Kurt insisted on taking a shower as soon as he got home, he felt dirty after the way the Mayor had been staring at him. Sebastian sent him to the shower with a quick kiss to the forehead after making sure he was mostly okay.
"I don't like him," Blaine said while helping Sebastian scoop ice cream into bowls.
"He was a little odd," Sebastian admitted gingerly.
"What did he mean by permanent marks? Did he mean like the one Dalton gave to Kurt?" Blaine asked.
"That's exactly what he was talking about. He wants Doms to brand their Subs like cattle. I don't like that he thinks you are property and not people," Sebastian spat out.
"Why would he think that?" Blaine nervously drew patterns on the counter with his finger.
"Because he is one of those people that think because Subs need a Dom that they can't do anything by themselves. They just need to be looked after constantly and have no value to society. That is not true,"
"But you take care of us and we don't ever do anything," Blaine pointed out.
"How long have you been here?" Sebastian asked with a small laugh.
"Not very long," Blaine said uncertainly, placing the lid back on the ice cream.
"And in that time all this crazy shit has happened and it is still going on. Once everything has settled down we can discuss what you two would like to do. You could get jobs or come and help me at work or do all sorts of things as long as I made sure you were safe there. That is my job as your Dom, to keep you safe and make sure your needs are being met. Not to control your life completely,"
"Really? Dalton always told us we couldn't do anything like that," Blaine said hopefully.
"Dalton was wrong," Sebastian said while putting the ice cream container back in the freezer, "If you could do anything, what would you like to do?" he asked.
Blaine looked thoughtful for a moment, "Right now I would like to teach other Subs what you are teaching me. I think they should know all this,"
Sebastian smiled, "I think you would be a wonderful teacher,"
They brought their bowls out into the lounge to wait for Kurt. They spent the day lounging about watching movies and discussing what their futures might be like.
Blaine was awoken by a soft sound coming from somewhere in the apartment. Noticing Kurt was no longer in the bed, he tucked the blankets around his Dom, hoping he would stir and went to investigate.
He found Kurt sitting on the kitchen floor with his knees drawn to his chest, quietly sobbing.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Blaine sat down beside him and pulled him into his lap, "Do you need me to wake up Sir?"
"No, I came out here so I didn't disturb him," Kurt sniffled, tiredly rubbing his face against Blaine's shoulder.
"He'll want to know that you are this upset. Did you have a bad dream or something?"
Kurt nodded, "What does my back look like?"
Blaine drew in a sharp breath at the pitiful tone, "Sir will tell you when he thinks it's the right time,"
Kurt cried harder, "Blaine, please. I have to know,"
Blaine pulled him closer and rubbed the small of his back, "I want to tell you but I don't want Sir to be mad,"
"I dreamt that it was all sorts of horrible things. That maybe someone carved a bad word there or a disgusting picture. Once a bug laid eggs in my back and they kept crawling all out of my body. The worst ones are when you and Sir see it and can't stand the sight of me anymore. You tell me to get away from you, that I am a disgusting creature, that you would never love,"
Blaine held Kurt tighter, his own tears flowing down his cheeks, "I'm sorry Kurt, I can't tell you," he choked out, "But I promise that is never going to happen. Sir and I both love you so much, we would never think you were disgusting,"
Kurt nodded slightly though his tears.
"I'm going to tell him in the morning, okay? He needs to know Kurt, you can't keep going on like this, it isn't healthy. I know it has been making you miserable. I will try and make him tell you,"
"Thank you," Kurt whispered into his shoulder.
Blaine continued to rock him until he fell back asleep. He carried him back to the bed and laid him down beside Sebastian. He crawled into the other side of the bed and drifted off while glaring at Sebastian. He loved his Dom to death but he wouldn't allow him to ignore Kurt's needs anymore.
The next morning Sebastian confronted Kurt.
"Blaine told me about the nightmares you had last night,"
"I know, he said he would tell you,"
"You should have been the one to tell me about them Kurt," he said exasperated.
"I didn't want you to have to deal with it,"
"If the thing on your back is affecting you this much, if it is affecting your sleep, then I need to deal with it,"
"I'm sorry Sir, I didn't want you to think I wasn't following your order not to look at my back,"
Sebastian stroked Kurt face, "I'm sorry for ordering that. I thought it would be better if you didn't know, maybe after some time it wouldn't be so bad,"
Kurt's face crumbled, "Can you please tell me how bad it is?"
Sebastian sighed, "I think it is time you see it. But I want you to listen to me very carefully,"
Kurt nodded vigorously.
"What is on your back, it's not important. It doesn't mean anything. Anything, you hear me? It has nothing to do with you, it doesn't make you any less beautiful or any less mine. I promise it will never affect the way Blaine or I see you. You are magnificent, Kurt. You are so amazing and I hate that you can't see that sometimes. Okay?"
Kurt's eyes were shining and a small smile had graced his face during the speech, "I love you sir,"
Sebastian kissed him, "I love you too. So much. Are you ready to see?"
Kurt nodded and let Sebastian lead him to the bathroom and unbutton his shirt. Sebastian let the shirt fall to the floor and moved around behind Kurt with a hand mirror.
He kissed Kurt shoulder, "Are you ready?"
Kurt's stared apprehensively at Sebastian's reflection, "I'm scared,"
Sebastian shut his eyes tightly, "I know. I am too. Would you like Blaine in here too?"
Kurt nodded and Sebastian called for Blaine. Blaine, seeing what they were doing, moved next to Kurt silently and grasped one of his hands tightly between his. Kurt gestured for Sebastian to raise the mirror shakily while biting his lip.
As soon as he saw the mark Kurt paled, started shaking violently and launched himself at the toilet, retching up the contents of his stomach. Sebastian and Blaine were by his side instantly, running their hands comfortingly over his back and arms.
"Get him some water please Blaine,"
Blaine rushed out of the room to grab a cup while Sebastian kept rubbing Kurt's back. After a few long, quivering breaths, Kurt rolled onto his knees and leant back against the cool tile wall.
"That was..."
"I know," Sebastian tried to reassure him.
"It said..."
"It doesn't mean anything,"
Blaine came back in with the water. The two of them helped him rinse out his mouth and brought him to lie on the bed.
"You are so beautiful Kurt," Blaine said reverently, stroking the hair away from his sweaty face.
"But doesn't this mean that Dalton could take me back and no one would question it? The Mayor said nobody can question permanent markings," Kurt wailed.
Sebastian pulled him in tightly, tucking Kurt's head beneath his chin, "Never. No one can take you away from me, I won't let them. Dalton is history and the Mayor is crazy, didn't we say that last night?"
"Is there anyway to get rid of it?" Kurt asked quietly.
Sebastian pushed him back so he could look at his face.
"Wes said there probably isn't but he would take another look at it when it heals properly,"
Kurt turned his face away, staring down hard at the mattress.
"We can look into though, we could see a hundred different doctors if you want to. I know it is horrible but Blaine and I will be the only ones to see it, I'll never put you in a position that would make you that uncomfortable,"
Kurt crawled back into Sebastian's arms and nuzzled his neck, "How did we get so lucky as to have you Sir?"
Blaine laid his head on Kurt's back and brought his arms around both of them, "We really as very lucky to have you, Sir,"
"I'm the lucky one," Sebastian ran a hand through Kurt's hair, "I am sorry for how I treated you when you first came home Kurt. I was stupid and foolish,"
Kurt shook his head, "Doesn't matter anymore," Kurt insisted.
"Let me prove how much I love you," Sebastian said.
"How will you do that?" Kurt asked, Blaine looked just as curious.
He pressed an open mouth kiss to both of their necks in turn, pushing them until they laid flat on the bed.
"I am going to spend the rest of the night worshiping every single inch of the two of you,"