The next morning, Lorian woke up and opened the door to her bedroom, still frowning, upset about the events that had transpired yesterday. A mood that only fouled when she couldn't find Aisha, not on the couch, or even on the rug. But after a brief scan of the room, Lorian finally spotted her, sitting cross-legged on the floor, looking down at her lap. At the sound of the door opening, followed by the tall girl's footsteps, Aisha turned to look at the girl, giving her a good look at her face, and revealing the dark circles that shaded her eyes, and the paleness in her skin.
.
"Hey... did you sleep last night?" Lorian asked with concern, showing blatantly on her face. "You look cold!"
.
Aisha was silent, not even acknowledging that Lorian had said anything. But Lorian knew she heard, by the movement of the ears on top of her head, and the twitching of her lips. She was just ignoring her.
.
"I'm going to head out and buy some clothes for you." She tried again, attempting desperately to communicate with the girl.
"..."
.
Lorian sighed, feeling nothing but frustration at this point.
.
She threw on a jacket, grabbed another teleport crystal from a drawer in the kitchen, and left the house, wrenching the door open. The cold air from the outdoors rushed in with a gust, but Lorian could barely even feel it, the frustration in her body prickling all over like needles.
.
(What's with that girl?) She wondered. (Why does she hate me? Is it something I did?)
.
(How am I going to get her to open up to me if she hates me...) Lorian lamented. (What am I going to do?)
.
Lorian thought hard, frowning in intense concentration, but for the life of her, she couldn't think of any good way. She ran her hands through her hair wildly, in an almost crazed fashion - nothing was going the way that she wanted it to. Lorian had a completely different expectation when she had bought the girl.
.
She had expected her to be sad, scared, and lonely. Maybe she had lived her entire life being a slave, and never had an owner that truly cared for her. Maybe she had a bad experience with an owner, and was just scared of her. Maybe she was just sad she had been captured, and wanted to explore the world, be free! She would have swooped in, like an angel, taken care of the girl, soothed her worries, and then the girl would have fallen in love with her, and they would be happy together.
.
But it seemed that the circumstances revolving around Aisha's imprisonment were different. There was nothing scared or sad about the girl. She wasn't afraid at all of Lorian, she wasn't some pure-hearted maiden in an unfortunate circumstance - no, Aisha had been slowly weathered down. The darkness in her heart was so much deeper than just the surface, beneath lied years of loathing, of pain.
.
She wasn't looking for someone to save her. Perhaps someone had already tried, maybe multiple. The dead, angry look in her eyes told her that she didn't want anything. She just wanted to rot.
.
For a moment, she regretted buying the girl. Maybe it wasn't worth the trouble to care. The logical thing to do would be to just give up, give her to Akasha, maybe - she could...
.
An old memory came to mind, and Lorian physically flinched, an old voice echoing inside of her head. It had been a lifetime since she had experienced the memory, but even now, she could envision the whole thing clearly, like she was in the midst of experiencing it all over again...
.
("In times when hearts have blackened, that is when it is most important to offer kindness. To be strong is to surge on, even if your own heart believes that there is no hope in succeeding."
.
"If you don't even believe that there's hope, then why bother?"
.
"Because I must.")
.
Gods, that was right... If she gave up, who else would even try? Certainly not the slaver - her skin crawled just thinking of the man. More importantly though, she had made a promise to herself, to get Aisha to smile. To take care of her.
.
So at the very least, she had to keep trying.
.
.
.
Lorian returned to see Aisha in the same position as when she returned, looking dead ahead, eyes glassed over. It wouldn't be difficult to confuse her with a corpse, with how little life she showed. How little desire there was in those eyes to live. Except for when she looked at Lorian - there, she could see the barest hint of hatred, and Lorian didn't know if that was even a good or bad thing.
.
"Hey, Aisha!" She said, mustering up the most cheer in her voice possible. "I have clothes for you!"
.
No response. Lorian's smile faltered, although she continued to force it on.
"I... I didn't know your measurements." Lorian said apologetically, hefting the bag she held in her hands.
.
No response again. Lorian left the bag next to Aisha, but the girl didn't even bother looking at it. For a second, Lorian grew concerned, reaching out a hand, but as soon as their skin touched, Aisha snapped her head to stare Lorian in the face, her gaze swallowed by the emptiness. Lorian quickly backed off, hands raised in surrender as she made her way back into her bedroom.
.
.
.
But the next day, Lorian tried again.
"Do you... need anything?" She asked, dropping down to all fours and tilting her head in front of Aisha. "Do you want some pillows? Or... oh my gosh, you're probably hungry, right?"
"..."
.
Lorian smacked herself internally. Humans needed food! Right?
"I'll go get some food for you!"
.
.
.
A week passed, and soon there was a pile of food next to Aisha, untouched. The girl barely moved during that time, and Lorian grew concerned, but apparently, Fey could live for years without physical food. That was what the textbook at her university's library has said, anyways.
.
But they did get hungry... And it seemed like Aisha hadn't eaten in months.
.
She returned later to see Aisha in the same sitting position when she had left, but this time, Lorian had bought a few gifts. Or rather, more gifts, just a few more to join her pile of untouched blankets, food, and various other necessities.
.
Taking care of Aisha had seemingly taken a toll on the large girl too. She was tired, and looked the part, her hair even messier than usual. Her eyes were sunken and dark, like she hadn't gotten a lot of sleep.
.
She was starting to look a little like Aisha. It was ironic - even though Aisha didn't so much as acknowledge the larger girl, Lorian still was constantly worried about her.
.
"Hey, I brought pillows for you!" Lorian said desperately, still forcing on that bright smile. "I... you must be uncomfortable, right? I also have... more food. I... I should probably throw out these old boxes, right?"
.
Aisha scoffed, before shaking her head slowly, dark eyes staring at the ground, lifelessly. But as the fourth meal box touched the ground next to her, she couldn't help but feel the smallest amount of loathing for the desperate, pushy girl.
.
"You're pathetic." She whispered, and Lorian flinched, the surprise from hearing Aisha talk mixing with the stinging pain from the insult.
.
"...What?" Was all that she managed to eke out, dumbly.
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"Why do you keep trying?" Aisha said, her voice barely a whisper.
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Lorian's eyes narrowed. "I'm trying because I want to help you."
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"Don't patronize me." Aisha muttered derisively.
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"What? Just take it, it's only food and clothes!" Lorian said indignantly.
"I don't want your pity."
.
"I'm not pitying you." Lorian crossed her arms. "I'm just trying to accommodate you! Why do you hate me so much? I'm just trying to help you!"
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"You're so pathetic." Aisha repeated. "Every last one of you. Just a hollow altruism."
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"What are you talking about!?" Lorian demanded, at this point, just confused and tired.
.
"You're only doing this out of a desire to feel good about yourself." Aisha whispered. "If 'doing a good deed' didn't make you feel good, you would never even consider doing a kind thing."
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"Where did you get that from!?... I don't know what you're talking about!"
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"I'm not taking anything you give me." Aisha mumbled. "Throw me out, for being ungrateful. That will for sure prove me wrong."
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"Wha-" Lorian scoffed indignantly. "I'm not going to do that!"
"You're getting angry." Aisha observed. "Isn't it so sad, how you've put so much effort into me, and gotten nothing in return? Doesn't it make you want to kill me? So many of those lapdogs in the cages would be licking your heels at this chance."
.
"But it looks like you got unlucky!" Aisha mocked bitterly. "You got the broken merchandise! You put your precious coins, your effort in, and you've gotten nothing in return!"
.
Lorian felt her anger flare up. Not only was she tired, and hungry, she now had to deal with this stupid girl, and her damn attitude -
.
"What do you want from me?" Lorian demanded, throwing her hands out indignantly. "Do you want me to even free you? Do you want to just die of starvation?"
.
Aisha laughed bitterly, a harsh, curt noise.
"Was that a threat?" She asked, almost amused. "I will die of starvation, eventually. It will take a long time, but if you threw me out, eventually I would die. Wouldn't take long at this point."
.
"What!?" Lorian reeled back, surprised at the suggestion. "No! Why? I wouldn't..."
"You asked me if I wanted to die of starvation." Aisha said softly. "What if I said yes? Or, what if I said no? Would you use that against me? Try to force me to do what you want?"
.
"No, I... I didn't mean it like that..." Lorian tried desperately, biting her lip. She wasn't supposed to get angry, dammit! Aisha was hurting, and- and that meant... that meant Lorian had to keep trying.
.
"I don't want anything." Aisha mumbled. "Not anything you could give me... could you make the world fair? Could you make all the bad things go away?"
.
"I can free you?" Lorian offered.
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"Free me and what?" Aisha whispered. "Then I die on the streets? I have no powers, I'm weak, and I'm a demi-hume. I couldn't feed myself, or get a job. I'm stuck here with you."
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"I- I'm not going to force you to do anything!" Lorian insisted. "I just want you to be comfortable, that's all! I wouldn't hurt you, I-"
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"Why not?" Aisha taunted. "Because it makes you feel bad? Because it reminds you that you're just like the rest, my other owners? Who bought me for their own selfish purposes? You know you're not the first one who thought they could get me to like them! Trying to buy me with your gifts- and you're going to throw me away, just like they did! You're all the same!"
.
"That's not true!"
"No? Then tell me, why did you buy me?"
.
"That's- that's not the point!" Lorian said defensively, dodging the point. "If you're stuck with me, then why won't you accept my-"
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"I don't want your damn pity. I have to live like this. I'll never be able to do anything. I don't want you to give me your handouts." Aisha spat.
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"Hey, I'm just trying to help!" Lorian said angrily.
"You're not 'just trying to help.' " Aisha laughed. "You're trying to buy my body. My affection, my body, whatever - the only thing that is stopping you from taking what you want, is because it would contradict whatever arbitrary code of ethics that you have."
.
"T-That's not true!" Lorian said, but even she could tell that she was lying a bit. Aisha was right. She had... bought her because she was cute. And she would be lying if she said that back then, she hadn't hoped that she could lay in bed with the girl...
.
"What about all the other slaves in the cages? Do you feel bad for them? Leaving them behind in there? I'm not the one who had it the worst in there! But you've probably forgotten about them by now, haven't you! Now that you don't see them, you don't feel bad anymore, right?"
.
"No, that's not true!" Lorian denied, hesitation creeping into her voice. Truth be told, she couldn't remember a single face from the dungeon. She had tried her best to forget about it... shut the memory out of her head.
"Why don't you buy food and clothes for them? You don't feel bad for them because you've forgotten about them, because they're out of sight!?" Aisha asked.
.
By now the frustration, the pressure, the words, were starting to get to the tall girl - she didn't want to think about this - this wasn't supposed to happen like this - she could barely even understand what Aisha was saying, but the words hurt, they reminded her too much of-
.
"Just shut up!" Lorian cried.
.
A brilliant light radiated out of Aisha's neck and the fey stopped mid sentence, her mouth wired shut by the powers of the slave contract. The diamond on her collarbone lit up bright blue and sparked dangerously, as she just glared coldly at the taller woman. She didn't bother trying to speak anymore, her point made, and all that was left was a cold expression, and a hard gaze, levied at her mistress.
.
Lorian was silent, stunned by the girl's outburst, as well as her own. Emotions brewed in her heart, and the urge to say something was overwhelming, but nothing came out of her mouth. The girl's lifeless, dark red eyes bored into her back, as she ran her way to her bedroom to get away from Aisha.
.
.
Lorian slumped over on her desk, the beginnings of tears beginning to well in her eyes.
.
(I used it... I used it... it wasn't even... a good reason. I just... lost control.
How could she say something like that! I'm a good person... right? I... I'm giving her a better life!)
.
Lorian bit her lip.
(God, no, everything she said was right... I... I did buy her because I wanted something from her. I was so happy, thinking that she was going to love me... And... and when she didn't... I got angry.)
.
(I don't know what to do... I want her to like me... and I want her to be happy... but if I don't force her to do anything, she's probably going to starve herself... I don't want her to die...)
.
Lorian stopped. Did she not want her to die because it would leave a bad mark on her conscience, or because she actually cared for the girl?
Frustrated, she ran her hands through her head. Aisha's words were getting to her.
.
"Maybe I am a bad person." Lorian said, shoulders slumping. "Aisha's right. I didn't get what I wanted and I got angry."
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Lorian's eyes began to dull as she sat in her desk, totally defeated. She wasn't selfless. She was kind, not because of the goodness of her heart, but because she felt guilty. Guilty for her past.
.
Her thoughts started to wander, to a time when she was younger. When she...
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(No... what am I thinking... I'm supposed to... I'm supposed to be thinking about Aisha...)
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(What's the point. She's not going to like me. She's not going to, ever.) Lorian thought bitterly. (I should just throw her out. That's what she wants...)
.
.
(...No. No, no! I don't want that! I don't... even if she doesn't like me, I don't want her to die. I want her to be happy. I... I would be okay with that, even if she doesn't want it with me.)
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(It doesn't matter if I'm not a good person. It doesn't matter if I don't get anything in return.)
.
Aisha deserved to be happy. That was... what was right. That was what Lorian wanted. For things to be right. It didn't matter that Lorian wanted Aisha to be happy with her.
.
Even if people were selfish, that didn't change the good things that happened. Maybe Lorian was a bad person. Maybe there wasn't such thing as an altruistic person. But that didn't change reality.
.
It didn't matter what she thought about it. Her feelings didn't matter.
.
What mattered was that Aisha needed help.
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(How should I take care of her without using the contract? She won't... do anything, unless I force her...)
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She groaned. There was literally no way. The girl only responded to force. Anything else would just result in her ignoring her. Smoke began to emit from her chair and desk, filling the room as Lorian growled, frustrated and beginning to grow angry. Nothing was going the way that she wanted-
.
Her expression softened, as the image of the girl's whipped back, and Aisha's defeated expression entered her mind.
(No, that's right. It doesn't matter what I want. My promises are selfish. All that matters is what is good for Aisha.)
(Even if it makes her hate me.)
Lorian stopped, moping and laying down dejectedly on the desk, resting her face on her arms. She had already bought her. There was no turning back from that now. The girl's life was... more important than her pride.
.
.
.
An hour passed, and Aisha was sure that Lorian would throw her out into the woods to get mauled by some wild animal. She sighed, a wave of feeling rushing through her body. It had been... it had been a long time since she had showed any emotion. To anyone. It felt kind of liberating to put that arrogant woman in her place. But another part of her only felt a hollow feeling. The feeling of dread, that came with knowing that an opportunity had been ruined.
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(You've done it now. At least this one wasn't going to make you do anything. You could have just worn her stupid clothes, slept with her, and served her like a good pet. Now she's going to leave you out to die.)
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Aisha let out a hollow laugh. No, serving her like that would just be a slow death. Devoid of purpose. She would rather be left out to die then be forced to slog through that crap. She had decided that a long time ago.
.
A certain point after servitude, everything just started to feel numb to Aisha. Even the feeling of a whip on her back just felt mildly unpleasant, at best, and usually, she didn't even register the feeling. Her first owner had thrown her back to the slaver after that, after Aisha stopped screaming.
.
The elders in her village had done that as well, for similar reasons. She didn't do what they wanted, but in the case of the elders, it was because she simply couldn't. She couldn't hunt, couldn't cook, and was physically weak. So she was thrown out of the village.
.
She understood why, but despite this... when she thought of their faces, her hands couldn't help but weakly ball up into fists.
.
Aisha was sure that this girl was no different. No different other than... god, the way that she faked actually caring. The way that she convinced herself, more than anything. Thr way she pretended, trying to give Aisha hope.
.
Sometimes, a strange expression would be mixed in with the pity - anguish ? Hate? She didn't recognize it. But it didn't matter.
She would throw her out, after she realized she couldn't get what she wanted from Aisha. The only reason she had bought her was because she thought she would get something back. There wasn't an ounce of kindness in those actions. There was no such thing as a kind hume. Only a hume that felt exceptionally bad about themselves, a hume that wanted to repent.
.
They were all like that. Even the kindest action, was done out of an expectation of return. Even an anonymous donation, done purely out of self-service.
.
There was no such thing as kindness in this world. It was a facade that people... put on to make themselves feel good about themselves.
.
Aisha had learned that the hard way.
People pitied her, at first.
But pity ran out, eventually.
.
Eventually, the feelings of pity turned into feelings of indifference, once they got tired of Aisha's thankfulness.
The indifference turned into annoyance, once Aisha couldn't pull her own weight. After she turned into an obligation.
.
The annoyance turned into anger, once they decided that she was just a leech.
.
Nothing about Aisha had changed. Only their feelings. Taking care of her no longer made them feel good. And so she was discarded. Like trash.
.
No. She was trash. She had been from the start. Everyone else was trash as well. But she...
.
She was startled out of her thoughts by Lorian slamming down a sheet of parchment in front of her, the thin arm appearing in her vision suddenly, startling her slightly. Aisha slowly tilted her head upwards, meeting her mistress's new, determined expression.
.
"...What's this?" Aisha asked, slowly, genuinely surprised.
.
"It's a contract. You said you didn't want my handouts, so you're going to work for them now." Lorian said resolutely, her eyebrows furrowed into an upset expression. "You'll clean and take care of the house while I'm gone, buy things for me, and other things. It's all on the paper."
Lorian bit her lip. "I'm... a bad person. You're right. So I'm going to force you to do what I want. And I want you to eat, take my pillows, and everything on that paper."
.
For a while, there was only silence, as Aisha processed the sight in front of her. She was stunned, for short. She was offering her a... job? No, not... offering. Forcing her to work for her.
.
For a second, she thought about laughing in her face. What reason did she have to accept this stupid offer, why-
.
And then a realization came to her. She had been checkmated by the dumb cow. She had absolutely no reason to decline this offer - it wasn't a handout, it was a job.
.
And she didn't care about the morality of it anymore.
.
Aisha felt a strange emotion in her gut at the revelation - at the hole in her own reasoning. She didn't actually have any problems with the gifts, or any of the gestures. All she had really said was that her mistress would be a terrible person if she forced her to take the gifts.
.
But beyond that, she had absolutely no reason to decline them.
.
Or rather, they were no longer gifts. They were her... payment, and there was absolutely no reason for her to not use them. Not taking them would be an admission of... well, hypocrisy, and just laziness.
.
Eventually, Aisha had to speak up, her mouth sticky.
"...You're really going to force me to-"
"Yes!" Lorian snapped. "You're doing it! You have no choice! All this stuff - they're no longer gifts! It's payment!"
.
For a second, Aisha just looked up at her mistress with an expression similar to a lost child, trying desperately to think of something.
"Seems manipulative." Aisha mumbled meekly.
.
"Shut up!" Lorian demanded, jabbing a finger into Aisha's face, a gesture that the girl actually flinched at. The slave circuit didn't even activate, but Aisha was still pacified into silence, sitting dumbly as she watched Lorian storm around the house, her movements angry and frustrated.
.
Lorian threw on some clothes and left the house, slamming the door behind her and leaving Aisha with nothing but the tingly feeling in her neck, reminding her that she had to oblige her.
.
And for a second, Aisha just sat there, dumbfounded. At first did not process what had just happened. It was the first time she had been surprised like that.
.
But after a while, Aisha sighed. The girl's terms... were agreeable. It was better than just taking her stuff.
.
But what the hell was this feeling in her chest? This feeling of... defeat?
.
Just like that, she had accepted Aisha's words, and then beaten her at her own game. Used her own logic against her.
.
But why? Why did she do it, knowing that Aisha wouldn't give her anything in return? She would never love her. She couldn't give anything to her. And yet...
.
For a while, she just sat there, feeling... strange. But eventually, her eyes returned to the little parchment on the table, and she was reminded that she had a... ugh, job, to do.
.
She picked up the clothes that Lorian had left on the counter. It was a white button up shirt, and black pants. Both were too big for her, but she put on both anyways, discarding the old rags that she was wearing. She had also left some socks and panties, also slightly too big.
.
She started to pick up the clothes that Lorian had scattered all over the house carelessly. Her arms and legs ached from the light strain that it put on her muscles, unused for so long...
.
.
.
Meanwhile...
.
"...Today we are going to be doing practice duels."
Lorian sighed. She hated this course, not because of the material, but because...
"Yeah! Duels! Finally!" Some idiot yelled.
The entire class began to move around, rushing to take their places in the little circles that they used for their practice duels. She winced, dodging an elbow from a particularly enthusiastic classmate. They were all so eager to show off their "skills," but...
.
She glanced at the duel currently ongoing.
.
A small shard of ice flew slowly at a classmate, who was still gathering energy to cast his own spell, hunched over, looking really stupid. The shard of ice was off target, but was deflected off its path anyways, by an invisible shield that formed a meter to the student's left, rippling on impact. The shard landed in the ground with a weak thud, before dematerializing.
.
Lorian sighed. Mana shield… it was an ability that was taught to all children, of all races, due to its unparalleled protective powers. They were taught to mold the energy that leaked out of them passively, into an invisible shield that surrounded them. It was a technique that had been passed down by the gods. But this just felt like a mockery.
.
The student who was still channeling looked up, distracted.
"Huh?"
.
The mana he was gathering in his hands lit up red, and a small explosion formed, the force knocking him onto his butt. Lorian glared disappointedly at Akasha, who was laughing loudly next to her, along with a large majority of the class, but before she could say anything, her instructor called out to her.
"You're next, Lorian!"
.
She turned to face her "opponent" for the duel. His name was Rakan, a rather big guy, and she vaguely recognized him as someone she had spent a bit of time with, when he had asked her out. Like the others, they had no chemistry together, but he was... persistent.
.
"Hey, if I beat you, go on another date with me!"
Lorian would rather spend her time eating nails than spend more time with the dense boy. In fact she would even rather waste her time attempting to get Aisha to talk to her then go on that date. The thought of her slave put an angry expression on her face.
.
Lorian raised her hand, meaning to cast a small fireball, but instead, a massive column of flames shot out at incredible speeds at Rakan. The pitiful ball of magic that he had cast was blown away by the column, and the flames made contact with his mana shield, and there wasn't even a shattering noise, or an explosion - Lorian's spell completely disintegrated the shield, and passed by the boy's head, grazing his clothes.
.
Rakan's casting robes were set aflame by the fire, creating a real fire that began to quickly spread across his body. In a panic, he beat at his clothes, attempting to put the fire out.
He was eventually put out when the instructor noticed and cast a water spell, dousing him. Everyone was now looking at Lorian, her outburst not unnoticed. Akasha turned to her, whispering in her ear.
.
"Why'd you do that? Aren't you supposed to-"
"I didn't do it on purpose! I just was thinking about Aisha-" She whispered back, aggressively.
.
"Who's Aisha? Is that the slave you bought? You must not like her very much, to do something like that!"
Lorian didn't respond. Soon the chatter around her died down, most of the students chalking it down to beginner's luck... or something.
"I don't hate her.. she's just... difficult to deal with."
"What do you mean?"
"It's hard to explain."
The rest of the day continued without incident, but thoughts of Aisha never left Lorian's mind.
.
.
.
The sun was low when Lorian finally returned to the house. She opened the door and frowned, at the sight of a somewhat still dirty house. She glanced at her right, where a pile of folded clothes lay on top of a counter, along with the small box of food she had left there this morning. Aisha's back was turned to her, as she wiped down the counter and sink with a cloth.
.
"Hey, what are you doing?" She asked.
.
"Cleaning. Does that satisfy your needs, Misssstressss?." Aisha replied, her words dripping with sarcasm.
.
"No, I meant, you're not doing what you're supposed to do in the contract!" Lorian cried.
.
"Your contract is worthless." She muttered.
.
"What do you mean!? I thought we went over this! You have to-"
.
"I can't read."
.
Lorian paused, as pity filled her heart. She wanted to rush over and hold the girl tight, but she was far too pissed off at her to do that.
.
"Well we can't have that. You're going to learn."
.
Aisha opened her mouth, probably to say something insulting, but Lorian cut her off.
.
"Stop talking!" She growled predatorily. "My word is law, okay! At least, for you!"
.
Aisha grumbled, but she could not find any objections to what she had said. And also, a small part of her was... afraid? The slight heat, the pounding of her heart... the signs pointed to fear, although Aisha didn't really feel it - it didn't really matter though.
.
She reluctantly took a seat on the couch next to Lorian, as she motioned for Aisha to come over.
.
"But first, you have to eat."
.
Lorian pulled out a small box of food and a pair of chopsticks. She opened it, revealing a meal of stir-fried meat, rice, and green beans. It was a pretty basic meal, but to Aisha, having not eaten in months... She had purposefully left the boxes unopened, because that smell...
.
Aisha reached for the chopsticks, but Lorian stopped her, putting a soft hand on top of hers.
.
"You've lost your eating privileges." She said crossly.
.
Aisha furrowed her brows, slightly dismayed, but also just confused.
"...I thought you wanted me to eat?"
.
"I'm going to feed you. Open your mouth."
.
"...Why do you want to feed me?"
.
Suddenly, Aisha was intensely aware of Lorian's hand on hers, warming and caressing her softly, affectionately. Her face burned lightly as she ripped it away from Lorian's grasp - that was weird, why did she react like that?
.
Aisha was confused, but nonetheless she allowed Lorian to feed her. She had gotten so used to being on the brink of starvation, the feeling of a half-full stomach felt foreign to her... Eating brought her attention to how hungry she was, but Lorian fed her slowly, despite how eager Aisha was to finally eat something with substance. After a while, the food in the box was finally empty, and Lorian brought out the contract, smiling.
.
(Why does she look so happy?)
.
Lorian pointed to a word on the muddy brown paper.
"This word is mistress. It's made up of letters. This one is M. It makes a 'muh' sound... "
.
The sun was soon down, and the sky was dark as Lorian slowly taught her the basics of language. Aisha caught on quickly, and soon they were through a large portion of the contract Lorian had written.
.
"Alright, test!" Lorian said, excitedly. "Read this line!"
.
Aisha look at the words that Lorian pointed to and read the phrase out slowly.
"Aisha... must... sleep... with... mistress... at night... "
.
Aisha heard clapping and turned to Lorian, slightly annoyed. The girl had a beaming smile on her face as she folded up the paper, looking quite happy. Aisha felt conflicting emotions, on one hand, she hated the fact that this woman was happy, that she was mocking her, but on the other hand, accomplishing something, and receiving recognition, felt... nice.
.
"Don't patronize me." Aisha muttered.
"But you've done really well! You learned to read in a single day!"
"I already knew the language. And you only know that I can read the words on the contract."
"It doesn't matter." Lorian chided. "I'm still proud of you!"
"Whatever." Aisha muttered, even though Lorian's enthusiasm was so infectious. She almost felt proud. How stupid. Proud of what, being able to do something even a child should be able to?
.
Lorian smiled softly before yawning, and looked out the window, tilting her head back.
.
"Well, it's getting pretty late." She drawled, pursing her lips. "Let's go to bed."
.
Aisha began to lay down on the ground near the couch, but Lorian stopped her, placing a firm hand on Aisha's shoulder.
"Didn't you just read the contract? You don't get to choose where you sleep. You have to sleep with me." Lorian said smugly. "I'm going to use you."
.
Aisha rolled her eyes.
.
Aisha considered just not moving, like she had the first day living with the girl, but her mistress had proven that she was not afraid to just pick her up and manhandle her. Why did she even want to sleep with her? Maybe to make sure that she wouldn't sleep on the ground? But why would she care about that?
.
Regardless, she was under contract that she begrudgingly respected, if only due to her own pride regarding the matter. She tentatively followed her mistress into the bedroom, where she was already stripping off all her clothes, revealing her smooth white skin, and her... well-proportioned assets.
.
Taking a closer look, Aisha noted the tall, slender frame of the woman, and the almost perfect curves, as if she was sculpted out of marble. Now that she had a good look at her, her mistress was really quite beautiful...
She was probably really popular, and there really wasn't a lot of work to do around the house...
.
"Why did you decide to buy a slave?" Aisha asked.
Lorian froze. She knew the question was coming, but she was not prepared to answer.
.
"Get undressed." She muttered.
.
Aisha rolled her eyes. Whatever. She didn't really expect for Lorian to answer such a personal question. It was worth a shot, though.
.
Aisha complied and started to strip off her oversized clothes, revealing the various scars on her back, marring the girl's otherwise smooth skin. Lorian stared at the brown, discolored bits of skin with a frown. The number of scars on her back were actually quite few in number, at least compared to the other slaves, but the thought of Aisha getting whipped or hurt displeased her immensely.
.
Aisha neatly folded her clothes and placed them at the foot of the bed, moving aside a stained shirt, before Lorian picked her up from behind and dropped her on top of the bed, wrapping her arms around her smaller frame. Aisha flinched slightly but soon just resigned herself to her fate - something like this wasn't worth the trouble.
.
Lorian then climbed into the bed, joining Aisha and pulling the covers over the both of them. She rested her chin on top of Aisha's fluffy head, and then pulled it into her cleavage.
.
"What are you doing?" Aisha demanded, her voice muffled.
"Mmmm… You're my pillow now."
"Why are you...?"
.
Aisha struggled, but could not break free of the embrace of the surprisingly strong girl. She sighed, and eventually stopped resisting, laying stiffly in the tight hug.
.
But after a few minutes, her arm started to feel numb, so she pulled it out of the embrace, and rested it on Lorian's side. And then after another few minutes, her chest began to get tired, so she relaxed the muscles.
.
Soon, Aisha's entire body was relaxed in the embrace, resting her head on Lorian's breasts and laying her right arm on top of her waist. She didn't want to acquiesce to her so easily, but god, she was just so tired.
.
She could not help but notice how squishy Lorian's body was. It was kind of like sinking into a pool of honey...
.
Her eyelids soon could not stay open, and she succumbed to her days of sleep deprivation, listening to Lorian's even breathing, and feeling her warm breath on her ears.
.
(She's so warm... )
.
(She smells sweet…)
.
(It feels kind of nice...)