If anyone wants to get onto Gaia to discuss Duo or the plot and where it's going from here, that would be much appreciated. I need some feedback on how everything is coming off to the readers. What I imagine and what comes out aren't always the same thing. So, give me a hand, please.
I was anxious to get back to Quatre. I doubted you could tell from my face, but I was worried about him. Whatever had prompted him to send me and the others away was obviously enough for him to want to speak to Master alone, and I was deathly afraid that he wouldn't be there when I got back. In my mind, I was pretty sure that Master wouldn't sell Quatre, no matter what the reason, but my heart couldn't help pounding every time we were apart. It was so easy to find trouble at Collar, especially for a slave, and I didn't want anything to happen to Quatre. He was so pure and innocent, so happy and radiant, that I didn't think I could stand to see his light put out. The fact that he tolerated my presence was a bonus as well.
Our mission was to supply Duo with a costume, in case Master decided to take him out. The chances of Master actually allowing Duo into public were pretty slim, though, so the trip was almost useless, since Duo would be gone in a day anyway. Adding to these feelings of frustration was the fact that Duo could not for the life of him decide on one outfit, and was constantly harassing Wufei.
"Shinigami, damn it, we're here for a costume for you, and I would not disgrace myself by wearing such a... a... a monstrous outfit!" Wufei huffed, his face going red with anger.
"But why not?" Duo asked, looking innocently at the red matador's outfit in his hands. The vibrant color of the garment was only surpassed by the billowing ruffles round the cuffs and collar. The pants were plain black, but of a fabric that would conform perfectly to the skin, revealing more than it hid. The outfit was completed by a widebrimmed hat with small red pompoms dangling from the edges.
"Duo," Heero intervened before Wufei could yell, "We've wasted enough time already. Find an outfit or you can go to the party naked."
"Sheesh," Duo mumbled, turning to put the costume away. "No need to get grumpy," he complained, but heeded Heero's words anyway. It seemed that, in many ways, Heero was almost as much our leader as the master was. Besides Wufei and possibly Duo, he was the strongest of Master's slaves. He was also the one who had been owned longest, and the one Master trusted most. Because of this, and an inner authority he seemed to contain, Heero often gave out orders to make the household run smoothly. Granted, they were never orders that the Master would disagree with, nor were they harder than doing the laundry or buying the groceries, but it still gave Heero a measure of power that few slaves enjoyed. He was the master's current favorite, a position which few held and even less managed to retain.
But I doubted that Master would ever lose his faith in Heero. Heero was far too strong and capable for that. He was solid and unmoving against any obstacle. Stronger than I could dream of being. I could understand why Quatre was so friendly toward him, and I wondered why the blonde was friendly to me. I was the newest slave, the one in the most vulnerable but threatening position. I could be quickly thwarted, or I could rise to displace either of them. Still, neither raised a hand against me. I could almost understand Quatre's lack of viciousness, for he was innocent and caring. But Heero was as hardened to the ways of Collar as I was. With so few slaves under the master, I was in a prime position to displace one of them. I was a threat. Why hadn't I been dealt with?
But this could only fall in with a list of questions that filled my head. Why was Master so kind? Why was Heero putting up with the shenanigans of Duo, a temporary slave at best? Why was Wufei being so docile, when he was notorious for being impudent to both masters and other slaves? Why was I so drawn to Quatre? And, what bothered me most of all, why hadn't master taken me since my purchase?
That action confused me most, out of all Master's oddities and eccentrics. He had obviously found me attractive before I was owned by him, so why the sudden change? Or perhaps I was only attractive when and because I was owned by someone else. For I had yet to see him take Heero, though I am sure from the way the other slave acted that he had done so on their trip to the spa. I was a little grateful that Master had not taken me, but worried as well. I was glad that I did not have to do those things in front of Quatre, but I was worried that I would be sold because I did not.
But I didn't dwell on it too much. I was well aware that going against a master was like trying to breathe in space. There was no way to do it, so you just had to hope your suit didn't fail. Likewise, there was no way for me to influence the master one way or another, so I merely had to hope for the best. Had I been prettier, or more seductive, perhaps I could have plied him with my body, but, being rather plain, I knew I would only embarrass myself. I did not want to add to my shame.
"You're going to try these three on. You will take five minutes or less to change in to each garment, at which point you will come out of the stall for an inspection. After the outfits have all been tried on, we will come to a consensus as to which you should buy. Now, change," Heero demanded, finally tiring of Duo's antics. I was only surprised that Heero had been patient this long, for it had been nearly an hour since we began shopping.
Heero handed Duo the outfits, which I couldn't really see beyond the fact that they were black, which Duo had said was his favorite color. Duo huffed, probably eager for more chaos, but obeyed Heero and entered the dressing room. Heero seemed to have a calming affect on Duo, as he was both strict and patient. Heero may have been choosing Duo's clothes for him, but he chose clothes that seemed to suit Duo's style fairly well, and in Duo's favorite color. In other households, slaves often attempted to make one another look bad by pressuring a slave into buying a hideous outfit. They would blatantly lie, saying that it looked lovely, only to turn their backs on the slave when the master scolded him for buying something so tasteless. It had happened several times in the Duke's household.
I shook my head and silently stepped away from my group as Duo began throwing off his clothes. A wayward shirt hit Wufei in the face, who then began to sputter angrily.
"Damnit! They have changing stalls for that!" Wufei growled as he pulled Duo's shirt off of his head.
"Yeah, but I don't see why," Duo said, pausing in taking off his pants. "I mean, everybody runs around here naked anyway, so why bother?"
"Because not everyone is an indecent savage!" Wufei growled.
"Duo," Heero said calmly as he stepped between the fighting pair and took Duo's shirt from Wufei. "Go change in the stall," he commanded, handing the shirt back to him.
"Alright," Duo huffed, the took his shirt and walked toward the changing rooms. Having moved a few feet away, the others didn't notice that I wasn't with them as they followed Duo. I needed a few minutes alone. I just wanted a few seconds of peace and quiet to collect my thoughts and settle my worried stomach as I moved off into the racks of clothes.
It seemed, though, that I wouldn't get it, as I heard a voice that sent shivers down my spine. Quietly, I tried to move back to the others, but it was too late. Even as I turned to walk away, a voice rang out from behind me.
"Well, if it isn't little Nanashi!" Weave's voice screeched from behind me. He seemed almost gleeful at the prospect of harassing me and, as I turned, I found the other two, Honey and Jaz, had almost identical expressions of joy.
"I'm called Emerald now," I said evenly.
"So he changed your name? How wonderful! Now if only he could change your mind and body too!" laughed Jaz.
"Let's see," put in Honey. "All he need to do is make you smarter, prettier, more talented..."
"Don't forget to give him a heart!" Weave put in.
"... A heart, and maybe some balls to!" Honey finished.
"But he can't do that!" Jaz said, laughing harder than the other two, "Because then he'd be us!" he howled. The other two began laughing uncontrollable as well, and took several minutes to calm themselves.
"But, seriously," Weave said once he had calmed somewhat. "If your master ever wants a real slave, just send him back to us. If nothing else, we'll talk to him while showing him a good time. Or has he even done that with you?" he taunted. "Not that I could see him being able to get it up for you or anything."
I wanted to say something, but I couldn't seem to find the words. I was afraid, suddenly, that they were right, as many of their comment had struck far too close to home. But Master had picked me, hadn't he? He had chosen me over the other three, so there had to be something about me that stood out, right? And I had been very careful not to make him regret that decision, especially after the piercings came out. I had done everything I had asked, could I be blamed if I hadn't been asked much?
I opened my mouth to say something, though I'm not certain what, when I was against interrupted.
"Emerald," Heero said, monotone and slightly annoyed, "What are you doing?"
"Uh... nothing," I said, lowering my head. If Heero heard all the things the other three said about me, if he found out how bad my reputation was, would he use it against me? Could he get Master to sell me? He was the first, the senior, and the favorite slave, and he obviously felt threatened by me, though I didn't know why. Did he have enough leverage to sway Master's opinion of me?
"Oh, so now we're nothing to you?" Jaz snapped. "That's what happens you sell a rotten slave. Can't trust 'em at all!"
"Slaves are not permitted to remain loyal to the slaves of another master once they've been sold," Heero replied, still casually monotone. The others were taken aback for a moment by his lack of response, but soon recovered.
"Yeah, well I doubt Nanashi could be loyal anyway. You need emotions to get friends."
"Emerald no longer goes by the name of Nanashi. Master has already had it changed and documented. As for emotions, they are most often a hindrance, though one that masters prefer. And Emerald does contain the capacity to feel, despite what he does or does not reveal."
"Uh..." Weave started, once again startled by Heero's lack of anger in the face of their insults. "Well, your master must have weird tastes to like Nanashi. I don't even know how he could tolerate someone as dumb as Nana around him all the time."
This time Heero really did roll his eyes before responding with, "He's obviously smarter than you for keeping his mouth shut. I doubt the Duke would react well to hearing that you've been insulting other masters. And, as far as I can tell, Master is very fond of Emerald. Now, if you'll excuse us, Emerald and I have more important things to do."
"Like what?" Honey snapped, offended by the insinuation that he wasn't important. "It's not like your master would even bother to pay for the lousy job you do!"
Heero snorted, obviously amused by Honey's attempts at insulting someone he knew nothing about, and turned his back. This only enraged Honey further, and he suddenly lunged himself at Heero. I moved to intercept him, but Heero was quicker than even I was, and had spun around and smacked Honey to the ground before I could move more than a step. Weave, next, came to his friend's aide and tried to slam Heero to the floor. This time I did manage to intercept, grabbing Weave's arm as he ran past me toward Heero and using his momentum to toss him to the floor.
Dealing with Weave, I was oblivious as Jaz came up behind me until I heard a grunt and turned to find Heero pulling his fist out of Jaz's stomach. Jaz, eyes wide with pain, slumped to the floor with a groan and a thin, heavy pole that had held clothes only a minute ago slipped from hi fingers. It was not difficult to guess that he had tried to hit me, and with my back turned he could have easily have done serious damage.
I glanced at Heero in amazement. It had been the perfect moment to be rid of me. So why had he defended me instead? Even in his banter with the three slaves he had defended me, and now he protected me in a fight? But I was his rival.
"We have to stick together," he said suddenly as he lifted the rack and set it back on its feet, then began to put the clothes back on it. "Like them, we're slaves under the same master, working to fulfil his purposes. They're unity is a weapon they can use against us and our master. If we let them separate us, we let them weaken us. It is crucial that we do not allow that to happen."
"But..." I protested as he finished. "I am your rival."
"You are..." Heero said, the paused, "but you are not. You and I will compete to fill the slots allotted for Collar, but... you and I do not compete for Master's affections. He... He does not allow it, otherwise I have no doubt we would be bitter enemies. In any other situation, I would have allowed him to hit you, but it would serve no purpose for me now," he said, and his brutal honesty allowed me to believe him. If he had said anything different, if he had tried to deny the temptation to do away with me, I would have been suspicious of him. But none of his words rang of falsehood, and made a great deal of sense to me, so much that I found myself nodding even through my uncertainty. Still, I couldn't help asking, "What about Quatre?"
That made Heero pause, and he stopped dead to contemplate the question. It had been obvious from the start that Heero was suspicious of my relationship with Quatre and jealous of the blonde boy's affection for me. I could understand both of Heero's emotions much more than I could understand Master's trust in me and Quatre's fondness for me, but I was still hesitant to lose either.
"Master trusts you, and that should be enough for me," Heero suddenly decided, "And I cannot tell Quatre who to like. He seems fond of you, and I think..." he trailed, turning to where Duo was causing a commotion by tossing skimpy, frilly underwear at Wufei, "...I think I'm beginning to understand just how quickly an emotion can overcome one who is unprepared."