Warning- May contain some racial slurs or "speaking the lord(s) name in vain." I don't mean to offend ANYONE!
APHAPHAPH
Ludwig returned to the hospital after giving Alfred a day for the nurses to watch his actions while he's not around Ludwig.
"Good morning! You're... Alfred's master, if I remember correctly?" The same female nurse who helped them out on the day they went there, greeted him.
"You do."
"Great! Someone should be with you in about a minute, if you'll sit down there." She waved a hand to a row of seats.
"Thank you." Ludwig looked around, trying to see if he could find Alfred where he was, before sitting down and waiting.
He didn't have to wait long. There were only a few other masters, waiting to be talked to, this early in the morning. He was led to an empty, small room. The man who led him into the room sat behind the desk, where he sat on the chair in front of the desk.
"Where to begin with Alfred... He's been a wonderful help for everyone else. If someone had a problem that he could fix, than he would." Ludwig couldn't help but smile at hearing this. "There's a couple of things that's bothering me, though."
That smile went away pretty quickly. "Like what?"
"The first thing isn't bad, just confusing. He's in here for refusing to talk unless talking is absolutely needed, right?" Ludwig nodded. "Well, in here, he won't shut up. Not that we mind, but it is a little... Confusing."
"Alright..." Ludwig sighed to himself. 'So it's probably just me, then.' He thought to himself. "What's the second thing?"
"Well, first of all, how much did Alfred eat on the day you brought him here?"
"He didn't... Why does this matter?"
The doctor sighed. "I was... Kind of afraid of that. He said that he had a big meal, before being committed. He barely ate anything last night, as well, but he was running outside around the track that we have for most of the day. I think he may be anorexic."
"What?!" This news was new to Ludwig, and it seemed impossible to even think of, to him. "But he eats more than I do, when I don't have any other slaves to tame! He DOES know that he can eat to his heart's content, and that it doesn't effect the other's eating patterns, right?"
"We did tell him that he's free to eat whenever his wants, and almost whatever he wants, but he still told us that he wasn't hungry."
"May I see him? I'd like to talk to him myself, about this."
"Yes, of course." The man stood up. "Follow me."
Alfred was talking to some of the other patients, with a huge smile on his face. At least, that was until he caught a glimpse behind the people he was talking to, and saw Ludwig. His happy mood completely changed into a frightened one, though he tried to not let it show.
"May I talk to you alone, Alfred?" Ludwig asked, as though Alfred had a choice.
He nodded, and let himself be led to a room, with a one-way mirror installed into the wall. This confused him. "I have my own room in this place."
"Yes..." the doctor started. "But I don't think being intimate right now would be a good idea, and I don't think mister Ludwig would be tempted to do anything in here." He lied. "You may leave whenever you're finished talking to Alfred, mister Ludwig."
"You may just call me Ludwig, but thank you." The doctor smiled, before leaving that room. He went inside of another room, so he could watch Alfred's actions around Ludwig, from behind the mirror.
"He... That doctor, said that you haven't been eating." Alfred turned his body away from Ludwig, and looked down at the floor. Ludwig sighed, and sat down on one of the two seats. "Sit down by me."
Alfred reluctantly obeyed, while still keeping his body turned away from Ludwig. "I just haven't been hungry, lately."
"I've seen you eat enough for two grown men, but that doctor was telling me that you've barely eaten anything last night. Will you tell me what "barely anything" is, exactly? I want to know."
"U-Um..." He was reluctant to say anything. "Um... The skinny half of a carrot, and a lot of water. I already said that I haven't been very hungry, lately."
"Are you sick? You didn't have a fever on the day I brought you here."
"I-I don't know. Maybe."
"Why won't you look at me?"
Alfred didn't know what to say, without getting hurt. Though he knew that staying quiet wouldn't do much good for him, even if he's here for that reason.
"Alfred..." Ludwig had a small growl in his voice.
Alfred tensed up. "I don't know what to say."
"How about you explain why the doctors think that you have an eating disorder?"
"I'm just not hungry. This happens sometimes. I think it has something to do with your body growing, or not growing?"
"You only had the skinny half of a carrot, water, and a lot of excercise."
"I'm not really feeling good..."
Ludwig sighed, and grabbed Alfred by his shoulder. "Look at me."
Alfred gasped and stood up. "Ah- I... I'm... I didn't mean to act rude. May I go, now? I want to rest."
"I'm not going to let you rest until you eat something. I think they have chicken broth here, and that should make you feel better, depending on what you have."
"I-..." Alfred stopped himself right away. Ludwig grabbed him by the shoulders, again. Alfred jumped.
Ludwig leaned over to bite Alfred's ear. He ran his hands under Alfred's shirt and over his stomach. "You're not fat. I don't know where you'd get an idea like that."
Alfred gritted his teeth. "Fuck off!" He pushed Ludwig out of the way with his shoulder. His eyes widened in fear just then. Ludwig grabbed his shoulders again, but more violently, this time. He pushed the younger man against the wall.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?!"
Alfred didn't know what to do, or say. He couldn't even look up at Ludwig. There was a knock on the door. "May I come in?" A masculine voice asked from behind it. The doctor who talked to Ludwig earlier came in. "Is everything okay in here?"
"M-M-May I l-leave, please?"
The doctor smiled softly. "Of course."
Ludwig let Alfred's shoulders go. "Thank you..." He whispered, while walking past the doctor, and through the door.
"May I talk to you again, Ludwig?" He asked. Ludwig nodded, and sat back down. "Now then. I didn't see much, but what I DID see, was fear, from Alfred."
That made sense to Ludwig, even though he almost didn't wanted it to be that reason. Alfred barely talks to Ludwig, because he fears him. He even saw fear in Alfred's face, the second he noticed that Ludwig was there, behind the people he was talking to.
"I can't say much for sure, but you may be able to get him through the stages of stockholm syndrome, by showing acts of kindness towards him."
"Wouldn't that be too late, by now? I mean, just a little more, and I'll completely break him down to the point where he won't breathe without my permission."
"That's why you have to start showing him regular kindness now. Of course, you have to punish him when he needs to be punished, but otherwise... However, we WILL like to keep him for about another week, to talk to him, and get to know him better, for you."
"Alright. May I start now, then? I'd like to talk to him, again."
The doctor smiled. "Of course."
aphaphaph
Alfred was curled up on the bed. His stomach was practically screaming at him, because of his refusal to eat barely anything for an entire day. He could smell broth coming into his room. He almost wanted to cry. The broth was set down on a the little table by the bed.
Ludwig sat on the bed, and brushed his fingers in Alfred's hair. "I got some food for you. You don't have to eat it, but if you don't, than they will strap you down to the bed and feed you through a tube."
"I guess it makes sense, that they were able to tell this quickly. They're doctors, after all. 'Cant get the to keep their eyes off of you. Did you know that the doctor was watching through the other side of the mirror in that room?"
Ludwig flinched. "So, you were trying to lose weight by starving yourself? How did you know about the mirror thing?"
"This isn't the first time I tried this." Alfred grabbed the pillow to hug it. "I could barely force my jeans to close around my hips. Weren't you going to make me a fighter?"
"I was, but then I got to know you. You can't win the fight, unless you kill your opponent. I wasn't going to make you go through either that, or death." Alfred gasped.
"Are you fucking serious?! That's..." Alfred couldn't imagine a word close enough to describe what he was feeling over this news.
"Don't think about it, okay? You said that this... Isn't the first time?"
"I was picked on in middle school for being fat. I was committed to a hospital, and they gave me some pills, and I started working out. I didn't need those pills after my first year of high school, which was also my first year of high school football."
Ludwig wasn't sure what to say to that, exactly. "Will you sit up on your own? I'll feed you, if you don't have the energy to feed yourself."
"I'm not fat to you?"
Ludwig sighed, and forced Alfred to sit up by grabbing his shoulders and pulling up. "I'm... Sorry, that I had to do that. I didn't mean to be as forceful as I was. I just want you to eat, because you are not overweight."
Alfred opened his mouth for the broth. Ludwig spoon fed him until he was strong enough to grab the bowl and pour the broth straight into his mouth.
"I can go get more, if you're that hungry."
Alfred shook his head, before finishing the food, and handing the bowl to Ludwig. "Thank you, for... The food."
"It's not problem. I'm just glad that you ate it."
"Hmm-mmm..." Alfred looked away.
"You're not obese, at all. You said that you were able to put your jeans on, around your hips. I can help you lose that weight, by exercise, if you really want it, but you don't need it."
"I'm... Gonna go run some laps around the track they have in the back."
Ludwig placed a hand on Alfred's knee. "No, you're not. Not until you digest the broth. At least wait an hour, so the food can settle in your stomach."
Alfred moved his leg so Ludwig wasn't touching it. "I'll just get some water, then."
"That's a good idea." Alfred nodded, and left the room. He wasn't gone for long, though, and, to his disappointment, Ludwig was still sitting on the bed.
Alfred opened his mouth to ask something, but he knew better. He would have to wait until Ludwig leaves on his own. "A... Are you thirsty?"
Ludwig smiled softly. "Thank you. I'll just have some of your water."
Alfred tensed up for a second. "I don't think that's allowed in here. I mean, this IS a hospital, after all."
"They know that you are mine, and I'm not sick. Otherwise, I wouldn't have said anything. This may be a "hospital," but I don't want to get you sick."
Alfred gritted his back teeth together, and handed Ludwig his glass of water. Ludwig took it, with another smile, and took a sip of it. Alfred stared as his water was being taken by his master, just like everything else. Ludwig gave him back the glass.
"Thank you."
Alfred took the glass back, and drank what he had left, before Ludwig could...
Alfred started chuckling. He was worried about Ludwig taking his water. He could have all the water he wanted in this place, but he was getting possessive of it. He wanted SOMETHING, without Ludwig even touching it.
"What's so funny?"
"You're making me crazy! You sent me here for being quiet, but I'm actually getting pretty damn crazy from being around you, and I'm already in this... "Insane asylum" for..." He stopped that thought, before he could get another word out.
Ludwig almost "asked" him to finish his sentence, but he knew that it would just put Alfred down. That would be the point, usually, but he didn't want Alfred to get depressed.
"Um... I'm going to go talk to some of the other patients here, now."
"Alright." Ludwig stood up. "I'll be back in a couple of days. Call me, if you need anything, okay?"
"Okay..." Alfred mumbled. 'Though I doubt that I will.' He thought to himself.