The Tenyu Star
Chapter Two: Die Freche Katze

Yuber was on his knees. Again.

He hated being on his knees.

The boy in the upholstered chair behind the desk seemed to be seated comfortably, however, and after recent events, Yuber could not bring himself to think of that as unfair. If Thomas was not comfortable, it only meant that Yuber would be made more uncomfortable.

For the time being, Yuber's only discomfort was a bit of an ache in his back from bending over to wash the floorboards with a rather small brush - unmeritedly small, he might have said. But Yuber didn't know anything about washing floors, as he'd never done it before this last month of labor, and Thomas was very particular about details. Yuber indulged him in the use of the small brush - it was easier than trying to defy his master.

The last month had been so hard that indeed, the only discomfort was the ache in his back. His pride had been wounded so deeply by Thomas that it caused him no further pain; he assumed it to be dead and gone.

It was a rather good thing, in Yuber's mind, that Thomas was preoccupied with the documents on his desk, and not paying any attention to him. He simply finished scrubbing one board, buffed and polished it with a bit of fleece, and went on to the next as quietly as he could manage. (For some reason, Master Thomas insisted that he clean only one floorboard at a time, which made no sense to Yuber, but he wasn't going to argue about household cleaning.)

His cleaning was interrupted as Cecile bounced in cheerfully. "Package for you, Thomas!"

The end of her halberd had knocked against the bucket of soapy water, causing it to scuff across the floor, and Yuber winced. He'd have to do those floorboards next, before Thomas saw the scuff marks and decided it was his fault.

Fortunately, his master was preoccupied with Cecile's arrival, and the bundle wrapped in paper which she held out to him. "Oh? What's this...?"

"I don't know - it's for you, so I didn't open it," the girl told him, setting her halberd (and again scuffing the floor, much to Yuber's dismay) with a proud smile. "It could be top-secret correspondance only for the eyes of the castle master! It's from Estella," she added, "but you never know."

"Oh, Estella!" Thomas exclaimed, smiling pleasantly. If only that little girl knew the way her dear castle master smiled when she wasn't around, Yuber thought. "Well then, I can guess what it is. Thank you for delivering it straight to me, Cecile. It's not top-secret, exactly, but it's nothing you'd be interested in."

"Oh?" Cecile leaned forward curiously as he placed the parcel on the desk. "How can you be so sure?"

"It's, er... boy stuff." Thomas blushed slightly, which Yuber found ridiculous.

"Hmm? A secret between you and Rody?"

"Not quite..." Thomas looked a bit flustered now, but continued to smile as he shook his head, gesturing towards the door. "Estella bought him something, and I wanted to know where she got it - it looks like she just sent another one along instead."

"Oh... okay..." Cecile still looked curious, but she did as Thomas suggested and left, closing the door behind her.

Unfortunately, this left Thomas alone with Yuber once again, and the boy was eyeing him in a way that certainly suggested interest. Yuber lowered his eyes demurely and went back to scrubbing the floor, hoping Thomas would return to his paperwork, or spend some time opening his package... or something.

"So, my little demon..." Thomas crooned, in a much different tone than he'd used to speak to Cecile, "would you like to know what Estella sent me?"

Yuber had to think about this for a moment, and came to the conclusion that an affirmative response might make him look pushy, while a negative response might make him look disrespectful. "...If you would deign to share such information with me, your lowly servant, I could only consider it an undeserved privilege," he said finally, keeping his eyes humbly downcast.

Thomas' footsteps approached, and Yuber struggled to remain perfectly still as the boy stood over him. After a brief pause, he felt a hand stroke his head soothingly. "So smart, my little demon - so very smart. Your tongue is as slippery as the rest of you."

"Thank you, master," Yuber mumbled. Hopefully Thomas would do whatever he wanted to do quickly and forget about him, perhaps get absorbed in whatever it was that was inside the package.

"Anyhow, I've been waiting for this package for some time," Thomas stated. "And I intended to show you what was inside anyhow."

Yuber felt his blood run cold at Thomas' next words. "After all, it's for you."

"A... a gift, master?" Yuber managed to choke out. "You're too kind to such a wretch as myself."

"Au contraire," Thomas told him suavely, running a finger up Yuber's cheek with possessive fondness. "You're a rather beautiful creature. Even if only a creature... But then, that was the point of this... gift." His footsteps left Yuber's side, returning to the desk, and there was the rustling of paper as Thomas began to unwrap the package. "Your favorite color's black, isn't it?"

"Yes, master." Yuber would have answered the same even if Thomas had suggested pink, but at least this time it was the truth.

"And you do look so good in it. Although, the color does carry superstitions with it..." The rustling stopped. "Ah, just as I thought. Beautiful. Do have a look, won't you, Yuber?"

Yuber dared to raise his eyes, and found Thomas holding up what seemed to be a bodysuit made of some kind of stretchy black fabric. It was sleeveless, with a white collar and black bow tie, and it had a long furry tail attached above the buttoned flap on the rear. With the suit was a headband with furry cat ears attached.

Yuber's stomach did flip-flops, but he managed to nod appreciatively. "Yes, master - it's quite fetching."

"I'm glad you approve." Thomas threw the suit and the ears at him. "Now put it on."

Yuber had become accustomed to stripping in Thomas' presence by now, though usually not simply to change clothes. He did so swiftly enough, and found that in addition to the ears and tail, the suit also had gloves of the same material, past the elbows, with white cuffs and paws. Whatever the suit was made of, it was perfectly form-fitting, and he could not help but feel uncomfortable beneath Thomas' eyes as the boy circled him, looking him over hungrily.

"What do you say, my little black cat?"

"Thank you, master," Yuber mumbled.

The sudden open-handed blow to his backside startled him, and he gasped. "No, no, no," Thomas hissed in his ear. "You're a kitty cat. What do you say?"

Yuber paused, cringing, and finally arrived at what he hoped was the correct answer. "...Meow."

"Yes, that's right," Thomas affirmed gently, stroking Yuber's head between the furry ears of the headband. "What a pretty kitty you make, Yuber. What a sweet little kittycat."

He was applying a subtle but firm pressure to the top of Yuber's head with every stroke, and Yuber sank to his knees, understanding the gesture. Immediately the petting grew softer, and Yuber sighed under his breath. Pretending to be a cat wouldn't be so bad, he supposed.

Thomas peered down at him, pausing. "Don't you like being petted, kittycat?"

"Yes, master." Yuber cringed as Thomas drew back his hand. "Er... prrrrrrrr..."

"Much better," Thomas stated, lowering his hand to pet Yuber again, now stroking from the top of his head down the length of the blond braid. "What interesting noises my kittycat makes..."

"Mrow. Prrrr. Prrrrrrr." Whatever made Thomas happy, Yuber thought as he continued the act, lifting a hand to lick one of his "paws", and then rubbed his cheek against Thomas' leg.

"Oh, my kitty likes me," said Thomas with mock surprise. His smile was almost the pleasant one he wore around everyone else, and Yuber felt hopeful - perhaps he'd pleased Thomas enough that he would be released from the ridiculous oath that had been extracted from him. Or at least from all the chores he'd wound up doing. He could deal with being a follower more easily than he could deal with being a slave, and as for the sex... well, though humiliating, it wasn't bad, exactly. With that in mind, he dropped down to his hands and knees, circling Thomas' legs in as feline a manner as he could manage.

He was halted as Thomas' hand suddenly grabbed his braid, yanking him to a halt. "Such a pretty kitty," Thomas whispered, winding the braid around his hand to ensure a firm grip. "But you know what the superstition is about black cats, don't you?"

"Ye... mew." All right, Yuber thought - maybe this wasn't a good thing after all.

"Black cats bring bad luck," Thomas continued, his whisper taking a more menacing tone than kindly. "You're a naughty kitty, Yuber."

"M-meow..." Yuber shook his head as well as he could manage with Thomas holding his braid so firmly. Of anyone in Budehuc Castle, Yuber knew what really brought bad luck. Of course, he realized with a sinking sensation in his stomach, he was one of the things that usually did bring bad luck upon someone. Even if he could speak without rousing his master's wrath, bringing that up would not help matters.

"Oh yes. Bad kitty," Thomas reaffirmed. "And bad kitties must be... punished."

His hand struck another stinging blow on Yuber's rear, and the demon gasped. "Bad kitty!" Thomas exclaimed, as he spanked Yuber again and again. "Bad kitty! Bad, bad kitty!"

Yuber dared to do nothing but mew pitifully, his head pulled back by Thomas' hold on his braid, as Thomas' blows stung him repeatedly. Worse than the spanking itself was the fact that he could feel himself growing strangely aroused by the action - not to mention the position he was in, on his hands and knees before Thomas, back forcibly arched. Worse than that was the knowledge that in his current attire, he couldn't hide that arousal from Thomas.

Sure enough, after a time, Thomas stopped striking him and paused to look him over. His chin raised helplessly as Thomas back pulled his braid harder, Yuber stared at the boy who was examining every inch of him. "Hmm... I see kitty has a dirty mind as well," Thomas observed. "Well, now that kitty has been punished, I suppose master must show he still cherishes his kitty, mustn't he?"

There was no correct response for that, certainly not in feline terms, and Yuber simply mewed quietly again.

After the beating he'd received, even Thomas' gentle touch on his backside made Yuber clench his teeth, but he said nothing as Thomas unbuttoned the flap in the rear, which had no doubt been put there just for this purpose. The boy's grip on Yuber's braid remained firm, keeping him in position while Thomas' free hand opened his own pants. Tossing the furry tail over one hip, Thomas thrust into Yuber so hard, so suddenly, that Yuber cried out, and nearly fell to the ground.

"Good kitty," Thomas breathed, leaning over Yuber from behind, and stroking him between the ears again. "Good kitty..."

Yuber tried to keep his gasping breaths under control as Thomas thrust into him again and again, roughly and without lubrication. Despite the pain, despite the shame that came from being treated like some sort of pet, he found himself growing ever more excited by his master's rough treatment, and he couldn't help whimpering faintly. At the jerk upon his braid that pulled his head back, he tried to make it sound more like purring.

Thomas was beyond words now, and with one final, powerful thrust, and a yank on Yuber's braid which made Yuber see stars, and which the demon thought might snap his neck, he spurted his seed deep into Yuber. His grip on the braid loosened as he leaned over Yuber again, panting. Again he stroked Yuber's head fondly, scratching behind the furry ears. "That was more fun than I'd expected..."

Yuber too tried to catch his breath, letting his head hang down at last. Slowly returning to mundane awareness, he sat back on his heels gingerly (making sure he still maintained a cat-like posture, just in case), and discovered that he also had climaxed, spreading a warm stickiness inside the cat costume.

Thomas came to stand in front of him, zipping up his pants again, and offering him a friendly smile, as if nothing at all had happened. "Kitty needs a bath," he observed, looking at the wet stain at Yuber's crotch. "Well, Yuber - since you've provided me with such entertainment today, why don't you go and take one now? You can go back to washing the floors once you're done."

The charade seemed to have ended, but Yuber spoke warily. "...Yes, master...?"

He was not struck this time, and instead Thomas picked up the shirt and pants he'd stripped off earlier and handed them to Yuber. "And it wouldn't do to have everyone else see my kitty in such a state, would it? Put these back on for now. I'll make sure this other outfit gets washed."

"...Thank you, master," Yuber murmured humbly as he quickly changed out of the soiled cat costume and into his ordinary clothes.

On his way out of Thomas' office, he passed Cecile coming in. "Boy, that Yuber sure doesn't know how to clean floors," he heard her saying as he made his retreat. "What is all this, soap scum?"

"He's having a rough day," came Thomas' reply. "I just sent him off to the bath to relax for awhile, and he said he'd finish up later."

"You're so nice to that nasty old demon, Thomas...!"

If only she knew, Yuber thought.