FSE

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"Hey, Splicer, come on. Time to go! You ready?" Jack was looking at the wolf who was barely awake on the bed, he had finally managed to get the clearance to bring the wolf home, well, he was to escort the wolf to the entrance. Laguna was personally picking the puppy up. Jack did his best to explain what had happened during the short call, but Joseph had made sure he wouldn't go too in detail of the whole ordeal, yet the beagle practically heard the colour draining from the badger over the call.

Joseph met the three in the lobby, he passed over a bag to Splicer who barely even looked at the bag before turning away.

Wait no, this isn't... Splicer took a closer look, scraps of leather with silver rivet holes, pieces of blue metal floated around in the bag, he put the puzzle together, the collar he bought from Johnathan's shop. The wolf thought he was going to black out from the pure fury in his body, he whipped around. Every cell in his body was yearning to hit the otter, do anything to him. It was futile, as much as he willed his arm to move, it didn't so much as twitch.

"Hey, buddy, come on, it'll be alright... Let's just get out of here, yeah?" Jack rubbed Splicer's shoulders as he escorted the now quivering wolf out the front door, all the wolf could focus on was the bag in his paws.

No it's not, but why? He didn't even realize he was in the car and Jack was waving goodbye before he saw the face of Laguna reflected in the rear-view mirror. The badger's mouth opened.

"No don't, I'm begging you Laguna." Splicer cut him off before he could say anything.

The badger ignored the request. "I was just going to say I had no idea what was going to happen during your stay, I figure it must have been bad if all Jack was allowed to say was 'it wasn't pretty'. I heard about your collar already, please forgive Joe. I know you can't, but, he's, no... The way he treated you was far out of line. I'll be discussion it with him later but for now, how are you."

"I'm fine, just, leave me alone. I'm really not in the mood for anything right now."

"Sure thing."

The two spent the rest of the drive in silence, Splicer watched the facility fade away into the trees, then the sunlight faded, trees faded to buildings, night fell, buildings faded to more trees then they finally arrived at their destination. The wrought iron gate shut behind the car as they pulled up to the front of Crale manor.

New place, same prison... Splicer got out of the car without a word and began walking towards the entrance and pushed the front door open. The atmosphere was intense within, all the other pets as well as Nate were making small talk in the living room but all eyes fell onto Splicer when he pushed the door open.

Great, an audience... Splicer turned his back to everyone as they rose to greet him and instead made for the pool. He needed his comfort in routine, he was denied access to a bath or pool through out the entire stay at the facility. He approached the doorway and pressed a paw towards the handle to try and open it... it felt like he was trying to force two strong magnets together from the same end. He couldn't get within reach of the door no matter how hard he pushed.

"Laguna, I'm really, really, REALLY not in the mood today..." Splicer knew the badger was standing by him watching the struggle unfold.

"I'm sorry, but that can happen later. For now, puppy, kneel." Laguna said, with his paws behind hid back and a sly grin on his face.

"Laguna..."

"I said kneel puppy!"

Splicer was a little shocked by the harsh demand, but since he couldn't access the pool, he figured he'd play along for a while until he could. He got down on his knees and looked up at the badger.

"Happy?"

"Not quite yet..."

Laguna brought one of his paws out. Dangling from it was a solid blue leather collar, just a slight tinge darker than his markings, hanging off it was his rose insignia tag.

"NO! Don't bring that near me! I don't want that!" Splicer tried to stand back up, but he was frozen in place The black leather was taken off of the wolf's neck and tossed aside.

Laguna sighed and grabbed the bag of old collar scraps the wolf was still hanging on to. "I suppose you want this then?"

"So what if I do? I liked it..."

"Puppy, that one is gone You have to know it's irreparable. Besides, this one is more official anyways."

"I don't care how official it is- one rose is already too many!"

Growing impatient, Laguna secured the blue collar around the wolf's neck and stood back to examine it. It really made his arm and eye marking seem more vibrant in comparison. Splicer's paws went up to try and remove it to no avail; it may as well have been locked on. Before the wolf even knew it had happened, the badger had a leash clipped to the collar.

"Let's go for a walk now puppy..."

"Fuck you." Splicer flopped onto his back, bringing another sigh from Laguna. His owner dragged the wolf behind him along the halls.

...

"Why do you keep fighting me?" Laguna was sitting on a bench, with the wolf's head in his lap as he pet their ears. Splicer was frozen in place by the nanites. He hated to admit to himself that even if he weren't... He might hesitate before running away.

Splicer was curious, why didn't the badger just give up on him? "Why you keep trying to keep me here? I should have paid off my debt four times over by this point and yet, here I am"

"My records disagree, you're still deep in the hole puppy..."

"Yeah, only because of the bullshit you keep pulling. First the room, the vase, the maid outfit- bet I paid for this new collar too, didn't I?"

Pain flashed across the badger's face at the dig. It was only a fair assumption to the wolf: the badger did have a rather loose paw with his pet's wallet after all.

"No, this one is a gift. I promise..."

"As if I care anyways, I just want my old collar but oh wait, your best bud fucked that one good, just like he did me."

Another flash of pain. Splicer was enjoying the head pats, but that wasn't going to keep him from spitting the venom he had built up over the long months in the facility.

"Look puppy, it's not like that. You just don't understand, you wouldn't."

"Oh please. Let me guess 'he's complicated, I'm complicated, it's all complicated'. Bullshit, I think it's all bullshit. You're just scared to let me go."

"You're too engrained in Evertech by this point. If I let you go, you'd end up like Blaine in a week and you know that too."

"Don't you dare let that name cross your tongue again. I knew Blaine, Jack knew Blaine, you know nothing of what it's like."

Splicer felt the freeze on his body lessen. He stood up and turned his back to the badger, still connected to the leash.

"You're right, I suppose I wouldn't know him, or what it's like to be him. That was in poor taste. The point still stands, you know you can't get away, so why are you still struggling? I just want to care for you. I care for all of my pets."

"Yeah, I can see the care you show me." Splicer scoffed, the reason he turned away was so Laguna wouldn't see the tears in the wolf's eye. He wanted nothing more than to just be one of the pets and live a happy life, but he just wasn't like that.

"I may be an acquired taste, but, I really do care puppy."

"Then call me Splicer, just once! For the love of god, no matter how much you try, I'll never be your puppy."

"Splicer, no matter how much you resist, you'll always be my puppy."

Splicer turned around and fell to his knees, burying his face in the badger's naked lap above the sheath. Trying to quell the rising emotions in his chest he quicky switched topic.

"Do you ever wear pants? Christ..."

"As seldom as possible, I rather hate them in fact! Far too restrictive..."

The head pats began again, continuing in silence as the wolf quietly sobbed into the badger's thighs.

"It was so bad Laguna. I can't even begin to describe it, so much pain. Why? Why me?"

"I have no idea puppy..." Laguna was glad Splicer had his face buried low, so they didn't catch the few tears welling up in his eyes. He was only told it would be standard nanite replacement and some testing to see the new nanite efficiency. Not a torture session so awful he wasn't even allowed to be privy to the slightest details of what happened. But he knew Joe. Whatever happened, it wasn't pretty.

_Maybe I should have been there personally instead of Jack. Joe would never dare to do a tenth of whatever happened with me there. _ Dwelling on the past wasn't going to help the puppy heal though. He just needed to be there for his pet. Laguna looked down at the sniveling form below; it was pathetic, but cute at the same time. He almost envied how vulnerable the wolf could be at times. On some level, it meant he trusted the badger enough to show those emotions around them.

"Thank you for sending Jack to look after me... If nothing else, he was really what I needed."

"I'm glad to hear pup..." Laguna was starting to form an idea in his mind, but it wasn't the time to focus on something like that now. It could be saved for later. Jack was still planning to stay for a few days to make sure Splicer was alright. Laguna knew he could convince the beagle to stay a little longer to entertain his idea. But now, his focus had to be on his puppy. He still felt guilty about the birthday incident.

"Can we stay here a bit longer?"

"We can stay here as long as you'd like to pup. But, I have to ask, are you lonely here?"

Splicer paused, stunned by the question. He was incredibly lonely. Despite loving all of Laguna's pets, he still found he couldn't be a part of their group because he refused to submit. He wasn't even sure if he resented them anymore, or himself. He only wanted to be one of them. Yet, that disconnect wouldn't allow it to happen. He was born a free wolf and his goal in life was to die a free wolf, there was no way he would ever allow that to change.

He withdrew his head from the badger's lap, looking down at the ground, drops of water were still falling from his blurry eyes.

"Yes, I suppose I am lonely. I wish I could get rid of these feelings, but I, I-I just can't allow it to happen."

"I see..."

"Why is it that when we talk like this, it's always raining?" Splicer smiled a fake smile; he was really tired of crying. He was hoping pretending to be happy would change his mood, it didn't.

"Good question pup... good question. I will add, Nate isn't the only one concerned for you,nor I. All of us just want what's best for you."

Words from Splicer's distant past. He wondered who it was that once told him that, he knew the words meant well, but what does it mean when someone else wants what's best for someone else? Shouldn't the fur in question know what's best for themselves? Splicer didn't know the answer then, he still didn't know it know.

Laguna stood up. It had been long enough he spent grilling the wolf emotionally, he figured his pet was due for a reward.

"I'm thinking of going for a swim, I imagine you'll want to join." Leash in paw, Laguna began leading the wolf to the pool. Splicer kept pace, walking on all fours.