An: ;3; *Is sadden she'll have to 'officially' miss YJ this Friday. * Well Real time at least. I know the moment I get home, I'm watching the hell out of it on my DVR. '3'~
"So, he was there then?"
"Indeed."
"This might put a cramp in your plans. Unless you're willing to pay-"
"Actually it does not." A slight smile widens, "No, let him come. See what happens. Then-"
"I see. Very well played- for someone like you."
"I could say the same thing."
When he finally opens his eyes he glances up at Bruce, curiously really. He's still curled up at his side, he's still sleepy so his mind isn't at a hundred percent. He seriously doesn't understand this man.
"Why did you really buy me?"
"Truth?" Bruce opens his eyes, startling Kaldur a bit.
"Yes." He would like that for once. Just the simple truth.
Bruce remains silent for a very long time before saying, "Because you had this look about you that dared anyone to come close." There was a slight smile, "Defiant Prince."
"And?"
"I had nothing better to spend my money on."
Kaldur wants to roll his eyes at this but instead he turns over to his other side so he wasn't looking at him. "I do not wish to be a pet, Bruce."
"I know that."
"Then why not just let me go back home?"
Bruce didn't answer, but instead kisses the back of his neck. "Tell me about yourself then."
Kaldur sighs inwardly, he should've known that he wouldn't get free so easily, "I find it blindingly obvious that you do not wish to share your past."
"You want to know?"
"Of course. It is highly unfair for you to only know mine and for me to know nothing of you."
Bruce laughs softly, "Well, My parents died when I was seventeen. Alfred, our butler, basically raised me from that point onward as well. I eventually learned to cope with their loss."
"What did they die of?" He couldn't help but ask, in spite of himself.
"Robbery gone wrong. It wasn't their fault. They were simply at the bank at the wrong time and place." Though there was still something coloring the older man's words he simply pushes that away and settles for a while. "I adopted Dick-"
"I thought he might have been your actual son. Your coloring favors each other."
"Quite a few rumors about that." Bruce mused. "And you?"
Kaldur closes his eyes frowning to himself, "I..am also adopted into the royal family."
Bruce's brows rose, though he knows Kaldur can't see him, "Your parents?"
"The king and queen are the only parents I know. They could not conceive an heir at the time thus when I was found-so I have heard- they were generous enough in their longing to claim me as their own even though we look nothing alike." Kaldur tries to push away the old pain that lurks within the words. Yes, they adopted him when they couldn't have a child. He had been enough then.
Now, he has no idea what to think.
"How did you end up here?"
He blinks, he doesn't know how long he had laid there silently thinking to himself about his parents that the question almost caught him by surprise. Right, how did he come to be here? He thinks back to that chaotic moment. Wondering how much he should say or not say.
"How long will it be until you grow tired of me?" He turns then looking at Bruce feeling incredibly morose. "Until I no longer can amuse you. Will you trade me off? Send me away?"
"No." Bruce frowns a little watching him. "I wouldn't do that."
"You say so now." Kaldur sits up, shifting away from him. What could would it do to keep the truth hidden? "But you all, eventually, will want a new toy. "
Bruce sighs softly through his nose and shakes his head, "How did you end up here?" He repeats. He knows the only way to prove Kaldur wrong, is to show him.
It's surprising, really, because of his original plan. He's taking this more seriously than he thought he would. Why is he doing this? Kaldur's a pet. Something for amusement, but...
"Obviously, your people trapped me." Kaldur moves, throwing a leg over Bruce's waist and shifts until he's up and straddling the man. "Obviously, I was sold against my will into your little system."
"Kaldur. You know what I mean."
He tilts his head pondering how much to tell him. Again, the thought came- what would he gain from it? As long as he doesn't tell the location it should be fine.
"Very well then." Kaldur leans over him, "The true reason for my capture was because I was escaping Atlantis."
This..there's something different about the air around him when he moved closer to Bruce. Almost whispering even though it's only the two of them in that room.
"Why?"
Kaldur pushes back his emotions for the time being before he answers him, "Because I had killed someone. A close friend."
"It must've been an accident." Bruce doesn't really want to believe otherwise but it's a possibility. "You don't seem the type of person to willingly hurt others."
"It is still up to debate if that was the case." Kaldur still blames himself for it, but now wasn't the time to dwell on it. "I was told to leave. To run before anyone knew of what I had done. That is when your people captured me. They believed I was some lost human at sea, until they saw my oddities. I was then thrown in with others."
"Others?"
"They were a transport ship. Shipping more..exotic looking humans to another country. I will admit for some of those, it wasn't a bad trip but for those like me...Those that resisted we were placed in cages- no..the room itself was a cage filled with miserable people." He rests his forehead against Bruce's, "Spaced apart so that we could not even offer comfort to each other. Some of them were very young. I first learned English on that boat. Just a little to understand a yes or no question. It was my masters and their wives that taught me more of this strange langaue."
Kaldur opens his eyes for a moment, "I never wished to be a pet, but at the time I believed fully that this was my punishment. That is why I have never truly escaped. For what I had done to Tula..."
"Your fiance?"
"She loved another..my friend, Garth. She had developed feelings for him and he for her. I was...upset."
"Heartbroken."
"Yes."
He doesn't ask another question, not yet at any rate but it made sense to him. From what he's learned, Kaldur's emotional responses dictated the use of this..'magic' he was said to have displayed before. Even though Bruce hasn't seen any evidence of it, he's certain that there's a reason for that. Given Kaldur's own personality, he wonders if the Atlantean had been trying to control it all this time.
Still, the playboy's thoughts turn to other things as he laces his fingers behind the teen's back, pulling him closer to his body. He's not afraid of him, if that was what Kaldur was going for. Far from it, really he simply felt sorry for him.
"Why do you want to return there if-?"
"Because I should have faced my punishment in Atlantis. I should have taken it instead of running." Kaldur breathes out slowly. He's thought of this and truly that was his only reason, "My parents would be disgraced, but they could salvage some honor from my death and with their own child there now-"
"Your mother was pregnant?"
"Before I was captured they announced it. I assume the child is now two years of age."
"Then there's no reason for you to go back there." Bruce tilts his head and kisses him, " If you feel that way then I'll be your jailer. I'll punish you for every little thing you've done wrong." Masochist. Is what Bruce added silently in his head. Though this could also turn out to be rather interesting as well.
"Why are you being so kind to me?"
"Why shouldn't I?"
"I am a pet."
"Even pets deserve pats on the head and treats."
Kaldur shook his head, "I have no wish to be a pet."
"Yet you just identified yourself as one." Bruce raises a brow looking at him, "Either you are or you're not. Which is it?"
He stares at him for a long time, trying to wrap his mind around this question. It wasn't that the question was hard- no. He could answer instantly that he doesn't want to be a pet. That he isn't one at all. But it's the fact..
The fact of the matter is that if he acknowledges-accepts- that he is not a pet. That means also shouldering the responsibilities for all his actions, not just the freedom to do as he pleased. To take on the consequences when it would've been his owner who was at fault then for not training him properly.
There's a gap, it's widening every second that ticks by when he doesn't answer and staring so hopelessly at Bruce as if he had the answer to his question.
Was he a pet or not?
"If I am not a pet, then what am I to you?" He asks finally. He wouldn't give an answer yet. Not until he's certain...
"Then you are simply another person I adopt into my little family." Bruce says simply, "I wouldn't put someone out just because they want a life for themselves."
"It crossed my mind that you might." Kaldur breathes out. He could do this, right?
"Verdict?"
"I am not a Pet."
AN: Yeeah I thought it was a good place to stop. At this point, Kaldur's on Year 3 away from the sea. Well the beginning of it at any rate. *Just as reference*
