A/N: The dream works for either the night before they left for college or the first night in the dorm. Either way, it ended up just slightly out of order, but it worked too well for a bridge connecting the two major story arcs of the story.
[University of California, Santa Barbara Student Code of Conduct 3.2: Slaves.
General:
At UCSB, we strive to offer an inclusive and accommodating experience for all of our students. Students are allowed to bring slaves to campus, and slaves are allowed in all university-owned spaces. However, due to equality and space restraints, some spaces may have restrictions on when and where slaves are allowed. Owners are expected to keep their slaves leashed in public areas and will be held responsible for any disruptions their slave may cause. Minor discipline is allowed in public, provided it does not disturb any of the surrounding students or staff. Any other discipline must be done in private.
Any slave that will regularly be with a staff or student is required to be registered with the College Office. Fines will be issued for any unregistered slaves.
Student Housing:
Due to space constraints, students are limited to only one slave in the university residential halls. See section 7 for information on accommodations if more are needed. Students with slaves are encouraged to introduce them to their floor's Resident Assistant (RA). Tags with the floor's number on it are available to allow slaves free movement between their owner's room and the communal bathrooms.
Please note: excessive bodily fluids including blood, urine, or puke in the resident's room will be grounds for the university to request the slave's removal. Students may be asked to gag or restrain their slaves in response to complaints. The university is not liable for any belongings in the student's room.
Reduced price meal tickets are available to students who sign up for the slave janitorial program. Please see your RA for more information.
Miscellaneous:
We hold our students to a high standard of academic integrity. Ordering a slave to complete homework, projects, or papers is considered a form of cheating and can be grounds for expulsion. See section 2 on student ethics for more information.
Slaves will not be allowed in any classroom an exam is taking place in. Accommodations may be requested for disability and/or health conditions.
Slaves may not be 'hired out' in university-owned spaces.
For your convenience, slave supply depots can be found in the retail spaces surrounding campus. Student discounts have been made available for the use of discipline rooms.
The university is not responsible for the wellbeing or upkeep of any non-university-owned slaves.]
Gus ground his teeth as he read the rules on slaves, making note of anything he needed to take care of before classes started. For an institution of 'higher learning', the university was still messed up when it came to slavery. At least he wouldn't have to escort Shawn to the bathroom constantly, but it was still concerning that any amount of blood or puke was acceptable in the dorm rooms.
"Anything good?" Shawn asked as he stacked their folded clothes in the drawers. He'd asked to keep working while Gus took a small break and sorted through the pile of paperwork. Which was fine. Honest.
"Most of the usual stuff. Apparently you're smart enough to do my homework, but too dumb to wander the dorms without a note saying what floor you're supposed to be on." Gus rolled his eyes and held out the page. A flicker of surprise crossed Shawn's face before he took it.
Gus turned away and reshuffled the rest of the papers on his desk, giving Shawn time to adjust to his rules just being handed to him. Being in a new situation seemed to be bringing out a lot of hidden slave-expectations, but Shawn was pushing through them without hiding behind his slave-mask. Granted, Gus' parents had only left a few hours ago, but it was a hopeful start.
An older piece of paper rose to the top of the stack in his mindless shuffling, and his hands stilled as he looked over the printed columns of prices and names. Gus hadn't looked at Shawn's papers for months. None of the information had changed, but it was like he was reading a completely different document with the context behind everything.
The listed prices were an insult now that he knew what Shawn was really worth, and the foster agency's code was a red slash against all of humanity. The number that had taken the place of Shawn's name spoke volumes of what had been stolen from him. But the false birthdate next to it seemed to shine with hope, a testament to Shawn's strength. Proof that no matter how much the world tried to reduce him to a number, he'd still find a way to make his mark.
Gus' fingers tightened around the paper's edge as he looked over the names of Shawn's previous masters, connecting them with what little he'd been told. There was the trainer who'd taught Shawn the slave phrases, the father of the one who'd made him lose every game, the one who'd wanted to break him, the one who'd gagged him, and the vendor who'd beat him. And Burton Guster, the one who'd befriended him.
No wonder it had taken Shawn so long to even think about trusting him.
"Hey, Gus?" Shawn asked, breaking through his brooding.
Gus pushed the judgmental page away from him. "Yeah?"
Shawn eyed up his papers with a blank expression before lifting the page in his hand. "Do you know what the 'reduced price meal tickets' are?"
"I looked that up. Basically, a slave gets loaned out to help with cleaning and the owner gets paid in cheaper food." Gus slouched and answered the look Shawn shot at him, "No, I'm not making you do that."
The goal was to not treat Shawn like all of those other names had.
Shawn hesitated before handing the rules back. "It would be ok, if you did."
Gus took the paper as he shook his head. "I don't like people ordering you around, remember?"
Shawn smirked humorlessly. "Yeah, I remember… But I also know your parents aren't paying for my food."
Gus hadn't been lying when he'd said he had plenty of money saved up. But the summer had reduced his funds faster than he'd expected; it was something to keep an eye on. "Yeah, but they're paying for all of my food. I figure we can work with that."
Shawn's eyes dropped to the shirt he was twisting around his hands. "Slave treats are cheaper than people food. The chicken isn't too bad."
"Shawn," Gus said gently, hiding his rush of indignation at the offer. His friend deserved better than that. "You're getting real food. The dining halls don't care how I spend my points, they just care that I get twenty-one meals a week. We'll split those, get easy breakfast stuff to eat in here, and then we'll just have a few other meals to make up the rest."
"You don't… have to do that for me." Shawn shrugged uncomfortably. "It's your food."
"I want to share my food." Gus thought about hands taking food from his plate and quickly corrected himself. "I want to share my food points. And whatever food we buy for the room. Besides, Pop Tarts and coffee are a perfect breakfast."
Shawn let out a shaky breath and fought to keep his eyes up. Gus abandoned the papers on his desk and moved to sit next to him, holding his hand out with a questioning look. He didn't like asking out loud and involving the collar; Shawn knew what he meant. Shawn took a few seconds to decide before he nodded, and Gus gently rested his hand on Shawn's shoulder. Neither of them reacted to the predictable flinch, and Shawn leaned into the touch, letting out a sigh as his shoulders relaxed.
"I know change is hard, probably especially for you. You're doing good. We'll go as slow as you need." Gus made a face but forced himself to add on, "And if that means you still need slave-mode stuff to… I don't know, acclimate or something. That's ok too."
Shawn frowned. "But you don't want that."
"Sometimes friendship means doing what the other person needs." It wasn't fair that Shawn needed anything that told him he wasn't a person. But it wasn't like 'fair' mattered in the real world.
Shawn's small smile soothed his inner rage. "I don't… know what I need."
"That's ok." Hell, it wasn't like he knew either. "We can figure it out as we go."
Shawn nodded, still leaning into Gus' touch. Gus waited a moment to make sure they were good before reaching with his free hand and fishing out their DVD case. "I think we've unpacked enough for now. Want to pick the first movie of our college life?"
"Technically, it's your college life." Shawn's smile grew lopsided. "It's my dorm life."
"Eh, you say 'tomayto', I say 'tomahto'." An uncomfortable feeling crawled in Gus' gut even as he forced a smile back. Shawn wasn't wrong.
"It's almost too easy… but I've heard it both ways."
"You know, that's one you probably have."
Gus patted Shawn's shoulder before standing up to dig out his laptop. There were a lot of changes ahead, sometimes something familiar was needed. The rest of the world could wait a few hours.
A knock on their door interrupted the movie. Shawn's eyes darted around, and Gus answered the silent question as he pressed pause on his laptop. "Do what makes you the most comfortable."
Shawn sighed and shot him an apologetic look before kneeling in the corner next to the still-unpacked boxes.
Gus nodded reassuringly; at least Shawn had done what he wanted instead of what Gus wanted. Even if it made the whole room look wrong. He gave Shawn a few more seconds to settle before opening their door and coming face-to-face with a head of black hair. The head shook, allowing an eye to peek through the strands. It was an attractive eye.
"Hey, I'm Crystal. I'm your RA," the young woman said in a flat voice. "You'll see me around. My room." She pointed to a door two rooms down. "The lounge." She pointed to a door at the very end of the hall. "And the rules." She pulled out several pages from the stack of papers in her hands. "Questions?"
"Uh, we've… got those. Already." Gus pointed to the Student Code she was holding out as his eyes took in the artistically ripped shirt that was hanging off of her shoulder. "Rules, I mean."
"Goodie," Crystal said as unenthusiastically as possible. "So no questions, then?"
"Uh…" Gus tried to force his brain to catch up with the conversation. It was official, women were his kryptonite. "No…?"
"Sweet." Crystal turned around to walk away.
"Wait," Gus stopped her, finally remembering why he needed to talk to an RA. "I've, uh, got a slave. The rules mentioned a tag…?"
Crystal sighed and dug into her back pocket, giving Gus a rather nice view of her tight jeans before she pulled out a laminated card. She turned around to hand it over, and her eye rolled as he forced his gaze back to her face.
"The slave's gotta wear it or be leashed whenever they're in the hall. The University's not liable… blah blah blah. You read the rules."
"Yeah, I did." Gus took the card, seeing a large number '3' and a plastic clip attached above it. The clip that was the perfect size for attaching to a collar. Naturally.
"It helps if I know which slave belongs to who," Crystal said without any indication of whether she actually cared.
Gus shook his head at his oversight and stepped to the side so she could see into the room. "Right, sorry. This is Shawn."
"Yo." Crystal gave Shawn a small head jerk. It almost looked friendly.
"Does he really have to wear this on his collar?" Gus asked, pulling her attention back to him so Shawn wouldn't have to worry about answering.
She shrugged, the movement making her hair do very interesting things around her clavicle. "As long as it's visible, I don't care." She shook the hair back from her face so both of her smokey eyes could study Gus. She glanced back at Shawn again before saying, "Slaves usually have an easier time using the showers before everyone else wakes up. If anyone gives either of you trouble, let me know. My door's open most nights." She nodded, letting her hair fall back over her face. "See ya."
"Bye…" Gus watched her walk off, taking a second to admire the view before pulling his head back and closing the door. He turned around to see Shawn smirking at him. "Yeah, yeah, I know…"
"I wasn't going to say anything," Shawn said innocently as he stood up to walk back to the bed.
"Because you didn't have to." Gus slouching onto the bed. "Girls, man…"
Shawn made an aborted movement, like he wanted to pat Gus' shoulder before stopping himself. "At least you stayed on your feet this time…"
"At this rate, I'll be able to string two words together by next year." Gus pressed play on the movie and tried to not feel too jealous when the hero flirted flawlessly.
"Okay." Gus broke down the last box and added it to the pile on the floor. "I think that's it."
He looked around, taking in their hard work. They'd pushed his bed up against the small closet that was barely big enough for their shirts and shoes. One drawer under the bed was stuffed with the rest of Gus' clothes while the other was still half-empty after all of Shawn's things were put away. Which was something Gus was bound and determined to fix. There was absolutely no reason for Shawn to not have as much stuff as him.
There had been just enough room in front of the bed to wedge the desk, making it so they could easily talk while sitting in their usual spots. A window took up the entirety of the back wall, looking over a quiet street and busy sidewalks. On the other wall, the small dresser they'd been given had been repurposed into food storage. A mini-fridge sat next to it with a coffee machine on top. Shawn's basket acted as a barrier between the communal area and his sleeping bag. The nightlight plugged in the corner made that area officially his.
Once they stocked the fridge, it would be quite homey.
"So… Now what?" Shawn asked, looking uncomfortable now that he didn't have anything to do.
Gus' stomach grumbled, telling him what it thought. The dining halls were open, but that seemed like too much to put on Shawn for the first day. "I saw some food carts a few blocks away. Want to go get the lay of the land?"
"That sounds good."
Gus walked over to the worst part of the room, the hook they'd hung up next to the door to hold the leash and a lanyard with the floor-tag clipped to it.
Shawn didn't show any emotions when Gus clipped the leash to his collar, and he fell back to a proper slave distance when they went into the hall. The dorm wasn't very busy, and they only passed two sets of parents saying their goodbyes as they walked to the door next to the elevators.
It was an easy choice to take the stairs since Shawn had clearly hated riding the elevator earlier. Gus hadn't been particularly fond of being trapped in the small moving box either.
The temperature outside was perfect, the food they found was delicious, and anytime Gus looked back, he saw Shawn looking around to take everything in. The problem was, Gus was having to look back. There was just enough of a constant crowd on the sidewalks to keep Shawn in his slave spot.
Gus sighed as he finished his egg burrito and added another item to his mental list. He needed to learn the bus routes and find somewhere he and Shawn could walk without people around.
He glanced over his shoulder again to ask, "You doing ok?"
"Yeah," Shawn immediately answered, his eyes scanning several posters taped to a light pole. "The food is good."
"It is," Gus agreed as he stopped at a trash can. They both threw away their wrappers, and he took the opportunity to watch Shawn's face as he asked, "Do you want to keep walking around or make our way to the store?"
Shawn hesitated, but he didn't seem too freaked out when he answered, "Shopping would be good."
It didn't escape Gus' notice that Shawn had reverted back to avoiding the word 'like'. But everything was new, it didn't mean Shawn didn't trust him anymore. He just needed time to adjust. And he would adjust, because Gus wouldn't let college, of all places, be the thing that broke him.
"We'll split the snacks," Gus said with confidence he didn't feel. "You'll get to pick the stuff for your basket, and we'll split picking the rest."
"O…K," Shawn said, looking conflicted.
Probably because he usually didn't have to pick that many things... Gus started walking towards the store and pretended he hadn't seen the look. They had to start somewhere and making choices about their food seemed like an easy first step.
Maybe all of the changes were getting to him too. He was –finally– completely in charge of things. But, that also meant that he was completely in charge of things. There wasn't anyone to fall back on if he didn't know what to do.
A large grassy area stretched out in front of them, lined with university buildings as far as the eye could see. The sheer size of the campus seemed to press down on him, a monstrous weight that none of the other people walking on the sidewalks seemed to feel. It was so much to take in, and he had to see everything through two different sets of eyes all at once. Shawn was relying on him.
Anything that went wrong now would be all his fault.
"Freshman with his parents, nine o'clock," Shawn said quietly. "He's going to have a bad time in the bathroom tonight."
It took Gus a second to identify which person to his 'nine o'clock' was being discussed. Nothing looked strange about the student, besides the fact that he looked desperate for his parents to just leave already. "Why do you say that?"
"He's been eyeing up the food cart every second his parents look away. He's going on a snack binge as soon as they leave."
Gus glanced back over at the other boy, just in time to see the longing look Shawn was talking about. "That is going to be one delicious regret, right there."
Shawn snorted in amusement. "Oh yeah."
Gus smiled, the weight on his shoulders feeling lighter. Shawn was tough. If there was anyone who could navigate a new situation, it was him. They'd figure things out the same way they'd done everything else: one step at a time.
"Mom, seriously, I'm fine," Gus said into his phone for the third time in a row.
He walked up to the convenience store as his mother fretted. "I was just so worried. You didn't call like you said you were going to, and I thought, 'What if something had happened?' I would never know!"
Gus checked his watch. "It's 6:04. You didn't even give me a whole five minutes before assuming I was dead?"
"We raised you to be punctual. A lot can happen in four minutes!"
Gus rolled his eyes as he opened the door and stepped to the side for Shawn to go first. "I just lost track of time. I would have called you once I realized."
"And now you don't have to," his mother said, sounding particularly smug. Shawn gave him a sympathetic look as he walked into the store, and Gus followed. "So, tell me. How is your first day going?"
"It's been fine. We've unpacked everything already." Gus made a face and transferred his phone over to the hand with the leash hanging from it. He used his free hand to pick up a shopping basket and held it up with a questioning look to Shawn. "It was a bit tight, but we had room. I told you we didn't need those storage bins."
Shawn took the basket, a few worried creases on his face smoothing in relief.
"Those bins would have let you store so many things, and they wouldn't have taken that much room."
"We have literally no more room. And I didn't need to bring extra clothes to store anyway." Gus entered the first aisle, smiling when he saw the area was deserted. He caught Shawn's eye and pointed to the section of combos, giving him his choice of flavors.
"But what if you run out of clean clothes? It's always good to have options."
"Then we'll do laundry?" Gus gave a thumbs up to Shawn's selection and grabbed a bag of pretzels to add to the basket.
"You mean Shawn will do laundry, right?"
"Sure, Shawn and I will do laundry."
Shawn gave him a look, and his mother's sigh was loud enough to make him pull the phone from his ear. The red 'end call' button glowed alluringly, but he resisted the siren's call and lifted the phone back up.
His mother had apparently heard his thoughts and changed the subject. "Have you met any new friends yet?"
"You just left this morning. When would I have had time to make friends?" Gus nodded towards the rest of the salty snacks. Shawn blanched, his eyes growing wide as he looked down the aisle.
"It doesn't take more than an hour to unpack, does it?" she asked back snippily. Gus quickly narrowed the options for Shawn, circling his hand to indicate a smaller section of snacks. "Did you at least meet your RA?"
"Yeah, she came around to introduce herself," Gus said as Shawn let out a small breath and reached out, grabbing a bag of Funyons. "She seemed… nice."
"Well, make sure you talk to her if you have any trouble. I'd hate for you to have to deal with bullies again. She can set them straight for you."
So much for being 'all grown up'. "I'm just buying a few snacks and will probably go to bed early. Bye, Mom."
"... Ok. Bye," she answered, sounding hurt at his abrupt dismissal.
A shelf of reusable bottles caught his attention and he waved to it as he begrudgingly added, "I love you, Mom."
Shawn tentatively stepped forward, his hand clenching around the basket handle. It was obvious he'd only be able to make a few more choices before shutting down.
"I love you too. Talk to you tomorrow."
Gus hung up and sighed, "Can't wait."
Shawn fidgeted with a green bottle before placing it in the basket. "You ok?"
Gus looked over in surprise; Shawn usually didn't start conversations when he was dealing with slave-stuff. "Yeah, I'm alright. Just Mom being Mom. Are you ok?"
"Yeah…" Shawn fought an obvious internal battle before reaching up to tap his head. "It's just loud."
"I get that." Gus remembered the overwhelming feelings from earlier. And Shawn didn't have the luxury of ignoring them like he was doing. "Do you want to pick any of the candy, or do you want me to do it?"
"I can…" Shawn winced. "... probably pick one."
"Alright, I'll grab a few more things and we can check out and go home."
Shawn nodded, his death grip on the basket loosening slightly. "Thanks… Sorry."
They weren't doing that. "Remember the first time we went shopping?"
"When I panicked at shampoo?" Shawn asked in a wry voice.
"And I had absolutely no idea why you were panicking," Gus agreed as he led them into the cereal aisle. He made a few choices before catching Shawn's eye. "We've come a long way since then."
Shawn gave him a small smile back. "Yeah, I guess we have." He eyed up the full basket and quietly added, "I thought you wanted me to guess what you wanted. Back then."
Gus nodded; the confession wasn't surprising, given what he knew now. "Do you still think that?"
"I know that's not why you ask." Shawn's smirk didn't reach his eyes. "You don't make enough sense for that to be why you ask."
"At least my logic is consistent." Gus intentionally didn't ask how many of Shawn's choices were still based on what Gus wanted.
"Yeah, I guess it is." Shawn's smirk turned genuine. "Besides, I still haven't figured out any snacks you don't like. There's no wrong answers."
"Swedish Fish," Gus answered promptly as he started walking again. "Can't stand them. They're too sweet and always get stuck in my teeth."
"But you eat taffy…"
"They're different."
Shawn added his commentary under his breath. "Sweet and gets stuck in your teeth… Totally different."
Gus shot him a sharp grin over his shoulder. "Exactly. I'm glad we agree."
Shawn ducked his head, but his smile was obvious.
Gus grabbed three bags of sweets in the last aisle and motioned for Shawn to pick the last one. It took almost a minute of debating before Shawn made his choice. It wasn't Swedish Fish.
Gus studied his schedule to give himself something to focus on while Shawn put away their snacks. He'd clearly needed something familiar to do, and there was only room for one person in the food area anyway… A chip bag crinkled behind him and Gus clenched his jaw to stay quiet. He was just another master having his slave do all of the work...
He cleared his throat and banished the thought as he ran his finger down the paper. "So, freshman orientation is tomorrow before lunchtime. I figure we can eat breakfast in the room and get rid of these boxes before I go to that. Do you want to come with?"
"... Yeah. If it's ok."
Considering Shawn had still chosen to go to church even with extra orders, the answer was expected. "I wouldn't have offered if it wasn't. Maybe we'll try out the dining hall for lunch afterwards. The afternoon is free; you can pick what we do." Shawn stayed quiet and Gus gave him a minute before turning around. "I can give options tomorrow. You don't have to pick now."
Shawn nodded as he balled the shopping bag in his hands. His fingers worried at the plastic as he said, "Your parents were right. You won't make real friends if you're spending all of your time with me."
"Then it's a good thing I've already got a real friend." Gus' heart warmed when he saw Shawn's small smile before it was hidden away again. "And if anyone else wants to be my friend, then they'd better be ok with you too."
"There you go, not making sense again," Shawn said quietly.
"Makes perfect sense to me." Gus looked around for something to do so Shawn would have time to process. "Movie or do our own thing?"
Shawn looked up to study Gus for a second before his eyes dropped to the small collection of books sitting under the desk. "D-Do you have the next comic to read?"
"Yeah, I do." Gus found the right comic as well as its sequel and handed them over before grabbing the next book in his series. "I'm guessing you'd feel safer if we went to the bathroom at the same time?"
"Y-Yeah," Shawn said with a wince.
"Friends help each other," Gus reminded him before sitting on his bed and opening his book. "We can go whenever you want, or in an hour if that's easier."
"Thanks." Shawn hesitated like he wanted to say something else before deciding against it. He kept an eye on Gus as he walked over and sat on the bed next to him. Gus leaned over to bump their shoulders together before opening his book and starting the first chapter.
It would be nice if the real world was like a book, where he could flip to the end to make sure there was a good ending. The stress would be worth it if he knew for sure things would get better.
He let out a breath and focused on the words in front of him. Shawn would be fine. Gus would be fine. They just needed a bit of time to adjust.
It was all going to be fine.
A/N: Eagle-eyed readers will notice that the boys are at University of California, Santa Barbara instead of Pomona College like canon. I needed them to stay in Santa Barbara and not have a two-and-a-half-hour commute back home, LOL. That doesn't mean that there won't be a few recognizable moments in college, though.
I've done some cursory research on the university, but nothing extensive. So, on the off chance there's any UCSB grads here… sorry for any lack of accuracy!