The Doll House

AN: I was partially inspired by Princess Princess...incase anyone thinks this sounds similar. But except for the pretty boys dressed up in dresses its all mine. Enjoy, R&R

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Nathaniel, Gregori considered, had created a truly original concept. He glanced down at the dark haired male at his side and smiled to himself. Elliot would be the perfect addition to Nathaniel’s hotel, staffed by pretty boys in pretty dresses. When the young man had been unable to repay his debt to Gregori, his perfectly smooth pale skin and slim body had sparked the beginning of an idea in the debt collectors head. Elliot was small, standing at a height of just 5’4” with a temperament to match any red head and would make a beautiful, if wild, addition to The Doll House. Gregori was sure that Nathaniel would enjoy the challenge. Ringing the doorbell, Gregori did not have long to wait as what seemed like a young girl in a light blue dress and a white apron appeared, her blonde hair was in pig tails, tied with blue and white checked ribbons.

“Master Gregori!” She smiled.

“Matthew, is Nathaniel busy?” The blonde shook his head.

“No Master Gregori, he is not expecting new guests until later tonight. Would you like me to take you to him?”

“Yes Matthew. How is Nathaniel these days?”

“Very well Master Gregori,” they followed the boy/girl as he led them into the reception area, “although he has been slightly upset that he hasn’t been able to acquire someone new. But,” and with this Matthew turned sparkling eyes up at Gregori, “it seems that you have found new fuel for his passion.”

“Ah yes, this is my protégé. But he has been rather recalcitrant in letting me dress him appropriately. Haven’t you Elliot?” Bright violet eyes glared up at him and plump red lips pressed themselves together into a thin line. Gregori laughed and patted the dark head.

“Are you going to present him to Master Nathaniel like that?!” Matthew looked truly shocked making Gregori chuckle more.

“Unless you have a suggestion on how to make the little wild cat more agreeable to what I want to dress him in, then yes.” Gregori watched Matthew frown and then turn to Elliot.

“You will at least have your hair brushed.” He said sternly. “And you won’t cause any trouble. Master Gregori cannot give you to Master Nathaniel like that. You look like you’ve been pulled through a hedge backwards.” Matthew turned a dazzling smile to Gregori. “Do not worry Master Gregori I shall have him neat for you. Please follow me to the bathing room first.”

The bathing area was a large, circular room, with white tiles and a central bathing tub, designed to allow the boys access at all times. At the moment there was no one there, seemingly the staff were busy with their duties. A sly smirk crossed Matthew’s pretty features and then he shoved Elliot forward, sending him headfirst into the bath tub. Gregori watched with amusement as the dark haired male came up spluttering and lunged out of the pool straight at Matthew, who simply grabbed his arm and effectively stilled him by twisting it behind his back.

“Now, cooperate. We don’t stand with such nonsense here.” He pressed Elliot down into a seat and started brushing out his hair, ridding it of all knots and tangles and lastly drying it to fall in gentle waves around the soft pale face.

“Could you tie this in somewhere Matthew?” Gregori asked, handing over a hair band with a red bow attached to it.

“Of course Master Gregori.” With deft hands, Matthew had the hair band tied neatly onto Elliot’s head. “Master Nathaniel will choose his outfit, but we shall dress him in something more becoming then those sacks he is wearing.”

“Thank you Matthew. He has been most disagreeable.” The blonde nodded and turned to fetch something for Elliot to wear. The male in question however tore the bow out of his hair and was about to muse up his neatly done hair when he was smacked severely and his arm given a twist again.
“If you decide to act up, you will be disciplined. Life is not bad working here but you won’t get away with behavior like that. Master Gregori has been lenient with you. I shall not, now behave.” Gregori watched Elliot open his mouth to retort something but snapped it shut again when he saw the dangerous glint in Matthew’s eye. The hair band was returned to his hair and soon he was dressed in simple linen trousers and a linen shirt.

“Thank you Matthew. Now you can take us to Nathaniel.”

“Yes Master Gregori.” Matthew led the way to his master’s private chambers, leaving Gregori and Elliot to wait in the parlour; telling Elliot in no uncertain terms that he was to sit still at Gregori’s side and wait there until he was instructed otherwise.

Gregori watched Elliot’s violet eyes travel around the room in awe; it was kept in plain colours, not too gaudy but it exuded style and power. The door opened and his best friend since their public school days entered. Dressed in a casual, dark blue suit and an open white shirt, his dark brown hair gleaming under expensive lights; dark blue eyes searching intently, Nathaniel was as always the epitome of sophistication.

“Gregori!” A huge smile crossed the handsome face. “What brings you here?”

“Your dilemma of course.” He got up and gave his friend a hug. “I have a proposal for you, if you’re willing to make the arrangements.” He gestured slightly to the frozen figure by his side.
Elliot froze a little more as intense eyes devoured him. The eyes didn’t leave him as Nathaniel began to speak.

“What proposal might that be my friend? Tell me and I’ll consider whether I’m willing to acquiesce to your idea.” Gregori smirked as he saw the direction of his friends gaze. Oh he had him hooked.

“I don’t know whether you’re aware of this but not all of us are born with a silver spoon in our mouths Nathaniel. Some of us must scratch a living. In the process of scratching out mine, I ran across our darling Elliot here.” He squeezed the young man’s side briefly and Elliot’s eyes narrowed in silent rage.

“As he finds himself unable to repay the investment I so kindly offered him, we must find another way out of our difficulties. And, naturally I thought of your so charming establishment. If you are agreeable, Elliot shall work here, and forfeit half of his wage to me, until he has repaid his debt.”

A slow smile spread across his face. “Do you like him?”

Nathaniel’s face turned back to his friend, blank as a new slate. ‘He offers certain...possibilities. I will like him more when he is dressed properly. I will have Damien come and take him to the dressing room.” He pressed the button for the intercom and spoke into it quietly. “Will you have some tea and cake Gregori?”

“Yes, coffee rather than tea though, thank you Nathaniel.”

“And bring a tea, a coffee and some cake Damien as you’re on your way thank you.” Soon after a red head arrived, wearing a green skirt and white blouse with white patent shoes. A green bow held the hair away from his porcelain face.

“Your tea and cake Master Nathaniel, and the coffee for Master Gregori.”

“Thank you Damien. Please take Elliot to the Dressing Room.”

“Yes master Nathaniel. Do you wish me to dress him in your latest acquisition?” Gregori watched Nathaniel run his eyes over Elliot and then nod. Damien led Elliot through the door he had come and shut it with a quiet click.

“How many do you have in your collection now Nathaniel?” Gregori leaned back against the luxurious sofa.

“I think, with your wonderful offer, twenty-one Gregori, and all of them beautiful.” A satisfied smirk played across regular features.

“Yes, indeed they are. You always did say that one day you were going to have your own life size doll’s house. I didn’t quite take you seriously when we were younger. But how is your own particular doll keeping? How is Fynn?” He watched his best friend sigh and turn sad eyes on him.

“He became most disagreeable unfortunately Gregori. I had to let him go.”

Gregori raised an eyebrow with practised ease. “Oh indeed? He was such a sweet natured one.”

“Apparently being my lover turned his sweet nature into bitterly jealousy. There were some unfortunate scenes in front of some very special guests”

His friend winced at the mental picture “Unpleasant. Dear little Elliot does has quite a temper on him, but I’m sure you’ll enjoy the challenge. After all I’m sure he could scrub the kitchen floor or be kept away from the guests if he turns out to be too foul of mouth.” A slight frown creased Nathaniel’s once perfectly smooth forehead.

“I will encourage Matthew to teach him how to behave. He would be wasted just scrubbing the floors in the kitchen, Gregori. I am more than a little curious to see what he looks like in my latest purchase. I assume you will want to stay for dinner?”

“I could be persuaded to stay. I am quite curious to see what you’ve chosen for Elliot to wear. You’re not serving Poisson a la bordelaise per chance?”

“Per chance I just might be.” Nathaniel’s eyes gleamed as he leaned back in his chair and took a sip of his tea. “I shall inform Sammy that you shall be staying for dinner. I think tonight we shall dine in my private rooms, so that we can test your protégé’s skills.”

Gregori personally wasn’t sure if it was wise to let Elliot near anything hot and greasy. After all, the wild creature had bitten him when he’d tried to brush his hair and he didn’t doubt that he could do nasty things with hot foods. The grimace must have shown on his face because Nathaniel spoke again,

“You do not think it is a good idea? Or are you already tired of my company?”

“I’m just debating the wisdom of letting Elliot handle hot food near my person.” Nathaniel’s eyebrow twitched and so did the corner of his mouth.

“You think he would dump it on you?”

“I wouldn’t trust him not to do it. We’re not on the best of terms if you know what I mean.”

“Yes of course...scratching your living.” Gracefully Nathaniel rose from his seat and spoke into the intercom again. “Sammy, would you arrange dinner for myself and Gregori in the private dining room, the Sunday special menu. Thank you.”

Gregori smiled, it seemed that not only was he getting his money, he was also getting a most delicious dinner.

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Elliot trudged after the red haired boy/girl. He was fuming inside; how could he have been so stupid? He should have known from day one that Gregori Vaslov wasn’t trustworthy. His violet eyes flicked around the corridor, looking for a way out. He made a quick dive for a door which looked like it might lead to freedom but before his fingertips even touched the knob; his arm was once again wrenched backwards painfully.

“Matthew warned me that you’d try to escape. Stop being so difficult and just come. The faster we get you dressed the faster this will all be over. You might end up liking it.” Elliot raised a delicate eyebrow.

“I really don’t think so.”

“Fine. Just move then. I do have other things to be doing then babysitting someone with the attitude of a toddler.” The red head tugged on his arm, causing Elliot to wince but walk on again, unless he wanted his shoulder dislocated. What was the red head’s name again...Dean....Dave....

“Damien?”

“What? No, I’m not letting you go. Yes, you will wear what I give you, and if you start moaning I’ll tape your mouth shut.” Elliot’s eyes widened, what was with everyone being so damn violent here?

“That’s not what I wanted.”

“Oh...well what did you want then?”

“Did Vaslov bring you here too? I mean what did you do to deserve this?” The red head stopped dead in his tracks, causing Elliot to run into him. He turned around and gave the dark haired male a serious look.

“I applied for the job. Just see it as a job Elliot. The more you act up the more the others will just be annoyed by you. You won’t be here forever.” A small frown crossed Elliot’s features but he didn’t have much time to think as he was dragged onwards.

Damien pushed open a blue door and led Elliot inside. The room was full of dresses of various kinds all hung up under labels that stated ‘Maids’; ‘Cooks’; ‘Stage’; ‘Every Day’; ‘Evening’; ‘Waitress’; Elliot’s eyes were huge as he took in all the frills and bows and colours...including matching accessories, hair pieces and the like. Some tiny part of him started wondering what it would be like to wear that white dress with the white apron and to do some cooking...but he stamped down on it telling himself that that was NOT what he wanted to do. Damien rifled through the ‘Every Day’ dresses and ended up pulling out a black dress with a black bolero that had a huge white bow at the front. The skirt of the dress was large with a numerous petticoats underneath. Elliot was sure he’d seen some weird Asian kids at his school wearing that...like those girls in the anime...not that he watched anime.

“This is your every day dress, when you’re not in uniform. You’ll carry off the gothic Lolita look well. Alright put on these,” Damien handed Elliot some white frilly underwear, white stockings and some black patent shoes.

“I’m not wearing those! I’ll wear the dress but there’s no way I’m wearing anything with frills.”

“You can’t wear boxer shorts under the dress. Come on Elliot, just during work hours, in the evenings and on your day off you can wear whatever you want. We all wear them.”

“You’re weird.”

“It’s kind of nice....everything neatly tucked in.” Damien smiled to himself and straightened the bow in his hair. “Go on put it on, I’m sure you’ll look great.” With a great show of frowning and rolling his eyes, Elliot took the clothes. It was useless to protest, he was clearly outnumbered in this hell hole. Better to escape when they were least expecting it.

A few minutes later, Elliot was dressed and glaring at his reflection. Damien smiled and led him over to a chair.

“Sit down, I’ll do your hair, that red hair band won’t do.” With deft hands Damien worked his hair into a pony tail and tied it with a black ribbon, letting a few strands of hair caress his face. “There you look perfect. Pinch your cheeks and then you won’t need blush.”

Elliot grumbled but did as he was told. This was scarily reminiscent of the time when he was 7 and his sisters had dressed him up in their summer dresses and painted his nails pink. He was sure he still had psychological trauma from that horrific June. Looking at his reflection, he considered that it would probably be a bad idea to escape whilst looking like an over decorated cupcake, unless he particularly wanted to be molested.

“I’ll introduce you to a few of the other’s now. There are twenty one of us, but you won’t need to know everyone’s names straight away.”

He followed Damien through a door marked, “No unauthorised entry”.

“This is our living room, we take our breaks here or spend the evenings watching a movie or something.” Elliot looked around; the room had been painted cream, with white curtains adorning the windows. Cream coloured sofas and chairs were placed around the spacious room, large pillows lay on the floor. A large flat screen TV covered one wall, book shelf made out of beech covered the other. It was filled to bursting with all sorts of hard cover books. A pink haired boy sat cross legged on one of the large pillows playing a hand held game while his back rested against the shoulder of a blue haired boy that looked at the back of his head with faint annoyance.

An auburn haired boy looked up from the book he was reading on one of the sofas, a slight blush staining his cheeks as he took in Elliot and Damien. He looked down at his book again quickly. In Elliot’s opinion pretending to be completely engrossed, since Elliot couldn’t image that reading a book upside down was really that thrilling.

“Hey guys.” Two heads snapped up while the third buried itself deeper in the upside down book. “We have a new addition to the team. This is Elliot.”

The pink haired boy dropped his hand held and bounced over, the motion causing his curls to do the same. He leaned in close, a wide grin spreading over his pixie like face. He was wearing a purple pleated corduroy dress with a white apron over the top, which was tied with a big bow on the back. On his feet where matching purple ballerinas and white stockings.

“Hey I’m Izzy. Wow and I thought I was short, I mean how tall are you? 5’3” or something? You look really cute in that dress, damn I was hoping I’d get to wear that instead of this damn pink dress I always have to wear.” Izzy pulled a face. “I’m really glad we’ve got another pair of helping hands; it’s so damn busy in the summer, especially since Fynn left.”

“Izzy, don’t smother him. You’ll scare him.” Damien turned to Elliot and smiled at the shell shocked look on the other boy’s face. “You’ll get used to Izzy Elliot. Let me introduce you to the other two.” He pointed at the boy with the blue hair. “That’s Seth.”

The blue haired boy raised his hand in greeting. He was wearing the same dress that the Izzy was wearing but his hair was held in pig tails just like Matthew’s had been.

“Hello.” His voice was quiet with a smooth quality. “I have to get back to work, so does the Duracell bunny.” Slowly he got up from his place on the sofa. “I’m sure I’ll see you around Elliot.”

“Don’t call me Duracell bunny Seth! That’s not nice.” The pink haired male whined as he bounced out of the door after the other boy.

The auburn haired boy on the couch looked up as the door closed, his eyes flitting to Damien, Elliot and then back to Damien again. The faint blush returned to his alabaster cheeks. He was wearing a simple t-shirt and a pair of jeans. His auburn hair tied back in a low pony tail.

“That’s Ollie. It’s his day off today. I thought you wanted to go out today Ollie.” The blush on the other boy’s cheek darkened.

“I...I...I got caught up in this book Damien.” Elliot watched Damien smile kindly at the other boy and caught the starry eyed expression that crossed Ollie’s face.

“Alright. I need to get Elliot back up to Master Nathaniel.”

“Oh alright.”

“I’ll see you tonight after work; you can tell me if the book is good.” And with another friendly smile in the auburn haired boy’s direction, Damien led Elliot out of the living room. They walked down the corridor that was painted a pale pastel green. Quick footsteps could be heard coming towards them as a lavender haired boy rounded the corner. He was wearing a pale cream summer dress, his feet tucked into white flowery sandals. A wreath of daisies was adorning his head of cork screw curls.

“Oh good, I was looking for you Damien and for Elliot. Master Nathaniel wishes for Elliot and I to serve dinner.” The lavender haired boy gave them a sweet smile. “Hello I’m Sam or Sammy whatever you want to call me.” Elliot couldn’t help but like him on first sight. A small smile crept onto his face.

“I’m Elliot.”

“Yes I know. It’s nice to meet you, now hurry up; we need to serve Master Nathaniel and Master Gregori dinner.” Elliot felt the smile leave his face and a frown grace it instead. There was no way he was waltzing around in front of Gregori Vaslov in a dress. He was not giving that man that satisfaction. He looked from Sam’s sweet open face to Damien who was throwing him a calculating look and weighed up the possibility of refusing. But then he remembered the pain in his arm and Matthew’s mention of disciplining him if he didn’t toe the line and he might be able to sort of accidentally on purpose drop something hot on Vaslov’s lap. A sly smirk crossed his face as he thought of the big Russian arse having his balls boiled.

“Fine, I’m coming. But I won’t like it.” Sam took over from Damien, leading Elliot through some corridors, past a couple of numbered doors, a recreation room and down into the kitchen.

“I have everything ready it’s in the oven, we need to put it on the plates and then take it up with the lift to Master Nathaniel’s private dining room. We have escargots for starters, Poisson a la bordelaise as the main course and crème brulee for desert.” Elliot watched Sam place everything on plates and cover it with one of those fancy silver lids. When he opened his own restaurant, he was going to have them. His food would be new exciting a small smile crossed his face as he watched the way that Sam decorated the plates. Food was just so much more then nourishment. “Oh dear I forgot to ask Master Nathaniel which wine he wishes to have served with this meal.”

“A Chablis, that goes very well with fish.” Sam stared at Elliot for a while with a bemused expression on his sweet angelic face.

“Um...if you say so, if you can find it we’ll take that. How do you know so much about wine?” Sam opened a door which revealed a large wine store. Elliot ran knowing eyes over the various bottles and picked out one.

“It needs to be chilled though.”

“I’ll put it in the cooler; I hope it’ll be chilled by the time we get upstairs.” Elliot looked doubtful but followed Sam up to the lift, where they pushed their food cart in. “Someone will send the other courses up with the food lift.”

The wrought iron doors of the lift opened and Sam pushed the trolley out of the lift. They were in a little room with just a white door, which probably led to Nathaniel’s dining room Elliot assumed. Somewhere deep inside Elliot dreaded going through that door wearing THAT outfit. It was humiliating to say the least, stupid Gregori.

“Elliot if we don’t serve the starter now, it will be cold. Master Nathaniel will not be pleased if you...mess up on your first time.” Sam spoke in that same sweet voice and the good natured smile but there was a warning edge to his voice, which Elliot decided to ignore. They pushed the trolley through the door and entered a suave yet minimalistic dining room.

A dark mahogany table was the centre piece, with four chairs covered in dark red material gracing a side each. At the head of the table sat Nathaniel and at the end Gregori. Strategically placed lights, lit up the most important pieces in the room. Sam served the soup into stylistic white plates, while Elliot poured the wine.

As he picked up the plate for Gregori, a small smirk crossed his lips as he thought about the expression on the debt collector’s face when he dropped the scolding soup onto his lap.

“Be careful with that, it’s hot.”

“Yes I am aware of that. Otherwise we wouldn’t be serving it Sammy.”

“Good, be careful not to spill anything then yes?” Elliot picked up the soup plate, mulling over whether to drop it in Gregori’s lap or not, that he didn’t notice the edge of the carpet that was sticking up causing him to stumble and sending him and the soup flying towards his new employer. The sharp corner of the table came perilously close to his face. However he was caught by a pair of strong arms that placed him back on his feet. He stared at the floor, his face burning as he saw the soup dripping off an expensive suit that most certainly did not belong to Gregori. His chin was lifted and he was made to stare into a pair of intense slightly worried blue eyes.

“Are you undamaged?”

“Yes.” He pulled out of the other man’s arms and away from his gaze. Gritting his teeth, Elliot chided himself for even feeling anything close to affection towards the other man. He didn’t want to like him or his stupid strong arms. Mentally slapping himself, Elliot wanted to stomp over to the food trolley but winced as his pressed down on his left foot.

“Sammy, you should take Elliot to the nurse’s room. It seems he isn’t undamaged after all. Tell Damien to send Hayden up and then you can come back when you have delivered Elliot to the nurse.”

“Yes master Nathaniel. Come Elliot, I’ll help you to the nurse.” Soon Elliot found himself limping along another corridor with his arm around Sammy’s shoulders. He was delivered to a comfortable white room. “Wait here Elliot. The nurse will take a look at you and then Ollie’ll probably come and take you to the room you two will be sharing. I hope your foot is going to be ok.” And with that Elliot was left to mull over how on earth he was going to escape this place.