Scared
#15 of Sold
There will be one more chapter after this, giving this whole series a hopefully more satisfying ending than the chapter I originally intended to be the ending.
Matt awoke with the familiar weight of the bunny's head on his chest, Nate was still happily asleep and, in fact, drooling on his chest. A smile spread on his face as he leaned forward and planted a kiss on his boyfriend's forehead.
Boyfriend... that still sounded strange to him, with everything he and Nate had been though in these short six month it didn't seem like strong enough a word to him. He pulled the sleeping bunny closer to him, held him tightly and showered him with kisses, waking him in the process.
"Can't .. breathe"
"Ah! Sorry uhhh ... Nate, bun-bun, love of my life? What would you prefer?"
"Call me love of your life once more and I will have to slap you." the bunny chuckled
"Bun-bun it is then!"
"You know we can just keep going like we did before, right Sir?"
"Sir?"
"Force of habit."
"Personally I wouldn't mind if you continued calling me that, at least occasionally"
"Maybe I will, but right now you're Matt, and you will stay that for a while."
"You won't hear me complain" he kissed the bunny once more before slowly getting up.
"You rest your adorable little white ass right there, I'll get us something to eat and then we're gonna-"
The doorbell rang, causing Matt to abandon his plan to break the bed with his bunny, at least for now. While cursing whoever was interrupting him he made his way downstairs. Opening the door, covered with only a bed sheet he saw the worried face of a dalmatian.
"Leon? What are you doing here?"
"You should check your phone occasionally."
Matt went to grab his phone and was promptly greeted by a tiny blinking light telling him he had unread messages, 5 of them, all from Leon.
Good luck, and let me know how it went.
Any news?
Matt?
If you don't answer in the next 15 minutes I'll come over.
I'll be there in 5 minutes.
Matt awkwardly cleared his throat, "Sorry."
"So?"
"He decided to stay, " Matt's whole face lit up with a smile, "he scared the shit of of me, but he stayed."
"Glad to hear that. I was kinda worried I'd find you here drunk or worse..."
"I'm good.. better than good, I don't even have a word for how I feel, and yes, I do know I sound like a teenager in love for the very first time."
Leon chuckled before hugging the otter.
"Go get your bunny, I'll invite you both to dinner, that is if you didn't have any other plans."
"I'll go ask him."
Stepping out of Leon's car Nate couldn't help but smile, sure the unexpected visit had robbed him of a lazy evening in front of the TV or in bed with his new boyfriend but just knowing that someone else was happy for him, so much so that he wanted to celebrate, made Nate feel unbelievably good.
The restaurant Leon had picked seemed like a place you needed to make a reservation a year in advance. The building itself was old, but the big windows made it clear that the interior was either new or very well cared for. The whole place was kept in a warm sand color with red accents spread throughout.
At the door they were greeted by a young looking gazelle, who, after checking for a reservation lead them to a table near the windows.
"Sooo," Nate looked at Leon suspiciously, "exactly how rich are you?"
"HA! As if! The company has a standing reservation here, and a few other restaurants, for business meetings or what have you."
Picking up the menu Nate felt a bit overwhelmed by the sheer amount offered. So much so he barely registered their waiter coming by to introduce himself and take their orders.
Nate felt a finger prodding his arm, "He's talking to you Bun-bun."
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Nate turned his head.
Before him stood a tower of white fur, the bear pointed at Nate's empty glass, "Would you like some more?"
Nate's eyes went wide.
"Would you like some more slut?"
"Please Master, I can't... please no more" the heavily panting bunny begged. His wrists were locked in metal shackles that were suspended from the ceiling in a way that made barely possible to stand on his toes. The metal was biting into his wrists and the white fur on his arms had small red stains that slowly began to turn brown.
The pain in his wrists was nothing to that on his back though, angry red welts were shimmering through his fur. The throbbing, burning feeling was the only thing he could focus on, at least as long as he managed to stand on his toes.
SNAP
The whip hitting him landed on the same spot again, curled around his side and left another, smaller welt on his chest. With the pain flaring up the bunny lost his footing, putting all his weight on his already hurting, bleeding wrists. They felt strange, the bunny knew it should hurt, and in some way it did. He could feel the pain, it just paled in comparison to his back. He began to struggle, pulling himself up by his wrists, just so he could get his feet back on the ground.
"You're pathetic! A few lashes with the whip and you're screaming bloody murder. Do you know how much it cost to get you here? You should be thankful I'm so lenient with you. Maybe I should feed you less, you certainly were more eager then."
"I ... I'm sorry Master, please, " the bunny to sob, "please hit me again."
SNAP SNAP SNAP
Again he lost his footing. The pain pushed the air out of his lungs as his body went completely limp. He no longer had the strength to pull himself up. The metal began biting more and more into his wrists as small red trickle slowly made its way down his arm. Somewhere far off he heard an angry shouting bear, then some rattling chains and then he saw the concrete floor moving towards his face before there was only blackness.
Nate was back at the restaurant, still looking at the bear, who still looked at him with a slightly confused look.
"Bun-b-"
"Please make him go away!" the bunny slung himself at the otter's chest, falling off his chair and burying himself in the arms of his boyfriend.
"What did I do?" asked the bear, utterly confused by what just happened.
"Look at me Nate, everything is going to be alright."
"I know it's not him, but ... but, ... Why is this happening?"
"I'll take care of this, you try to calm him down." Leon said before gesturing for the bear to follow him.
"I'm sorry, I don't know why this is happening now. I thought I was ..."
"Honey, it's been barely six month. I know it sucks, but you will have to work on it. You don't just magically get better from what you went through. Take a deep breath and then try to focus on something else, and sit back up"
"Like what?"
"Why did you learn to cook?"
"What?"
"Just answer the question Bun-bun."
Nate opened his mouth to answer but no sound made it out. He was drawing a blank. In his mind he slowly thought back to the last meal he cocked, then the one before and so on, until be couldn't go back anymore. His breathing slowed down and he slowly began to recall.
"Back in ... high-school, I always got home before anybody else and I think I just got tired of heating up leftovers or frozen dinners. So I started with easy stuff, at least that way it was fresh. After that came cooking shows, " Nate began to chuckle, " I still remember the first time I tried to make a cake, I used salt instead of sugar."
"Sounds interesting, which country was the recipe from?"
"Smart ass!"
"Fluff butt!"
Nate began to laugh so loud people began turning their heads. The shock from a few minutes ago almost completely washed away by the otter. He didn't understand how exactly, but he was glad Matt had found a way to quickly lead him out of negative thoughts of his previous life, whenever they came up.
"Looks like you calmed down, well kinda at least." the returning dalmatian said.
"Yeah, thanks.
"My pleasure Bun-bun."
"The bear won't be a problem anymore, I asked them to give us another waiter."
"You didn't have to do that, it's not his fault I ... thank you" Nate said with a slightly ashamed look in his eyes.
"Don't worry, I told him why and he completely understood."
"You told him?"
"Well, not the slavery part of course, but 'abusive ex' was hard to argue against. He understands and he knows it's nothing personal."
Nate nodded.
Their new waitress quickly came, took their orders and vanished into the kitchen, coming back with their started only minutes later. Looking at his salad now Nate didn't really feel like eating. His paws were still slightly shaking as he kept poking at the greens.
"So, what's next?" asked the dalmatian after putting his spoon next to the empty bowl..
"Huh?"
"What have you two planned? Romantic getaway? Getting married in Vegas?"
Nate blushed and quickly looked out of the window.
"Nothing really, I mean it's just been official for a few hours now. The next big thing, if you want to call it that, is his birthday in a few weeks"
"Please. You two practically have been together for a few months now, don't pretend anything else." Leon said with a smirk.
"No, he...he was my ...."
"Master? Technically yes, but we both know that had you asked him for it you'd have been his boyfriend from day one. Matt isn't really cut out for that whole Master role, at least that's what I think," the dalmatian turned to Matt, " Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you did a bad job, quite the opposite in fact, but look me in the eye and tell me you intended to use Nate as a slave."
"I can't."
"So, back to your plans."
"There really aren't any yet, but maybe a small vacation is something we should look into, if Nate wants to."
Nate just smiled and nodded.
Finally, when it was time for the dessert Nate was surprised by a slice of apple pie he hadn't ordered accompanied by a note.
Looking at it the bunny was nervous as he began reading it out loud "Sorry about scaring you like that, I hope I didn't ruin your evening. Please enjoy the pie, my treat."
"Nate?"
"I'm ...fine." he said before taking the first bite.
The pie was pure heaven for the bunny's sweet tooth. The apples, while sweet, had a slight sour taste to them and there was a hint of cinnamon in there as well. The vanilla sauce spread over it however was what elevated it from a simple slice of pie to a piece of art as far as Nate was concerned.
Looking up from his empty plate he saw the bear clearing a table. He swallowed and stood up.
"Bun-bun?"
"I need to do something."
Slowly he made his way to the bear that way busy busting plates and cleaning the table. He cleared his throat and the bear's head turned.
"Excuse me?"
"Can I help y- Sorry, am I bothering you again?"
"I ...I uhm... just wanted to thank you, and apologize."
"You have nothing to apologize for."
"I have, I don't know why I reacted that way before. I'm... I'm sorry. Also the pie was delicious."
The bear smiled.
"Glad you enjoyed it."
Sitting back down at the table Nate was visibly shaking. Adrenalin was coursing through his system and he was working very hard on not running, so it took him a while to notice the worried faces looking at him.
"Wh-what?"
"Just wondering whether or not you're ok Bun-bun."
"I'm ok... well I will be in a bit."
"You didn't have to do that."
"Yes, I did. If the therapy taught me one thing, it was to confront my fears, even though it wasn't actually him."
"Would you want to?" the dalmatian asked in a serious voice.
"I ... don't know."
"I can't promise you anything, but if you want me to I could try to contact the guy who bought the bear."
"I don't know if I could..." the bunny lip began to quiver.
"Forget I brought it up. Though if you change your mind about it just give me a call."
Nate nodded and quickly dropped the subject. Instead he chose to focus on the dessert he had actually ordered as he dug into the huge ice cream bowl still sitting on the table, his mind wandering, thinking about places he'd like to visit for the vacation Matt hand mentioned.