Sena had nearly dozed off in the corner, body too exhausted to keep up with the events of the day. He was sure he hadn't, but he still couldn't figure out how his new master had disappeared so abruptly, leaving him with this cowboy, and his giant machine-man of a slave.

Well, it sounded like they were both slaves now.

He wasn't sure what he had expected, after being taken from the market, but it wasn't this. If anything, he would have thought he'd be chained up in some soundproof basement by now. Instead, the cowboy, whose name seemed to be Mushanokouji, or maybe Kid, tipped his hat at him, like the equivalent of a shrug. "I guess we'd better get you cleaned up. This way."

"Yes, sir," said Sena quietly, trying to ease his stiff body into a crawl. The mansion had already seemed huge from the outside, but it especially felt huge on his hands and knees, crawling through what seemed like endless hallway. To distract himself, he tried to look around as he went, get a sense of his surroundings, but all he saw was faded carpet, and expansive walls lined with rectangles of off-colored wallpaper, as if they used to be covered with paintings or portraits now gone.

Kid stopped at the foot of some stairs and looked down at him, seemingly on the verge of saying something. Then he changed his mind and made his way up, leaving Sena to crawl after him.

In the bathroom, a bath was running, but Tetsuma, who'd been sent to start it, was nowhere to be seen. That meant he was alone in the room with Kid, a fact underscored by Kid's shutting the bathroom door, and gesturing to the tub expectantly. Sena swallowed. He wasn't sure what he was meant to do if Kid tried something. Was he supposed to please the man he'd been put in the charge of, or would Hiruma expect him to defend himself? There was no way he could, obviously, but that hadn't mattered in the past.

For now, Sena focused on doing what he could to placate the man in front of him, and worked on pulling his ragged clothing off. When he tried to get it over his head, it pulled on the open welts on his back, and he couldn't help but let out a soft cry.

Immediately, Kid reached out, and Sena shrank back, sure he had done it this time, failed a basic instruction and tried the other man's patience. But Kid just gestured for him to stop. "You might as well get in with your clothes on. A good soak will help get it unstuck. Hell, it needs a wash as much as the rest of you."

Sena nodded quickly and crawled his way to the tub, plunging his hands in with barely any hesitation. The water was shockingly warm, and he was actually eager to get the rest of his body in, almost melting into the sensation as he was enveloped by the warm bath, his first in longer than he could remember, well worth the sharp sting of his wounds.

Kid busied himself rummaging through the cabinets, pulling out some bandages and things, as if to let Sena have a few minutes with the bath. Then he came over, rolled up his sleeves, and began to help gently, if not painlessly, ease the stuck fabric from Sena's back. When it was done, he stared at the whip marks for a long time, long enough that Sena started to worry about his intentions again.

"The contract that I signed with Hiruma today..." Kid began, a serious expression on his face, Sena's dirty, sodden shift still clutched in his hand. He trailed off, until Sena darted a questioning glance up at him, then away. "He's letting me have the run of this place. I answer directly to him, but the rest of everyone here, still answers to me. If you want, I could... try to ask him for you. Try to protect you, here."

Not wanting to miss some instruction, Sena had been following the meandering speech with his full attention, but the end still caught him by surprise. It sounded like Kid, who wasn't in that stable a position himself, was offering to put his neck out to help him. But why would he do that? It didn't make sense.

"You can't," Sena found himself saying. "Master just... got me," a euphemism, because he hadn't exactly been bought. No money had changed hands. He wasn't worth a cent, much less worth Kid risking whatever standing he currently had. "Right before we came here. I'm sure he has something he wanted me for. I don't think he'll give me up before that."

Silence from above him, and Sena looked up in a panic, sure he'd said something wrong. But if Kid was frowning, it was in deep thought, not anger.

"So that's why he's still got you in that collar," Kid said, touching the collar on Sena's neck, the one that still said Rotti's. "All these marks on you, he didn't..."

Not wanting to risk tipping Kid over into anger, if he was close, Sena just shook his head minutely.

"Well hell," Kid sighed, "why do I feel like I've just been duped?"

Sena tensed, but Kid didn't say anything else, just handed him the shampoo, and backed off. As Sena washed himself, he found himself relaxing slightly in the luxurious warm bath, in a way he couldn't have, had his—their—master still been around. He knew he wasn't safe, not by a long shot, but Kid had tried to help him, and what's more, he had just seen Kid's freeman status stripped from him, and couldn't help but feel like they were in the same boat. Sort of.

"Thank you, sir," he said quietly, not sure if Kid would hear him.

"Just following orders, apparently," said Kid, with a rueful smile that Sena didn't quite understand.