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Don't play card games ON motorcycles. That shit's dangerous and irresponsible. Be a grown ass adult playing a children's card game, or ride a motorcycle. Not both.\n\nAlso Drama", "description_bbcode_parsed": "CARD GAMES OFF OF MOTORCYCLES!!!!

No, really. Don't play card games ON motorcycles. That shit's dangerous and irresponsible. Be a grown ass adult playing a children's card game, or ride a motorcycle. Not both.

Also Drama", "writing": "Leashed Chapter 12: Game On\n\nBy TerraMGP\n\n\tSimon looked down at his deck. `His' deck. Black, Blue, White. Esper, it was apparently called. \n\n\tGretchen had told him it wouldn't work. He wasn't expecting it to. He had no idea what he was doing beyond throwing cards in. He had a rough understanding of what he wanted it to do. Built mostly around this cute `Greasefang' girl, `mind link mechs' and Ninjas. So many ninjas. If he understood the rules correctly it should allow him a chance to get a bunch of effects and bounce cards around between his deck, hand and graveyard.\n\n\tIf he understood it correctly.\n\n\tIf you had asked him this morning then Simon Miller would have told you he didn't give a shit. He wasn't here to win. He wasn't even really here to place. He was here out of... reasons. Emotional obligation? A desire to have a day off so the edging would hit harder over the weekend? The truth was he didn't know, and the effort it took to come up with plausible excuses killed any legitimacy said excuses may have had. \n\n\t``Hey, you out already?'' Gretchen's voice didn't have the normal snootiness. Or if it did the tone was at least subdued comparatively. She slipped the newest iteration of her current standard deck into its box and slipped down into the seat near Simon. She at least had the good grace to keep one seat between them. Though to tell the truth that may have been for the sake of her own anxiety.\n\n\t``I uh, I actually won.'' Simon laughed. The poor munk scratching the back of his head and shuffling his feet a bit.\n\n\t``How?'' Gretchen's jaw open to the point of being distended. Or at least that's how it looked. She quickly glanced at the floor and shook her head hard ``Sorry. I mean, look. I didn't mean anything by that, I mean... Sorry.''\n\n\t``I know what you mean'' Simon sighed ``Look I don?t know how I did it either. I got out one of my vehicles and just kept using it along side this one vehicle, and I had some ninja lady who could put it out because it's an artifact I guess? I don't even remember everything I was doing but it just let me throw a bunch of stuff on the field and trigger effects and by the time I was done the guy just quit. I donno.''\n\n\t``Well good! That means your strategy works. I guess.'' The mole maid pushed her glasses up her nose and wrinkled it a few times. Was she trying to keep them in place? Or resisting the urge to do that little dirt-clear thing she did? Simon wasn't sure. He also didn't care nearly as much as he probably would have earlier today.\n\n\t``Look.'' Gretchen finally sighed ``I'm sorry about what Lumia said in there.''\n\n\tThe munk boy forced the best smile he could and then let it drop. His shoulders slumping hard. ``Why are you sorry?'' the snottiness clear in his voice despite himself. ``I mean you're the one who got felt up by one of the bitch sisters.''\n\n\t``Y-yeah, well. Master had me sign one of those documents.'' Gretchen's voice dropped to a whisper and she pulled her arms around herself ``You know, the consent forms. Technically I could have safe worded out of that at any time. I just, uh...''\n\n\t``You're a real slave.'' Simon finished.\n\n\t``I didn't say that!'' Gretchen hiss-whispered ``Will you stop putting words in my mouth? God you're so freaking frustrating, you know that? I'm trying to say sorry and you're making it super hard for me.''\n\n\tIt would have been so easy to sneer. So very easy to just push further. Let her know she `should' be sorry. She should be the one to apologize. That maybe she should be taken down a peg for... what, exactly?\n\n\tThe question was shaken off as soon as it popped in. He was mad, and he had a right to be mad. Mad at her. Mad at all of this. He gripped the cheap deck box he'd bought before she could do that as well and started to fiddle with the Velcro keeping it in place. ``I guess I didn't realize those forms let them go that far with you. My bad.'' He grumbled. ``And why didn't you tell me that those books are in PDF format? I mean there has to be a place to buy them online. Probably cheaper than in person. Hell, why didn't you tell me that you've never been in a game before?''\n\n\t``That last one's not my fault. Master promised he'll start a campaign when he's not tired. He's just really hecking tired right now. He can't even get his class schedule to give him consistent hours to sleep. Mistress has me going in there and basically cuddling him so he has to sleep because my fat ass is pinned over him.''\n\n\t``You're not that heavy'' Simon muttered. Only after cursing himself for being this nice to her.\n\n\t``I am, but that's not the point. As for the other thing? Well, ok. I forgot. That's on me. I was just focused on this idea that you'd use the watermarks to get his name. I mean obviously you know his first name. Really that femboy name is horrible. But it's a common first name. Plus there are, what, over fifty thousand people in this city?''\n\n\t``I think over eighty'' Simon shrugged ``But I could be misremembering. I get what you're saying. Though really there probably aren't that many Justin's who are also Otters in the city. Not to mention his phone is probably registered to his parents and so there'd be no way to track it that easily. If he's renting a room there's a non zero chance he's doing so semi-legally like most students so his name might not even show up in the paperwork properly...''\n\n\tAt that point Simon could feel the eyes burrowing into him and he tried his best to smile while looking back at her. ``My uh, my mom dated a bail bondsman for a while. He thought he'd impress me by showing me how to do background checks and searches. Honestly I'm glad she stopped dating after that, the guy was creepy.'' He sighed and folded his ears down hard while trying to shrink into the seat. ``I know you don't actually care. It just sounds creepy. Everything I do seems to sound creepy to you.''\n\n\t``Yeah, because you're one of the creeps who pays Master to abuse them for an hour. Then you show up at his other job. You bump into him on the street. You bump into `me'.'' She huffed a few times and then pulled an inhaler out of her pocket. A few shakes and a hard tug helped stall what Simon now realized had been a growing wheeze in her voice.\n\n\t``Look, we should just drop it'' he whimpered ``None of this is worth you getting hurt right now.''\n\n\t``I'm fine'' She muttered ``I just... You don't get to waltz into our lives and be his little Pogchamp like that. That role is taken. By my Mistress. I'm not going to let some limp wrested little'' she winced and took another puff. At that point Simon wasn't sure if she was supposed to or what. He tried to run though anything he might have picked up in the past to deal with something like that and came up blank.\n\n\t``Next round!'' The judge called from the back of the room, rolling his hand\n\n\t``Go'' Gretchen mouthed while waving a paw\n\n\tAs much as he was reluctant to do so, Simon made his way to the table and pulled his deck open. Looking back constantly at the huddled bundle of mole laying her head against the pop machine.\n\n--------------------\n\n\tAnother win. Another win that Simon absolutely did not understand. Many of the cast-offs he'd gotten from Gretchen's splurge were apparently rare or better. He'd thrown in a ton of stuff to speed up putting artifacts out since that was what he had figured was most important to whatever it was he had been doing with the vehicles. He threw in the technician ninja guy because he helped with that. Then Mindlink Mech because the combo let him throw things out of his hand faster.\n\n\tApparently it was a good engine. Good enough to get him though quite a few bouts, at least. For a guy who had no idea what he was doing he was beating people with more experience.\n\n\tMuch as he hated himself, it felt kind of good to win. That said, he was also more concerned about Gretchen.\n\n\tHe'd checked back on her each time it wasn't his turn. That might have been what set the guy off even more. It didn't matter. Pissed as he was at Gretchen he sure as hell didn't want her to die!\n\n\tWhen he got there she was downing a can of Sprite and thudding her foot on the ground. Deep, slow, careful breaths in between each sip. She looked annoyed. Be it at him or the obviously horrifying situation was unclear. Asthma was one of those things you always heard about but never seemed to see in person. Like a prop on a TV show to be pulled out as a gag and then mostly forgotten.\n\n\t``You ok?'' He muttered. His voice twisting like an old rubber band.\n\n\t``I'll be fine.'' She gasped back. The words were breathy and terrifyingly shallow. ``They checked up on me. I don't need an ambulance. It's not a bad one.''\n\n\t``Ok the ambulance is expensive but I could drive you to Bronson. Or Borgess. I guess the GPS would tell me which one is closer.''\n\n\t``No'' She muttered ``It's not that bad. If it gets worse then you can drive me but it's already about over. I just need to rest for a while. The judges both said they'd keep an eye on me so you don't have to worry about it, ok?''\n\n\tSimon took a half step back and bit his lip ``Ok fine, j-just don't get annoyed, ok? Please? The last thing anyone wants is for you to end up on the floor. I don't know if anyone here knows how to do one of those... the neck thingies they do in doctor shows. With the knife. Those look bad''\n\n\tOther than rolling her eyes the mole refused to respond. She just took small sips from the can and deep breaths that each made her unwilling companion worry that much more each time.\n\n\t``Can I ask you something?'' Gretchen's words came in broken clusters. The breathing between each one was labored and her body trembled from the strain.\n\n\t``Is it something I can answer without us having to talk a lot? Because I don't want to-'' Simon's question was cut off by a few small aggressive nods. He closed his eyes and just let her recover as best she could.\n\n\tA few more breaths, deeper now. Testing the limits of her lungs. Once it seemed Gretchen was comfortable with things she let out a sigh and shut her eyes tight. ``Why don't you want a real owner?''\n\n\tIt was so hard to be mad at a woman who could be minutes away from the hospital for all Simon knew. But damn it did this girl have a talent for it. How was he supposed to respond to that? What possible reasonable thing could anyone say when presented with that kind of absurd, selfish, narrow minded...\n\n\tDeep breaths. It felt almost vulgar to take them considering what Gretchen was going though. All of the horrible out-of-place anger and frustration kept bubbling up towards his brain and he struggled to stamp it back down to where it could be safely ignored. To let his more timid nature prevail over the alien aggression gnawing at the back of his spine. \n\n\t``I never said I didn't want an owner-'' The words felt wrong. Like a lie. God help him if he knew why but they did. The munk licked his lips and tried to put on a placating smile. ``I go see Mistress Justine because it's easier. I go to the club because it's easier. It's a way to cut the fuss out of everything. I mean, it's transactional, right? I pay money, I get to feel good. That's the capitalist society we live in. Hit the button, get your cookie. No complications. Nothing to go wrong. It's, I donno...''\n\n\tHe was still smiling, but he sure as hell wasn't feeling it. His knee just kept bouncing and his shoulders rolling while he tried to parse it out. There was more to it than that. He knew there was. He was making it all feel so shallow and wrong. He was still a sub, after all. Just like her. Still a slave. Still in need of training and to be put in his place. \n\n\tHis mind drifted back to that stupid girl in the club. To the stupid faux French pixie cut bitch who had looked him in the eye with that accusatory hate. Simon ground his foot into the floor hard enough that some small part of him worried he was wearing the tread off a nice set of sneaks. The Velcro on his deck box screamed as he thumbed it open and closed again and again. ``I already told you I'm not interested in guys. I mean your Master seems nice, like really nice. But I don't think it would be ok to try and be friends with him, considering. And besides what I have now works fine. Sure I haven't really done much to figure out `Jeanette', but I wasn't told to. I just had to follow orders and... Yeah. That's just what a sub does, right?''\n\n\tA glance at Gretchen showed him a girl who absolutely wasn't ready to speak yet. She still looked judgey as fuck. But she always looked that way. How was that new? ``Lumia is just nasty. Same way she felt you up like that. Sub form or not you didn't go `to' the club. I dragged you to a book store. A-and she was already being dirty `in' the book store. I mean we couldn't see specifically what was happening but it's pretty obvious. She has no idea how hard I work at this, or what I think. What either of us thinks. She bad mouth's you and your Master all the damn time... God I don't know how I even got on this tangent.''\n\n\tHe did. He refused to admit it, but he did. ``Are you `sure' you don't need to hit the hospital?'' He glanced up from the floor. Gretchen gave an annoyed nod and then he slumped back down again. Defeated, as always. Though wasn't that the job of a submissive?\n\n\t``Look. I'm fine with what Mistress Justine gives me. It's what I want. However valid it is, that's between me and her. I pay, I do the work, I go home. Nobody... nobody gets hurt...'' he felt something twinge. Something pull at the corners of his brain. Neurons hitting a brick wall that he both knew he should be questioning and eagerly looked away from. His leg now thudding up and down like a jackrabbit. Though to be fair that always felt like some harmful ADHD stereotype to him.\n\n\t``Miller!'' an annoyed voice called out from the back of the room. Simon looked up at the fox who usually sat behind the counter. The one who served as one of the two judges on Friday.\n\n\t``Sorry! I just had to make sure she was ok!'' he yelped as he pulled himself up. The poor boy then looked back at Gretchen and cursed how much the hate had left him. ``Look, we can talk more when I get back'' he sighed ``Wish me luck.''\n\n--------------------\n\n\t``I'm surprised one of you got this far.'' The boy across from Simon, and he clearly was in `boy' mode, grinned a sinister grin. He saw a femboy femme fatale sitting at the other end of the table. He sported a tee shirt which looked to have the same symbols on it which rested on the back of each card. Five different colored orbs in a ring. Simon noticed the shoes that the red panda boy had propped up at the end of the table. Sketchers. Somehow that made him hate the slut and his poor fashion sense just a little bit more. Not that he needed more reason.\n\n\t``I'm done.'' The munk sighed as he looked at his field. Two monsters and no hand. He hadn't had a hand most of the game, and only had three land. The rest had been discarded and what little he was able to play got destroyed quickly.\n\n\t``Awww, my turn again?'' Collin snickered. ``Well then, unless you're going to play something to wipe out my monsters...''\n\n\t``You know I can't!'' Simon sighed. \n\n\t``No, you can't. So then I'll attack with my pumped up Arlinn and Bird Admirer. And before you try to block...'' he smirked and revealed one of the cards in his hand ``Assassin's ink. Which means your cute little rat poofs. Now you can block Arlinn... But since she has trample and Howling Moon pumps her up that won`t do you any good. And since you`re at six life...''\n\n\tIt was no use. Even if Simon had understood those terms he was pretty sure he knew the end result. There was no way to stop what was coming. Even if there was he didn't have enough resources to do anything new the next turn. He was done. Very done.\n\n\tThe munk held out a paw and offered a hard plastic smile. Collin giggled a girlish giggle and reached over to pat him on the head instead. ``aww, good boy!'' He cooed ``You did pretty well considering you're one of miss mopey-pants' friends. Glad to see her stubborn mindset hasn't rubbed off on you. Lord knows she would.''\n\n\t``H-hey, you don't have to be so mean. She just had an asthma attack'' Simon whimpered\n\n\tCollin leaned up, squinted and fussed with imaginary glasses a moment before slipping back into his chair ``She looks fine to me'' he shrugged ``Besides she was clearly ok enough to sit there while you kept going. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to see her hurt or anything. But I feel like she'd be more pissed off if I suddenly started acting nice to her just because she had a bit of a problem.''\n\n\t``And how can you be so sure?'' Simon's eyes narrowed\n\n\t``Girl, trust me. I've seen serious attacks from that. If I thought she was in real trouble I'd have lept over this table myself. She's fine. The best thing you can do is not bug her about it.'' For a moment, just a split second, Simon almost felt a bit of respect for this boogieman-figure. The one who'd just driven him into a frustrating game and embarrassing loss for something Simon wasn't even really all that interested in. Yet somehow the loss still infuriated him and he didn't know why!\n\n\t``Ok, well, I mean, so long as you're sure.'' He muttered\n\n\t``Positive'' Collin cooed. His voice taking an even silkier tone than before. ``You know I've seen you hanging around little Gretchen quite a bit. I `know' you're not dating her. But you seem like a good enough friend to be concerned about her wellbeing. Putting up with someone like that really takes a lot of guts. I can respect that. So uh,..'' Collin leaned in slowly, whispering towards the munk boy's ear, looking around carefully to ensure the judges weren't paying attention ``What's say... why don't you and I head out to the back ally. Little cutie like you. From my experience your type is always packing. Especially when you get your hands on a bossy lil firecracker like me.''\n\n\tSimon's eyes slowly widened. He slipped and stumbled. Cards went flying and his folding chair fell backwards. ``W-what? No way!'' He squeaked. ``I'm not fucking one of my Sir's friends!''\n\n\tThe whole room went quiet. You could hear a pin drop. Or in this case, a half full can of Sprite. Simon looked around the room. Looked at the confused, shocked faces. The snickering of a few younger participants. The cold, building rage of the judges as the looked down at the two semi-finalists.\n\n\tMost of all, he looked at Gretchen. Utter shock plastered on her face.\n\n", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "Leashed Chapter 12: Game On

By TerraMGP

\tSimon looked down at his deck. `His' deck. Black, Blue, White. Esper, it was apparently called.

\tGretchen had told him it wouldn't work. He wasn't expecting it to. He had no idea what he was doing beyond throwing cards in. He had a rough understanding of what he wanted it to do. Built mostly around this cute `Greasefang' girl, `mind link mechs' and Ninjas. So many ninjas. If he understood the rules correctly it should allow him a chance to get a bunch of effects and bounce cards around between his deck, hand and graveyard.

\tIf he understood it correctly.

\tIf you had asked him this morning then Simon Miller would have told you he didn't give a shit. He wasn't here to win. He wasn't even really here to place. He was here out of... reasons. Emotional obligation? A desire to have a day off so the edging would hit harder over the weekend? The truth was he didn't know, and the effort it took to come up with plausible excuses killed any legitimacy said excuses may have had.

\t``Hey, you out already?'' Gretchen's voice didn't have the normal snootiness. Or if it did the tone was at least subdued comparatively. She slipped the newest iteration of her current standard deck into its box and slipped down into the seat near Simon. She at least had the good grace to keep one seat between them. Though to tell the truth that may have been for the sake of her own anxiety.

\t``I uh, I actually won.'' Simon laughed. The poor munk scratching the back of his head and shuffling his feet a bit.

\t``How?'' Gretchen's jaw open to the point of being distended. Or at least that's how it looked. She quickly glanced at the floor and shook her head hard ``Sorry. I mean, look. I didn't mean anything by that, I mean... Sorry.''

\t``I know what you mean'' Simon sighed ``Look I don?t know how I did it either. I got out one of my vehicles and just kept using it along side this one vehicle, and I had some ninja lady who could put it out because it's an artifact I guess? I don't even remember everything I was doing but it just let me throw a bunch of stuff on the field and trigger effects and by the time I was done the guy just quit. I donno.''

\t``Well good! That means your strategy works. I guess.'' The mole maid pushed her glasses up her nose and wrinkled it a few times. Was she trying to keep them in place? Or resisting the urge to do that little dirt-clear thing she did? Simon wasn't sure. He also didn't care nearly as much as he probably would have earlier today.

\t``Look.'' Gretchen finally sighed ``I'm sorry about what Lumia said in there.''

\tThe munk boy forced the best smile he could and then let it drop. His shoulders slumping hard. ``Why are you sorry?'' the snottiness clear in his voice despite himself. ``I mean you're the one who got felt up by one of the bitch sisters.''

\t``Y-yeah, well. Master had me sign one of those documents.'' Gretchen's voice dropped to a whisper and she pulled her arms around herself ``You know, the consent forms. Technically I could have safe worded out of that at any time. I just, uh...''

\t``You're a real slave.'' Simon finished.

\t``I didn't say that!'' Gretchen hiss-whispered ``Will you stop putting words in my mouth? God you're so freaking frustrating, you know that? I'm trying to say sorry and you're making it super hard for me.''

\tIt would have been so easy to sneer. So very easy to just push further. Let her know she `should' be sorry. She should be the one to apologize. That maybe she should be taken down a peg for... what, exactly?

\tThe question was shaken off as soon as it popped in. He was mad, and he had a right to be mad. Mad at her. Mad at all of this. He gripped the cheap deck box he'd bought before she could do that as well and started to fiddle with the Velcro keeping it in place. ``I guess I didn't realize those forms let them go that far with you. My bad.'' He grumbled. ``And why didn't you tell me that those books are in PDF format? I mean there has to be a place to buy them online. Probably cheaper than in person. Hell, why didn't you tell me that you've never been in a game before?''

\t``That last one's not my fault. Master promised he'll start a campaign when he's not tired. He's just really hecking tired right now. He can't even get his class schedule to give him consistent hours to sleep. Mistress has me going in there and basically cuddling him so he has to sleep because my fat ass is pinned over him.''

\t``You're not that heavy'' Simon muttered. Only after cursing himself for being this nice to her.

\t``I am, but that's not the point. As for the other thing? Well, ok. I forgot. That's on me. I was just focused on this idea that you'd use the watermarks to get his name. I mean obviously you know his first name. Really that femboy name is horrible. But it's a common first name. Plus there are, what, over fifty thousand people in this city?''

\t``I think over eighty'' Simon shrugged ``But I could be misremembering. I get what you're saying. Though really there probably aren't that many Justin's who are also Otters in the city. Not to mention his phone is probably registered to his parents and so there'd be no way to track it that easily. If he's renting a room there's a non zero chance he's doing so semi-legally like most students so his name might not even show up in the paperwork properly...''

\tAt that point Simon could feel the eyes burrowing into him and he tried his best to smile while looking back at her. ``My uh, my mom dated a bail bondsman for a while. He thought he'd impress me by showing me how to do background checks and searches. Honestly I'm glad she stopped dating after that, the guy was creepy.'' He sighed and folded his ears down hard while trying to shrink into the seat. ``I know you don't actually care. It just sounds creepy. Everything I do seems to sound creepy to you.''

\t``Yeah, because you're one of the creeps who pays Master to abuse them for an hour. Then you show up at his other job. You bump into him on the street. You bump into `me'.'' She huffed a few times and then pulled an inhaler out of her pocket. A few shakes and a hard tug helped stall what Simon now realized had been a growing wheeze in her voice.

\t``Look, we should just drop it'' he whimpered ``None of this is worth you getting hurt right now.''

\t``I'm fine'' She muttered ``I just... You don't get to waltz into our lives and be his little Pogchamp like that. That role is taken. By my Mistress. I'm not going to let some limp wrested little'' she winced and took another puff. At that point Simon wasn't sure if she was supposed to or what. He tried to run though anything he might have picked up in the past to deal with something like that and came up blank.

\t``Next round!'' The judge called from the back of the room, rolling his hand

\t``Go'' Gretchen mouthed while waving a paw

\tAs much as he was reluctant to do so, Simon made his way to the table and pulled his deck open. Looking back constantly at the huddled bundle of mole laying her head against the pop machine.

--------------------

\tAnother win. Another win that Simon absolutely did not understand. Many of the cast-offs he'd gotten from Gretchen's splurge were apparently rare or better. He'd thrown in a ton of stuff to speed up putting artifacts out since that was what he had figured was most important to whatever it was he had been doing with the vehicles. He threw in the technician ninja guy because he helped with that. Then Mindlink Mech because the combo let him throw things out of his hand faster.

\tApparently it was a good engine. Good enough to get him though quite a few bouts, at least. For a guy who had no idea what he was doing he was beating people with more experience.

\tMuch as he hated himself, it felt kind of good to win. That said, he was also more concerned about Gretchen.

\tHe'd checked back on her each time it wasn't his turn. That might have been what set the guy off even more. It didn't matter. Pissed as he was at Gretchen he sure as hell didn't want her to die!

\tWhen he got there she was downing a can of Sprite and thudding her foot on the ground. Deep, slow, careful breaths in between each sip. She looked annoyed. Be it at him or the obviously horrifying situation was unclear. Asthma was one of those things you always heard about but never seemed to see in person. Like a prop on a TV show to be pulled out as a gag and then mostly forgotten.

\t``You ok?'' He muttered. His voice twisting like an old rubber band.

\t``I'll be fine.'' She gasped back. The words were breathy and terrifyingly shallow. ``They checked up on me. I don't need an ambulance. It's not a bad one.''

\t``Ok the ambulance is expensive but I could drive you to Bronson. Or Borgess. I guess the GPS would tell me which one is closer.''

\t``No'' She muttered ``It's not that bad. If it gets worse then you can drive me but it's already about over. I just need to rest for a while. The judges both said they'd keep an eye on me so you don't have to worry about it, ok?''

\tSimon took a half step back and bit his lip ``Ok fine, j-just don't get annoyed, ok? Please? The last thing anyone wants is for you to end up on the floor. I don't know if anyone here knows how to do one of those... the neck thingies they do in doctor shows. With the knife. Those look bad''

\tOther than rolling her eyes the mole refused to respond. She just took small sips from the can and deep breaths that each made her unwilling companion worry that much more each time.

\t``Can I ask you something?'' Gretchen's words came in broken clusters. The breathing between each one was labored and her body trembled from the strain.

\t``Is it something I can answer without us having to talk a lot? Because I don't want to-'' Simon's question was cut off by a few small aggressive nods. He closed his eyes and just let her recover as best she could.

\tA few more breaths, deeper now. Testing the limits of her lungs. Once it seemed Gretchen was comfortable with things she let out a sigh and shut her eyes tight. ``Why don't you want a real owner?''

\tIt was so hard to be mad at a woman who could be minutes away from the hospital for all Simon knew. But damn it did this girl have a talent for it. How was he supposed to respond to that? What possible reasonable thing could anyone say when presented with that kind of absurd, selfish, narrow minded...

\tDeep breaths. It felt almost vulgar to take them considering what Gretchen was going though. All of the horrible out-of-place anger and frustration kept bubbling up towards his brain and he struggled to stamp it back down to where it could be safely ignored. To let his more timid nature prevail over the alien aggression gnawing at the back of his spine.

\t``I never said I didn't want an owner-'' The words felt wrong. Like a lie. God help him if he knew why but they did. The munk licked his lips and tried to put on a placating smile. ``I go see Mistress Justine because it's easier. I go to the club because it's easier. It's a way to cut the fuss out of everything. I mean, it's transactional, right? I pay money, I get to feel good. That's the capitalist society we live in. Hit the button, get your cookie. No complications. Nothing to go wrong. It's, I donno...''

\tHe was still smiling, but he sure as hell wasn't feeling it. His knee just kept bouncing and his shoulders rolling while he tried to parse it out. There was more to it than that. He knew there was. He was making it all feel so shallow and wrong. He was still a sub, after all. Just like her. Still a slave. Still in need of training and to be put in his place.

\tHis mind drifted back to that stupid girl in the club. To the stupid faux French pixie cut bitch who had looked him in the eye with that accusatory hate. Simon ground his foot into the floor hard enough that some small part of him worried he was wearing the tread off a nice set of sneaks. The Velcro on his deck box screamed as he thumbed it open and closed again and again. ``I already told you I'm not interested in guys. I mean your Master seems nice, like really nice. But I don't think it would be ok to try and be friends with him, considering. And besides what I have now works fine. Sure I haven't really done much to figure out `Jeanette', but I wasn't told to. I just had to follow orders and... Yeah. That's just what a sub does, right?''

\tA glance at Gretchen showed him a girl who absolutely wasn't ready to speak yet. She still looked judgey as fuck. But she always looked that way. How was that new? ``Lumia is just nasty. Same way she felt you up like that. Sub form or not you didn't go `to' the club. I dragged you to a book store. A-and she was already being dirty `in' the book store. I mean we couldn't see specifically what was happening but it's pretty obvious. She has no idea how hard I work at this, or what I think. What either of us thinks. She bad mouth's you and your Master all the damn time... God I don't know how I even got on this tangent.''

\tHe did. He refused to admit it, but he did. ``Are you `sure' you don't need to hit the hospital?'' He glanced up from the floor. Gretchen gave an annoyed nod and then he slumped back down again. Defeated, as always. Though wasn't that the job of a submissive?

\t``Look. I'm fine with what Mistress Justine gives me. It's what I want. However valid it is, that's between me and her. I pay, I do the work, I go home. Nobody... nobody gets hurt...'' he felt something twinge. Something pull at the corners of his brain. Neurons hitting a brick wall that he both knew he should be questioning and eagerly looked away from. His leg now thudding up and down like a jackrabbit. Though to be fair that always felt like some harmful ADHD stereotype to him.

\t``Miller!'' an annoyed voice called out from the back of the room. Simon looked up at the fox who usually sat behind the counter. The one who served as one of the two judges on Friday.

\t``Sorry! I just had to make sure she was ok!'' he yelped as he pulled himself up. The poor boy then looked back at Gretchen and cursed how much the hate had left him. ``Look, we can talk more when I get back'' he sighed ``Wish me luck.''

--------------------

\t``I'm surprised one of you got this far.'' The boy across from Simon, and he clearly was in `boy' mode, grinned a sinister grin. He saw a femboy femme fatale sitting at the other end of the table. He sported a tee shirt which looked to have the same symbols on it which rested on the back of each card. Five different colored orbs in a ring. Simon noticed the shoes that the red panda boy had propped up at the end of the table. Sketchers. Somehow that made him hate the slut and his poor fashion sense just a little bit more. Not that he needed more reason.

\t``I'm done.'' The munk sighed as he looked at his field. Two monsters and no hand. He hadn't had a hand most of the game, and only had three land. The rest had been discarded and what little he was able to play got destroyed quickly.

\t``Awww, my turn again?'' Collin snickered. ``Well then, unless you're going to play something to wipe out my monsters...''

\t``You know I can't!'' Simon sighed.

\t``No, you can't. So then I'll attack with my pumped up Arlinn and Bird Admirer. And before you try to block...'' he smirked and revealed one of the cards in his hand ``Assassin's ink. Which means your cute little rat poofs. Now you can block Arlinn... But since she has trample and Howling Moon pumps her up that won`t do you any good. And since you`re at six life...''

\tIt was no use. Even if Simon had understood those terms he was pretty sure he knew the end result. There was no way to stop what was coming. Even if there was he didn't have enough resources to do anything new the next turn. He was done. Very done.

\tThe munk held out a paw and offered a hard plastic smile. Collin giggled a girlish giggle and reached over to pat him on the head instead. ``aww, good boy!'' He cooed ``You did pretty well considering you're one of miss mopey-pants' friends. Glad to see her stubborn mindset hasn't rubbed off on you. Lord knows she would.''

\t``H-hey, you don't have to be so mean. She just had an asthma attack'' Simon whimpered

\tCollin leaned up, squinted and fussed with imaginary glasses a moment before slipping back into his chair ``She looks fine to me'' he shrugged ``Besides she was clearly ok enough to sit there while you kept going. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to see her hurt or anything. But I feel like she'd be more pissed off if I suddenly started acting nice to her just because she had a bit of a problem.''

\t``And how can you be so sure?'' Simon's eyes narrowed

\t``Girl, trust me. I've seen serious attacks from that. If I thought she was in real trouble I'd have lept over this table myself. She's fine. The best thing you can do is not bug her about it.'' For a moment, just a split second, Simon almost felt a bit of respect for this boogieman-figure. The one who'd just driven him into a frustrating game and embarrassing loss for something Simon wasn't even really all that interested in. Yet somehow the loss still infuriated him and he didn't know why!

\t``Ok, well, I mean, so long as you're sure.'' He muttered

\t``Positive'' Collin cooed. His voice taking an even silkier tone than before. ``You know I've seen you hanging around little Gretchen quite a bit. I `know' you're not dating her. But you seem like a good enough friend to be concerned about her wellbeing. Putting up with someone like that really takes a lot of guts. I can respect that. So uh,..'' Collin leaned in slowly, whispering towards the munk boy's ear, looking around carefully to ensure the judges weren't paying attention ``What's say... why don't you and I head out to the back ally. Little cutie like you. From my experience your type is always packing. Especially when you get your hands on a bossy lil firecracker like me.''

\tSimon's eyes slowly widened. He slipped and stumbled. Cards went flying and his folding chair fell backwards. ``W-what? No way!'' He squeaked. ``I'm not fucking one of my Sir's friends!''

\tThe whole room went quiet. You could hear a pin drop. Or in this case, a half full can of Sprite. Simon looked around the room. Looked at the confused, shocked faces. The snickering of a few younger participants. The cold, building rage of the judges as the looked down at the two semi-finalists.

\tMost of all, he looked at Gretchen. Utter shock plastered on her face.

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