Scribbles and Drabbles

Notebook Drabble 39 - 4

"Master, he. Well, no. After you jumped, things got bad, then they got better, then worse and then better again. We're in a period of better. Master is calm, the empire is doing well, and the people are happy and safe," Hisaki said. Danny didn't remember Hisaki being a rambler, not him speaking so much with his hands. A silver ring sat on the left finger of both hands, both gleamed when the light hit them. "Master's done a lot to improve the lives of the common folk. He enjoys being adored."

How anyone could love that monster didn't make sense to Danny. 

Hisaki grimaced, reading his face. "It is better than we thought it would be, I promise. Bad but not in the ways we assumed it would be."

Fire and brimstone said otherwise. Danny tightened his hands into fists. People didn't notice his hands until they did. Hisaki had a scar on his neck. Similar to Danny's scar, it had a particular shape to it. Danny poked it. Hisaki slapped his hand away, face very red. 

"It isn't. Master claimed his dominance over us and ensured no one would try to start an uprising. It started dark, but things improved once he knew we would obey his orders."

Danny gestured out of the room.

Hisaki flushed and not in an 'I'm embarrassed to admit I fell in love with an enemy soldier' way. He didn't want to answer that question. 

Danny hasn't missed how Hisaki never left Einar's reach when they were in the same room. At the cafe, their knees had rested together. In the car, the arm Hisaki had draped over his shoulders touched Einar, too. Einar grabbed at Hisaki as they walked between areas. Einar liked to have a part of him touching Hisaki. Then there was the looks. Einar looked at Hisaki like some people looked at fancy cars; it wasn't love. It was possessiveness.

Maybe that was unfair. It had been a few hours, hardly long enough to judge someone's relationship. 

"It's better and worse," Hisaki started.

"It's nothing but conqueror rites," Einar interrupted, joining them in the room. "There is nothing better or worse about it. It is the natural consequence. You failed to defeat Master and became one of his captives. I got you as a reward for my loyal service. Stop fancying it up."

"Not straight away," Hisaki said. 

"You weren't thrown at me bloody and burned from the battlefield, no," agreed Einar. "Once you were no longer growing, and your voice dropped. We don't have to worry about that with Danny," his smile took a more sinister turn. "Once you're back in your place, Master will find someone worthy of you as a prize."

Danny shook his head and pressed against the wall. 

Going back wasn't an opinion. His life existed here at university, not being someone's war prize. 

"Calm yourself, Einar snorted, sitting on the bed with enough force to rock it. Danny wanted to scramble away or kick at the man. Sadly, his body froze again as a large hand rubbed over his shin and rested on his knee. "You're pretty enough that the competition will be fierce, but it is compatibility that wins out in the end. Master isn't about to hand you out like a sweet after all."

"Still not a comforting thought," Hisaki vocalised what Danny wished he could say. 

Who cared if the Mad One bothered to find someone compatible with him? What did that even mean? Emotionally? Sexually? If Danny had no choice in it, it wasn't a true relationship, just the mimicry of one.

"Not if you fight belonging to Master. You have far too much personal freedom on this plane. Belonging to something greater is almost an alien concept," Einar shook his head in disbelief. "We'll have to get you trained out of the notion. Your body belongs to the Master, your soul to the Divine. Only your will has the right to belong to you."