Call it a "Social Experiment" (Valerius, Nya)

[Nya Winters]

She wanted to like him, but the truth was he sent mixed messages. The leash for instance was something he believed gave him power. It gave him nothing in Nya's mind. Only his actions and him proving himself to her would give him power over her, and then only borrowed power. But she kept quiet, having learned long ago arguing with someone mostly resulted in nothing but wasted breath. If he kept blathering on though, she'd correct him, just once... for her own sanity.

Watching his body language, the way he spoke, and the painstakingly plain way he stated fact as he saw it to her lead her to believe that perhaps he misjudged her, especially what she could understand. When he yanked on the leash, she growled softly and dug in her heels. She reached up, took the leather line it in her hands, and yanked it back just as hard giving him a similar tug. "Actions have consequences. Be sure you want to deal with consequences you cause." She said softly, really starting to believe he wasn't that smart after all. Nobles and lordlings in Ravok were worse than most. And she wondered, in that instant, if his 'aunt' had wanted him dead and that's why she'd gifted him with her. For the big cat would eat him, undoubtedly, if he proved too troublesome.

"I am no fool. I would not stay tied to a fence without food and water and shelter. Humans are thoughtless ignorant creatures. I would never rely on one to make my living conditions better. I would make them better for myself." She assured him.

"I don't want to give you false hope." She said suddenly. "You don't seem too intelligent to me. I cannot respect someone who doesn't use their mind well. Actions reflect thinking, and so far yours show none." The kelvic added, not meaning to insult him but wanting him to not wait or hope for her to respect him until he started showing some common sense. She was here because she hoped he knew something about her, like a name, for instance. But that hope was dashed in only a few words from him and she frowned.

"No, Valerius. I would not like that. I would like my real name." She said plainly again, this time speaking very clearly to be sure he understood. Then he answered her other question and she simply nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She'd seen kelvics die. Many of them. And it hurt her how much they were treated below. The kelvic had come very nearly close to breaking there. Very close. But something or someone had saved her and gave her hope to survive. If only she could remember...

He gave her no other useful information and soon enough she lost interest in him in favor of watching the guards and how they reacted around the youth. She wasn't certain they respected him, but she wasn't certain they didn't. The woman watched, followed attached to the leash, and wondered if they'd feed her as well. If not, she'd hunt. Ravok was filled with vermin and undoubtedly the man's gilded home was no different.

"Alright." She sequestrated her emotions and followed him, liking the prospect of a bath. She still hated the leash. She still distrusted him. And she still didn't believe anything he said because of her distrust. But if a bath was in the future, she'd go with him. If he didn't give her food, he could always become her food later.

[Verilian]

No, the guards did not respect Valerius. Not really, but they did respect the coin the received for doing his bidding, or rather, his aunt's bidding. They were employed by her, afterall, not Valerius. And right on time Amanda appeared to make that point very clear. The door swung open slamming into the wall and in stormed a rather irritated Amanda Nitrozian. There was blood covering the front of her white coat, kelvic blood, though there was nothing that really made that point apparent other than the fact that it was a part of her job. "Is this the cat," she asked, taking in the scene with a glance before moving to a cabinet on the far wall and pulling out a clean lab coat. The researcher discarded her dirty coat for the clean one, passing it off to one of the guards, before walking over to stand before Nya. Her eyes quickly scanned the kelvic up and down before settling on her eyes. Nya's stare could be intimidating, but for a woman who worked with kelvics all day every day, she was used to all manner of piercing gaze. "Hmm," she murmured, a hand resting thoughtfully on her chin. "All that time down there, and you can still look at me like that." The hint of a smile tugged at her lips and she quickly turned away, holding out a hand to Valerius. "This is the key to her collar. You can take it off her if you like, but do make sure the doors are locked if you do. I would hate for her to get loose and harm the family. Take the next few days off. Clean her up and see if you can't break her in. Bring her back here when you're ready so we can have her branded and I can take a better look at her. And try not to loose her before then, alright?" Amanda dropped the key in her nephew's hand, nodded to the guards, shot one last curious glance at Nya, and then left the office to return to whatever it was that she did.

[Valerius Nitrozian]

„Rest assured, I’m quite willing to deal with any consequences“, he replied coolly. It seemed as if nobody had ever taught the creature her place. She didn’t seem to have any idea how to act around her betters, talked back and continued to annoy him with semi philosophical-nonsense. It made him wonder if she had even had an owner before she had ended up in Ravok, anybody that had shown her how the world worked. Probably not. It was more likely that they had picked her up somewhere in the wilderness where she had run around naked, rolled in the dirt, eaten other animals and lived in a hole in the ground. „No, you are a fool“, he corrected her. „You don’t seem to have any idea how things work around here. Do you see the buildings behind the fence? They are filled with countless others of your kind that are much worse off than you are. I use my mind quite well, but you could use yours better and think things through before you raise your voice. If you do what I say, your life with me will be pleasant. Maybe we will both learn to respect each other in time. What do you think?“ He made himself smile at her even though he didn’t feel like it. As she stated that she would like her real name, he shrugged his shoulders. „I don’t know your real name“, he informed her. „If you don’t want to choose a name for yourself, I will have to come up with one after all. Don’t complain if you don’t like it.“ He was just about to turn around and lead her to the mansion to have her cleaned when the door opened. He made a face as his aunt stormed towards him. He had almost forgotten to talk to her before he took the cat to the mansion. He stood a little straighter as he looked at her. During his time at the Research Institute he had come to respect his aunt. „That is the cat“, he confirmed. „She apparently got side tracked.“ He put a noticeable emphasis on the last two words. „Do not worry, I won’t lose her, and she will certainly not get an opportunity to harm the family.“ He took the key. He would put it somewhere safe. For now it would be best if she didn’t get the opportunity to change. „That was my aunt. The head researcher“, he informed Nya once Amanda was out of sight. „You don’t want to be part of her research.“ He gave her a sign to follow him. During the walk to the family mansion he wouldn’t talk to her at all, no matter what she said. He was busy wondering where he was supposed to put the creature. It would not be a good idea to give her a room of her own, even if it was locked. He didn’t trust her. Maybe … but then again, he had a dog, and there was a certain saying about cats and dogs … ~~~ The residence of the Nitrozian family was likely far more luxurious than any house Nya had ever been in. The young man cringed at the thought of the Kelvic stepping on his mother’s precious carpets and touching everything with her dirty hands. The servants and slaves of course stared at the rather disheveled looking woman that followed one of the masters on a leash. „She’s an animal“, he told them before they got the wrong idea and assumed that had been engaged in only Rhysol knew what activities with her. „Same as my dog. She is going to live with me from now on. She needs a bath, a clean dress, shoes and …“ He glanced at Nya and furrowed his brow. „… some food, I suppose.“ He clapped his hands, and the slaves hurried away. „You’ll use the bathroom on the first floor“, he informed her and gestured for her to follow her up the stairs. „One of slaves will help you and give you everything you need. Will you behave or do I need to order somebody to watch you?“

[Nya Winters]

Ny a stood quietly while the youth and the older woman interacted. The woman was clearly dominant over the youth, but the youth didn't seem to mind the social dynamic. He was instead more interested in leaving, though he didn't ignore Nya altogether. That was a fact she was grateful about, because part of her craved conversation. She craved anyone who acknowledged her as being 'real' because for so long she hadn't felt real. She'd felt like her life was a dream, long past and far removed. There were faces and memories in the dream, but no labels for them, no names and no identity. It frightened her how much she didn't remember and how shut down her mind seemed.

In a way it felt like the cat within her had protected her from a great deal. She wasn't as other kelvics. Nya knew this inherently. She was more human, because of a gift... something important... that had been given a long time ago.

They watched the woman walk off until they were alone again.

But the boy... he wanted to know what she thought. And Nya nodded, smiled slightly flashing overly sharp teeth from gaunt starved lips, and answered. "I know what those animals behind the doors go through. I've been below for a long long time and I can assure you it is worse. Knives and chemicals would have been better. I would have picked the institute rather than the pit any day. You have no idea, being a spoiled privileged well-fed child what my life has been like and what I can do to you with or without this leash. It's symbolic and nothing else. I suspect your Aunt wishes you dead to gift you with something like me. But she's made a mistake in doing that. I'm tired of killing. I am tired of fighting. I just want a bath and sleep and if it is not too much a good hearty meal. They fed me nothing but children below... live ones, newborns, even boys your age that I suspect displeased them. Some of them were more finely dressed than you." Nya replied softly, her speech almost a whisper.

"And if you prove different than the guards below, kept me fed, give me decent work that challenges me, and don't drag me to your bed daily because it amuses you... then maybe we can respect each other. If not, she knows.... that woman knows.... I will kill you." Nya said quietly, no hint of a threat to her voice. She was just making a statement, as if she were commenting on the weather or the color of the sunset.

"I don't know my name. And if the woman won't tell you... you can pick one. It just won't be mine. But it doesn't matter, not really..." Nya said softly, lifting a hand to brush at her face. A breeze was blowing around her, toying with her hair, laughing in her ear. It was a familiar sound, but one that she shouldn't have found familiar. It chanted in her ear, obscurely, the first part obscure, lost in the breezes singsong voice. The second was more clear... Winter... Winters... Winter....

"Winter. Call me winter, please." Nya said abruptly but politely, knowing that felt familiar somehow.

Then she followed him home, at the end of a leash, all the while wondering why he was so arrogant, so self inflated when he looked so young to her and so powerless. He didn't have the strength of a warrior, nor the aura of a mage... he didn't even look like a politician because they had a smell about them as well. She drank in his scent, curious, and waited quietly as he instructed his servants.

The residence was slightly familiar with its thick carpets and elegant furniture. There had been a place, sometime distance, where Nya was born that reminded her of the home, though the shape was all wrong. The residence was a square structure, tall and proud. Her home had been a tower, reaching for the sky. She knew it as she knew it was day rather than night. Though how she knew, she didn't truly understand. She followed him quietly and suffered through the introduction.

Nya looked him right in the eyes before she answered. "Yes. I'll behave if you remove the collar. I want to be really clean and really fed. I will go with them and do as they ask. I will become clean, dress as you wish, and eat so long as it isn't rotten food." She said, her voice sincere. "Then, if it is permitted, I would like a place to sleep quietly for a while, especially if I eat a great deal. Then I will be ready for whatever job you wish me to do." Nya said softly, shifting her weight on her feet. She was really dead on her feet. The storm had proved difficult, had nearly killed her entire cellblock with flooding, and none of them had gotten any sleep for the longest time standing in waist deep water wondering if it would keep rising and kill them all.

[Valerius Nitrozian]

„You are wrong“, Valerius informed her. „My aunt doesn’t wish me dead. She merely has utter faith in me and is convinced that I will be able to handle you. And I’ve decided to accept her challenge. I think she’ll be proud of me.“ He smiled, but the smile disappeared quickly as she called him a child. She would learn that he was not a child! „If you think that the Institute would have been better than the pit, you will likely be overjoyed when you are at my house. I hope you appreciate the fact that you will be allowed to live there. The leash will stay until we are there though, symbolic or not.“ As Nya mentioned that she had been fed children wherever they had kept her, Valerius wondered whether he should pretend to be a little shocked – most people would be shocked in such a situation – but he just couldn’t bring himself to care. Those children hadn’t been part of his family, and they had probably only gotten what they deserved. He just furrowed his brow a little as she informed him that some of her food had been more finely dressed than him. „I doubt that“, he remarked. More finely dressed than he? She had to be lying! „Still, I hope they tasted good. But don’t expect me to feed you children. My father would probably be displeased if I gave the sons and daughters of our slaves to you. Besides I don’t want you to make a mess on my clean floor.“ „You will get fresh meat and other things that are considered appropriate for one of your kind, and I’ll see about giving you work. As for dragging you into my bed …“ Here the human looked positively disgusted. „Believe me, I have absolutely no interest in sleeping with somebody like you. I wouldn’t even drag you into my bed if you asked.“ “The collar will stay … Winter”, he informed her, accepting the name she had chosen. “I don’t trust your assurance that you’ll behave yet. In a few days I may change my mind. I’m willing to remove the leash now though. It will be easier for you to clean yourself that way, and even you shouldn’t be able to escape through a locked door.” He reached for the leash. As he removed it, he looked into her eyes for a moment, and then he quickly stepped away and handed the leash to a nearby slave. “Take this. I don’t need it anymore.” The slave – a young, dark skinned woman – looked at it uncertainly, and then she looked at Nya, remembering the last time he had brought somebody like her into the house. That Tock had displeased him, they had argued a lot, and he had been in a bad mood for days afterwards. She didn’t entirely believe his assurance that the strange woman was just an animal. She had a collar around her neck, but so did some slaves … “Make sure that she’s clean. And then take her …” He stopped because he wasn’t sure where he should put her. It would be safest if she were in his suite, but he wouldn’t be able to sleep if she were staring at him all the time. “… take her to the small chamber near my suite, the one that belonged to the slave who died recently. And then send for me. I will feed her and oversee her before she is allowed to go to bed.” With that Valerius spun around and disappeared into the direction of his suite. He had absolutely no interest in watching her while she was in the bath tub. The sight would likely make him sick.

[Nya Winters]

The half-grown man was so arrogant, so confident, and yet Nya looked at his hands and saw no marks upon them. There were no callouses to denote he used weapons and there was no haunted look in his eye that hinted at magic. He only smelled of silk and brocade and fine leather and wealth. Wealth bought little arrogance in her mind. Somewhere, somehow, she'd been wealthy and then it had all vanished. She knew that, knew it in a heartbeat, and understood that coin was fleeting and there were more important things in life than the weight of the miza's in your pocket.

He wouldn't take the collar off, but that didn't surprise her. And he did promise her food, good food, not children, and that pleased her. She didn't expect him to be telling the truth, but the whole IDEA of being offered that mattered more than the reality of it. Her reality was starvation and abuse. Her filthy shift hung on her, displaying hipbones that were prominent and a face that looked hollowed out and ghostly with dark circles under sunken eyes. She was no beauty, not now, not perhaps ever again. Even her brindled hair hung lifeless, dull, impossibly tangled.

But the leash coming off was a step. It was a small kindness she hadn't expected, though she wasn't sure it was meant as a kindness, but rather as a sign of his superiority and the fact he wasn't afraid of her. He truthfully wasn't. She could tell. And he wasn't mean about it, but simply firm and laid down ground rules that she could tell he meant for her to obey unquestionably. In a way the firm but fair leadership calmed her and she started to slightly relax.

The dark skinned woman followed the young man's authority without question, beckoning Nya to follow. The kelvic hesitated, glanced at the man, and then finally turned and followed the woman. The woman was of the type that followed instructions exactly. She drew a bath for Nya, shoved her in it, and began scrubbing. She didn't stop until every bit of Nya's skin was pink from the rough brush she was forced to use to get the dirt of the prison and institute off. The woman examined her carefully and frowned when she discovered a head of hair full of lice. Then, just like her body, her hair got a good scrubbing and her hair was applied with some strong smelling poultice that had to stay there for almost a bell burning her scalp slightly before it too was washed out (along with several hundred tiny bodies) and then cleaned thoroughly.

Nya did what she was told, letting the woman clean her up. Her nails were also scrubbed and trimmed, and the woman gave her a strange brush filled with powder to scrub across her teeth and tongue after telling her that her breath would offend The Master. When the woman was done, about two bells later, Nya was wrapped in a simple white robe and deposited in the room as instructed.

Shaved and oiled and powdered with her scratches and scrapes and half healed wounds tended too.. Nya was finally ready.

There she waited, pacing the room, pausing to look at herself in the mirror, and fighting off the feeling that this was all so horribly wrong.

[Valerius Nitrozian]

While the slave cleaned Nya, Valerius went into the kitchen and ordered the cook to prepare a meal for his ‚guest‘. A while later he walked up to the Kelvic’s room, followed by another slave that carried a tray that contained a bowl with meat and a pitcher of water. The meat had only been cooked a little. On the inside it was still bloody. The Kelvic at the Institute had received raw meat, but they had been able to change into their animal form. He wasn’t sure if giving raw meat to a creature that looked like a human woman would be good, and thus he had decided on that compromise. Of course Valerius didn’t bother to knock on the door before he entered. The creature was only a slave. Once inside, he gestured for the man that had come with him to put the tray down and then sent him away. The room in which Nya and Valerius now faced each other was only sparsely furnished. There was a small bed, with a blanket and a pillow, both very plain, a table, a chair and an empty chest where the previous occupant of the room had stared his few possessions. „You look better“, he remarked as he looked at her. Tuuli had done a good job. She was clean, and her hair had been combed. If he hadn’t known better, he would have believed that she was just another woman and not some disgusting kind of half animal. „Almost normal. I brought you food as I said I would. If you behave and do what I say, you will receive meals like that regularly. I assume you know how to use a fork?“ He pointed at the fork that was lying on the tray next to the bowl, hoping that he wouldn’t have to train her and that she wouldn’t try to stab him with it. His aunt probably wouldn’t be happy if he told her he had to kill the creature or send her back to the prison she had come from. From what aunt Amanda had said he had the impression that she was valuable. While he waited for her to show him that she had something resembling good table manners, he leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. Aunt Amanda had told him to study her. He’d watch her for a while first and try to question her again later.

[Nya Winters]

The Kelvic looked at the food then at the man. Did he think she was stupid? No one gave another food like that unless it was laced with something tainted or was bad. She studied his expression, and the way he sneered at her. In another time it would have made her angry. But she'd been sneered at so much, that a look of kindness would have devastated her. Sneering was normal. She ignored it. Abuse would come next, either a blow or a threat, or his lust. Once she'd been pretty, but now she was glad there was nothing left of her feral beauty. A sack of bones held no appeal and she was surprised the man had managed the effort a sneer cost him at all.

The girl had existed on nothing for so long the rich bowl of food wasn't something she'd be able to eat. Her nose flared, inhaling the rich scent and her stomach turned. She bent, her pink tongue slipping out to lick at the rim, taking the tiniest of bites between her teeth, held by her human lips. She rolled the piece of meat around in her mouth, curious, uncertain why it tasted so fresh and so decadent. Winter lifted her head again, looked at the man, then looked around at the furnishings. Her room was simple, but decadent in comparison to the dark place below. Even the floor was covered with a rug that was thick and warm and muffled sound when people walked across it.

She chewed the tiny piece of meat for a long long time, watching the stranger through the curtain of her hair. "I don't know. About the fork, I mean." She said softly, as if she were afraid. Then she pushed the bowl back over towards him and shook her head. Winter had swallowed the meat and already her stomach rolled. "I am sorry. I... it will hurt my stomach. Thank you but I will get no nutrition from it and you will be mad when it goes from my stomach to the floor. You do not look like you've been below to know. If you do not eat for a while, food like this... hurts you. Your stomach will turn to blood and you will vomit and your bowels will void until you are too weak to move. This place is... to clean for that. If... that is your intention I will eat it, but not here unless it is your will. But I do not think it so. Can... can I have a crust of old bread... maybe some water? I think I could eat a rat too. Maybe..." She asked, then told him, letting him know how it was. She could perhaps get a rat down, maybe, but she wasn't sure.

Even the sweetroll that Coltyn had given her had come back up only an hour or so after she'd eaten it. Too rich, too filled with deliciousness and not enough poison. Winter bowed her head, shook a little, and sat down abruptly. The bath had weakened her, and this effort to not be scared by him... to not be hurt zapped her remaining energy as well.

[Valerius Nitrozian]

Valerius waited as Winter tried the food. Unfortunately the creature wasn’t as happy to receive fresh meat of high quality as he had expected her to be. On the contrary, she was strangely hesitant. As she looked back at him, he made a face. „You will eat with a fork“, he informed her. He wanted to say more, but then he noticed that she had pushed the bowl towards him. His eyes widened, and he looked at her incredulously. Had she just declined his food? Was she implying that the food was spoiled? How dare she! „It will not hurt your stomach“, he disagreed. „This meat here was alive just a couple of days ago. It’s the same the humans in this house eat. And no, I’ve never been below, and I don’t have any interest in getting to know this ‚below‘ either. I also don’t have any rats for you. There are no rats here.“ He shuddered. As far as he was concerned, rats were some of the most disgusting animals there were. He’d rather feed her children, if children weren’t so expensive. „You’ll either eat this here or starve.“ He hesitated for a moment as he thought about how she had talked about blood and vomit and her bowels voiding – he absolutely hated such things – but she had probably been lying. Creatures like her were always lying. People didn’t get sick from eating fresh food, especially not if they had been starving for a while. He pushed the bowl back to her. „It won’t get bettter“, he informed her. „It will only get cold. If you eat it, maybe I’ll give you some old bread afterwards. And a glass of water.“

[Nya Winters]

She studied him with wide green eyes for a long moment before she pulled the food back to her. A few bites and she was greedily shoveling the contents into her mouth. It was rich, decadent even, and hit her stomach with a surge. She'd been starved before this, fed only thin broth, rotten food, and unsavory other things her head tipped away from in thinking. Rats she got when she could catch them, which was often, and they had sustained her. But always she threw up the bones, when she could not digest them.

The bowl took little work to finish, and when she was done her stomach was growling and rumbling uncomfortably. She shifted awkwardly, uncomfortable, and studied the man further. What would he want now? Lust? Work? To sneer at her? Winter was tired of such things. She wanted outside in the speckled forest of Taldera where she was born. She wanted to play in the sun and nap there as well, not stuck in four gilded walls.

The Kelvic belched, uncomfortable, and shifted again. Her stomach heaved under its weight of rich food and she turned slightly green. It was then she realized, with Valerius sneering down at her, the distasteful look on his face that this was what he'd meant to happen. She dropped down to all fours, spreading her arms wide, and belched again, holding her stomach. She dropped her head low, shook, and began to sweat. Her skin tinged an odd color and she looked sick for a moment, then another.

"I'm sorry. I am trying not too...." She started to apologize just before the contents of her stomach erupted through her lips and the meat that was masticated ended up on a pile on the floor between her arms. There was nothing else in her stomach. No water. No other tidbits of food. Only the meat.

Winter backed up, avoiding the pile, and stared at the man. She wanted to back up, to curl up, and moan her distress but showing him weakness was a bad thing. Instead, she simply stared at him, her face suddenly sweaty and her skin tinged an off color of green.