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Mike loved housekeeping.

Most of the slaves hated it; Evals in particular considered it boring and repetitive, but Mike actually looked forward to it. He took pride in cleanliness and the sense of accomplishment that came from an organized storeroom or a polished floor. The Na'Rella may not have required the most upkeep, considering how infrequently it left port, but any part of the ship that Mike was tasked with cleaning would sparkle by the time he finished. Whenever the opportunity arose to leave the ship for the day and go to the Vaughan mansion to assist the house slaves, as it did on this particular morning, the young fox was more than happy to volunteer; not only did it help keep him in good graces with his masters, it also provided a much-needed change of scenery.

Despite the Vaughan brothers technically having equal command over the household in the absence of their parents, who were away on business for the week, Eric was the only one home when Mike arrived. He thought he'd seen someone who looked a bit like Roderick riding away on horseback as he approached the house, but he hadn't paid much attention; regardless, the less time he spent around Roderick, the better.

Eric dispatched the fox to the dining room, where a curio packed with fine silver awaited him. The Vaughans' collection was more for display than use, but it didn't negate the importance of keeping it gleaming like new, and that meant a lot of polishing. Even by housework standards it was a lengthy and mundane task, but beggars couldn't be choosers. Mike set about clearing off the curio's glass shelves and spreading the contents on the table behind him.

The young keidran worked efficiently, replacing each item on its shelf only once he could see his reflection in the silver. Through his short time on the Na'Rella, Mike had been exposed to a variety of precious goods, and though he was no expert, he recognized the workmanship and intricate detail of the silver in front of him. He wasn't sure of the exact value of the collection, but he figured several of the pieces were likely worth more than the Vaughans paid for him. Returning the last candlestick back to the shelf, he stepped back to admire his handiwork. The silver gleamed, catching every bit of light in the room and magnifying it as it bounced off the freshly polished surfaces.

But something about the top shelf seemed off; from where Mike stood it almost looked crooked. He moved closer to inspect it and discovered one of the shelf supports had worked its way loose and was wedged between the shelf and the side of the curio. He casually reached in to fix it--but instead of pushing it back into the slot, as he had intended to, it fell out completely, removing one of the main supports holding the shelf in place. By the time Mike realized what was happening, it was too late for him to do anything to stop it.

The crashing sound of metal on glass echoed through the room as the shelves imploded, cascading down on top of one another and taking their contents with them before arriving in a chaotic heap on the floor. Mike jumped backward and froze, a feeling of dread overcoming him as he stared at the disaster. He had a fleeting thought of trying to find a way to discreetly clean it up before it was noticed, but that hope evaporated with the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps from the hall.

"What in the world was--" Roderick's voice halted abruptly as he rounded the corner into the room. Mike's heart sank as he turned around to see the elder Vaughan boy, still decked out in full riding regalia, gazing upon the shattered remains of the curio with astonishment.

"It was an accident!" started Mike, his eyes wide with panic. "I was trying to fix the shelf and--"

CRACK!

Roderick's riding crop connected hard with Mike's cheek, the force of the blow upending the surprised fox and leaving him gasping in pain at the human's feet. Mike could feel his cheek swelling as he struggled back to his knees, careful to avoid the shards of glass scattered by the collapsed shelf.

"Oops! It was an accident," mocked Roderick as he towered over his parents' slave. "I'm sure you'll understand." He slid the crop under Mike's chin, forcing the young keidran to look upward. "We drag your lazy ass off the boat for one day to help us and this is the reward we get? You break shit?" Mike flinched as Roderick moved the crop away from his chin, expecting to be struck again, but the human stepped back, pacing around the room instead. "You know, you're the only one that keeps fucking up like this. The other slaves all managed to learn just fine the first time I corrected them, if I had to at all. But for some reason you can't seem to get anything right!" Roderick arrived back in front of the fox. "Why is that? Hmm?"

Mike avoided eye contact as he attempted to sputter out a reply, but nothing escaped his lips beyond a panicked squeak.

"What, now you've got nothing to say? Answer me, damnit!" Roderick's anger grew exponentially by the second. Mike knew he had to at least try and de-escalate the situation, but panic, fear, and pain was freezing him up; his brain couldn't make his mouth work.

The riding crop came down again, this time hitting his exposed side. Mike yelped and rolled over, further into the glass. Behind Roderick, he could see one of the house slaves--Kathrin, he thought that was her name--peering in at him from the edge of the dining room doorway, an expression of utter horror on her face. He tried to silently urge her to run, if not to get Eric, then at least so she didn't have to witness what was about to happen to him. But she seemed frozen, unable to so much as move a muscle as she stared at the scene in front of her.

"Why is it, fleabag? Why do I have to tell you again"--the crop hit his shoulder, tearing right through his shirt and the exposed fur underneath-- "and again"--the next blow landed on his ear, the crack ringing through his head and bringing stars to his eyes-- "and AGAIN!"

Mike curled up into a ball, the blows from Roderick's riding crop coming faster and harder while the shards of glass cut into him from below, his blood seeping out and staining the rug as the pain coursed through him. He could hear someone yelling; he hoped it was Eric, coming to rescue him, but the voice sounded wrong. It sounded familiar, but he couldn't place who it was. It almost sounded a little bit like... his own?"

---

"WAKE UP!!!"

Mike's eyes flew open, only to be greeted by a frightened pair of eyes staring back at him from mere inches away. He sprang backward in a panic, smashing his head into the headboard with an audible whump as he tried to focus on the figure in front of him.

"Thank the masks you're awake! You've been screaming bloody murder for the last five minutes." Evals leaned back and wiped the sweat from his brow, the exertion from trying to wake the fox evident in his voice.

Mike's eyes darted around him; he wasn't on the floor of the Vaughans' dining room, desperate to scramble away from his assailant in a sea of broken glass. He was in a bed, and a large and comfortable one at that. The sheets were strewn about, as though he had been thrashing around before Evals had intervened. Slowly, he regained his foothold on reality; he was at the Legacy Estate, just outside Edinmire. The busted shelf, Roderick's fury... it had all been a dream. His memories had betrayed him, again.

"S-sorry," Mike stammered, his sentience and his voice returning simultaneously as he rubbed his head where he hit it on the headboard. "Guess I just had a bad dream."

"You're telling me." Evals eyed the fox, a look of worry on his face. "This is the first time in a long time you've had a nightmare like this." He cocked his head. "They kinda stopped for a while, and you said you had them under control. But now they're happening again? How come?"

Mike sat up and rubbed his eyes." I dunno. I guess maybe it's got something to do with the change of location?" He rubbed his arms as he shivered against the temperature in the room, the cold sweat caused by his nightmare creating a noticeable chill. "This house is weird."

But Evals wasn't buying it. "You had dreams just like this before we were here, though. This doesn't just happen to people. What's going on?" Evals looked into his eyes. "You can tell me, Mike."

---

He'd never told Evals about it.

He'd never told Evals about the smacks upside the head. About the things Roderick would spill just to make Mike clean them up, and then kick him or step on his fingers when he did. About being dragged by his ears to see the spot he'd missed when dusting, or about being tripped while he was carrying supplies up the gangplank to the Na'Rella. He'd even lied about how he got the scar on his cheek--the only time Roderick had accidentally left a visible mark. And while nothing quite like his dream had ever occurred, he was all too familiar with the sting of Roderick's riding crop on bare fur.

He'd come close to telling Eric, once. After catching wind of a rumor that the younger Vaughan was considering trading him to Roderick in exchange for Kathrin, he had gone to Eric and had literally begged on his hands and knees to stay. He had been ready to tell the truth, if he'd had to, but Eric didn't press for details and the threat passed.

But Mike knew Evals hadn't undergone the same treatment from Roderick; even if Mike couldn't bring himself to tell his friend about it, there was no way Evals would've kept quiet. And he knew Evals didn't know what Mike had gone through; if he had, this whole conversation wouldn't be happening, and for that reason alone Mike almost wished he had told him.

If there ever was a time to tell the truth, though, this was it. They were safely tucked away in a mansion on the other side of Mekkan from Roderick, under the protection of a mage with more talent than their former master could ever dream of, and they were now technically even free from Eric. But he couldn't do that to Evals. His friend shouldn't have to bear that burden; he didn't deserve it. Mike did.

---

"It's nothing."

Evals was incredulous. "It's nothing? Really? Screaming in your sleep all the time is nothing? You're gonna tell me that with a straight face?" He folded his arms. "Look, dude, we're sharing a house with some seriously smart people right now. I bet one of them could figure out what's causing your shitty dreams, and maybe they could make it so they wouldn't happen anymore."

Mike shrugged, his eyes never moving from the bed. "I don't really want to talk about it."

"Yeah, I get that." Evals sat back. "But like... we've gotta take advantage of this while we still can. Maybe it's some kind of memory you suppressed. Did something happen back before we met?"

"No, that's not it."

"Then what is it? You're saying that like you know."

"It's not that big of a deal, really."

"Mike, this isn't normal."

"I guess, but I--"

"Maybe Kat would have an idea--"

"Don't bring HER into it! Can't you--"

"What if Eric--"

"I said I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!"

Mike's shout was so forceful that it made Evals jump. The fur on the back of the fox's neck was standing straight up as he glared at the dog. Evals had seen Mike mad before; they'd had their share of fights through the years, and he was admittedly usually the cause of them. But there was a new anger in his friend that stood out as different--and it alarmed him.

"Dude, I'm sorry, I was just trying to help--"

"How can you help if you won't listen to what I'm saying!?"

"Because you're not really saying anything!" Evals argued back, his own frustrations getting the better of him. "You won't tell me what's going on!"

"Why should I?"

Evals opened his mouth to reply but paused as Mike's words registered. "...What?"

"Ever since we got here all you've done is talk about all the plans you have for me, all the shit you want me to do, all of this stuff YOU came up with for us to do once we were freed. But you never asked me what I thought of all of it, or what I wanted to do, or if I had any plans after this was all over with. What's going on in my head only mattered to you once it became so obvious that you couldn't fucking sleep through it!" Mike was visibly shaking, his nostrils flaring as he ranted. "So stop trying to 'help' me when you don't know the first thing about what I've been through!"

It was only when he saw Evals' thunderstruck expression that Mike realized he had gone too far. The two had spent most of their lives in close quarters with one another, from being caged together before being sold to the Vaughans to their years sharing a bunk aboard the Na'Rella. They had gone through every bump in the road, seen every obstacle through to the end, endured nearly every hardship together. There was nobody in the world who knew more about Mike than Evals did. And he had just thrown that away.

The shock on Evals' face faded to hurt, then to indifference as he got up from the bed. "Fine. Have it your way, I guess." He strode across the room and opened the door without so much as looking back at Mike. "I'm gonna go for a walk, or something."

"Wait, Evals. I didn't mean it like--" the slamming door cut Mike off mid-sentence, the sound hitting him as harshly as any hand ever had. The door grew blurry as tears welled up in his eyes, accompanied by a growing anguish that started in his chest and slowly spread throughout his body. He'd had his chance to come clean; a chance to lift a bit of the burden off his shoulders by telling the truth. But merely blowing the opportunity hadn't been enough; he'd also had to hurt the only real friend he had in the world in the process. He had done everything wrong. Again.

The emotional dam burst as Mike threw himself into the pillows, sobs racking his body as he curled up, alone. No flogging Roderick gave him in his dreams could come close to the mental flogging he gave himself.