{ "submission_id": "2154418", "keywords": [ { "keyword_id": "1426", "keyword_name": "abuse", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "4215" }, { "keyword_id": "57", "keyword_name": "bunny", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "114015" }, { "keyword_id": "7749", "keyword_name": "cyberpunk", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "2088" }, { "keyword_id": "20689", "keyword_name": "dystopia", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "134" }, { "keyword_id": "33", "keyword_name": "fox", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "251915" }, { "keyword_id": "1799", "keyword_name": "friendship", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "5360" }, { "keyword_id": "236", "keyword_name": "gay", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "152597" }, { "keyword_id": "1396", "keyword_name": "hermaphrodite", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "19023" }, { "keyword_id": "5024", "keyword_name": "hippopotamus", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "903" }, { "keyword_id": "165", "keyword_name": "male", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "1216699" }, { "keyword_id": "10308", "keyword_name": "male/male", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "128319" }, { "keyword_id": "186", "keyword_name": "rabbit", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "141280" }, { "keyword_id": "7521", "keyword_name": "relationships", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "410" }, { "keyword_id": "449", "keyword_name": "school", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "9123" }, { "keyword_id": "11278", "keyword_name": "slavery", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "3245" }, { "keyword_id": "56396", "keyword_name": "urine drinking", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "294" } ], "hidden": "f", "scraps": "f", "favorite": "f", "favorites_count": "3", "create_datetime": "2020-05-09 20:21:46.358025+00", "create_datetime_usertime": "09 May 2020 22:21 CEST", "last_file_update_datetime": "2020-05-09 20:18:17.409081+00", "last_file_update_datetime_usertime": "09 May 2020 22:18 CEST", "username": "Ralanr", "user_id": "25224", "user_icon_file_name": "190638_ralanr_ralanricon.jpg", "user_icon_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/usericons/large/190/190638_ralanr_ralanricon.jpg", "user_icon_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/usericons/medium/190/190638_ralanr_ralanricon.jpg", "user_icon_url_small": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/usericons/small/190/190638_ralanr_ralanricon.jpg", "file_name": "3123693_ralanr_pariah_chapter_5_eric_s_day_out.doc", "file_url_full": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/full/3123/3123693_ralanr_pariah_chapter_5_eric_s_day_out.doc", "file_url_screen": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/3123/3123693_ralanr_pariah_chapter_5_eric_s_day_out.doc", "file_url_preview": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/3123/3123693_ralanr_pariah_chapter_5_eric_s_day_out.doc", "files": [ { "file_id": "3123693", "file_name": "3123693_ralanr_pariah_chapter_5_eric_s_day_out.doc", "file_url_full": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/full/3123/3123693_ralanr_pariah_chapter_5_eric_s_day_out.doc", "file_url_screen": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/3123/3123693_ralanr_pariah_chapter_5_eric_s_day_out.doc", "file_url_preview": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/3123/3123693_ralanr_pariah_chapter_5_eric_s_day_out.doc", "mimetype": "application/msword", "submission_id": "2154418", "user_id": "25224", "submission_file_order": "0", "full_size_x": null, "full_size_y": null, "screen_size_x": null, "screen_size_y": null, "preview_size_x": null, "preview_size_y": null, "initial_file_md5": "06868143aad5b6d7a70cd288c0c5a20f", "full_file_md5": "06868143aad5b6d7a70cd288c0c5a20f", "large_file_md5": "", "small_file_md5": "", "thumbnail_md5": "", "deleted": "f", "create_datetime": "2020-05-09 20:18:17.409081+00", "create_datetime_usertime": "09 May 2020 22:18 CEST" } ], "pools": [ { "pool_id": "64319", "name": "Pariah", "description": "A story series set in TerraMGP's Yggdrissil setting. ", "count": "16", "submission_left_submission_id": "2150709", "submission_left_file_name": "3118278_ralanr_pariah_chapter_4_skiv_s_day_out.doc", "submission_right_submission_id": "2158849", "submission_right_file_name": "3130563_ralanr_pariah_chapter_6_the_family.doc" }, { "pool_id": "64320", "name": "Trades", "description": "Stories I've used for trades with other people. ", "count": "19", "submission_left_submission_id": "2150709", "submission_left_file_name": "3118278_ralanr_pariah_chapter_4_skiv_s_day_out.doc", "submission_right_submission_id": "2158849", "submission_right_file_name": "3130563_ralanr_pariah_chapter_6_the_family.doc" } ], "description": "While Skiv is out and about turning over stands and getting arrested, Eric has to deal with a whole other kind of pressure: School.\n\nAnother chapter in an ongoing trade I'm having with [iconname]TerraMGP[/iconname] based on her Great Tree Saga setting. If you haven't checked her stuff out, I'd highly recommend it. And if you want her to write something for you, she's got several story slots open for this month!\n\nCharacters presented are of legal age of consent. ", "description_bbcode_parsed": "While Skiv is out and about turning over stands and getting arrested, Eric has to deal with a whole other kind of pressure: School.

Another chapter in an ongoing trade I'm having with \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTerraMGP\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t		\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTerraMGP\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
based on her Great Tree Saga setting. If you haven't checked her stuff out, I'd highly recommend it. And if you want her to write something for you, she's got several story slots open for this month!

Characters presented are of legal age of consent. ", "writing": "Mallory knew.\n\nHe didn't know how she knew. Eric had figured he kept his digital tracks very clean and delicate with all the knowledge he acquired. Sure, Athenia High didn't exactly have courses on advanced cybersecurity, so he had to make do with what they taught in basics and work his way up there. But he, and screw being humble, was pretty facking skilled as a hacker his age. So how could she have figured him out?\n\nWhat's more, how was he going to fix it?\n\n``Master Eric, we have arrived.'' the driver stated. The young fox swallowed his fears for a moment and straightened his tie. He hated the tie, always figuring it more like a noose than anything presentable. One of the few good things in the outskirts, no neckties. Course the outskirts didn't have good printed food or comfy beds, so it was a mixed bag.\n\n``Thank you, Thomas.'' He said, stepping out from the car, ``You do not need to pick me up after classes, I shall walk home and-''\n\n``I'm afraid Mistress Mallory will not allow that, young master. She gave me explicit instructions to bring you back when classes ended.'' the Doberman in the front explained. \n\nSighing, Eric looked over to him, ``Since when did my maid's request outdo my own?'' he asked. The fox hated to pull rank, only made his guilt over his own luck worsen. Thomas was only doing his job after all, and even if the dog was enslaved it didn't feel fair to try and frighten him for following orders.\n\n``Mistress Mallory told me that if you complain about her demand, then I am to inform you that your complaint would be added to the list of things your father is to hear about upon his arrival.''\n\n``F-Father?'' he gulped, color draining from under his facial fur, ``He's coming home?''\n\n``That, I do not know, young master. I am but a driver and, in this rare case, a humble messenger. Shall I tell her of your complaint?''\n\nFists balled, Eric stepped out from the limo and exhaled. Breathing in the fresh and clean arcology air, he sighed and turned back to the car, ``No, Thomas. Please be here upon the hour of school ending, I shall be waiting for you.'' he said, already missing being able to talk like a normal person around Skiv. Hands in his pockets and already slumping, Eric headed up towards his campus.\n\nThis was going to be a terrible day.\n\n***\n\nRemembering his actual homeroom was difficult enough. Getting there on time in this massive joke of a building made Eric glad he'd developed a little better physically in his months with Skiv. The door slid open as he nearly barreled through it, clenching his chest and holding his knees for stability. \n\nWhen he looked up, the fox noticed half the furs present staring at him. Some confused, others shocked, and a few with a darker smile on their faces. He ignored them as he reached for his seat.\n\n``Excuse me, who are you?'' the teacher asked, scouting through a list in AR. Eric checked his own AR feed, noting that this was indeed the right room. People must have just forgotten he existed. \n\nWhich, in his defense, he was almost successful in doing.\n\n``Eric Karbon. I've been...absent for a while.''\n\n``Eric...Eric...oh yes, here you are,'' the teacher said, placing a finger on Eric's name, ``Hmm...must be a malfunction in the auto attendance tracker. It says you were already here.''\n\nGiving a small shrug, Eric smirked, ``Technology, right? Not as perfect as we expect it to be.'' the young fox said, taking a mental note to remove his additional malware so the teachers wouldn't be suspicious of it happening now that he'd be showing up. Hopefully, he could wait until the weekends to remove everything since taking out malware without being noticed was a lot harder than putting it in.\n\nAn anonymous message popped up on his AR feed, `Back from boot camp, killer?' it read, tagged on with several emojis of smiles and death. He brushed it aside, not needing to be a genius or a hacking expert to know who dared send him this picture. Pretty much everyone in this school hated him for the work his parents did. A campus filled with children of the elite, from actors, doctors, high-class businessmen.\n\nAnd then there were his parents. His father, the CEO of a private military company that also liked to offer services as a security corp. A very blood business whose margins went up whenever they successfully completed a mission. Never mind stopping or ending a conflict, that'd leave them out of a career path. Then there was Eric's mother, who worked for Oversight, the most feared division in Yggdrasil that was in charge of making sure other companies and firms fell in line. A visit from Oversight could very well mean you losing your first-class status.\n\nA more ruthless student would have used these connections to threaten people, remind them what could happen if they said the wrong thing to them. But Eric wasn't ruthless, out of his entire family only Harriet gave less of a fack about their traditions. The fox didn't want people to fear him, just like him for who he is. Instead, that translated to him being a punching bag since `telling mommy and daddy' was against his code. \n\nWith a sigh, he crumpled against his desk and searched around the room out of boredom, trying to remember the names and faces of people he'd been avoiding for three months. A new face caught his attention, and not for lack of familiarity. Quite the opposite. A black rabbit with blue eyes sat on the other side of the room, leafing through AR feeds slowly while several girls fawned over her...him...Eric couldn't tell from where he sat. But whatever the rabbit was, they almost looked like...\n\n``Skiv?'' he mouthed, getting up to reach for the student. The alarm rang, and a stampede of students followed, pushing him out of his class and back into the hall. When he checked again, the rabbit was gone. It couldn't have been Skiv, she wouldn't dress so nice or knew how to read, besides the obvious being classless part and not being allowed in here. \n\nShaking his head, Eric popped open his AR HUD to see what class he had first to make up for. Seeing economics 315, he sighed and rested his head in his hands before groaning loudly into the emptying halls.\n\n``Fack.''\n\n***\n\nArthur Tenil. Eric read the name over in his AR while taking an unenthusiastic bite of his chicken sandwich. The school had high-class printers, but something about the food didn't make him crave it. The only Tenil Eric knew was a famous actor named Robert Tenil, who outside of being a heavily decorated patron of the acting arts, ran several charities that were targeted to help the poor and unfortunate. The kind of person that first-class kids liked, but adults hated for making it difficult to make use of the lower class. At least in the open, Eric had seen enough threads on the darker side of the net to believe that no one `nice' was really all that cracked up to be.\n\nRobert Tenil was also a bull. Arthur was a rabbit. Something didn't click in Eric's head the longer he watched the black bun. Going through the school records was easy enough, he didn't have the focus to actually pay attention to his classes, and being three months behind made the fox too lost to even bother. Arthur, despite being in his homeroom, was a year lower than Eric. Grade A student, lots of extracurriculars, and even a few prizes. A real shining star of a loving couple. And someone that only came to the Academy this year. \n\n``Peeping on students? Whatever happened to privacy, killer?'' \n\nGroaning, Eric took a moment to step up from his seat only for a heavy hand to place him down, ``You've been gone for three months, and now you're staring dead eyes at the new kids' file. Guess you think you're above the rules.'' chuckled Terry King, a tall hippo with an even bigger ego and an all-around pain in Eric's side. \n\n``Hi, Terry,'' Eric said, forcing out a smile, ``I'm just leav-'' the hippo's hand didn't relent as Terry took a seat next to him. Figuring he wasn't going anywhere, Eric took a deep breath and looked over to the light stubbled mug of the hippo, taking note of the effeminate fox with a slave collar kneeling next to him, dressed in a revealing mockery of the school uniform with a skirt just low enough to show a chastity cage, and a buttoned-up shirt twisted to reveal his abdomen. Judging from the brown eyes hidden behind silvery bangs and the overall familiarity to his mug, Eric had the right for his skin to crawl.\n\n``So, private bitch, where have you been these past three months?'' the hippo asked, taking his seat dangerously close to Eric, ``I missed you. I had to go shopping for your likeness cause I thought you left.''\n\nTaking a look at the other fox's expression, Eric figured Terry didn't spend money overriding his personality. If he had to guess why then he imagined it was because Terry wanted someone struggling under him in those lonely nights. It was almost enough to have Eric see his lunch again, ``I was...sick,'' he lied, ``Came down with something really bad. Had to stay home, the usual.''\n\n``Then why did the school never report it?'' he inched closer, hand reaching down into Eric's back pocket, ``You hiding something from the rest of us? Private bitch?''\n\n``N-no, Terry. And could you please...''\n\n``Please what? Stop? I'm just giving you a friendly little butt pat,'' his whispered, ``My bitch Erin loves it all the time when I reach down and spank him. Maybe you can come on over and experience that yourself. Course, you could just stop me. Call your big bad security dad and say how much you want me dead.''\n\nHe didn't need this right now. Not today, with this whole Arthur situation in his head. Taking a deep breath, Eric sighed and forced a smile, ``I'll have to decline, Terry. But I'm glad you finally could afford a slave of your very own. Be careful with him though, the school is pretty strict on personal slaves.'' getting up before Terry could finish, he grabbed his tray and rushed out of the cafeteria. Looking back, Arthur had vanished, along with the group of girls that had flocked to his side. Taking a deep breath and putting his tray away, Eric found a quiet and empty spot in the hall, let his breath out, and punched the wall. \n\nHe wanted to scream, but it'd do nothing. Shaking his fist from the wall punch, he opened up his AR feed to see his next class. History. Rolling his eyes, Eric pushed on to the classroom early with a plan to take a nap beforehand. He could confront Arthur later. If he even needed to. It was just an uncanny resemblance is all, it's not like he was related to Skiv.\n\nBut...Eric looked up the ceiling in thought. If Arthur was related to Skiv, maybe they could purchase her from the household and she could be given first-class membership by relation? I was a stretch, but better than nothing. So long as it made her suffer less, anything was better than nothing.\n\n***\n\nHis lunch hadn't agreed with him. Maybe it was how his body had partially adapted to eating the scraps Skiv called food during his visits, or maybe the printer had a malfunction in its process. Either way, the fox had spent a ridiculous time in the bathroom. Now washing his hands, Eric took a moment to think about Arthur yet again.\n\nWhile his father wasn't a rabbit, his mother was, but she was an entirely different kind of rabbit and fur color. He hadn't had the time to check for any adoption papers, or what Mr. Tenil's staff was comprised of. Given the charity the actor ran, adoption seemed like the most favorable outcome, which didn't bode well for his hopes to help Skiv. Even worse if Arthur was the child of a maid or `indentured servant' to Tenil, as the actor claimed in numerous interviews. The bull had a smugness that just irradiated on the screen, so much that if Eric were any stronger he'd imagine throwing a punch that might actually hurt.\n\nAnd even in the likelihood that Arthur could help Skiv, how would Eric even approach him? The bun was practically surrounded by a posse of girls that fawned over his every whim and gave Eric the stink eye whenever he dared approach. Arthur's dad ran a charity and was an accomplished actor, while his own father ran a company that killed people for a living. They were in two different worlds. \n\n``Well, fancy meeting you here, private bitch,'' Terry chuckled, walking through the bathroom door with his slave Erin in tow by a chained leash. The jingle of the chain scratched the back of Eric's mind as he tried to pass by, not that the hippo allowed him. With one hand he held the fox and said, ``Woah there, bro, I just wanted to talk.'' he said, with that ass of a smile.\n\n``We can text, you have my codes,'' \n\nTerry shook his head, ``Nah, it's better face to face. Walk with me,'' he said, grabbing Eric's collar and dragging to the urinals with Erin behind. He grabbed the effeminate fox and pulled him in front of them, forcing the boy onto his knees while the hippo pulled his cock out, ``See, I've been actually worried about you.''\n\nEric avoided eye contact, ``I'm sure you have.''\n\n``No, I'm serious. Why do you think I bought your likeness in a slave?'' Terry grinned, lining his fat cock to the girly fox's mouth, ``I was worried you gave into your submissive fantasies and ran away, selling yourself off to be some dites little whore.''\n\nEric blinked, ``I...the fack?'' \n\nTerry shook his head, ``What, you think your matrix history is safe just cause you delete it?'' he said, urine streaming out of his cock and into the kneeling slave's open maw, ``I know all about your kinks, Eric. You like them big dick girls, emphasis on the dick.''\n\nHe gripped his sleeve, ``That's private, you have no right-''\n\n``Shut the fuck up and listen, private bitch.'' the hippo stated, revealing his large lower teeth as he spoke, ``Look, I get that some people just aren't cut to be first class. They're born lucky but would prefer having someone be...overseeing them. And judging by how you're not paying attention in class, I think you're just not up for it.''\n\nThe fox under them gagged, spitting piss onto the floor. Terry grabbed his silvery hair and pushed him up against the urinal, ``What did I say about not swallowing, Erin?!''\n\n``I'm sorry, master, it just came so fa-'' Terry slapped the fox, hard enough to leave a bruise.\n\n``As you can see, Eric, I'm still training to be a proper master. It's an old art, one that can be replaced by rewiring. But what good is a slave that's wired? I wouldn't wire you.'' he raised his hand to slap Erin yet again. \n\n``Don't facking hit him again,'' Eric growled. \n\nTerry paused and look the fox over, ``I'm sorry?''\n\n``You're not a dominant, you're just an abuser. Even if I was gay, I'd never in a million years submit to some fat fuck like you who gets mannequin slaves of people he likes,'' he balled his fists and stared up to him, seeing the boiling rage he expected along with a hint of confusion, ``Yeah, I looked at your purchase history. You think I haven't noticed how many of your slaves are similar to students here? All because you don't know how to properly ask people out,'' he grinned at the raging hippo, ``You're pathetic and you're never gonna find someone who'll choke on that cock willingly.''\n\nThe heavy fist that followed sent Eric tumbling to the floor. His left eye blinded for the moment as the flesh swelled around it, ``You think you're any better? You're the one with blood on your hands!'' he roared. He knew the hippo meant his family, but it brought back memories of who he shot to save Skiv. Their cold lifeless body lying atop her with a steaming hole in their helmet. \n\n``Nobody will accept you, private bitch. Not so long as you're family profits from war and violence,'' he growled, hauling Eric up against the wall by his shirt collar, ``You should be lucky that I even think you're worth my time.''\n\nThere was a little truth to that, as much as Eric hated to agree. Outside his family, no one who knew of the Karbon's ever really liked him unless it was for some personal value. But Skiv did...not that she knew who he really was. She liked Drips, the fox that could get her anything, and he loved being Drips because it meant he could be with her. How much of Drips was really an act though? Sure, the scavenger part was, but the personality was the same. \n\nHe smiled, ``Least I don't buy slaves to fuck,'' he spat into Terry's maw, ``At least when someone tells me they love me in the middle of a fuck, it's not because they're programmed or conditioned to say it because their master's mother never hugged them.''\n\nThat did it. Terry's face went white as the adrenaline pumped into his veins, gripping Eric's throat tighter and winding his fist back. As much as it would hurt, Eric welcomed it. Several broken bones and `mental' scaring would be enough of an excuse to get him out of campus for the year. \n\n``S-Stop!'' \n\nBoth boys and Terry's slave looked over to see a black bun with blue eyes staring up at them, biting his lower as he tried to hold his ground, ``L-Let him go, or I'll tell the teacher,'' Arthur threatened. \n\nThe hippo's grimace didn't waver, but as the bell rang he chuckled. Letting Eric slump back to the floor, Terry said, ``Sure thing, golden boy. Just for you,'' he said, pulling Erin along by a chain and passing the rabbit, ``Though next time, my botany class won't be saving either of you.''\n\nOnce Terry left, Arthur reached over to help Eric up, ``Y-you're pretty brave, standing up to him.'' he muttered out, shattering the calm and collected image the fox had seen throughout the day.\n\n``Sure, let's say that,'' Eric said, wincing while he balanced himself.\n\n``I mean it. I've been noticing that guy giving me the eye ever since I started. If it weren't for all the girls...'' the rabbit gulped, ``Well, anyway sorry for not helping sooner. I was...'' he looked away in shame, ``I was in the stall, hiding.''\n\nEric patted the underclassman's head, ``Hey, no sweat. I've had been doing the exact same thing in all honesty,'' he raised his hand to the rabbit, ``Eric, Eric Karbon.''\n\nArthur returned with a shake, ``Arthur Tenil. It's nice to meet you.''\n\n``That's a first. Most people don't want to be around me.''\n\n``Why? Cause your family does bad things?'' Arthur asked with a smile, ``No one's innocent, and you're not your parents.''\n\nEric blinked with his one good eye, ``Wow...didn't expect a critical thinker.''\n\n``My dad pays for the best tutors after all.'' Arthur looked over to the door, ``So...looks like Terry's out for both of us.''\n\n``Yeah,'' the fox nodded, ``I wouldn't be surprised if he got a black bunny boy slave soon and whored him up, after modding him to look like you. The kind of allowance he has is nuts.'' \n\n``Why doesn't the school stop him?''\n\n``His family donates the most, and he's not technically breaking any rules,'' he touched his swelling eye, wincing, ``Until now. But I'm not gonna report him.''\n\n``What? Why?''\n\nEric shrugged. He didn't have a good reason. The fox just wanted to get this day over with and crawl into bed, or his den. He'd probably be making that his room until Skiv trusted him again, if ever. \n\n``Hey...'' Arthur scratched the back of his ears, ``If you'd ever like to hang out sometime, I'd be all for it. You know, my place or your place, whatever.''\n\nEric looked the bun down again. In the face, he looked so similar to Skiv. But the demeanor and personality were such opposites that he couldn't imagine them being related at all. But Skiv was raised on the outskirts, fighting day to day just to survive. Arthur had Eric's life, being born with a silver spoon and never facing a real physical struggle. Only mental ones of expectations. \n\nHe nodded, ``Would love to.''\n\n***\n\n``No way in Hel,'' Skiv said, sitting across from Eric in his desk chair while the fox took comfort on that cloud of a bed, ``I don't have siblings, and even if I did, it'd be trading one collar for another.''\n\nThe fox sighed, holding a fresh icepack to his eye that Mallory had provided hastily after pulling the rabbit off him, ``I can show you a picture, Skiv. The appearance is uncanny.''\n\n``I don't know what that means.''\n\nEric swiped his fingers through the air, ``Let me just-''\n\nShe grabbed his hand, ``No. I don't give a fack about some resemblance. That ain't important right now.''\n\n``Since when is your freedom not important?''\n\n``Since this isn't about my freedom,'' she said, gripping his wrist tighter, ``This is about you pushing off the responsibility to someone else.''\n\n``If it was about responsibility, I'd had just given you up.'' Eric said, sighing as he pulled his hand away, ``Skiv, I know you're used to surviving in the outskirts, but...well you've told me before how you've almost died so many times. How many `almosts' can you have? If I wasn't there that die, you would have died!''\n\n``If you weren't there that day, neither would I. Let's not forget, I joined that community for your safety.''\n\n``Yeah, but you joined it before I arrived that day, Skiv. Don't go pushing the blame on me. It might not have been that day, but sometime soon it would have been attacked and I'd have lost you.'' Standing up from his seat, Eric poked his finger against the rabbit's new shirt, ``I care about you, you idiot. I've been infatuated with you since you saved my life, and after being with you for the first month I've loved you. So it's not just about responsibility, it's about making you happy.'' Throwing his hands up into the air, he let himself fall back into the bed, ``I know I'm being selfish with this. It's just...you're the only real thing that I've felt in my life ok. Up here, everyone just sees me as my parent's kid.''\n\n``And I saw you as Drips.'' Skiv pointed out, though from her tone it didn't feel like she was hoping to fight, ``And...'' the rabbit sighed, ``I still do, no matter how much I try to deny it. As you can tell from how I rushed towards ya when I saw the black eye.''\n\n``Part of me thought you were gonna make it bigger. Figured I deserved it.''\n\n``Nah,'' Skiv said, shaking her head, ``That hippo's gonna get his throat slit though.''\n\nEric frowned, sitting up to look her dead-on, ``You can't do that.''\n\nHer ear twitched, ``Why the fack not? He hurt you, and,'' she stood up, leaning over the fox and pushing him back down to the bed, ``last I remembered, I claimed Drips as mine.''\n\n``H-hey, Drips wasn't real, remember?'' he stuttered out anxiously, ``And I technically am in charge of you.''\n\n``Do you feel in charge?'' she asked, hand cupping his cheek, ``Rich boy?'' Heart pounding in his ears, and cock tenting in his pants, Eric couldn't rightfully say he was. Her smile sealed it, ``That's right,'' she said, grabbing his hair, ``They may scan me as your facking property, and I may end up acting like your bodyguard, but between us, I'm the one in charge. We're just in your field of expertise now.''\n\n``So, you're not mad at me anymore?'' \n\nShe let go, ``Course I'm still mad. I'm gonna be mad for a long time, Eric. But right now, I've got a new target for my rage, and I'm just gonna keep finding new targets until I stop being mad at you.''\n\n``Skiv, you can't kill Terry.'' he said, rolling his eye at her incredulous look, ``I mean, physically I have no doubt you could. But the consequences are too great.''\n\n``Like what?''\n\n``Most importantly, you'd be executed. No courts would care for a slave's rights if they committed murder. My family would be fined and whatnot, but you'd be straight up dead when they caught you.''\n\n``Ya mean, if?''\n\n``No,'' he glared, ``I mean, when. This isn't the outskirts where you can lay low properly. The security has ways of finding you, and your best bet would be getting off-world. But even then...well it's a big Galaxy, and Yggdrissil owns a lot of it.'' Eric said, hoping the dangers of the situation would be enough for Skiv to realize this was over her head.\n\n``So what, I'm just supposed to let this creep walk all over you? Can't be bodyguarding ya if I let him do that.''\n\n``You can't be a bodyguard at all in your current state,'' Mallory said. Skiv and Eric hurriedly pushed away from each other as the maid surprised them. Eric didn't even hear the door slide open, or remember if he had it locked at all. The raccoon looked at Skiv dismissively, better than the silent rage he'd been noticed her build within her, ``Young Master, I have come to inform you that your parents and Mistress Mavis shall be arriving tomorrow.''\n\nHis heart skipped. Eric knew his father was to make an appearance soon. His mother, though busy with Oversight, would surely appear in some form, though the physical he didn't expect. But his eldest sister? What possible reason could she have to be coming down from her work in the field? ``I...I see. Why are they all coming, Mallory?'' he asked, holding back the urge to gulp.\n\n``Your father and mother have been notified of our security breach, as well as,'' she peered down at him through her glasses, ``other problems. Your sister, however, has just finished her latest mission on a rebelling forgeworld, and has been ordered by your father to attend because, and I quote, `We might as well celebrate your victory as a family.' so she'll be arriving first. I believe she'll be here by nightfall.'' she turned to Skiv, ``Young master, may I take your slave for a moment? If the rest of the family is to arrive, I need to make sure she is useful during their stay.''\n\n``Useful how?'' Skiv asked with a small scowl etched along her face, ``Ya gonna prep me to get fucked?''\n\n``Oh heavens no, I doubt anyone in the Karbon family would stoop so low,'' she said, eyeing Eric as she spoke, ``But nevertheless, it is time I teach you how to properly act in this household and your duties.''\n\n``And what if I don't want to?'' Skiv asked, leading Eric to rest his head on his palm if not for already doing it to hold the ice, ``What if I want to stay close to the person I'm meant to be protecting? Ain't that my duty?''\n\nMallory smiled and leaned over to the rabbit, ``My dear, in the span we have been talking, I could, in theory, have snapped the young master's neck in three ways before you blink. You've seen me in action, so I doubt I need to explain this to you,'' her deathly cold smile had Eric scooting backward onto the bed, ``As you are, currently you're more likely to get the young master killed than protect him. But if you take my training to heart, you will likely stand some chance against an augmented individual like myself. You have potential, and if I'm going to see you around here, then I'd rather not see it go to waste.''\n\n``Sarah, go with Mallory, I'm fine for now,'' he ordered, turning to the raccoon he continued, ``Mallory, under no circumstances are you to permanently harm, mentally or physically, my property. Treat her with care, as though you were teaching me or my sisters.''\n\nA small twitch in the maid's cybernetic eyes caused the fox's tail to shiver, but her smile didn't waver, ``Of course, young master. I shall have your slave in her own quarters shortly before training.''\n\n``And she has free access to my room,'' he stated, ``Is that clear?''\n\nThat caused a slight grimace in the maid, ``Yes, of course, young master. Now please get some rest.'' \n\nHe didn't need her request, always laying about the bed and looking to the ceiling. First Skiv almost died and hated him for saving her, next he got his ass beat by a stalking hippo with a slave of his own likeness, and now, finally, his whole family was coming down to discuss their `flaw' in their security. Eric sighed, so far the only good things to happen today involved two rabbits. One new friend, and another who cared for him despite everything.\n\nMaybe that was enough for now.\n\n***\n\n``Welcome home, young master Arthur,'' a black bunny in a maid uniform and slave collar said with a bow as the younger bun entered into the mansion. Like most days, it was empty save for the maids and several drones. His father and mother were off shooting films on other worlds, leaving him in the hand of a few servants to care for his needs. Arthur ignored the maid as he stepped up the stairs in the spacious front hall, heading towards his room as the maid followed.\n\n``How was your day, young master?'' she asked. Her voice grated on him, but Arthur knew she just cared for the best for him. \n\n``It was fine. I think I made an actual friend today.''\n\n``Oh, that's wonderful so-'' he slapped her before she could finish, the hit echoing throughout the empty halls of his home. She didn't cry, already showing the follow of her mistake in her expression, ``I'm sorry, young master. It's just a slip of the tongue and-''\n\n``Shut up,'' he ordered. With a downward finger, she was on her knees and kissing his shoes, ``Be thankful it is only us. If father or mother were here, you could not be walking for the rest of the week.''\n\nShe nodded, ``Yes, young master.''\n\nHe grabbed her hair, looking into the terrified and sorrowful expression she tried so hard to hide, ``And if we had company, I'd personally have your tongue removed for such a mistake. Do I make myself clear?''\n\n``Yes, young master.'' \n\nTossing her away, the younger bun left for his room, ``Go clean something, trash. I have no use of you for today.''\n\n", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "Mallory knew.

He didn't know how she knew. Eric had figured he kept his digital tracks very clean and delicate with all the knowledge he acquired. Sure, Athenia High didn't exactly have courses on advanced cybersecurity, so he had to make do with what they taught in basics and work his way up there. But he, and screw being humble, was pretty facking skilled as a hacker his age. So how could she have figured him out?

What's more, how was he going to fix it?

``Master Eric, we have arrived.'' the driver stated. The young fox swallowed his fears for a moment and straightened his tie. He hated the tie, always figuring it more like a noose than anything presentable. One of the few good things in the outskirts, no neckties. Course the outskirts didn't have good printed food or comfy beds, so it was a mixed bag.

``Thank you, Thomas.'' He said, stepping out from the car, ``You do not need to pick me up after classes, I shall walk home and-''

``I'm afraid Mistress Mallory will not allow that, young master. She gave me explicit instructions to bring you back when classes ended.'' the Doberman in the front explained.

Sighing, Eric looked over to him, ``Since when did my maid's request outdo my own?'' he asked. The fox hated to pull rank, only made his guilt over his own luck worsen. Thomas was only doing his job after all, and even if the dog was enslaved it didn't feel fair to try and frighten him for following orders.

``Mistress Mallory told me that if you complain about her demand, then I am to inform you that your complaint would be added to the list of things your father is to hear about upon his arrival.''

``F-Father?'' he gulped, color draining from under his facial fur, ``He's coming home?''

``That, I do not know, young master. I am but a driver and, in this rare case, a humble messenger. Shall I tell her of your complaint?''

Fists balled, Eric stepped out from the limo and exhaled. Breathing in the fresh and clean arcology air, he sighed and turned back to the car, ``No, Thomas. Please be here upon the hour of school ending, I shall be waiting for you.'' he said, already missing being able to talk like a normal person around Skiv. Hands in his pockets and already slumping, Eric headed up towards his campus.

This was going to be a terrible day.

***

Remembering his actual homeroom was difficult enough. Getting there on time in this massive joke of a building made Eric glad he'd developed a little better physically in his months with Skiv. The door slid open as he nearly barreled through it, clenching his chest and holding his knees for stability.

When he looked up, the fox noticed half the furs present staring at him. Some confused, others shocked, and a few with a darker smile on their faces. He ignored them as he reached for his seat.

``Excuse me, who are you?'' the teacher asked, scouting through a list in AR. Eric checked his own AR feed, noting that this was indeed the right room. People must have just forgotten he existed.

Which, in his defense, he was almost successful in doing.

``Eric Karbon. I've been...absent for a while.''

``Eric...Eric...oh yes, here you are,'' the teacher said, placing a finger on Eric's name, ``Hmm...must be a malfunction in the auto attendance tracker. It says you were already here.''

Giving a small shrug, Eric smirked, ``Technology, right? Not as perfect as we expect it to be.'' the young fox said, taking a mental note to remove his additional malware so the teachers wouldn't be suspicious of it happening now that he'd be showing up. Hopefully, he could wait until the weekends to remove everything since taking out malware without being noticed was a lot harder than putting it in.

An anonymous message popped up on his AR feed, `Back from boot camp, killer?' it read, tagged on with several emojis of smiles and death. He brushed it aside, not needing to be a genius or a hacking expert to know who dared send him this picture. Pretty much everyone in this school hated him for the work his parents did. A campus filled with children of the elite, from actors, doctors, high-class businessmen.

And then there were his parents. His father, the CEO of a private military company that also liked to offer services as a security corp. A very blood business whose margins went up whenever they successfully completed a mission. Never mind stopping or ending a conflict, that'd leave them out of a career path. Then there was Eric's mother, who worked for Oversight, the most feared division in Yggdrasil that was in charge of making sure other companies and firms fell in line. A visit from Oversight could very well mean you losing your first-class status.

A more ruthless student would have used these connections to threaten people, remind them what could happen if they said the wrong thing to them. But Eric wasn't ruthless, out of his entire family only Harriet gave less of a fack about their traditions. The fox didn't want people to fear him, just like him for who he is. Instead, that translated to him being a punching bag since `telling mommy and daddy' was against his code.

With a sigh, he crumpled against his desk and searched around the room out of boredom, trying to remember the names and faces of people he'd been avoiding for three months. A new face caught his attention, and not for lack of familiarity. Quite the opposite. A black rabbit with blue eyes sat on the other side of the room, leafing through AR feeds slowly while several girls fawned over her...him...Eric couldn't tell from where he sat. But whatever the rabbit was, they almost looked like...

``Skiv?'' he mouthed, getting up to reach for the student. The alarm rang, and a stampede of students followed, pushing him out of his class and back into the hall. When he checked again, the rabbit was gone. It couldn't have been Skiv, she wouldn't dress so nice or knew how to read, besides the obvious being classless part and not being allowed in here.

Shaking his head, Eric popped open his AR HUD to see what class he had first to make up for. Seeing economics 315, he sighed and rested his head in his hands before groaning loudly into the emptying halls.

``Fack.''

***

Arthur Tenil. Eric read the name over in his AR while taking an unenthusiastic bite of his chicken sandwich. The school had high-class printers, but something about the food didn't make him crave it. The only Tenil Eric knew was a famous actor named Robert Tenil, who outside of being a heavily decorated patron of the acting arts, ran several charities that were targeted to help the poor and unfortunate. The kind of person that first-class kids liked, but adults hated for making it difficult to make use of the lower class. At least in the open, Eric had seen enough threads on the darker side of the net to believe that no one `nice' was really all that cracked up to be.

Robert Tenil was also a bull. Arthur was a rabbit. Something didn't click in Eric's head the longer he watched the black bun. Going through the school records was easy enough, he didn't have the focus to actually pay attention to his classes, and being three months behind made the fox too lost to even bother. Arthur, despite being in his homeroom, was a year lower than Eric. Grade A student, lots of extracurriculars, and even a few prizes. A real shining star of a loving couple. And someone that only came to the Academy this year.

``Peeping on students? Whatever happened to privacy, killer?''

Groaning, Eric took a moment to step up from his seat only for a heavy hand to place him down, ``You've been gone for three months, and now you're staring dead eyes at the new kids' file. Guess you think you're above the rules.'' chuckled Terry King, a tall hippo with an even bigger ego and an all-around pain in Eric's side.

``Hi, Terry,'' Eric said, forcing out a smile, ``I'm just leav-'' the hippo's hand didn't relent as Terry took a seat next to him. Figuring he wasn't going anywhere, Eric took a deep breath and looked over to the light stubbled mug of the hippo, taking note of the effeminate fox with a slave collar kneeling next to him, dressed in a revealing mockery of the school uniform with a skirt just low enough to show a chastity cage, and a buttoned-up shirt twisted to reveal his abdomen. Judging from the brown eyes hidden behind silvery bangs and the overall familiarity to his mug, Eric had the right for his skin to crawl.

``So, private bitch, where have you been these past three months?'' the hippo asked, taking his seat dangerously close to Eric, ``I missed you. I had to go shopping for your likeness cause I thought you left.''

Taking a look at the other fox's expression, Eric figured Terry didn't spend money overriding his personality. If he had to guess why then he imagined it was because Terry wanted someone struggling under him in those lonely nights. It was almost enough to have Eric see his lunch again, ``I was...sick,'' he lied, ``Came down with something really bad. Had to stay home, the usual.''

``Then why did the school never report it?'' he inched closer, hand reaching down into Eric's back pocket, ``You hiding something from the rest of us? Private bitch?''

``N-no, Terry. And could you please...''

``Please what? Stop? I'm just giving you a friendly little butt pat,'' his whispered, ``My bitch Erin loves it all the time when I reach down and spank him. Maybe you can come on over and experience that yourself. Course, you could just stop me. Call your big bad security dad and say how much you want me dead.''

He didn't need this right now. Not today, with this whole Arthur situation in his head. Taking a deep breath, Eric sighed and forced a smile, ``I'll have to decline, Terry. But I'm glad you finally could afford a slave of your very own. Be careful with him though, the school is pretty strict on personal slaves.'' getting up before Terry could finish, he grabbed his tray and rushed out of the cafeteria. Looking back, Arthur had vanished, along with the group of girls that had flocked to his side. Taking a deep breath and putting his tray away, Eric found a quiet and empty spot in the hall, let his breath out, and punched the wall.

He wanted to scream, but it'd do nothing. Shaking his fist from the wall punch, he opened up his AR feed to see his next class. History. Rolling his eyes, Eric pushed on to the classroom early with a plan to take a nap beforehand. He could confront Arthur later. If he even needed to. It was just an uncanny resemblance is all, it's not like he was related to Skiv.

But...Eric looked up the ceiling in thought. If Arthur was related to Skiv, maybe they could purchase her from the household and she could be given first-class membership by relation? I was a stretch, but better than nothing. So long as it made her suffer less, anything was better than nothing.

***

His lunch hadn't agreed with him. Maybe it was how his body had partially adapted to eating the scraps Skiv called food during his visits, or maybe the printer had a malfunction in its process. Either way, the fox had spent a ridiculous time in the bathroom. Now washing his hands, Eric took a moment to think about Arthur yet again.

While his father wasn't a rabbit, his mother was, but she was an entirely different kind of rabbit and fur color. He hadn't had the time to check for any adoption papers, or what Mr. Tenil's staff was comprised of. Given the charity the actor ran, adoption seemed like the most favorable outcome, which didn't bode well for his hopes to help Skiv. Even worse if Arthur was the child of a maid or `indentured servant' to Tenil, as the actor claimed in numerous interviews. The bull had a smugness that just irradiated on the screen, so much that if Eric were any stronger he'd imagine throwing a punch that might actually hurt.

And even in the likelihood that Arthur could help Skiv, how would Eric even approach him? The bun was practically surrounded by a posse of girls that fawned over his every whim and gave Eric the stink eye whenever he dared approach. Arthur's dad ran a charity and was an accomplished actor, while his own father ran a company that killed people for a living. They were in two different worlds.

``Well, fancy meeting you here, private bitch,'' Terry chuckled, walking through the bathroom door with his slave Erin in tow by a chained leash. The jingle of the chain scratched the back of Eric's mind as he tried to pass by, not that the hippo allowed him. With one hand he held the fox and said, ``Woah there, bro, I just wanted to talk.'' he said, with that ass of a smile.

``We can text, you have my codes,''

Terry shook his head, ``Nah, it's better face to face. Walk with me,'' he said, grabbing Eric's collar and dragging to the urinals with Erin behind. He grabbed the effeminate fox and pulled him in front of them, forcing the boy onto his knees while the hippo pulled his cock out, ``See, I've been actually worried about you.''

Eric avoided eye contact, ``I'm sure you have.''

``No, I'm serious. Why do you think I bought your likeness in a slave?'' Terry grinned, lining his fat cock to the girly fox's mouth, ``I was worried you gave into your submissive fantasies and ran away, selling yourself off to be some dites little whore.''

Eric blinked, ``I...the fack?''

Terry shook his head, ``What, you think your matrix history is safe just cause you delete it?'' he said, urine streaming out of his cock and into the kneeling slave's open maw, ``I know all about your kinks, Eric. You like them big dick girls, emphasis on the dick.''

He gripped his sleeve, ``That's private, you have no right-''

``Shut the fuck up and listen, private bitch.'' the hippo stated, revealing his large lower teeth as he spoke, ``Look, I get that some people just aren't cut to be first class. They're born lucky but would prefer having someone be...overseeing them. And judging by how you're not paying attention in class, I think you're just not up for it.''

The fox under them gagged, spitting piss onto the floor. Terry grabbed his silvery hair and pushed him up against the urinal, ``What did I say about not swallowing, Erin?!''

``I'm sorry, master, it just came so fa-'' Terry slapped the fox, hard enough to leave a bruise.

``As you can see, Eric, I'm still training to be a proper master. It's an old art, one that can be replaced by rewiring. But what good is a slave that's wired? I wouldn't wire you.'' he raised his hand to slap Erin yet again.

``Don't facking hit him again,'' Eric growled.

Terry paused and look the fox over, ``I'm sorry?''

``You're not a dominant, you're just an abuser. Even if I was gay, I'd never in a million years submit to some fat fuck like you who gets mannequin slaves of people he likes,'' he balled his fists and stared up to him, seeing the boiling rage he expected along with a hint of confusion, ``Yeah, I looked at your purchase history. You think I haven't noticed how many of your slaves are similar to students here? All because you don't know how to properly ask people out,'' he grinned at the raging hippo, ``You're pathetic and you're never gonna find someone who'll choke on that cock willingly.''

The heavy fist that followed sent Eric tumbling to the floor. His left eye blinded for the moment as the flesh swelled around it, ``You think you're any better? You're the one with blood on your hands!'' he roared. He knew the hippo meant his family, but it brought back memories of who he shot to save Skiv. Their cold lifeless body lying atop her with a steaming hole in their helmet.

``Nobody will accept you, private bitch. Not so long as you're family profits from war and violence,'' he growled, hauling Eric up against the wall by his shirt collar, ``You should be lucky that I even think you're worth my time.''

There was a little truth to that, as much as Eric hated to agree. Outside his family, no one who knew of the Karbon's ever really liked him unless it was for some personal value. But Skiv did...not that she knew who he really was. She liked Drips, the fox that could get her anything, and he loved being Drips because it meant he could be with her. How much of Drips was really an act though? Sure, the scavenger part was, but the personality was the same.

He smiled, ``Least I don't buy slaves to fuck,'' he spat into Terry's maw, ``At least when someone tells me they love me in the middle of a fuck, it's not because they're programmed or conditioned to say it because their master's mother never hugged them.''

That did it. Terry's face went white as the adrenaline pumped into his veins, gripping Eric's throat tighter and winding his fist back. As much as it would hurt, Eric welcomed it. Several broken bones and `mental' scaring would be enough of an excuse to get him out of campus for the year.

``S-Stop!''

Both boys and Terry's slave looked over to see a black bun with blue eyes staring up at them, biting his lower as he tried to hold his ground, ``L-Let him go, or I'll tell the teacher,'' Arthur threatened.

The hippo's grimace didn't waver, but as the bell rang he chuckled. Letting Eric slump back to the floor, Terry said, ``Sure thing, golden boy. Just for you,'' he said, pulling Erin along by a chain and passing the rabbit, ``Though next time, my botany class won't be saving either of you.''

Once Terry left, Arthur reached over to help Eric up, ``Y-you're pretty brave, standing up to him.'' he muttered out, shattering the calm and collected image the fox had seen throughout the day.

``Sure, let's say that,'' Eric said, wincing while he balanced himself.

``I mean it. I've been noticing that guy giving me the eye ever since I started. If it weren't for all the girls...'' the rabbit gulped, ``Well, anyway sorry for not helping sooner. I was...'' he looked away in shame, ``I was in the stall, hiding.''

Eric patted the underclassman's head, ``Hey, no sweat. I've had been doing the exact same thing in all honesty,'' he raised his hand to the rabbit, ``Eric, Eric Karbon.''

Arthur returned with a shake, ``Arthur Tenil. It's nice to meet you.''

``That's a first. Most people don't want to be around me.''

``Why? Cause your family does bad things?'' Arthur asked with a smile, ``No one's innocent, and you're not your parents.''

Eric blinked with his one good eye, ``Wow...didn't expect a critical thinker.''

``My dad pays for the best tutors after all.'' Arthur looked over to the door, ``So...looks like Terry's out for both of us.''

``Yeah,'' the fox nodded, ``I wouldn't be surprised if he got a black bunny boy slave soon and whored him up, after modding him to look like you. The kind of allowance he has is nuts.''

``Why doesn't the school stop him?''

``His family donates the most, and he's not technically breaking any rules,'' he touched his swelling eye, wincing, ``Until now. But I'm not gonna report him.''

``What? Why?''

Eric shrugged. He didn't have a good reason. The fox just wanted to get this day over with and crawl into bed, or his den. He'd probably be making that his room until Skiv trusted him again, if ever.

``Hey...'' Arthur scratched the back of his ears, ``If you'd ever like to hang out sometime, I'd be all for it. You know, my place or your place, whatever.''

Eric looked the bun down again. In the face, he looked so similar to Skiv. But the demeanor and personality were such opposites that he couldn't imagine them being related at all. But Skiv was raised on the outskirts, fighting day to day just to survive. Arthur had Eric's life, being born with a silver spoon and never facing a real physical struggle. Only mental ones of expectations.

He nodded, ``Would love to.''

***

``No way in Hel,'' Skiv said, sitting across from Eric in his desk chair while the fox took comfort on that cloud of a bed, ``I don't have siblings, and even if I did, it'd be trading one collar for another.''

The fox sighed, holding a fresh icepack to his eye that Mallory had provided hastily after pulling the rabbit off him, ``I can show you a picture, Skiv. The appearance is uncanny.''

``I don't know what that means.''

Eric swiped his fingers through the air, ``Let me just-''

She grabbed his hand, ``No. I don't give a fack about some resemblance. That ain't important right now.''

``Since when is your freedom not important?''

``Since this isn't about my freedom,'' she said, gripping his wrist tighter, ``This is about you pushing off the responsibility to someone else.''

``If it was about responsibility, I'd had just given you up.'' Eric said, sighing as he pulled his hand away, ``Skiv, I know you're used to surviving in the outskirts, but...well you've told me before how you've almost died so many times. How many `almosts' can you have? If I wasn't there that die, you would have died!''

``If you weren't there that day, neither would I. Let's not forget, I joined that community for your safety.''

``Yeah, but you joined it before I arrived that day, Skiv. Don't go pushing the blame on me. It might not have been that day, but sometime soon it would have been attacked and I'd have lost you.'' Standing up from his seat, Eric poked his finger against the rabbit's new shirt, ``I care about you, you idiot. I've been infatuated with you since you saved my life, and after being with you for the first month I've loved you. So it's not just about responsibility, it's about making you happy.'' Throwing his hands up into the air, he let himself fall back into the bed, ``I know I'm being selfish with this. It's just...you're the only real thing that I've felt in my life ok. Up here, everyone just sees me as my parent's kid.''

``And I saw you as Drips.'' Skiv pointed out, though from her tone it didn't feel like she was hoping to fight, ``And...'' the rabbit sighed, ``I still do, no matter how much I try to deny it. As you can tell from how I rushed towards ya when I saw the black eye.''

``Part of me thought you were gonna make it bigger. Figured I deserved it.''

``Nah,'' Skiv said, shaking her head, ``That hippo's gonna get his throat slit though.''

Eric frowned, sitting up to look her dead-on, ``You can't do that.''

Her ear twitched, ``Why the fack not? He hurt you, and,'' she stood up, leaning over the fox and pushing him back down to the bed, ``last I remembered, I claimed Drips as mine.''

``H-hey, Drips wasn't real, remember?'' he stuttered out anxiously, ``And I technically am in charge of you.''

``Do you feel in charge?'' she asked, hand cupping his cheek, ``Rich boy?'' Heart pounding in his ears, and cock tenting in his pants, Eric couldn't rightfully say he was. Her smile sealed it, ``That's right,'' she said, grabbing his hair, ``They may scan me as your facking property, and I may end up acting like your bodyguard, but between us, I'm the one in charge. We're just in your field of expertise now.''

``So, you're not mad at me anymore?''

She let go, ``Course I'm still mad. I'm gonna be mad for a long time, Eric. But right now, I've got a new target for my rage, and I'm just gonna keep finding new targets until I stop being mad at you.''

``Skiv, you can't kill Terry.'' he said, rolling his eye at her incredulous look, ``I mean, physically I have no doubt you could. But the consequences are too great.''

``Like what?''

``Most importantly, you'd be executed. No courts would care for a slave's rights if they committed murder. My family would be fined and whatnot, but you'd be straight up dead when they caught you.''

``Ya mean, if?''

``No,'' he glared, ``I mean, when. This isn't the outskirts where you can lay low properly. The security has ways of finding you, and your best bet would be getting off-world. But even then...well it's a big Galaxy, and Yggdrissil owns a lot of it.'' Eric said, hoping the dangers of the situation would be enough for Skiv to realize this was over her head.

``So what, I'm just supposed to let this creep walk all over you? Can't be bodyguarding ya if I let him do that.''

``You can't be a bodyguard at all in your current state,'' Mallory said. Skiv and Eric hurriedly pushed away from each other as the maid surprised them. Eric didn't even hear the door slide open, or remember if he had it locked at all. The raccoon looked at Skiv dismissively, better than the silent rage he'd been noticed her build within her, ``Young Master, I have come to inform you that your parents and Mistress Mavis shall be arriving tomorrow.''

His heart skipped. Eric knew his father was to make an appearance soon. His mother, though busy with Oversight, would surely appear in some form, though the physical he didn't expect. But his eldest sister? What possible reason could she have to be coming down from her work in the field? ``I...I see. Why are they all coming, Mallory?'' he asked, holding back the urge to gulp.

``Your father and mother have been notified of our security breach, as well as,'' she peered down at him through her glasses, ``other problems. Your sister, however, has just finished her latest mission on a rebelling forgeworld, and has been ordered by your father to attend because, and I quote, `We might as well celebrate your victory as a family.' so she'll be arriving first. I believe she'll be here by nightfall.'' she turned to Skiv, ``Young master, may I take your slave for a moment? If the rest of the family is to arrive, I need to make sure she is useful during their stay.''

``Useful how?'' Skiv asked with a small scowl etched along her face, ``Ya gonna prep me to get fucked?''

``Oh heavens no, I doubt anyone in the Karbon family would stoop so low,'' she said, eyeing Eric as she spoke, ``But nevertheless, it is time I teach you how to properly act in this household and your duties.''

``And what if I don't want to?'' Skiv asked, leading Eric to rest his head on his palm if not for already doing it to hold the ice, ``What if I want to stay close to the person I'm meant to be protecting? Ain't that my duty?''

Mallory smiled and leaned over to the rabbit, ``My dear, in the span we have been talking, I could, in theory, have snapped the young master's neck in three ways before you blink. You've seen me in action, so I doubt I need to explain this to you,'' her deathly cold smile had Eric scooting backward onto the bed, ``As you are, currently you're more likely to get the young master killed than protect him. But if you take my training to heart, you will likely stand some chance against an augmented individual like myself. You have potential, and if I'm going to see you around here, then I'd rather not see it go to waste.''

``Sarah, go with Mallory, I'm fine for now,'' he ordered, turning to the raccoon he continued, ``Mallory, under no circumstances are you to permanently harm, mentally or physically, my property. Treat her with care, as though you were teaching me or my sisters.''

A small twitch in the maid's cybernetic eyes caused the fox's tail to shiver, but her smile didn't waver, ``Of course, young master. I shall have your slave in her own quarters shortly before training.''

``And she has free access to my room,'' he stated, ``Is that clear?''

That caused a slight grimace in the maid, ``Yes, of course, young master. Now please get some rest.''

He didn't need her request, always laying about the bed and looking to the ceiling. First Skiv almost died and hated him for saving her, next he got his ass beat by a stalking hippo with a slave of his own likeness, and now, finally, his whole family was coming down to discuss their `flaw' in their security. Eric sighed, so far the only good things to happen today involved two rabbits. One new friend, and another who cared for him despite everything.

Maybe that was enough for now.

***

``Welcome home, young master Arthur,'' a black bunny in a maid uniform and slave collar said with a bow as the younger bun entered into the mansion. Like most days, it was empty save for the maids and several drones. His father and mother were off shooting films on other worlds, leaving him in the hand of a few servants to care for his needs. Arthur ignored the maid as he stepped up the stairs in the spacious front hall, heading towards his room as the maid followed.

``How was your day, young master?'' she asked. Her voice grated on him, but Arthur knew she just cared for the best for him.

``It was fine. I think I made an actual friend today.''

``Oh, that's wonderful so-'' he slapped her before she could finish, the hit echoing throughout the empty halls of his home. She didn't cry, already showing the follow of her mistake in her expression, ``I'm sorry, young master. It's just a slip of the tongue and-''

``Shut up,'' he ordered. With a downward finger, she was on her knees and kissing his shoes, ``Be thankful it is only us. If father or mother were here, you could not be walking for the rest of the week.''

She nodded, ``Yes, young master.''

He grabbed her hair, looking into the terrified and sorrowful expression she tried so hard to hide, ``And if we had company, I'd personally have your tongue removed for such a mistake. Do I make myself clear?''

``Yes, young master.''

Tossing her away, the younger bun left for his room, ``Go clean something, trash. I have no use of you for today.''

", "pools_count": 2, "title": "Pariah Chapter 5: Eric's Day Out", "deleted": "f", "public": "t", "mimetype": "application/msword", "pagecount": "1", "rating_id": "2", "rating_name": "Adult", "ratings": [ { "content_tag_id": "4", "name": "Sexual Themes", "description": "Erotic imagery, sexual activity or arousal", "rating_id": "2" } ], "submission_type_id": "12", "type_name": "Writing - Document", "guest_block": "t", "friends_only": "f", "comments_count": "0", "views": "130" }