FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

The Lioness walked silently, but the jewelry she wore clinked together like sets of silver wind chimes. She fancied every head turned to her, but she didn't bother to look anywhere other than straight ahead. When she reached the front desk, she leaned forward against it and asked, in a worried tone, "I beg your pardon, but is Councillor Langston still here? I hope I haven't missed him. Tell him Emma, or maybe Em, is here for him."

To her hidden disappointment, the receptionist never even glanced at her collar, much less its tag. He just said he'd go check, then scampered off. It took a few minutes, but the Councillor showed up, visibly flustered. She made sure to speak first, raising her arms as if to hug him.

"Councillor! I'm so glad you were able to take time out of your busy schedule!" He stepped back and looked around, which was enough for her. "Thank you," she beamed at the uncaring receptionist. Meanwhile, the well-groomed Canine had already stomped ahead of her, so she caught up with him at the first door he had to open.

"You didn't have to show up where I work and escort me," he grumbled.

"I know I didn't. I just wanted to." She bared her teeth, with her mouth turning up at the ends.

"You don't know the reputation I -"

"Nobody cared!" Em paced circles around him as they walked. "Nobody noticed! If anyone did, your reputation might have gotten better! Before I came to you, I went to that poor Doggie, and know what he said? He said we were changing you for the better."

"Oh. Did he meet with his -"

"I've been-"

"Stop interrupting me! Why do you all have to stop me from finishing a sentence?"

Em stopped in front of him and paused. "Different reasons. I thought you'd just trail off. As I was saying, I promised I'd keep it a secret. He looked happier, and his clothes hid his neck, and that's all I can tell you.

"If you want," she added, "I can tell you about Nightshade."

He gave a sigh and looked at his walking feet. "Please do. Ireline said he isn't creative, and that he'd torture my body."

"He's creative, all right," she chuckled, "he just doesn't like talking. He likes music, numbers, and using his hands." Em held herself with a wistful sigh. "When I cry in his arms, he's so thoughtful."

"I was told he looks over their monetary issues. But who was it, originally, who thought that someone who's always furious would make a good Torturer?"

She laughed in astonished surprise. "You didn't ask anyone about him? You just snuck around, looking for things to read? When he arrived, he was begging for anyone to lock him up forever!" She closed her eyes as she walked, putting a hand on Langston's arm as she reminisced. "He was angry at himself. And afraid. He was worried he'd kill someone. Most methods didn't work on him."

"...What happened to him?"

"Me. I was a new Torturer, and I wanted to take him on. We-"

"You?" He stopped, making her almost stumble.

"Now you interrupted me. And yes, I still am. Both! Torturer and pet." She smiled again. "You never thought it could be possible?" She began to circle him again as she went on. "I put a whip in his hands and challenged him. To focus on someone else soothed him. When he was deemed a Torturer, when I accepted his collar, we cried together. You won't understand, but you might."

"I... I think so..."

He walked in silence, trying to comprehend and sympathize. They walked into the foreboding building again, through hallways where muffled sounds came through heavy doors, and into a room where Nightshade waited.

There were racks of whips and paddles; squat, fat candles lighting the room; shackles hung from the far wall. In the center of the room lay a gleaming assembly of pipes and hoops, and a throne, on which Nightshade sat.

"Disrobe."

"I was wondering-"

"Disrobe." The lean Rat repeated himself with more force, but didn't move.

"I can help you." Em reached for his shoulders, which only calmed him slightly. She purred in his ear, whispering that she would be watching and smelling, that they would know when to stop. Not before, and no later. He thought she sounded almost like Ireline did when they put him to sleep. Despite his fear, he let the Lioness undress him while her Master watched. Though he did the last of it himself.

"Lock him in."

He knew the tone of voice. He'd used it himself, sometimes. It made an order sound like a statement of fact. He thought of refusing, but instead he slipped his paws and head through the device's holes. Em locked him in carefully, restraining him on all fours. He didn't even resist when she pulled his tail between his legs, locking it so that he couldn't move it at all.

"Good Pet," Em purred, running her claws carefully against his back.

"Yes." Nightshade rose. "Good Pet." If it wasn't for the shine of his black vest and shorts, he could look as if he wore nothing. He strode over to the display racks, where Pet couldn't turn his head enough to see. "Em. A candle."

"P-please, what will you do? What's the point?"

"A gag first. He talks too much."

"You talk too much," Em repeated, picking up a set of straps with something firm in the middle. "You don't know how to obey just yet, so you'll just have to listen. Open your mouth."

He tried to say something, which just gave her all the opening she needed. The buckles wrapped around and behind his face, the round ball in the middle keeping his mouth half-open. He couldn't even swallow properly.

"Good Pet. You want to be a good Pet, don't you?" She gave him a gentle pat on his head with one hand, and a light scratch under his chin with the other. She stood, after reaching for something, and he felt cool oil drip onto his back. With a firm touch, Em rubbed it into his back and shoulders, sometimes scratching him as she went. He let his head droop at the pleasant feeling, forgetting that he couldn't stop himself from salivating on the floor. Her claws slipped low, running across his hindquarters, and he raised them up as much as his restraint could allow.

"Ready, Pet?"

A flat, heavy tool struck him squarely, making him flinch. There was no pain; only the impact, which took him by surprise. He lurched against his restraints, and caught another blow. Em's graceful touch moved with him, rubbing his body as it shook from the impacts. She purred in his ear as the Rat asked him if he wanted more. He nodded at her, and the Rat struck again. And again. Then he stopped, and put a hand just above Pet's tail.

"Look at this," Em said from somewhere beneath him, "I think we've made him happy."

His heart was pounding, his mind was reeling, but his fur bristled at the touch of a male. The paw left him, and Nightshade only said, "Now. The candle."

Em stood and left his field of vision, only her jewelry letting him know where she was. When she stood on one side of him, he felt a light weight, and a growing heat, on his back.

"Keep still, Pet." Nightshade was behind him, running something different through his hands. "Don't let it fall." Multiple tassels ran gently over his rump, almost tickling him. Then-

The Rat struck, gently. Pet flinched at the anticipation alone, and wet heat spilt across his back.

"Bad Pet. I said. Keep still." This time, streaks of pain flew behind him, with nothing pleasurable along with it. A drop of wax landed right between his shoulders, and he whined like a pup. By the third, he kept tense. Em was in front of him, watching and smiling, but he squeezed his eyes shut and took deep breaths through his nose.

"Bear the pain, Pet. Don't fight it." She ran a soft cloth against his face, drying his eyes and mouth. When she was finished, another lash hit. Drops of wax had started to run down the sides of the candle, heating a circle around it. With every lash, it grew a little more.

Just when he thought he couldn't take another stroke, Nightshade blew out the candle. His firm, careful touch kneaded the pain away, but Pet didn't even care. He had Em, anyway.

She chuckled as she lifted the candle off his back. "Open your eyes, Pet, and look at this."

It was wider than it was tall. "You'd have had to shake it off you," she taunted him, "but you performed so well."

"Stress. Shame. Humiliation. Fear." Nightshade leaned over to Pet's ear, teeth brushing against it as if to bite him. "Those are pain. Just different kinds."

"You can learn to cope with it," she added. "Especially from a Torturer's intimate, caring pain. Much better than the indifferent, boring, every-day kind."

"Em. Bring water. And food."

"Oh, but I'll miss the - yes, Master." She jangled out of the room, leaving the two in silence.

"Now. Let it wash over you."

Nightshade struck him with a cane. On his thighs, his rear, and even lightly against his sensitive paws. He yelped and moaned into the gag, trying to bear the growing pain, to let it wash over him. As he tried, as the blows kept landing, a dull tingle began to spread. When it reached his head, he could feel himself drift away. Floating in a warm haze, like a fog of blankets, nothing made sense, nor mattered. Pain was pleasure, evil was good, fear was comforting, punishment was a reward, and he was Pet. He didn't know how long it lasted, but he still wished it was longer.

The gag was removed, and his tongue flopped out. The restraints were undone, and he collapsed on a towel that had been laid out, just for him. There was a bright silver bowl full of water with his name on it. He must have been a good Pet, to deserve all this.

The water felt refreshing on his tongue. As he drank, soft, gentle touches petted and stroked down his back, peeling of the wax. The oil made it easy to remove without yanking out any fur. It made him realize how sweaty he was, how exhausted he'd become. Jewelry jingled as Em crouched, scratching his belly with one hand and offering him a cookie with the other. It tasted better than any other cookie he'd ever eaten.

A satisfied sigh made him turn his head. The gentle petting down his back had come from Nightshade, who had a content smile on his face.

"Good Pet." His voice carried no stress. "How do you feel?"

He thought to himself for a bit. "Tired, and sore, I think."

"Not angry, or resentful?"

"No... I... I feel... What happened, when it stopped hurting?"

"That's the goal for which we strive. By overcoming hardship, we grow. At your most bare and vulnerable, you can confront truths about yourself."

"Look at what you've endured," Em added. "Look at what you've learned."

Pet thought to himself again, and burst into laughter. "Thank you. I'm thanking you! You tortured me, and I'm thanking you!"

The Torturer and his pet joined in. "Three weeks ago," Nightshade gasped, "You wouldn't have believed it!"

"I'll be coming back next week too?"

"Yes! The final examination! Em, give his clothes back."

As he dressed himself, he asked Nightshade, "So it's true? Torture calms you?"

"Yes, for a time. The anger always returns. At myself, mostly. But with Em - and the others - I can cope. Until next week, Councillor. Em. Guide him outside."