Page 66 of The Toymaker
He shifted to kiss Riju’s cheek. “It’ll be okay, Master. I promise.”
They’d cool down overnight, and everything would be fine tomorrow. Trig hadn’t sounded angry. A little downtime would help. He didn’t know what all was going on, but if they’d been together so long, it couldn’t be that serious.
Riju gripped the back of his head and pressed his cheek to Kit’s. “I’m sorry about earlier.”
“I disobeyed. Master.”
“No. Sit up.”
Kit got off him and felt guilty because even though it soothed them both, Riju had been stuck on the pallet for ages while Kit snored and drooled on top of him. He wasn’t sure if Riju had napped or not.
Riju settled on his knees and put his face close to Kit’s. “I’m not stupid.”
“I know you’re not, Master.”
“Relax with the title, and listen to me. I know the rules, and I know you don’t have a safety word or signal which isn't right. What happened downstairs still wasn’t your fault. When I heard you scream, it terrified me, and the last thing I cared about was if you obeyed or not. If it had been just me here, I wouldn’t have punished you for letting the coin fall.”
“But Trig sets the rules, and I kind of got off easy since he didn’t take me outside.” It was also too cold for Kit to be chained up outside, whipped, and left on display as extra humiliation and punishment.
Riju squinted. “Why did Perry punish you for disobeying?”
“It was so I wouldn’t do it again. Except I did…”
“He also wasn’t giving you what you needed in many ways. Maybe he's not the best example. Why did I whip you on your first day when you forgot to call me Master?”
“Because it's a rule, and I forgot it pretty fast. You hadn’t told me to relax with the title, and Trig gave me a little extra punishment because I’d forgotten an important rule so quickly.”
“You haven’t broken that rule since then, right?”
“No.IfI ever did, none of us ever noticed.”
“That means you learned. What I’m trying to make you see is punishment must always have a purpose. If you have trouble with a rule, and you’re punished for breaking it, you’ll focus more on following it right?”
“Yes.” Kit could see where he was going.
“Did you think about disobeying at all downstairs?”
Kit shook his head. “No.”
“Did you move or let the coin fall before the cramp?”
“No.”
“The cramp was out of your control. You were scared and unable to obey at that point. Trig can’t make a rule against it because it’s impossible, and I’m pretty sure it's also impossible to remain still if anything hurts so badly.”
Kit got it. Nobody could make a rule against a body doing an action on its own. It was like forbidding headaches, which would be silly.
“I think he did wrong, and he’s not going to apologize or back down. Even a Master needs to know he can be wrong. Trig gets enjoyment out of having a pleasure slave. I do too. The difference is I would never punish you when there isn’t anything for you to learn.”
If Riju felt the situation was unfair, then it wasn’t just Kit feeling that way. “It’s the first time he’s done this.”
“First time or tenth time, it’s not right.” Riju leaned back and rubbed his forehead. “I never imagined him doing that. I told you you’re too much of a pleaser. That's not wrong in itself, but I think it gets in the way of you safely looking after yourself, and there are people who would take advantage of it as today shows. I wouldn’t have signed a contract like yours.”
“There’s nothing I can do about it now. Maybe it was a one-time thing. He hasn’t whipped me without reason before, andI still have a few months left, so I’m not sure if you expect something from me going forward because I don’t know what to do. I’m still the slave, and I have to obey him without complaint. If I don’t, he’ll whip me again.”
Riju looked away. “I don’t know what to do, Kit.”
Kit didn’t expect Riju to do anything. It would cause another argument with Trig. “I don’t want you to be sad either.”
