, allowing for it to be handled without fear of injury to the user. The perplexed look on Rafael’s face was priceless when Leon was squirming in his bonds, sweat beginning to bead on his forehead in tiny salty beads as the master walked casually over the small fire crackling and burning merrily in the fireplace that acted almost as a centre-piece for the room in much the same way the huge bed did. Hadrian then crouched down and held the thin metal rod in the fire so that the orange and yellow tongues of flame could lick across the implement and heat it through to white hot intensity.

By then Rafael was starting to catch on, although he wasn’t sure where the device was going to be used, his eyes widened in alarm. “No way! You can’t touch him with that!” Raf proclaimed in fear and desperation. “Not because of me! Don’t hurt him because of me! That’s just twisted!” He yelled, though it made little difference as Hadrian was just chuckling to himself as he watched the metal glow in the heat.

Once Hadrian was satisfied that the metal was as hot as it needed to be, to Raf’s dismay, he stalked slowly back to the blonde boy who had tears trickling down his cheeks in anticipation of what was about to be inflicted upon him. The dark haired slave could only look on as Leon squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself for the burning touch, wherever on his body it landed.

((Heehee, you\'ll haveta wait and see what happens to dear Leon. And what will Raf do to help him? Anything? Stay tuned for the next chapter! ~I sound like a tv announcer. -_-\"~

If it sounds rushed, tell me, if I need to go into more depth, let me know! Anything that might help me, or even f you just want to nag me for an update, all comments are welcome and appreciated.))