Dealings in the night (Part 2)

[Shayna]

Time Stamp: 35th of Winter 513


The light of Syna shone into the windows of the cottage, heralding a new day. The night before had found Mamoru and Shayna in the midnight markets, amongst the more unsavory of the city. It had been a long night, thus the morning light was peeking in to wake them before the slave who normally greeted the sunrise could really wake. She lay on Mamoru's bed, or rather on Mamoru as he lay on his bed, her body naked spread over him comfortably. Her dark hair tangled around them slightly, her cheek laying against his chest. Her breathing was deep and steady, the brand that marked her a slave peeping from thick strands of hair.

If she dreamed then she isn't aware of it as she slowly begins to stir, her body shifting into a stretch even as she raised her head to look first at her master sleepily, then shifting upward on one arm to look around the room. The air was chilled, the fire had died down to merely embers that were fighting to stay alive amid the white ash in the fire place. However Syna promised to be very visible today so they probably won't need a fire in the swamps until the night fell again.

She looked back to Mamoru, loathed for the moment to move so comfortable is she laying against the solid mass that was his body. However work would never complete itself and she imagined he might be hungry before he set off about the work he had agreed to complete. Since he had purchased her, she found that she was having to learn many new skills, and cooking was going to have to be one of them. It was even more difficult because she couldn't read, so she couldn't just ask other slaves to write recipes down and instructions down.

She decided to wait until he woke, to see what his plans were before she attempted to not burn down the cottage in attempts at making a breakfast. Shayna settled back down against him again, snuggling a little more actively now that she was awake, her fingers drawing random patterns against his flesh.

[Kalesserimamoru]

The night before had been very interesting for the trickster. Going off rumors of dark deeds and seedy deals being made in the market that only came alive at night, he decided to have a look for himself. It wasn't that often that he got what he was looking for, but when he did, it was well worth the trouble. Mamoru slept light that night, his mind crawling with so many ideas and thoughts that it was hard to settle down for a good sleep. However with Shayna sleeping on top of him made it easier. He woke a few times during the night, but the smell of her hair wafting into his nose and the warmth of her body soothed him back to sleep without trouble.

He wouldn't dream this night, only thoughts of what happened, and what was to come later. He had to find a way onto the plantation first, and seek out the slave or at least information, proof that she was still there. He assumed by the story that Berk was no longer allowed there and that all the slaves had been told not to speak with him. That meant that he would have to find a sneaky way to ask about the girl. A way that wouldn't alert them to the fact that he was working with Berk. Shayna had asked him what he thought the man would do with the information and if he would want him to rescue his daughter.

Mamoru had no plans of doing so, his job was simply to find the information, nothing more. In fact, Berk had said that he would handle it himself, and that was good enough for the trickster. If he were to ever go against the Dynasty it wouldn't for someone else, it would be for himself and a plan that he would have thought through for a long time before he put it to use. When Shayna stirred and started to move, he enjoyed the feel of her soft, smooth flesh rubbing against his body. His fingers rose and gently touched the skin on her lower back and he too stirred.

He opened his eyes, lifting his arm to wrap around her, both hands pressing against her, one upon her back and the other finding it's way up and combing through her hair. His body was wide awake now and he had to shift beneath her to make sure that they were both still comfortable. Mamoru continued to pet her for another moment, before he guided her to look at him and planted a kiss upon her lips.

"Sleep well? I hope so, we have a busy day ahead of us and I need you at her best." He paused, though didn't hesitate with the affections as he kissed her again, this time holding the kiss and stroking her rear gently. "I'm unsure how Berk will take the news if it isn't what he wants to hear, and I won't be caught up in someone else's fight. It's best we do the job and step away from it as fast as possible."

[Shayna]

As his hands raised to pet and stroke her, Shayna burrows deeper against him, fitting herself against him in a fashion that had become habit. She enjoyed these moments, often right before sleep over took her or as sleep was being pushed away, when they would lay together and he would share his affections with her. She recognized the changes happening to her, both physical and psychological since she had been purchased by him. The physical changes were simple enough, she no longer worked in a garden from the time that Syna rose to the time that Syna set, so her hands were still calloused but her finger nails were no longer short and jagged, and even though the callouses were still there, her hands were starting to lose the leathery coarseness. She was surprised to find that happening so soon, she had assumed her hands would always be the way they were. Another physical change was her freckles, she still had a nice crop of them but they were not quite so prevalent thanks to not being the directly light of Syna for twelve or fourteen hours a day had started to lighten the freckled spots.

The changes to her psyche were more really just being comfortable enough in her knowledge of him to know mostly what is acceptable and what is not. So as his hands moved on her body, the gentle tug of her hair to get her to lift her head for his kiss, was all met with her own murmur of pleasure and contentment. "I slept just fine M'Lord." She replied to his question, with a smile before she bent her neck to place a solitary kiss in the middle of his chest. Her own brand of affection. "It has been my experience that people really rarely take bad news well. I take it that you have an Idea on how we are to find out if this girl is still within the house, or if she has been otherwise removed?"

Shayna shifts in his arms, moving just enough so that she was still pressed intimately against his side, one leg thrown over his waist still but freeing up her arm to be able to run lightly along his side, arms, and anything else her hands could reach in their aimless roaming. "Would M'Lord like breakfast before we begin?" She asked the question, lifting her head to look out over the room contemplating what they could do for breakfast.

[Kalesserimamoru]

Mamoru smiled and watched her as she kissed his chest and he moved his hands through her hair to wrap in and pull it away so that he could see her face more. There was a subtle change there, her skin was getting lighter and her freckles didn't show through as much as it had when they first met. She appeared healthier also, being able to eat when he ate and sleep when he slept was a much easier life than barely eating and working in the sun all day. The teen had more energy now and she seemed to enjoy doing things around the cottage.

He also noticed the change in her psyche, there was less hesitation now, and she no longer froze when he touched her. His kisses were expected and wanted, and even as he pressed his body against her as she lay on top of him, she didn't pull away. It was a very good start in her molding, and he would slowly start to work her up to learning to do certain things for him as their time together passed. Still laying in the bed, he stroked her flesh more and planted a kiss on her head, his return for her affections.

"My dear, what he does is none of my concern. We aren't his friends, or his partners. We're just doing a job, from there he is on his own. But..I might suspect that he plans on taking the girl back if she's still there, or enacting revenge if she is not. We won't have any part in that, our business is concluded with the passing of the information." She asked a good question, wondering about his plans for getting the information about the girl, and he thought for a tick before replying. "First I think we will go and see Peosa Radacke. You remember him I take it? We had such a good talk the last time, I wonder if he would know anything. Chances are that he might, if the girl was sold that is."

When Shayna shifted to his side and looked out into the room, Mamoru turned his body towards hers. He brushed her neck with his lips before planting a few kisses there, while his hand gently caressed her thigh as it laid across him. "Breakfast would be a good idea. I can always eat. You should eat something as well, I have a feeling you'll need your strength today."

[Shayna]

Shayna smiled at his kiss, pushing herself up after just a moment. She scooted off the bed, gently laying the covers aside so that she could crawl out but returning them so that he didn't get the chill of the air until he was ready to rise. She, herself moved to where she stored her clothing and pulled her shirt over her head but left off the breeches for the moment. She forwent the fireplace, the days did not usually get so chilly in the swamps to need one during the day but snagged two logs to throw into the wood stove. She then went to the fire place, and with the small shovel meant to stir around the hot coals, she carefully transferred coals that were buried in the ash to the stove. While the logs began to smolder, slowly heating the stove, Shayna went to the cupboard.

She really had no idea on cooking, only what seemed to make the most sense. You put things over fire, it gets hot, it cooks. Seemed logical. She didn't want to try anything too big so she picked up some potatoes and an onion. She had eaten enough fried potatoes to know what they were suppose to look like and taste like at least. Shayna gathered her utensils that she expected she would need, a knife and a spatula along with the vegetables. First thing was the skillet was placed on the stove top, so that as the top grew hot the skillet did as well too. Then she began to chop the potatoes, she was awkward and slow but they got cut. The knife moved in and out of the thick root with a little muscle work from Shayna, and she was pleased that she did not lose any fingers or blood. The pieces were not uniform, there were large chunks and small chunks, some that were long and others that were squat.

Next was the onion, this was easier to cut and didn't take as much muscle from Shayna. However as the blade sliced through the layers, the acrid aroma caused tears to blur Shayna vision more then once, and her eyes began to burn. She mistakenly wiped at her eyes which caused them to sting enough that she had to stop what she was doing to wipe her eyes with the edge of her sleeve. Finally everything was more or less chopped, and she gathered up a handful and carried it to plop it unceremoniously into the heated skillet without a drop of lard. Immediately the flesh of the potatoes began to sizzle and she began to stir them with the spatula. Once all this was done she turned her attention back to her master.

"I remember the master Peosa indeed M'Lord." Her tone remained carefully neutral, "Be careful asking after this girl though, if this mister Berk does indeed retaliate or otherwise, master Peosa will certainly remember you asking after her." The potatoes were sticking to the skillet badly, no matter how much she stirred and stirred to keep them moving they just kept sticking. She couldn't figure out what she was doing wrong. But eventually they were more or less cooked. She scraped out the mushy potatoes onto a plate, frowning. They didn't look at all like what she was served. However she was always told that potatoes was filling, cheap, and provided energy so she placed the plate on the table with frown. "These didn't come out very well M'Lord. I can try again if you want me to." She used a fork to push some of the potatoes around, they didn't have the nice browned color, they were almost fried mashed potatoes. She only hoped they tasted better then they looked.

[Kalesserimamoru]

Mamoru laid still on the bed, both arms lifted and folded behind his head. In a way, he wished that the man had given him more to go on. If the slaver auctioneer wasn't able to supply him with any information then he was going to have to go to the plantation himself and that would be dangerous. The Radackes were known to be as ruthless as they were smart, if he made one wrong move they'd all be on him before he could escape. He wondered for a moment if maybe Shayna would have luck getting information from the slaves, but then he remembered that she didn't seem too friendly with the others.

Either way, no matter what he did, he would have to be careful, and if he couldn't find anything, he may have to abort the mission before things went too sour. It was probably a bad idea, but he was placing a lot on his meeting with Peosa. If worse came to worse, he thought he could hypnotize him, but that wouldn't work either. The man had been hypnotized before, he would likely realize it was happening to him if he tried it again. It was going to be interesting and dangerous.

Mamoru glanced to Shayna, noticing that she had decided to cover herself while she cooked. He thought that could be the reason, or maybe she was just cold being so far away from him, that he could understand easily. He allowed his thoughts to quiet for a moment as he watched her cook. He couldn't remember if she had ever told him if she could or not, but it seemed that she was at least trying. Finally he sat up on the bed and leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. Her voice drew his attention and he stood up to stretch, before going to dress himself.

"I don't plan on asking a thing about that girl, or any other. I'll just tell him what type of slave I'm looking for and see if anything turns up. He can't fault me for having a..type." He smirked, looking over his shoulder at her for chime then returned to dressing himself. He didn't bother with robes this time and dressed in a simple white shirt and pants. He was going undercover in a way, and most probably remembered the dark robes. The trickster still needed to find a way to use his pet in this, but in a way that would keep her out of trouble.

He moved to where she stood by the table and reached down, grabbing a fist full and stuffing it into his mouth. He was a Dhani, and unless he saw the need to blend in, he ate the way he normally did...like an animal. "Crunchy...hmmm.." It didn't matter, he had tasted worse and they had work to do. "No need, we'll be going soon. We can eat again later." He crunched more potatoes but left a few in case she wanted to eat as well.

[Shayna]

Shayna was in no hurry to meet up with any of the Radackes. The family was a tight knit family, and the missing girl was riling them up to no end. They were rash and often struck in an extreme fashion when angered. She was not looking forward to this job, not just for herself but more for him. She was a simple slave, in other peoples eyes she was hardly worth the effort to sell it seemed. To him, she feels as if she was worth something. For that feeling alone she would protect him with everything she has, even if it meant at times speaking up about dangers in his plans.

"Do you?" She found herself asking, during that chime he was looking at her between dressing. "Have a type I mean? In Falyndar, did you have slaves?" She tried not to be too pushy when she asked him questions about his past, or really anything about him really. If he thought she needed to know something about him then he would tell her, though there were times when her curiosity about her master over came her training. She knew he said that he was more like she was, subservient. But she could not see him as a slave, he seemed too .. big.. too powerful to ever have been a slave surely.

When he came to the table she moved to the water basin and filled a cup with water that had been positioned well away from the fire place and stove so that it was cool. She brought it back to the table to sit discreetly beside the plate of diminishing potatoes. She cringed whenever she noted a crunch, knowing that potatoes should not crunch. "That sounds like a good plan M'Lord. Though he might parade many different slaves for you to choose from. I know that we have a description, but many women have blue eyes and dark hair."

As she spoke she moved to the stove, opened the door so that the heat could escape, and oxygen could enter and speed the process of fuel being burned. She needed to make sure the fire was out before they left the cabin. Then she grabbed the skillet and took it carefully to the basin, its insides coated with a brown-black burned layer of potato that will surely prove to be a chore to clean. She poured yet more water over it, letting it soak in the basin for now.

Turning she remembered what he had said about her needing to eat as well, and she returned to the table to do just that. Unlike Mamoru, Shayna did not scoop potatoes up by the handful, instead she used the fork to shovel the bits into her mouth. And instantly her face contorted, but she chewed and swallowed obediently. The burnt taste was overpowering, and the parts that weren't charred were raw, and bland. In a word it was horrible. She choked down two or three bites before she was finished. "I am terribly sorry M'Lord. I .. I don't know what I did wrong with those.. I thought I did what everyone does.."

[Kalesserimamoru]

Mamoru had watched the girl as she cooked, taking in her long dark hair, and the slender legs that appeared from under the shirt that she wore. She asked if he had a type, and the question caused a grin to spread across his lips. "Slaves? No, I didn't have anything of the sort. Survival was an endless struggle there and food was short. The women and consorts were fed first and then the rest. Slaves wouldn't last there, there wouldn't be enough food to keep them alive. There was also the chance that other of my kind would get hungry enough to eat them." He cackled lightly, thinking of a scene that would portray that very thing happening.

"As for my type.." he added, his eyes wandering over her curves and he licked his lips pleasantly. "I suppose that anything is possible. I find beauty in many things and many places. But my attractions go far deeper than physical appearances. The physical can be so easily altered for those with the knowledge to do so. However the mind is a bit more complicated." The trickster enjoyed the unnatural, but sometimes he found attraction in things that were simply different. "And what of you Shayna? Do you have a type?" He half doubted he'd get an answer, more likely the story of how slaves weren't allowed to have even that. However, if there was a possibility that she did have a type, he would be interested to hear.

Standing by the table, his yellow-green eyes found the cup of water sitting by the plate. He reached down, taking more potatoes into his grip and crunching them down easily. "I imagine that he would, it is his job. But that would give us something to go on. How many young women with dark hair and blue eyes, that are also young would one man have? There is also the chance that they may not have changed her name. These Dynasty think they're untouchable, they wouldn't have a need to do so, unless they just wanted to for fun."

Looking to the cup of water, Mamoru parted his lips and res started to flow out and down towards the table. The res slipped into the cup, meshing with, and drawing the water towards it. Shaping his lips into an oval, the trickster sucked the res back into his mouth slowly pulling the water from the cup along with it to swallow. He looked to his pet as she apologized for the meal and he lifted another and crunched it down. "It's not that bad, I've never imagined a potato would crunch. You know..there could be a market for these." He mused over the thought for a moment and let her finish.

[Shayna]

Shayna pushed her plate away, she wasn't a large eater though admittedly she had been eating more since she had become his slave. Even if she had been someone who was accustomed to eating large quantities she didn't think she could stomach too many more bites of them. The mere fact that her master was still eating them surprised her, and made her feel a little better about her first attempt in the culinary arts.

She was altogether unaware of his wandering gaze, still half convinced that his interest in her body was more out of convenience the out of any real attraction. In effect this meant that there was no obvious attempts to draw his eyes, but there was also no attempts to hide from him either. His words answering her both made her blood run cold at the idea that her master might eat someone. He said those of his kind, which would include him. Something inside her made her morbidly ask "Have you ever.." She paused just because it was such an odd question, "Eaten anyone?"

She stood, pointedly ignoring the way he was drinking his water. He did things that was unsettling to say the least and she had long sense found it easier to keep busy rather then marvel at the many talents he had. She gathered her plate, and waited until he ate the last of his potatoes before she whisked his plate away and put it with the skillet in the basin. "My type M'Lord?" She asked, for a moment dumbfounded. She had never been asked that before, "I don't really know, it is not something that I have ever been asked or thought I would be asked." Her words were thoughtful, yet more proof that she was completely untrained as a courtesan. Pleasure slaves might have leaped to explainn how their master were exactly their type.

Yet Shayna pondered, she did enjoy his answer about the mind and how physical appearance changing. Did she not tell her former Mistress that the first time that Katherine had asked her if she minded being so ugly? It was nice to hear it from someone else. "Perhaps you should try and sell them to the Rajors M'Lord. It might be a Dhani thing to like crunchy potatoes." She moved now to her clothing once more, pulling on the dark breeches he had bought her that first day.

[Kalesserimamoru]

There was an image, a scene showing inside his mind, several Dhani standing around inside the nest, a few of them covered in human blood, a look of embarrassment upon their faces, and the others staring them down in contempt. That was what he imagined it would look like if the nest tried to keep slaves. Besides that, there were also the sacrifices that Siku required, another thing that would work away the flesh of the laborers. Shayna asked him a question, and he couldn't help but to allow a smile to rise in his features. He couldn't lie to himself, she looked delicious, in fact, he could eat her right where she stood. However she was too valuable to him to ever end up in his stomach.

Mamoru turned to look at the girl, eyes watching her curiously. He wondered how she would take the news, and if that was her way of accessing the possibility that she might one day find herself on his table. "Does it matter? Would it change how you see your master? Would you be..more afraid, hmm?" He uncoiled his fist and lightly dragged his fingers across his shirt. "I have, and I suspect that most Dhani have in their life time, though we eat animals more often, just as humans do." He was a bit surprised that she would want to know such a thing, but he answered her honestly. He was interested in her reaction, and for the moment thought more about her question and how it pertained to their particular relationship.

It was as he had thought, his pet hadn't even thought to have a type, because we didn't believe she had the reason, or option to have one. He crunched down the last of the potatoes and licked his fingers clean. "I excepted as much, but that isn't your life any longer is it?" He didn't tell her to think of what she might like, but the suggestion was there. Mamoru knew about slavery, but Kenash had it's own way of training their slaves and keeping them in check. The trickster had no illusions that he would be Shayna's perfect type, but there wasn't a need for him to be. She was his pet after all, not his betrothed.

Mamoru watched her as she dressed and it was a sad sight to see such lovely legs covered by clothing, but he remembered that they had work to do. He moved towards his boots and put them on, making sure that his attire wasn't dirty, or too wrinkle to look slovenly. "Perhaps I will, after you make them for me again a few times." He smiled to her again, thinking of prolonging their trip for just another bell to... Instead, he made sure that she was ready and the trickster left his home and headed towards the city on a more personal job.