Page 13 of Under His Heel

Alex did as he was asked and grimaced against the sensation of heat and air against his skin. He didn’t know quite how it worked, but it felt like being swathed in a hot blanket. The grime—including Tracht’s crusted over come—was lifted away in large bursts, sucked up by the hoses along the sides of the scrubber.

Showers with real water were too wasteful in deep space, since water had to be carefully conserved and rationed for long trips. It was kind of gratifying to know that even Tracht couldn’t get around that.

Alex stepped out and Tracht shoved tunic and leggings at him. “We’re going to have Doctor Singh take a look at you now. Behave yourself, and I might feed you after.”

Did it count as body modding if Alex ended up starved and half the weight he used to be? He put on the clothes though, and followed Tracht back to the med bay. Along the way they met a few people who all glared at Alex as if he had personally offended them. But they were respectful with Tracht, and he didn’t think a single one of them knew what kind of a sick bastard they were working for.

The med bay reminded Alex of his tooth. He really didn’t fucking want to be there again, but he wanted food a lot more. He could already feel the confusing pangs where his body couldn’t decide if it was in pain or just hungry. Maybe the doctor would convince Tracht that he needed to feed Alex promptly.

He hadn’t taken into account that the med bay might not be empty. The guard he’d beaten up was laying on one of the cots, the back elevated so he could chat easily with the doctor. They seemed to be getting along, and the guy looked fine. Maybe it was hard to tell on his deep brown skin, but it didn’t look like the punch had left much of a lasting bruise, and his nose hadn’t suffered any breaks like Alex’s.

Tracht approached his bed. “Mr. Parsons, I’m happy to see you awake. How are you feeling?”

Parsons’s smiled lightly. “Uh, I’m good. Thank you, Captain. And I got the gift basket, and the bonus deposit. You didn’t have to do that.”

“Nonsense. It was my fault you got hurt—I should have foreseen Alex would be dumb enough to try walking out the front hatch.”

“Hey!” Alex responded automatically. All three people in the room turned to stare at him, and he snarled at them to cover up his unease. “I’m not dumb.”

Tracht laughed and the doctor chuckled, but Parsons looked extremely uncomfortable. Alex wasn’t sure if it was because of what he’d done or because of how he looked: clean now, but still scarred, still exhausted. He would have smiled, but he was too hungry to make nice with anybody.

“As I said.” Tracht pulled on Alex’s collar and dragged him forward a few steps. “Doctor Singh, I’d like him to have a full check up now. And I’m tired of the body hair, so let’s remove that.” He tilted his head at Parsons. “If you’d like, you can watch.”

“Watch?” Parsons’ voice pitched upward. “Watch what?”

“Watch Alex attempt to not feel horribly humiliated while stripped naked in front of all of us and having his body poked and prodded. I’m unsure whether this would give you some sort of satisfaction or not.”

Heat flashed through Alex’s body. He wouldn’t– he wouldn’t feel humiliated. No. Fuck that. This was Tracht being a sick freak, it had nothing to do with Alex. And anyway– anyway, Parsons face had blanched, and yeah, he was really not into it. Not everybody was a perv like Tracht.

Parsons shook his head. “No, um. Thanks. I’m– it’s okay. You got me a gift basket, and the bonus... you don’t need to– I don’t even really remember what happened.”

“Very well. In that case, Doctor Singh, let’s take this into the private exam room.” The fucker didn’t even look bothered by the refusal.

Alex shot a parting glare at Parsons, then followed Tracht and Singh into the other room. The other room, which featured an examination table with stirrups.

“Doesn’t she get a choice?” Alex blurt out, pointing at Singh. “What if she’s not a freak like you?”

Singh gave him an amused look and laughed lightly. “I can assure you, I’ve got quite a bit of experience with bondservants. I know how to do my job. And on a personal level, it won’t be an issue.”

“Don’t engage him, Doctor Singh. There hasn’t been a single smart word to come out of his mouth yet.”

Alex flushed with anger. The words shouldn’t bother him as much as they did. He wasn’t dumb, but he’d never been as clever as Nick. He knew that. At least Nick had never made him feel dumb.

Maybe the lack of sleep and food was getting to him. Singh had to tell him to remove his clothes twice, the second time accompanied by a sharp pinch to his ass by Tracht.

He glowered as he stepped on the scale, and then did a double take at the weight it listed. “I’m not that skinny,” he complained. He couldn’t have lost that much weight in just a few days.

“The scale is adjusted to station gravity, not ship gravity,” Tracht explained in the most fucking condescending voice ever. Like Alex was a school kid.

Singh pressed a few buttons on the scale and the numbers changed, matching Alex’s usual weight more closely. “I can do a brain scan, if you’d like, to test for mental abnormalities?”

They were laying it on really thick now. It was a con, like the ones Nick and Alex played on the first station they’d lived on. Alex just had to remind himself that Tracht and Singh were playing him, and he’d be fine.

It still bothered him.

They made him get off the scale and Tracht guided him onto the exam table, positioning Alex’s legs in the stirrups and strapping them in, so that Alex was completely exposed. He had no way of closing his legs, no way of escaping the caresses against his thighs. Tracht petted him gently, all while looking Alex in the eye.

Alex had to look away, his face heating up so much he wouldn’t be surprised if it was bright red.

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