It had been cruel for her former Master to leave her sitting like this. She was, quite literally, a fox in a box. He'd left her in a carrier, of all things, at the front door of Lothaire's quarters, with another of his slaves to make sure nobody fussed at her. She'd whimpered and cried and worried at the small steel bars so much that she'd cut her mouth, and had eventually given up after she realized she couldn't dig through the bottom of the small hellhole she'd been left in.
The slave had eventually grown tired of waiting, and left, instructing the doormen not to let anyone in to touch her. Lothaire was reported to have been arriving momentarily, and he didn't prefer to be there when he saw what sort of condition Lilyana was constantly kept in. The deal had been made, so there was no breaking it... but as an extension of his own Master, he wasn't interested in delivering any painful messages.
Alone, really alone now, she began to whine again, her cry getting louder and turning into more of a bark as she tried to dig her way out. Again. The carrier bumped along the floor noisily, the creature inside having an absolute conniption.
Lothaire sighed as he neared his quarters. He could hear the whimpering from here. He was highly conflicted about his new pet. The trainer before him had been a complete idiot and had possibly ruined this wonderfully rare creature. Lothaire had a soft spot for small fuzzy animals, something that reached back to his mortal childhood. Of course, he did his best to conceal this small bit of compassion from everyone else in Midnight. But as he got closer to the whimpering, his anger began to boil. Who had put this fox in a DOG CRATE? He had most certainly NOT asked for her to be treated like this. And where was the slave that was supposed to be safe guarding her until he returned? This pet had not been cheap, and if anything would have happened to her, it would have been the death of that slave, and if Lothaire had his way..the irresponsible wretch would suffer for leaving his property untended.
Lothaire knelt down and opened the dog carrier. He peered inside to see the poor fox huddled into one corner. He sighed as he reached in and gently took her out. He opened the door to the large living room type area of his quarters and sat her on the floor before addressing her.
"Assume your human form....I purchased you to be a pet and companion, not to be a slave. You will be treated differently than the servants in this household. But I also expect you to follow my commands. As long as we are in this private setting you may assume whatever form you like unless I tell you otherwise. Now then...I regret highly that you were locked in that dreadful cage. Would you like food or drink?"
As Lothaire spoke he was doing his best to send soothing images and thoughts into her mind. He wanted his pet to love him like a dog, for he missed that feeling. He missed the constant companionship of his childhood dogs. This fox had cost him quite a bit and he intended to enjoy her. Hopefully he would be able to calm her and mold her into a loyal but not completely brainwashed companion and pet. Lothaire did enjoy intelligent conversation so he was going to have to provide books and such for his new pet.
As soon as she was out of the box, she ran directly to Lothaire and jumped up on her hind legs, placing two paws on his waist and wagging her tail madly. She was still barking, but it was different - unsure, excited? She whined, too, but it wasn't as terribly ear-shattering as before. Much like her bark, it sounded confused. She didn't assume her human form, because she was just far, far too excited to be out of the little carrier to bother. Lothaire had his work cut out for him, now, it would become apparent.
She wasn't listening to what he was saying, not initially, not until he began to try and ease her mind. She stepped back and sat down, and then finally returned to her humanoid form. Lilyana as a fox was exquisite, but as a girl... divine. She looked up at him, blonde hair falling into her eyes as she sat, one leg crooked, Indian style, while her other was drawn up, chin on her knee. She seemed to absorb everything he told her, finally nodding.
"I haven't eaten in two days, Master," she said, voice barely above a whisper. She was starving, but she didn't complain. She just... told him the truth. "I would like to eat... if I can. It would be... nice."
Yeah. FOOD would be nice.
Two days? Did her previous master not understand what the difference between a pet and a slave was? What a fool! This was most distressing to Lothaire that morons like that were operating in Midnight. Most of the trainers especially the older ones knew how to take care of their pets, and how to command their slaves. Lothaire looked at the girl. She was quite lovely, and as soon as he had her mind straightened out he would enjoy taking her out in public, she would be the envy of many he was sure. But first things first, he needed to get her fed, and apparently clothed and provide things for her amusement when in animal form...because all he had received was Lily and the horrible dog crate. Lothaire was a wealthy French man Aristocrat, and he wanted his pet to reflect that.
"Do not call me Master, you are not a slave. Call me Lothaire, and why on Earth have you gone 2 days without eating? What would you like? Do you have any clothing other than that on your back? If not we are going to have to get you properly provided for, my pet is not going to look like some scruffy stray animal. If your former master is holding anything of yours I need to know about it so I can have one of my slaves go and fetch it for you."
He continued to try and soothe her anxious mind. This fox was so high strung, what sort of fool had owned her before.....
"I don't know," she said, face scrunching up and voice lifting like she were about to cry. He wanted her to do and say too much at once! "Because he told me I couldn't eat?" she guessed. She didn't know why. What Master had said was the law, and that was... that.
When he said she looked like a stray, however, she did cry. Zel didn't like the word 'mongrel', and it was mutual for Lily and stray. Or scruffy. Or any comment that she was less than perfection. She lowered her head to her knees, the other of which had finally drawn up, and stayed there in a tiny ball as he spoke, unwilling to look at him. If she were ugly, she should not be looked at.
Lothaire blinked slowly as the tears began to fall. Perhaps it would be wise to increase the calm in her mind. She had obviously been emotionally wrecked by something. He would have to work on getting to the root of that before any real progress could be made with her. But she still hadn't been fed, and he needed to try and get her integrated into his home quickly so she would feel more comfortable. He wondered how she preferred to sleep, if she liked to assume animal form he would allow her to sleep at the foot of his bed, but if she slept in human form she would have her own bed, since anything else would be inappropriate.
"Lilyana, like I have said, you are to be a pet and companion, you do not have to cower from me. You must be starving, lets go into the kitchen and find you some food. Then we will move along to getting you some more clothing and things to help you pass the time. Come with me"
Lothaire had been unable to prevent himself from stroking her lovely hair as he spoke to her. It was so soft...and hopefully the touch of her new...companion would be comforting. He knew this would be quite the job, but instead of being angry he was looking forward to the challenge. He reached down and gently stood her up and led her into the kitchen. There wasn't that much food there, but surely she could find something to eat.
"Take your pick of anything in here you would like to eat. That boy there by the stove will prepare it for you however you wish."
Lily got up and followed him, feeling a mixture of emotions thanks to his casual interplay of power with her current state of affairs. She was both confused and scared, upset... yet she felt almost relieved. She nodded as he spoke, taking his word to be nothing but absolution. These were her new rules. As she crept into the kitchen, she eyed the boy, unsure of his status in these quarters. Was he above her? She looked to Lothaire curiously, and then back to the boy again.
She wasn't even sure what to ask for to eat. She'd never been given a choice - generally, she'd seen table scraps, some of which were good, and some of which were not. At the den, she'd fought for anything she'd gotten among the other females, and was accustomed to not eating for a few days because of behaviour.
"I don't know," she finally said. She felt stupid. She had a choice for once, and she was blowing it.
Lothaire was slightly confused by the girl's reaction. Her last master must not have been put much stock in beauty or rarity or he would have treated her better than this. As they entered the kitchen Lothaire followed her eyes to the kitchen servant. She appeared to be concerned about her place in the house. He was subtly reading her thoughts so as not to alarm her by noticeably intruding in her mind on a level she could detect. Table scraps? What on Earth? How could you feed a creature such as this table scraps? He could understand the fighting for food in the "wild", but neglecting a pet that had done nothing wrong was incompetent. He frowned as he thought about that. But then he tried to smile at her, and maybe she would be able to relax enough to eat something.
"You may have anything you desire in this house whenever you are hungry. That slave is yours to command when you need food prepared. Simply tell him what you desire and he will prepare it. Do you like meat? I believe there is some in here."
"M-mine, Lothaire?" she asked, still not sure what he was getting at. She could command a male? She tilted her head at the boy - there must've been something in her eyes that glinted, for certain, but there was no reaction from him. She looked back up at Lothaire, and managed a small smile, although she wasn't clear if she was to be pleased about this or not. Did she appear too greedy? Greed, nor any emotion, she'd discovered, was not desired in animals.
She sighed a little as her anxiety seemed more and more fleeting, and she blinked her eyes, more relaxed than before. "I suppose some chicken would do," she trailed finally, before thrusting her hands into her pockets and looking around. She glanced back up at him again, as if questioning her own choice.
This poor creature really did seem to have been needlessly neglected. It was one thing to beat a slave who wouldn't listen, or to discipline a pet that wasn't that didn't cooperate. But it was disgraceful to abuse a perfectly cooperative pet. And Lilyana seemed to be nothing but eager to please, and if Lothaire didn't have to abuse the girl, he wasn't planning on it. She seemed like she was going to be infinitely better than his last pet which had been a serpent, and had made numerous escape attempts and just generally angered him at every time.
"Chicken it is, Slave, prepare Lilyana some chicken...What style would you like it prepared? Fried, Boiled, Grilled? I have the proper equipment for them all. Are these the only clothes you have? You will undoubtedly need some more, one set is not sufficient. Is there anything that you like to do to amuse yourself if I have to be away on business? Do you know how to read, do you enjoy any sort of music?
Lothaire was keeping his voice low and steady. He was also trying to use his mental manipulation skills to continue calming her down. He had always scoffed at the relationship between Stefan and his pet, but know that he had a pet of his own that was this lovely he hoped he could inspire that sort of devotion without having to resort to beating her into submission or something equally as unpleasant.
"Grilled?" she said, still unsure of what was going on. When the slave crossed near her to go after the pan, she shrank against Lothaire, hiding her face. She did not like strange people who weren't her Master, not at all.
As soon as he'd gone, she tried to answer all of Lothaire's questions in order. "I have a set of pajamas, and this is it. This was all I was allowed to take," she said, though she seemed... unphased. "I like to do crossword puzzles and sleep, but usually I wasn't allowed to do much of anything except sit, or sleep..." she trailed off.
When he asked her about music, she perked a little. "I like classical," she said, but she hesitated. "You go away? On business? And I can't come?" Her pretty face fell. Lilyana would not like this very much... Being alone was an absolute feat to try and accomplish with her. Getting out the door with pant legs in tact as little vulpine teeth chewed at them was something she'd been beaten for many, many times.
Lothaire's brows at Lily's reaction to the slave passing through her personal space. Her reflex to look to him for protection or comfort was nice, but the fear she had of the worthless servant was pointless. No one in his home but he ever would lay a hand on one of his pets. He held them to be above the simple slaves because of their ornamental nature.
Hmmm, so she had all her belongings. Lothaire would have to remedy her lack of wardrobe. It was almost shameful to have creature like this not properly attired, and Lothaire was an old French Noble...surely he was up to the task. As for amusements he was pleased to hear she enjoyed crosswords, he had a habit of wasting entire days doing the word games in numerous newspapers. He also attended a great deal of musical events in the city simply to prey on the high society women that attended, to Lothaire, they tasted a great deal more tasty than common people. Perhaps he could take Lily out to a concert after they worked out the wardrobe issue. And then there was business....
"How old is your old Master? If he does not return your things I shall have a talk with him. But at any rate we shall have to get you some fine clothing to wear. I like for my pets to look as well dress as I am, it sets us apart from the common slaves you see? I too enjoy word games so we can get several of those, and finally..MUSIC! There are several fine places in town where one can enjoy music of ever sort, I go there often and if you feel you want to, then you May come if you can act accordingly in Public."
Lothaire wasn't sure., but thought it may be a while before she would even be ready to visit the courtyard, much less the city. It would probably drive the poor girl insane.
"I don't know," she said. "I didn't have many things with him. If it's all the same, Master, I'd rather not have them. If you would prefer not to purchase me new things, I could work in the kitchen or something to earn them," she said slowly. She did know that breeching the topic of money was always a tender one with people, as Lilyana had been reminded many times it didn't grow on trees. She'd never asked for much, so she couldn't fathom what she wanted was so expensive, but she was simply a pet, and not allowed to request such finery, so it was a moot point all the same.
"Public?" she repeated, blinking. She looked at him stupidly, cheeks flushing. She knew what 'public' was, sort of. She had an idea of it, anyways, but she'd never been there. "I've never been to Public," she confessed. "Is it nice?"
Wow, Lilyana was sheltered.
If she did not want her old things that was fine with Lothaire. The trainer that had owned her prior had been an idiot, and likely there was really nothing of value to recover. Lothaire would just undertake the job of properly dressing his pet himself. From the sound of things Lily hadn't really been treated as a pet...more like a slave. Lothaire wouldn't make his pet "earn" anything as long as she did as she was told. If she disobeyed the only thing she would earn would be his wrath, and that wouldn't be good for her at all, but thus far she seemed to be working out nicely.
"No, you don't have to earn anything..your appearance is a reflection on me, your master. I will ensure that you look fitting to be my pet."
Public? She didn't know what public was? Lothaire almost face palmed, but knew that that would only further confuse her. But he honestly couldn't believe that she had no idea what public was.
"Public for us would be any place outside Midnight...where normal mortals dwell. Honestly, where have you been your entire life? I know you weren't born in Midnight, you never were in public before coming here?"
Seriously sheltered sounded like an understatement right about then.
Lilyana couldn't hide a smile then, and she shrugged a little, looking away. "Forgive me for saying so, but you don't know too much about Arctic Fox culture, do you?" she asked. When he shook his head, she continued. "If I may... the women are allowed no rights. This is simply the way of life. It's not really different than how the slaves here are treated, which is why I'm... sort of used to it. I've never been anywhere outside of Midnight except for my den, and I was never allowed out of that except for maybe a few feet, but nothing else."
She hoped that explained everything. She fell silent, awkwardly almost, as though it was strange for her to speak so much. It was, though - she almost forgot what her voice even sounded like.
Lothaire stood with a puzzled look on his face as she explained the ways of Arctic Fox society. It was true that he knew little about them, other than the fact they were rare and usually lovely looking. He looked at her for a moment, thinking about what she had said. It was going to be quite the task to mold her into the kind of pet he desired. He wanted a beautiful ornament for his arm, not another slave. He was going to have to put some serious work into her. When she fell silent Lothaire looked up and stared at her a moment.
"What you said is true, I know little about what your kind does amongst themselves. But here you are not a slave...you are my pet. You will be allowed more freedom here if I deem you worthy of it. I am not a cruel master...as long as you obey."
It was true, Lothaire wasn't the cruelest master in Midnight by a long shot. But he did have the dark brutal side that made him such an effective trainer. Hopefully though, Lily would be a good girl, and never have to see that.
Lilyana nodded, though in truth she really didn't know what he meant by freedoms. She was thankful that she was able to speak at all, and not be in that cage - wasn't that enough? She wondered, though, what else there could be. "I think I understand," she said, still hesitant. She twisted her fingers together as a child might a few times, fidgeting before she spoke again.
"Are... there any other Arctic Foxes here that I could play with? While you're away, I mean? I mean, I don't have to. I mean, I of course would rather be with you, but I don't do well on my own, and, oh - nevermind," she sang, flustered with herself. She'd just suggested she'd prefer someone else's company to his, hadn't she? She was so rotten! Why would anyone want her as a pet?
Lothaire listened to her with amusement. It did please him that she had such a deep fear it seemed of angering him, that meant that he probably would not have to teach her to fear his anger. He watched as she twitched and fidgeted as she spoke. She was nervous..it was again amusing to Lothaire, but at the same time it reinforced the idea he already had about the worthlessness of her former master. Another artic fox to play with? Yes he knew of another one in Midnight, but he would have to speak to her master first. But the thought of her having a "playmate" did seem like a good idea, it would help to be more calm when not around him he hoped.
"Do not be afraid of my anger for what you just said. I told you that sometimes I will have to leave you to attend to business, and perhaps it would be a good thing for you to have some company other than these slave..because they are simply robots built of flesh instead of metal. There is another Arctic Fox here in Midnight, and I shall see if I can arrange something with her master. "
Lothaire would seek out the other foxes master soon, because his brothels and other flesh dealing business interests in the city were taking up a quite a bit of his attention lately.
Her eyes positively lit up. "Really?" she squeaked. "Really, really?" She was in shock, utter disbelief. "Oh, you mean it? You're the best!" And she rolled up onto her tiptoes and gave him the most chaste of kisses on his cheek, one foot up and hooked back girlishly. She was positively floating on air.
She remembered herself, though, and then realized that it might seem as though she were ungrateful because she desired the company of someone else over Lothaire. That wouldn't do, not at all, and she bit her lip a little, ceasing her celebration. "I didn't mean to imply that I would rather have another playmate as opposed to you, Mas- I mean, Lothaire. Not at all," she shook her head. "I just mean to say that... well, nobody has ever cared about me enough to make sure that I was well looked after when they left, so it just proves that you're the best Master I ever could have asked for."
She smiled sweetly to him, truth in all she said. She was so lucky, Lily was, to have such a wonderful Master.
Lothaire was momentarily shocked by her response. When she practically lunged toward him, he was already raising a most awful mental maelstrom to project into her mind. But her actions stopped him. He felt the surge of happiness come over her, momentarily washing away the doubt and fear that clung to her. But then like a wet blanket the fear returned. She was once again afraid she had offended him. He reached out his hand to pat her on the head.
"I took your words for their true value. I will try to make arrangements before the next time I know I shall be away on business. But you will have to behave yourself, this other fox's Mistress is not as kind as I am, but I believe that she will allow the two of you to entertain each other if you can demonstrate to her proper behavior and respect...which, I believe that you are quite capable of, for you have made it this far with out displeasing me."
Lothaire looked at her smile, and it was almost enough to make him smile....almost. Yes he was a wonderful master, and she was lucky to have him. Because if not for Lothaire, she would still be in a dog kennel somewhere no doubt. But as long as she remained obedient and grateful, he believed he would not have to remind her how much worse off she could be.
Lily leaned in to his touch, like an over-affectionate cat might, and nuzzled his hand with her cheek. The gesture really was so animal-overtoned that it was wondered just how long Lily had been in her other form. Days, perhaps? Weeks? It would be a strange notion for a fox to go feral like that, but it was possible with all animals if they were kept that way long enough.
"I will try," she promised, nodding firmly.
Still, Lily seemed just as buoyant as ever, doing nothing more and nothing less than what a normal 12-year old might do, despite the fact that her papers clearly displayed her age as older still. It seemed that her innocence and captivity perhaps had stunted her mentally; if she were ever released into the real world, she'd be eaten alive.
Complacently, she plopped down into a chair and began looking through a large-printed picture book. Lily couldn't read, but she loved the colours, and she especially liked the kind that popped up when you turned the pages.
Lothaire noticed as Lily nuzzled his hand that it wasn't simply a gesture of contentment. It had a very strong animal overtone to it, almost as if she was close to going feral. But it was almost unheard for a Fox in Midnight to be driven to that point, mostly because of the cost it took to acquire one. But based on what Lothaire had already seen of the way Lily's old master treated her, he could see how spending most of her time in animal form might have been better for her.
He noticed that she picked up one of the many large colorful art books he had sitting about the living room. Lothaire preferred to do his serious reading in one of his offices or elsewhere in Midnight, preferring to have relaxing art books to sit and just stare at in his quarters. But he did notice that she was flipping right past the few pages of written texts that gave details about certain photos or paintings in the book. That was certainly interesting.
"Lily...are you enjoying the pictures in that book? Do you know how to read....earlier you mentioned that you like crossword puzzles. How can you do them if you don't know how to read? And if you don't know how...would you like to learn?"
Having a pet with a stunted personality due to the ineptitude of her former master was not something Lothaire could correct, but if she was unable to read...well he could solve that problem rather quickly, especially since Lily seemed to be fairly intelligent.
She glanced up when he asked her about the book, and closed it. "Oh, yes. I like pictures a lot. I like the colours," she explained. When he asked her about reading, she seemed almost confused. "I.. no. I don't know. But you don't have to read to do crossword puzzles," she said, frowning a little. "You're supposed to colour in the boxes - make patterns. See?" she asked. She opened one up, and pointed to a few open squares. "You can make things out of them. I thought that's what you were supposed to do."
She paused, and thought about his offer. "I suppose I would like to learn - if you want me to, anyways. I never had much of a use for it. The few books I was allowed were the kind where the pictures come out at you. That seemed to be good enough for me," she said with a little shrug.
She wondered how it would be to read. She'd never really thought about it before; reading wasn't something that women did, not really. She wondered if it would be very hard.
Her reluctance about reading was understandable. Many of those bred for service in Midnight were taught the bare minimum of skills, only what they needed to server their masters. Those bred to be pets..well they were taught even less since they were mainly meant to be a source of amusement. Lothaire cocked his head and looked at the shaded in crossword puzzle.
"The kind where pictures pop out at you? You enjoy those? There are some books of that kind that also have stories in them...I think maybe if you would like I could teach you to read. It is a good way to pass the time, and I think perhaps I would enjoy the teaching process, you seem like you would make a good student. But if you would just like to have pictures to look at I have plenty of art books on these shelves...though some of them you may find to be..frightening. Just avoid that shelf over by the television....."
Lothaire was a collector of many forms of art, and some of it leaned very much to the grotesque. The tamer volumes were H.R. Geiger collected works...some of the others were things you could only find on the black market. But then again, who would expect a Midnight Trainer to be normal in any sense of the word?
"Oh, I like pretty pictures," she said emphatically, setting the crossword book aside for the time being. She'd colour more patterns later. Or maybe she could find a bigger pattern book, with markers or crayons, or coloured pencils. "If you think that I can learn to read, than I will most certainly try my best," she said honestly, nodding at his words. She didn't really think she could, but what she thought didn't really matter, did it?
She glanced over to where he pointed, and made a note to avoid that shelf at all costs. In fact, she would not even look at it, and so she turned back to him, making the area a sort of forbidden one. She would never go near it so long as she was instructed not to.
Her schedule was seeming quite full all of a sudden. Reading, public, playing with other pets. Lilyana was used to sitting on her own and doing a lot of nothing. She seemed very puzzled by the idea of it, and suddenly very tired. She yawned incredibly wide, putting her hand over her mouth with an embarrassed sort of gaze at the floor.