"And here, last but not least, we have a fine specimen, a male, around 19 years old, beautiful blonde hair, astounding violet eyes! Note the creamy, unmarked skin! No blemishes, no scars, a true Perfect! Feminine build, surprisingly strong for somebody of his stature! Do we have any customers? Bidding starts at 1,000 dollars!"
Matthew cast his eyes downwards as the barker tugged at the chain around his neck. The metal cut into his skin, chafing and stifling; he could barely breathe.
"1,500!" Somebody in the crowd yelled, the hoarse voice giving Matthew chills.
"2,000!" Shouted another. "2,500!" "3,000!" The different voices mingled in the air, all having the same raspy quality that showed they were rich, ugly. and probably perverts. Matthew still had the bruises on his stomach from his last owner, who had returned him, unsatisfied with his "conduct". That man was mean, and Matthew had been glad to see the last of him.
The person who ran these things always made sure to cover up those marks, anyway. Wouldn't want to show damaged merchandise. Even if they would heal within a day, it still looked messy to have bruises mar a pretty little boy like himself.
"10,000!" The last bid rang in the air, jolting Matthew out of his thoughts. This voice wasn't the smoothest, but it wasn't the most unpleasant thing Matthew had heard. "Going once, going twice, sold, to the man with the red eyes!"
That wasn't very unusual. After the disease had spread, almost everybody looked strange. Scars running down cheeks like checkerboards; missing noses, eyeballs, and limbs; skin ravaged by sores and bruises that just wouldn't dissipate. Stranger side effects, like horns and animal ears. You'd think Matthew was one of the lucky ones, not to be ravaged by the unhealthy virus, but benefiting from it instead, becoming healthier instead of disgusting.
Instead, it made him into an item to be displayed, bought, and sold.
...
Feliciano never wanted to leave his brother.
The two were inseparable. People usually wanted them, but money was very hard to buy twins. One Perfect was expensive enough, but twins? It was like buying a matching set of pottery; expensive as hell, but apparently worth it after the initial spending rush has subsided. People had tried to separate them, but Feliciano gave them the cute eyes and cried. People always gave in when Feliciano wanted them to.
Lovino didn't want to be purchased.
From what he knew, being bought basically meant that you had to give yourself to whoever paid a stupidly large amount of money to own you. It made him sick. He had heard tales of Perfects being used for bad things, taken to private rooms to be beaten senseless, bruised and battered with knowledge that they would heal within the next day. Broken bones took longer, so most people didn't bother with them, but they would mess around with their new merchandise until it broke, then mended itself, so they could break it again. He didn't want that to happen to him, much less to Feliciano, who, as he proudly exclaimed over and over, was still a virgin.
Yuck.
"Alright, you disgusting pieces of filth, get out there and look pretty! If you don't, I guarantee something bad will happen the next time you fall asleep..." The threat hung above everybody's heads as they trudged up the wooden stairs to the stage.
"Feliciano and Lovino, you're up first."
Lovino took his brother by the hand, leading him as if to the gallows. They took their places onstage, backs to the audience, hands clutched together. The reddish light from the tent above them illuminated them in a strange, almost dream-like fashion.
"Three, two, one, showtime!"
Feliciano spun around, struck a pose that could only be described as childish, and smiled, showing big white teeth. His auburn hair shone in the sunlight, showing off his bouncy curl that swayed when he moved. The outfit he wore, though ragged and barren, showed off his creamy skin and petite figure, pink cheeks emphasized by the cute pose and bright grin.
"Ciao~!"
As soon as he spoke, around a dozen rumbling sighs erupted from the audience, as well as several full blown squeals. "He's my favorite!" Somebody whispered, earning a few giggles from the audience.
"My name's Feliciano Vargas! My favorite things in the whole world are my big brother, pasta, and all of you!"
Beside him, Lovi whipped around, plastered on a smile, winked, and blew a kiss to the audience.
"I'm Lovino Vargas! I always stick with my brother! We're a package deal!"
With a small grimace, Lovino pecked his brother on the cheek, causing a pink blush to blossom. Feliciano grabbed his hands and swung him around, pressing close, cheek to cheek.
"I'm sorry." He whispered under his breath, causing Lovi to nod. They turned to face the audience, smiles as big as suns.
"Asking price is $100,000!"
At this, the crowd drew back a little, but still showered kisses and love upon the poor boys. They broke apart, Feliciano waving, Lovino crossing his arms and smirking, before they joined hands and ran offstage, Lovino's smile dropping like a brick as soon as he was out of sight of the audience.
"Ugh, that's so annoying. I hate that act. Who came up with that again."
"You did, Lovi. You said it was a good idea to prevent us from being separated." Feli murmured, biting his lip.
Oh, right.
"Anyway, we have an hour before the Exhibition, so we should relax. Well, as much as we can relax in this hellhole." Lovi yawned, plopping down on the floor in the middle of a crowd of pretty boys and girls. "Whatever you say, fratello." Feli sat next to him, nuzzling into his shoulder. They watched as one by one, the misfit Perfects presented themselves on stage, outfits ragged but faces groomed. Yong Soo, the energetic youngster with endless charm. Raivis, the shaking little mouse who just wanted somebody to love. All of them coveted, all of them pricey.
"Exhibition's starting!" Lovino heard that dreaded voice ring in his ears, causing him to stand and move along with the swarm toward the back of the tent, always holding his brother's hand in case he lost him.
He hated the glass cases they were always forced into after the "show". They were pretty good quality, but they were cramped, almost no room for one, much less two. Most of the perfects had petite, cute body figures, like Raivis, but others were quite cramped.
The cages were basic. A glass box on a small wooden base, much like a terrarium at a zoo. A pair of locking glass doors in the back, to which only the owner of this sick zoo had the key. They slept in these things, like animals. The extent that they were treated was disgusting. It didn't matter if they were fed daily, or not at all, their bodies stayed fit and, to some extent, healthy. If a Perfect was anorexic, they could throw up every night and see their missing weight bounce back after one day. No marks would appear from mistreatment, malnourishment, or dehydration. For all the customers knew, those people were sleeping in feather beds and eating five course-meals every night.
In reality, things weren't so easy.
After everybody was settled in their cages, the customers came flooding in.
Lovi was astonished at how many girls came right up to their cage, hair flying in tufts around their head, smiles bright and blushes clearly evident. Feli always played them up, waving and blushing back, while Lovi sent them smirks and winks, leaning back on his palms in a bored fashion.
They were all so disfigured, scars marking once clear skin and eyes clouded over. But they were so happy, singing and blushing and laughing.
Maybe not being Perfect was the price to pay for true happiness.
Lovi looked around the room, noticing all the other Perfects for what seemed like the first time. Raivis was being handed over to a large man with a fanged smile, the small boy shaking as the larger man ruffled his mop of unruly brown curls. Tino was also going through a transaction, his owner being another large man wearing a long blue coat, his eyes pupiless and vacant.
Why is every buyer so scary?
He was jolted out of his thoughts by a tapping sound on the glass. Lovi was about to mouth something cute about tapping on the cage disturbing the fish, but when he saw the figure staring at him through the soundproof glass, all thoughts vacated his mind and he was left gaping.
The man's eyes were shockingly green, he noticed that first. Not the assorted patches of red marking his tan skin, or the chocolatey brown curls piled atop his head, nor the thousand-megawatt smile he was directing straight at Lovino. Feliciano waved excitedly at the newcomer, but he ignored him, instead focusing on trying to get Lovi to notice him.
And notice he did.
"Hey, he's not paying attention to me!" Feli whined. Lovi also ignored his fratellino, trying to think of something to say to this new man. He was going to blow him a kiss or something, but then he looked over at Feli, who was doing everything in his power to try and attract this guy's attention.
Instead, he mouthed, "Oi, bastard, quit staring at me, you idiot. Look at my brother if you want somebody to notice you."
The man looked shocked, almost hurt. He walked away from the cage and began to talk to one of the officials.
"Well done, jackass. You've gotten us in trouble." Lovino said out of the corner of his mouth.
"Eh?! You were the one who cursed at him!" Feli shrieked, crossing his arms and cheeks puffing up like the cutest chibi you've ever seen. This attracted squeals from all the girls surrounding the cage. "Look, they're fighting!"
Lovi sighed, ruffling Feli's hair. "I'm sorry, I'm just kinda flustered right now. I always get flustered at Exhibition times." Feli smiled, and threw his arms around the taller one of the two. "I forgive you, my sweet brother!" This caused no endless cooing from the girls, and Lovi's cheeks blushed red. He glanced back over at the guy with the green eyes, who seemed to be arguing with the boss of the establishment.
"We're screwed." Lovi said simply. "Boss is here."
Feli whimpered when Boss finally threw up his hands and stormed over to the cage, fumbling with the keys. He unlocked the door and threw it open. Lovi swore mentally. He grabbed Feli's hand, but Boss stopped him.
"No. Just that one."
Hi! So, this is my new dystopian AU, 'All Our Imperfections' (in case the title didn't give it away XD) I just want to clear up a few details about some things in the story:
There are two main companies that sell Perfects, a big corporation called Objective, who specializes in business/rounding up and selling Perfects (kinda like a dog pound), while YourShow Productions focuses more on using the Perfects for entertainment, prices are higher, but the products often are better conducted than if bought from Objective (quality over quantity). YourShow mostly offers up personality, but Objective is the closest to a sex slave industry. That said, Objective usually treats the Perfects better while in captivity (three meals and an actual bed) while YourShow is rather brutal (two meals and sleeping in the cages).