Look What Dragged In The Cat (Solaris)

[Shade]

Shadekas followed the kelvic to his room. He watched the cat curl up in his human form on Shadekas' bed turn away from him. The monk said nothing but he'd seen the scars on the cat's body and had guessed his life hadn't been easy. The creature had no ability to trust and would take a lot of time to really grow into his own. Shade knew he had to tread softly and walk slowly with the kelvic or some of the damage that had already been done would be permanent.

Leaning over Solaris, Shadekas drew the blankets up and around the curled up cat. He wouldn't think of him as a man, not yet, not until the monk new more of the stranger. He reached out and softly stroked the man's hair again, not completely unaffected by how beautiful the kelvic was. He trailed his hand down the creature's head from where it was buried in his hair and on down across his neck and spine. Then he finished pulling the covers snuggly around Solaris.

"I have to clear coat four stones in the studio so they will be dry in the morning. Then I'll be back in a few minutes. If you need anything I'll be on the ground floor... just follow my scent. I assume you can do that. Otherwise, stay out of trouble and sleep. I'll be back." He said softly.

Then Shade turned and left his quarters, leaving the door slightly ajar, and headed back to his project that was still on the workbench. He examined his cut and polished stones carefully, trying to focus on them and not the kelvic above. But it was hard. Shade had mixed feelings. He wasn't stupid. He knew people kept kelvics for pets and those pets were used for all sorts of things. There was something about the animals that caused them to want to serve.

Shade would have to do more research.

He knew the more beautiful ones were sold into slavery, pleasure even, for there were places in Nyka a man could go to sample such things with enough coin to open doors. To have one upstairs in his bed, one as beautiful as Solaris was, was tempting, but Shade didn't know the extent of Solaris' story and where he'd come from. The cat seemed to have feelings just like a man, but it was so painfully obvious he wasn't a man. He could be from one of the pleasure houses, run away and then caught by Crow. Shade also knew he'd have to examine him thoroughly to make sure his body had no rashes or open sores he could pass on, especially if he was sleeping in Shadekas' bed. Disease was fairly obvious when it was present... and it wasn't pleasant at all. If Solaris had anything, he'd take him to the infirmary. That would solve that, neatly enough.

Shade clear coated the stones while he was lost in thought, bringing out their shine to show to the client in the morning. When he was done, he set them aside and made sure his sketches and pitch was ready to go when the client came at the noon hour.

Then he slipped over to Lynk's small collection of books in his office and ran through title after title on jewelcrafting before he came to more esoteric topics. There was a small volume on the races of Mizahar, but nothing specific on Kelvics. The book had a chapter though, which helped, and Shadekas opened it and began reading.

It was enlightening. Kelvics weren't a natural race, it seemed. They were crafted by a mage as servants and slaves, sold off when thought unsuitable, and slowly had worked into the mainstream population of Mizahar. They did something called bond, link up with someone, and in linking with that person took on their desires. It seemed there was two types of kelvics... ones that bonded young and were somewhat stupid. These made great children's pets and household protectors. Others bonded late and grew far more intelligent. These were dangerous creatures, almost on par with human intelligence, and once they bonded, they tended to bond for life not having the ability to rebond like the previous kind of kelvics did. It seemed in their human form, they were just like humans and could even reproduce. They were not great at mathematics or crafts, but they often made good fighters.

Shade was a little disgusted how in flipping through the text each race was treated with respect and dignity, though in the kelvic section they were discussed like livestock.

He closed the book, took a lit candle, and headed back up to his room. He studied Solaris' form for a moment, huddled under the blankets, and then set the candle by the bed. He reached down and gently shook the cat if he wasn't already awake. When he was aware enough to question, Shadekas sat down beside where he was on the bed and spoke in a low voice.

"I finished my work downstairs, Solaris. But I had a few thoughts. There are things I need to ask you. If it wasn't important, I'd not bother. But it is. I need to know if you've ever had a bondmate. And I need to know if any of your owners have ever used you for sex. We need to make sure you don't have anything and aren't sick. If they have, I need to look you over and if anything is wrong, we need to go to the infirmary to get it fixed. The brothels here in Nyka aren't always clean. Men aren't always clean. And if you are going to stay here with me and sleep in my bed, I need to make sure no one has made you sick. I need you to answer me honestly... and if you have been used for pleasure, I need to look at you." He said firmly, his voice soft.

It was perhaps not something that was pleasant to talk about, but Shadekas was careful. He'd seen other Monks go crazy with lesions on their members from partaking too much in dirty backstreet brothels just because they were cheap and the men and women abundant. It didn't matter that Solaris was a man. If he was a woman, Shade would have been asking too.

[Solaris]

The moment Shade approached the room again, Sol's eyes shot open, and he instinctively retracted as far as he possibly could into the corner, peering up at the older man with apprehensive eyes. Shade set the candle down on the table softly, but his acute hearing and wariness made him flinch at the sound.

And then the man started speaking.

"No," Sol said, voice cracking into a high-pitched mewl. "No," he tried again. He wasn't trying to lie- or should he? Because what he was denying, what he was terrified of, was being prodded at. 'Looked over,' as Shade might say. Suddenly the idea of the monk touching him wasn't so welcoming anymore, sending shudders instead of shivers up his spine. What'd he say? He was going to 'look' at him? That's what Crow said too, the first time he leered at him...

"Let's have a little look-see at what we got here..."

And drooling. Although he had been barely conscious and his memories of the first few days with the disgusting man were a bit hazy, he was fairly certain that the liquid that splashed across his face wasn't from the leaking pipe overhead.

How was he supposed to answer Shade's question, anyway? How does he explain that once he hit an age that resembled a boy in his mid-teens, Rhyss had let his true colors show? And that Crow had visited him in that dank basement almost twice a day, breath still reeking of alcohol and smoke?

"There's nothing wrong with me," he said, curling as far away from the monk as he could. "They... every day, they... but it doesn't matter. There's nothing wrong with me." Rhyss was an apothecaire, more than a decent healer and mage. He was possessive of his things and had seen to his pet's health.

[Shade]

For being nothing more than an animal, a magical creation, Solaris' reaction certainly reminded him of a person - a thinking feeling human being - with real emotional damage. He didn't act like a dumb animal that was rather brainless and thoughtless. He acted like a street kid with haunted eyes that knew too much and felt too much and tried to bottle it all up inside where it couldn't hurt him and he didn't have to look at it.

Shade had two choices. He could believe the cat whose body language told him already that he lied, and not force the issue. Or he could believe the texts and do what he wanted to do with the kelvic anyhow because the creature was just a dumb animal - the books words not his. It was a hard set of choices. But when Shade had acquired Nightwish, his horse, the animal had been as skittish as Solaris, maybe even moreso and the man had to tame him down quite a bit just to ride him.

Solaris might be a similar sort of project. He rose from where he perched on the edge of the bed and closed and locked his door. Then he made sure the window was equally closed and secured.

Shade was strong - far bigger and stronger than the kelvic for sure. He turned away from the window, rummaged in his chest at its foot for a few moments and pulled out several items. Then, before Solaris had a chance to see what Shade had, the big monk pinned him down on the bed and had both his wrists fastened to either side of the large double bed's headboard. He'd pulled ropes from the chest with knots already worked into the soft braided material. All he'd had to do was slip them over each bedpost and then over Solaris' wrists to pull them tight. Then, he slipped a blindfold over Solaris' eyes.

He let the kelvic struggle for a few minutes to make sure Solaris wouldn't slip out of the bindings, then bent lower and whispered near Solaris' ear. "I want to make a deal with you, Solaris. It's an easy deal, something to both our benefits, but something we need to agree to if we are even remotely going to be friends. Don't lie to me... not ever. Your mouth says one thing but your body says another. You are a cat, and your kind talk more with their bodies than they ever do with their mouths. I want to be able to trust you, but you're lying to me, even now. I saw the way the men looked at you. I know what such people are capable of. Your 'owner' that Crow fellow, he had the look of a man bored with a toy and he has a mean streak a mile long. I know his kind. He'd rape a tree if he thought it'd get him off. A cat would be nothing to him, especially one as pretty as you are. You and I both know it." Shadekas said.

"I'm not like him. I'll tuss you up faster than a butcher getting a pig ready for the spit, but I'll not hurt you. If you think I'm capable of it, hurting an innocent, then you don't know me well and are a terrible judge of people. You need to learn you can trust me. And you need to know that these ropes will come off as soon as you decide to tell me the whole truth and stop denying things. The truth can't ever hurt you. It's what you bury inside that hurts." He said fiercely.

"And no shifting... I know just as well as you that if you shift, you'll probably be able to slip these ropes faster than the blink of an eye. But you'll still be in this room, locked in, as a cat and vulnerable. Just in case I am the monster you seem to think I am." Shadekas said, holding nothing back.

"But I am going to look at you. And be safe. But I'm going to do it so you wont mind, I promise." Shadekas said softly. He used the candle to light a hurricane lantern, and then turned the brightness up. Then, he took a bottle of oil out of his chest, dumped some in his hands, and rubbed them together to warm it up. With Solaris still bound on his back, his arms stretched out, Shadekas sat down beside him and gently took his neck in his hands, and began to stroke him.

He rubbed oil into the kelvics skin, using small circles and working from his ears and hairline across the small of his throat and down across his chin. His big hands were rough from the work he did downstairs, but his touch was firm and gentle. "I'd never force someone, Solaris. It's not my way." He said softly as he rubbed his hands in circles, letting the oil permeate the kelvics skin. "It does nothing for me. I like my bed partners willing and carefree and playful. I don't like them cowering and afraid." He said, moving to the kelvics shoulders, and adding more oil to his hands. "And if they don't want me, then that's fine. But I don't want them afraid of me either. I'm going to touch you all over, Solaris, until you aren't afraid any more. I'm going to show you that someone can touch you without hurting you and without taking pleasure from you. I want the pleasure to be all yours. And I want to look at you and get you used to being looked at and touched. And if you like your chest and legs being done, I'm going to release your hands and let you roll over and give me your back so I can touch you there too." He said firmly.

It was what he had to do with Wish when the horse first came to him fresh from the horse fair. He'd had to touch the stallion all over repeatedly until the animal had gentled to his touch and then expected and craved it.

Shade took his time, a long time, and carefully ran his oiled hands all over Solaris' body. He even massaged his fingers and toes, gently rubbing his knees and all the spots on the monk that routinely ached in the winter. He'd not hesitated at his more intimate places either, handling them as he would the rest of Solaris' body, carefully on the lookout for anything that resembled illness. He was methodical, careful, thoroughly and firm throughout all of it.

Solaris was in perfect health other than being half starved and fairly heavily scarred. And when Shadekas was done, he pulled the bindings from Solaris' wrist and gently asked him to roll over.

"Give me your back, Solaris. And then finally... tell me the truth." Shadekas said softly, pausing to let the kelvic either run or turn depending on what he wanted.

[Solaris]

The click of the mechanisms within the door's lock made Sol flinch. The shutting of the window sounded like a death sentence.

But before he could shift or dart away, the man had him spread out and tied to the bed, then blindfolded. His loss of sight caused him the most panic, and he yowled and hissed at the man. But all the curses he spat and tugging on his binds got him nowhere, and he lay rigid and tense, head cocked to the side warily, listening for any hint of what that twisted monk had planned.

He should have seen this coming. How foolish he was to be lured into this house, into the bed, into sleep. He should have pretended, lain in wait until he had a chance to run. But once again he'd ignored his instincts and surely, he was going to pay the price.

There was a small, nearly imperceptible brush of air. And then the man was whispering in his ear, breath warm and fluttery upon his sensitive skin, making him let out a small mewl.

The truth? What did Shadekas expect, that he would give every part of himself away for a free meal? That he would willingly call to mind and share out loud the things that-

"Stop!" Sol hissed when the man began touching his neck. He'd put something on his hands, something warm and slick, but beneath the layer of... what was it? Oil? he could feel every rough crevice and bump in the man's fingertips. Shadekas worked with his hands and it was apparent, from the roughness of his skin to the skillful way he moved.

Bed partners, Shadekas said. Sol wanted to laugh bitterly, but it caught in his throat, coming out as a strangled sob. Of course, Shadekas was a man, a human one, and they were all the same, with one thing on their minds. Sol had learned quickly what the looks and leers he'd had to endure in his life meant- whenever men laid their eyes on him, they weren't seeing him. They were drooling doggedly over an object, a plaything, something to simply fill their desires and toss aside until next time.

Shadekas' hands were constantly roving, keeping him tense and bristled. They were drifting lower, lower... But instead of becoming even more guarded and defensive, Sol found himself... relaxing? For Shadekas' hands were probing and squeezing him with the perfect amount of pressure, gentle enough to suggest that he knew just how fragile the Kelvic was, but strong enough to be firm. Dominant. But never overbearing.

Warmth was growing in the pit of his stomach. It was there- it'd been there from the start, since the man had touched him in the barn, had run his fingers through his hair. It was a warmth he'd been fighting from the moment they met to overlook. To cast aside. But it was stubborn, and soon that warmth was spreading, down his legs and to his toes, up his arms and to the very tips of his fingers. Shadekas' voice was so steady. So calming. Sol's heart skipped a beat- the man wasn't trying to hurt him after all. Or so his instincts were suddenly saying...

But could he take that risk?

He almost let out another harsh, pained laugh. After all he'd been through, he didn't have anything to lose. And if Shadekas ended up being just like Rhyss... just like Crow... well, it was nothing he hadn't seen before.

The man released him, his skin feeling oddly cold without his touch. He was still blind, his heart thudding rapidly in this chest. He made his decision.

And, slowly, hesitantly, he turned.

"Always," he blurted out, hands clawing at the sheets beneath him, gripping them tight as he faced the wall. "They always... touched me. Rhyss the apothecaire, the mage... he was my first. He didn't bond me, he knew a lot about Kelvics and he wanted me smart. Independent, to some extent. When he didn't use me he had women, lots of them, and when they were there he'd lock me in the other room. Or the cellar, if he was in a bad mood. Crow..." A shudder rippled through his body. Where was Shadekas? He could sense him lingering behind him, hovering. Looking him over, no doubt. Sol knew how battered he was. The man called him pretty, though. Beautiful....

"Disgusting things. Every day and night. I would fight whenever I had the energy but then he wouldn't feed me and I-" He faltered, realizing just how exposed he was. How vulnerable. "Please," he mewled out brokenly, hanging his head. "I... I don't want to talk about him. I don't like thinking about it. Please don't make me."

[Shade]

When Solaris presented his back, Shadekas gave silent thanks to Xannos and Semele that the cat was showing tiny signs of being able to trust. If Solaris couldn't trust, not even a little, then odds are Crow and his friends had ruined him for good. Shadekas had seen broken people, lots of them, and even though the kindest hearts would say that everyone was salvageable, Shade knew that was not always true.

"Shhhhhh...." He soothed. "From this day forward you don't have to talk about anything that happened to you before if don't want to ever again, Solaris. I just needed to know the truth of what they did to you. From you and not just hints of what they did based on how marked up you are." He said, applying more oil and rubbing. He took particular time on Solaris' back and neck, working outwards to his shoulders. and arms and down his back. "You can't be more than two, maybe three years at tops according to the literature I was reading downstairs that my Master has in his small collection. That makes you a child, a baby, that they were torturing and beating. That makes them monsters. I needed to know exactly what they did because tomorrow I'm going to hunt Crow down and kill him, hopefully in front of you, if you'll come. Then later that day and every day after you are going to train with me if it is to your liking, so you learn how to fight so when you tell someone 'no' you then have the strength to back up your statement." Shadekas said, his voice soft, soothing.

"If you stay close, Solaris, you'll need to earn your way around here so Lynk won't throw you out on your bottom. Mouse for him, perhaps run some errands, or otherwise make yourself useful. I'm sure you'll figure out what needs doing and do it. That won't be hard. But I don't own this place, only work here and keep quarters. He's got a good heart and will let you stay as long as you don't get in the way. But no one will use your body for pleasure here unless you want them too and you invite it. But the first thing tomorrow we should tell Lynk about you and introduce you. Then I'll go kill that miserable soul so he's not out torturing any more children or kelvics." He added, saying it with exactly as much emotion as if he were going to go change his shoes or something.

Shadekas' hands dropped lower, though his examination of Solaris left him satisfied the cat was perfectly healthy. He was glad there was no lasting physical damage. The mental damage would take a long time to get over though. Solaris wouldn't trust easily or rapidly. But he would trust.. a bit.. if forced. Shadekas massaged his rump and down his thighs sighing softly.

"I'm sorry all this happened to you Solaris. It shouldn't. The world we live in should be kinder. But it is what it is, I suppose. All we can do is adapt to it and make sure things don't spiral too far out of our control." He said, finally finishing with Solaris' calves and heels, working too on the bottom of his feet. Shade was no expert at massage, but he knew when someone needed to relax. And Solaris definitely needed too.

"Now, will you slide over and let me sleep here too? It's been a long day." Shade added. If Solaris shifted from where he was sprawled in the middle of the bed, Shade would join him, gently drawing the lithe kelvic up against his chest, still stroking him, where they both could settle and sleep. The monk was already yawning, his day being overly long as it was.

A flutter of wings announced Opal settling onto the headboard to doze as was her custom as well. The baby raven was never far from Shadekas since she'd imprinted on him as a stolen chick.

[Solaris]

Sol gave in and let Shadekas knead the tension out of his body. Purging him, in a sense. And when he stretched out after the man was done, his limbs felt loose, lighter than air. Almost... free.

What did Shadekas say?

I'm sorry.

No one had ever used those words before. Shadekas hadn't wronged him, he had no cause to apologize for something he didn't do, but he did it anyway. No one had ever apologized to the Kelvic. If something went wrong it was automatically his fault, and he was so often blamed and beaten that he had come to believed it to be true. That he was good for nothing. Bad luck. He was a black cat, after all...

Shadekas asked him to move over in bed. He stared, not comprehending, then wordlessly did as he was bid.

The man caught him up in his arms. He let out a small, choked sound. The monk's arms were big and strong, far stronger than his entire body, and they pinioned him to his chest like a cage. But Shadekas did nothing but lie there, and finally, after much fidgeting, he forced himself to relax. To the stroking, to the presence of the bird above, to the sound of Shadekas' heart pounding against his ear.

Too much had happened today. Too much had happened in the past two years. And Sol was tired.

He stared at the wall, fingered the sheets beneath them, the blankets wrapped around him. It was quiet here. Quiet and warm and...

Safe.

He let sleep take him.

[Shade]

There was no way Shadekas could know what his words meant to Solaris of that his actions were something new to the kelvic. The monk, for all he was older, lived his life very simply and dutifully in a manner that most travelers or adventurers would call boring. Truthfully he thought that was how everyone lived.

Before the sun rose, he was down in the workshop. His client was coming at dawn so he made sure all his materials were laid out and waiting in the viewing room before he sought out Lynx to chat. Shadekas was nervous. The issues of kelvics never came up before and he was not sure things would be okay. Lynx listened to him and was sympathetic, then instructed him to get temporary citizenship for the kelvic and that he could stay. Once Solaris got up, Lynx wanted to meet him, but so long as Solaris helped out by mousing and didn't put their operation in danger by stealing, the same rules applied to him as did Opal.

That was a relief for Shade.

As the morning grew on, Shadekas met with his clients, finalized their project, took another deposit on it, and then went up to the kitchen for bread, butter, and cheese to break his fast. He took his meal in his room waking Solaris gently to feed him.

"Hey, lazybones. You hungry? The sun's been up two hours. You might want to get up. Lynk wants to meet you and we have to go by the Celestial Square to get you citizenship so you can get food delivered." Shade said, laying out the tray and sitting down at his table to to nibble his breakfast.

[Solaris]

At the sound of his voice, Sol's eyes flew open, and he cringed as if expecting a blow. Two weeks with Crow and an unpredictable existence previously with Rhyss had made him so.

"...you're real," Sol croaked out, staring at Shadekas. "That... yesterday... That wasn't a dream."

It sure felt like one. Here he was, warm, clothed, clean, hungry but reasonably so as it was the morning, for most importantly, he was not starving. And he was in a room with a human man who was bigger than him, stronger and probably faster, who wasn't beating him.

It had to be a dream. There was no logical explanation for how drastically his life had changed in a matter of hours.

"Lynk..." He stifled a yawn, placed his arms in front of his head, arched his back, and stretched in a very feline-esque manner. He sniffed, rubbed at his eyes, stretched again. He was feeling loose, rested, calm, without even a crick in his neck. But why?

Oh. That's right. That massage...

Needless to say that was the first time anyone had ever done such a thing for him. And he was reaping the benefits and feeling wonderful.

So wonderful, in fact, that when Shadekas mentioned Lynk, the anxiety that would normally drive him wild was only felt to a much lesser degree.

He eyed Shadekas' food, his stomach rumbling right on cue. "Could I have something like that?" he asked rather shyly, golden eyes turned down with hesitation.

[Shade]

Shadekas grinned. "Yes, indeed. You can have half if you'd like. More, if it doesn't fill you. I'm well fed enough as it is." The monk said, his voice gentle and his tone soft and reassuring. He made no sudden moves sensing perhaps that the kelvic needed delicate handling. "I let you sleep in today. You seemed to need the rest. But we still need to meet Lynk so eat up and then wash up. There is a washroom down the hall. I'll loan you some clean things until we can get you some of your own. How are you feeling today?" Shadekas asked, moving the tray to a position where Solaris could reach. He sat down them, fairly close, and reached out with his hand to stroke Solaris' head lightly.

"You look better today. You've got better color to your skin and seem more relaxed. That's good. Do you have any questions for me before we meet Lynx?" Shadekas asked, soothing Solaris' hair again, stroking his skull with the grain of his hair.

"My parents died when I was young. I was sent to the Quarry, Solaris. From there I worked very very hard from when I was small. I grew strong there and ran errands from one end of the city to another. Lynk found me there. He recognized something in me. He gave me a chance for a new life, something different, and something I'd never have had if I had not lost my parents. Everything happens for a reason. Maybe you were meant to go through what you did to get here. And maybe here will be important for you, perhaps for me, maybe even the others. I need you to who you are to Lynk. Don't try to be what you think he wants you to be. Just be yourself. Do you understand?" He asked quietly, sitting there, gently speaking with the kelvic, letting him eat before he fully roused him.

Then when he'd answered and was ready, Shade would urge him to go wash up and while he was doing so lay out fresh clothes for him.