Chapter 2

Lucas didn’t know how long Lynn had been awake, but when he came out into the kitchen a quarter past six after a refreshing shower and newly dressed there was a breakfast on the table. He had thought he would have to wake the kid up, but the boy must have rushed off the sofa the minute he had heard him yawn and scratch his crotch. He sat down at the table. There were three slices of bread on a plate. Some cheese on two of them and some butter on the third. There was also a boiled egg in an eggcup, half a glass of juice and a cup of hot tea. Next to the tea was a half-full can of honey with a spoon in it. Lucas smiled. This was not exactly a luxury meal but the slave had actually managed to create a breakfast worthy of the name. He knew that what was on the table in front of him were the very last crumbs of food there were here. There must be only a hollow echo left in the cupboards now. He shook his head miserably. What in the world was he going to do? He pushed that despairing thought away though. He had to keep trying. Who knew? Maybe today would be the day that everything changed? Maybe yesterday had been some sort of climax? "Well," he said amused, "and what are you planning on eating?" Lynn had been standing next to the table, looking down, hoping at the most for a friendly look at his efforts. That he would get any of this food he had never thought. He had to admit that the thought of going totally without food had worried him. But a fact was a fact. There wasn’t much food and his master was the one who was going out to try and find a job so he was the one who needed the strength and the clear head. He had been tempted to take some of it while preparing it, and he had eaten a few spoons of honey but more than that he had not dared to touch. There was so little food left that Lucas would surely notice if a mere crumb were missing, and he just didn’t know if he was allowed to eat it. So he didn’t dare touch it, in spite of the fact that he was very hungry. In a way it had not been hard to resist it. Mr. Hall needed the food if he was to go look for a job, and if he found a job then maybe he would let him stay? Lynn was far more concerned about the well being of his master right now than he was his own. Lucas was thinking along the same lines but could still not bring himself to just binge it all down while the poor thing stood there looking on. He took the buttered sandwich and gave it to him. "Eat!" he said, and Lynn received it with teary eyes. He had never been hungry at Amahana Lake. There had been positive things about life there as well. He had never been hungry, never cold, never had to work hard or walk around in threadbare and dirty clothes. The last year he had had to learn exactly what the opposite of that meant. These days he was grateful for the smallest things. Lucas ate his last food and Lynn stood at the sink and ate the bread. It didn’t even occur to him to sit down by the table and it would never occur to Lucas to ask him to either. Eating together was, in a way, a rather intimate thing and you didn’t share a meal with a slave. Lucas left right after breakfast. >>> * <<< When Lucas returned about nine hours later he actually brought a bag of food with him. It wasn’t much by all means: some bread, a carton of juice, some eggs and fruit. He had been doing some shameless begging in the small store around the corner and gotten the food on credit. Damn humiliating but he had had no other choice. He doubted he would be able to pay what he owed within the time they had agreed on, so he would probably never be able to show his face in that store again. Things never changed. There had been no luck at the unemployment agency today either. No, things never changed. He cursed about the lock, kicked his shoes off right inside the door when he finally got it open, put the paper bag on the floor and got the jacket off. Then he padded into the kitchen and put the bag on the table. He hadn’t noticing anything out of the ordinary at first, but then it was like he could suddenly sense that something was different. He forgot what he was about to say to Lynn, who was in the kitchen too, and just turned about him to stare incredulously. Was he in the right apartment? There was no grease on the kitchen table, and it had a clean tablecloth and a vase of yellow flowers on it. The rest of the kitchen was kind of ...glowing. He could see the sink for the first time in weeks and it was spotless. The mountain of dishes was gone as if by magic. He looked down. There were no crumbs itching under his feet. There wasn’t a speck of dust anywhere. The whole kitchen seemed brighter somehow and he noticed that the broken blinds were removed from the windows and that they were so clean there seemed not to be any glass in the frames at all. And all the dead plants in the windows were gone. He touched the doors of the cupboards, spotless. The stove? Not a spot of grease to be found. He opened a cupboard: only shiny clean rows of neatly put away glasses and plates. He pulled a drawer out and there was exact spotless order in it. He opened the space under the sink, which normally was the dump of the kitchen. There wasn’t a single overflowing bag of garbage to be seen. Not a single empty beer can. And hadn’t there been a pile of junk mail reaching his knees in that corner over there? Well it was gone now. He went back out into the hallway and things were as neat and tidy there too. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed it coming in. He rushed past Lynn standing quietly in the kitchen and went into the bedroom. It was the same in there. His bed neatly made with clean sheets. All of his clothing neatly folded and put away in the closet. The washing machines in the laundry room in the basement had been broken for a long time, so he had just been washing the clothes needed for the day in the hand basin of the bathroom. The rest of the dirty clothes he had thrown in an ever-growing pile in a corner of the bedroom. This castle of dirty laundry was also gone. He stared in disbelief at the empty corner before peeping out onto the small balcony, finding it all hung out to dry. All of that had been washed up by hand; it must have taken hours. He looked into the bathroom and the shine from the tiles nearly blinded him when he turned the light on. He crouched to look; even the pipes running along the floor were shiny. It wasn’t like this was a very nice apartment in the first place. It was old, ugly and worn. The paint was almost gone from the doors and the wallpaper had big tears in it. There were damp spots in the ceiling and the closet doors were missing their knobs. Someone had kicked a hole in the balcony door and there were cracked and moldy tiles in the bathroom. But apart from these flaws and about a hundred more, this place had never looked better, not even when he had moved in. He was utterly surprised and very impressed. It was like a genie of a lamp had been swishing around this place. How in the world had he managed to fix all this in such a short time? Lynn must have gotten right to it as soon as he had gone out the door and worked constantly to be able to finish in time. Lucas returned to the kitchen. "Lynn, Lynn it’s… it’s fantastic. I couldn’t be more pleased." Even so, his pleased smile was a bit sad and he planned to go on to say that no matter how much he appreciated his efforts it made no difference whatsoever. He still had to get rid of him. He couldn’t bring himself to tell him that right now though. Not when the kid was standing there, looking so damn happy, looking like a dog when you talked to it. Not until now did he notice that Lynn seemed to have gone through some changes as well. First he had no clothes on, and he guessed it had taken this change of his apartment for him not to notice that. He wasn’t totally naked either. He had obviously cleaned himself up as thoroughly as he had the apartment and he had a white towel wrapped about his waist. He supposed he had washed his own threadbare clothes as well and didn’t dare to use any of his while it dried. Anything Lucas had would be too big for him anyway. Now Lucas could clearly see how small and thin he was. The ribs showed clearly, as did his collarbones. The waist seemed thin enough for him to close his hands around. His complexion was pale and transparent and pretty much flawless as far as he could tell. It was also completely smooth. The lack of hair seemed unnatural to Lucas and made him look childish. He was clean and fresh now, and his hair had been washed and combed and had regained that golden shine that he remembered from Amahana. It covered his whole back and a few strands trailed down his chest as well. It wasn’t very thick but not thin either and it framed his girlish face in soft curls. Lucas thought it was a shame really, but all the same true, that starvation and harsh treatment had made that face of his more beautiful. Before, his cheeks had been rounder and he had looked more childish. Now there was some kind of dignity to it. His cheekbones seemed higher and his eyes appeared bigger, and the fair eyelashes were a nice contrast to his brown eyes. The mouth seemed bigger too, and his lips had a shape as if some damn artist had painted them. His thin skin also made them naturally sharp red. The boy did not look bad; Lucas had to admit, ogling him. But suddenly he spotted something strange. It looked like the tail of a snake, an angry red snake, resting over Lynn’s shoulder. Lucas went up to him and simply turned him around to take a closer look and he winced at the sight. What he saw were two scars. Two very long scars running parallel to each other across his back and over his shoulder. Whatever had caused them must have made very deep wounds, and even though it was obviously fully healed now it hadn’t healed well. Wounds as wide as that must have needed stitching, but apparently that had not been done, and in some places the scars were wider than his thumb. And maybe it was healed up, but these were not old wounds. The scars had not paled; they were pinkish and formed two long ridges, and the unharmed skin around them was stretched. Whatever happened it must have hurt like hell. Lucas was shocked. "What the hell…" he said, short of breath. "Did Craig do that?" Lynn was leaning forward with a look on his face like he actually was ashamed. Like this could ever have been his fault. "No, Master…" he answered hesitatingly but bitterly. "Master Craig preferred to use his fists… this happened at the wholesaler’s storage…." He silenced like it was hard to talk about it, and Lucas could have pressed him for a more detailed answer but he didn’t. Right now he just didn’t want to know. This whole affair was making him feel uneasy. Damn, he looked so small and vulnerable, how the hell was he suppose to make it out there? He was like a child or a delicate woman; they would eat him alive. But he couldn’t afford to care about that. He just had to sell him and that was that! Suddenly that caring feeling disappeared and he became a bit angry instead. It was like he deliberately tried to manipulate him, wasn’t it? Like he knew what effect it would have on Lucas seeing him like this. Seeing him standing here just waiting, looking fragile and vulnerable. With hair like an angel and lips like a woman and a body almost like a child and with those all too clear proofs of how cruel people could be out there evident on his back. "I want you to fix some dinner!" he ordered without much warmth in his voice anymore. "And see to it that you eat properly yourself too, get it?" The last was added with strictness and it was an order born more from necessity than kindness right now. The boy really looked like he was about to pass out any minute, and he must be totally beat running around here all day working like crazy without so much as a crumb to eat. >>> * <<< They ate in silence. Lucas sat at the table and Lynn sat on a small footstool in the corner between the sink and the broom cupboard. He balanced the dinner plate on his lap while eating. He didn’t seem to be eating very much though. Mostly pushed the food back and forth across the plate with the fork. Now and then he glanced up at Lucas and looked like he was about to say something but then he seemed to change his mind. Maybe he didn’t dare speak to him? Lucas finally asked if he wanted something. "Am I allowed to speak Master?" he asked carefully. Lucas grinned. "By all means," he answered graciously amused at such a silly question. "Is there… have you found… I mean have you found someone to… to…" He obviously couldn’t bring himself to say it. "Have I found a buyer for you?" Lucas helpfully filled in the sentence for him. "Actually I did ask a few people at the unemployment agency today but of course that was a waste of time. They don’t have any job either; obviously, they can’t afford such luxury. Maybe I will have more time tomorrow to ask around in other places too." Lynn hung his head and looked really miserable. Don’t even try, Lucas thought, it won’t help. Seemed the blonde slave had more to say though. "Maybe… maybe you would consider Master to…" he started hesitatingly but then silenced. "What? Consider what?" Lucas was by nature a quite curious man and he sounded eager to know. "If I may be so bold… to suggest…" Lucas impatiently tapped the butt end of the fork on the tabletop. "For goodness sake Lynn, just spit it out, will you? If you have any suggestions then just say so. What? You think I would beat you just for having an opinion about something? I gave you permission to speak, right? I won’t be mad." Power corrupts. He had been thinking about that earlier and he knew it to be true. He enjoyed this "conversation" because he controlled it. He could order Lynn to speak or shut up as he pleased. And even if he let him speak he didn’t have to give a damn about what he said. Lynn hemmed and hawed for a while and even those sounds were light and delicate. He has a woman’s voice, Lucas thought, but thank God not a shrill one. "I was thinking… that maybe you would consider… renting me out, Master… I mean instead of selling me." Lucas didn’t understand. "Renting you out? What do you mean, renting you out?" Lynn got dead silent and he looked down and shuddered. Being so fair skinned makes you blush easily and that was exactly what he did, deeply and hotly. "You could prostitute me," he whispered very softly. Lucas had heard it but didn’t think he had heard it right. "Say what?" he shouted. Maybe he shouted a bit louder than he’d intended to. Lynn started violently and the fork slipped off the plate and fell to the floor with a clink. He turned even redder and quickly bent down to retrieve it. He seemed bent on speaking though no matter the consequences. "You could prostitute me, Master," he said a bit louder and a bit clearer. Lucas laughed. "Are you completely nuts?" he exclaimed. But then it got him thinking. It was something to consider, wasn’t it? Prostitution was illegal but very common in cities like Flora. Neither politicians nor the police had any strength to care about it. There were way more serious problems to deal with. But the good thing here would be that in this case it would be legal. What people chose to do with their slaves no laws controlled. "So… you think I would make a good pimp, ha?" Lucas frowned but it was meant as a joke. Lynn obviously didn’t get it. He looked as miserable as ever, even scared and turned red as a beet again. "I… I’m sorry, Master… I didn’t mean…" Lucas just smiled. "It’s all right, I’m just kidding… But honestly, are you serious?" Lynn nodded. "That’s… that’s the only thing I know how to do…" Lucas turned quite serious. The kid meant it. Did he want to stay so desperately that he was prepared to do that? Seemed like it. Lucas was a bit embarrassed. He had known very well what Craig Summers had used Lynn for. Sure, he had been a servant waiting on him in all sorts of situations. Ran errands, took care of his clothes, shined his shoes and whatever. But for all those things Craig could have used any slave. Why did he want a poor hairless blonde little sod like this one who had had all his masculinity cut off? Why one pretty as a girl? Lucas knew Craig had fucked Lynn regularly. And when he first had understood that he had wondered if Craig was gay. But he soon learned that was not the case. Craig was very much straight. It was different with such ones as Lynn. They weren’t men, hardly even boys. Of course they were not women either. They were just some tragic in between thing. A man could fuck something like that and not feel his masculinity threatened in any way. Lucas supposed there were several advantages in using them. If you were a complete womanizer like Craig had been then they probably offered some change. Maybe they were tighter too? Besides, some men enjoyed a bit of anal sex now and then, but most women seemed not to be so fond of it, and you would never fuck a man, right? Lucas made a grimace of disgust at the mere thought. Maybe it was a way to explore one’s kinkier side as well, if one had any, he thought. Using them was a socially accepted way to live out your fantasies. At least in aristocratic classes. Lucas did not have the same experiences. But such a one as Lynn you could mould after your kinks. You could see him as a woman, sure, and if you had some secret bisexual tendencies he did remind you enough of a man to feed such a kink as well. Besides the castrated ones were always slaves, always, which meant that you didn’t have to take any consideration of them whatsoever. You treated him any way you wanted, when you wanted, and if he complained you could beat him up and do it anyway. Cruel but true. Lucas knew they were used to get relief from many other things than lust, though it was often disguised as sex. You could use slave girls for all of these things too, of course, and that was exactly what those damn aristocrats did too. But they could get pregnant, and it was a larger risk catching something from them because they were always used by more men. The castrated ones were rare and were almost always private. Besides, most men could not bring themselves to be so rough and forceful with women. The castrated ones had to take much more abuse. It was not an uncommon thing that men, like Craig, from the noble houses kept boys like Lynn. They were a kind of status object. An aristocrat liked to brag about having the prettiest boy, and they were often treated pretty well if for nothing else than because they were pretty expensive. But no aristocrat would only keep to his castrated slave. No, they were just a complement. Having sex with them was a change from raping slave girls, from paying freeborn luxury whores, from going on dates with nice girls and from bedding the one really nice woman you finally married. A slave could never be more than that. Guys like Craig would be looked down upon by his peers were he to fall for his slave and care about him too much. To only have sex with a castrated boy and no one else. That was not accepted. So, Craig had used Lynn for as long as it had amused him and then he had sold him when he tired of him. Lucas thought he was a bastard but no one would think it was wrong. Not any of those rich bastards anyway. He could not believe Lynn had ever gotten anything out of having sex with Craig. Lucas had never actually seen what Craig did to him but he could add things up, and he thought he knew that for Lynn it had often meant a fast, rough, not to say brutal act. Sometimes he had seen him leave Craig’s room right after such an act. He had always looked flustered and like he had been crying or would start to any minute. And he had had bruises in his face and on his neck and he had walked oddly… Lucas could not believe Lynn seriously wanted to do anything like that ever again. >>> * <<< Actually, he felt ashamed even considering prostituting the poor bastard. Lucas had grown up in a nice middle class family, had been raised well and had lived a calm and harmonious life. He had been an only child and guessed he had been a bit spoiled; though his parents had been plain people and there had been no excesses. They had lived at the outskirts of Flora in an equally nice neighborhood but that area was gone now, eaten up by an ever-growing suburb. This whole city grew like a cancerous tumor. He had gotten a nice education and in college had probably lost a bit of his naivete when he had learned about a few things that would have made his parents choke on their afternoon tea and biscuits. But he had not been a "bad boy" in college. He had been a good student, not a straight A one, but good enough. He had taken his time finishing his degree, and he was 24 when he left college as an architect. Almost right after school he had gotten work at a smaller company working with farms. Creating blueprints of barns had maybe not been what he had dreamed about but it had taken him out into the countryside, and he had stayed as a guest at Amahana Lake while he was working in the vicinity. Even before he quit school though, times had started to degenerate. And even though he didn’t realize it then he understood now how lucky he had been when he had gotten that job. The firm went down and he had thought he would soon find another job just like it. He hadn’t so far. Yes, he had thought he would soon get a new job, maybe a project at first so he could prove himself, and then a steady job at a respected firm where he could do some climbing. Then he would live a calm life like his parents had. But he had just turned 30 and he had no job, and that wife and those kids he had dreamed about did not exist either. He had had several girlfriends in college but that had not been serious. He had had a few after college as well and then had been more prepared to make something serious of it, but somehow it had never worked out. No one had stayed. He wasn’t sure why. There had never been any larger conflicts. Just seemed like any relationship he had ever had had just sort of faded away. Right before he had finished school both his parents had died only a few weeks apart. His father had been the first to go. It had not come as a surprise, as they had both been quite old when he was born, and they both had had a far-gone case of cancer. It was a very common cause of death in this city. It had still been a shock. Some things you could never prepare for. Even so, it had been some sort of a comfort to him that they were both gone. Neither of them had been left behind to grieve the other. They had been married in their teens and had only each other. They had never been ones to socialize much. They had had no friends. They had just their son and they had been so proud of him. He supposed he had been somewhat the perfect son and in a way it was like he still tried to be. Craig Summers though; he had been much more of an easygoing sort of guy. Lucas soon discovered the guy could not even spell "scruples". Craig had been up to all sorts of shady stuff. Lucas thought he had been involved in some illegal moonshining booze business, and that he used a few drugs. His parties were famous and something out of the ordinary always happened at them. Some bastard always got in trouble at them. People kept coming though, and no one ever dared go to the police about anything. Craig Summers’ father was the richest and most powerful man on that part of the planet and Craig pretty much lived by his own laws. Still, Lucas had liked Craig’s father, an impressive and intimidating man, though honest. He would probably have wrung Craig’s neck if he had known what he was up to, but Craig was always an angel when "papa dear" was around. Old man Summers may have been a jaded and clever businessman but when it came to his son he was blind as a bat! Lucas had spent a lot of his free time with Craig and different sorts of temptations had been offered him in abundance. But he had always kept himself in line. To this day he had never as much as puffed at a single joint and he had never done anything illegal. It had actually not been that hard to resist those temptations back then. He had been young and idealistic and he had still been grieving over his parents, and felt a need to honor them in some way. He had been taking things seriously as only a young man with ambitions, ideals and dreams of the future can. He had looked down on Craig a bit and the way he lived his life. Craig had so many opportunities with that name and all that wealth and he just wasted his days having fun and looking for stupid kicks. And now he was 30 and life was different. He was different. He was still a law abiding citizen, sure. He still tried his best to straighten his situation up. He had not let it all go and started to drink or gamble. But he didn’t really think he had much morality anymore. He was disappointed with life and disappointed with this society. Being an honest man, of what use was it? Of no use apparently. He had seen sides to this city now, which had totally washed away the last traces of naiveté in him. He knew that what people survived on here were dealing drugs, breaking into houses, robbing people, prostitution, illegal gambling and other such things. Some made big money out of it while the few honest ones stood in line at the unemployment agency and got humiliated every fucking day! It was just not fair. He told himself he was still one of the good guys but there seemed to be fewer and fewer reasons for it. It was the little things. He had found a wallet a few months back. The old Lucas would have found the owner. The new Lucas took the money and threw the wallet in a waste paper bin and tried to ignore that there had been an address in it. The old Lucas never drank. The new Lucas had found himself buying beer a few times instead of food with the little money he had because food just didn’t make you forget things in the same effective way. The old Lucas would have courted a girl he liked. The new Lucas had gone out one night, when he had felt more lonely than usual and had a bigger itch than normal in his pants, to hire a street whore. The old Lucas had been very sure to pay all his bills on time. The new Lucas didn’t even get anxious about reminders and demand notes anymore, and he found himself lying on a regular basis to all the debtors that were foolish enough to think they would have a better chance of getting their money if they called him to remind him. Well, so he wasn’t exactly a criminal, not yet anyway, but it was just things he wouldn’t have done before. Sometimes this rapid decay of his morals scared him. At least when he had the strength to really think about it. And now he took another step on the road to hell as he sat here and seriously considered prostituting this boy. No matter if it was really legal, it was morally wrong and he knew it. "Do you really think you could handle that?" he asked. Lynn nodded and said he could but it didn’t sound very convincing in Lucas’s ears. "As I remember it you didn’t handle very well what Craig did to you." Lucas remarked a bit cynically. He thought it was a bit mean bringing it up, but the boy had started it and if he really was going to consider this seriously then he at least wanted to be sure that Lynn knew what he was getting himself into. He was blushing a little again. "Master Craig was… a bit brutal…" he admitted softly and looked away. Seemed the memories tortured him. "But… but if it’s done just a little bit less rough it’s nothing." He looked up for just a few seconds and there was a pleading look in the brown eyes that met Lucas’s. So, Lucas thought, it just has to be my responsibility to find customers that won’t hurt him and he’ll be fine. Lucas was tempted, very tempted. He didn’t like it one bit but he was tempted. Wouldn’t it solve so many problems? And he couldn’t imagine that finding customers for Lynn would be very hard. Those scars and that knocked out tooth would maybe not make him perfect enough for rich snobs like Craig but here… Here he must be a first prize. Who had ever seen the likes of him here? Lucas’s mind started turning. He could actually make money from this, much money. But no. He couldn’t, he just couldn’t use a human being like that. It was like two voices argued inside of him. He’s not human really, the other voice said, he’s a clone. There’s no difference, the first voice said, and it is wrong to sell his body and make a living out of it. Lynn wouldn’t get anything out of it. He wouldn’t get to keep any money. And there were a lot of risks involved. He could get all sorts of diseases. He could get beaten up. And what about his mind? What would it do to his psyche? You have really sunken low, Lucas, the voice told him. But it had a hard time convincing him. Especially when there was so much that spoke for this thing. Lucas had saved Lynn from a horrible death; didn’t he in a way owe him now? Lynn could save him now. And besides, it had been Lynn’s own suggestion had it not? He wanted it; Lucas had not forced him. Maybe he didn’t know what he was getting himself into, but it was likely to assume that he knew a hell of a lot more about things like this than Lucas did. Lynn really was very small and innocent looking, like some damn kid, but Lucas reminded himself that he was not a kid really and he was definitely not a virgin. "How old are you anyway?" he suddenly asked, stirred out of his musings. Lynn seemed to have to think about it. "I was 26, Master… but I’m not quite sure how long it’s been since I was sold and keeping track of the time in there was a bit hard… I think I must have turned 27 by now…" Lucas nodded. He knew he wasn’t a teenager but he was still older than he thought. But there you go, he was a grown up. Maybe his body had been hindered in its natural development but mentally he was a grown up and he ought to know what he was saying. And what was wrong with Lynn bringing in the money anyway? He was a slave after all. And he would get a piece of the pie too; sure he would, later on when the bills had been paid and such. Besides, he didn’t expect anything, Lucas knew that, he just wanted to stay, that was all. He couldn’t really blame him for wanting to stay. Lucas knew he could never seriously hurt someone like Lynn no more than he would beat up a woman or a small kid. Maybe Lynn sensed that? If he were sold, life would be a hell of a lot more uncertain for him. Maybe it was pure survival instinct that made him want to stay so badly, and maybe he considered this a small price to pay? "We’ll see. I will think about it!" Lucas said and told him to eat his food and not disturb him further. A little later he went into the bedroom and lay down on the bed to stare at the ceiling. He usually went to bed pretty early because there was nothing to do anyway. He had sold the TV long ago and he was getting up pretty early anyway. But as always he couldn’t sleep at first. The room was too hot and the humid air hard to breathe, but he didn’t dare sleep with the balcony door open, not in this neighborhood, in spite of the fact that his apartment was on the fifth floor. There was a bit of a noise out there in the kitchen that told him Lynn was taking care of the dishes. He had to admit that it was damn nice that someone took care of this place for him. He had kind of suffered from the mess lately. It was like that damn dump of an apartment had been standing there like a fucking monument over his fucked up life. But the messier it got the less he had wanted to deal with it. It felt pretty good to get this place cleaned up so well and not having to have been the one standing there wondering where to start. It felt good that someone would keep taking care of it too. And the thought of someone waiting for him when he came home wasn’t bad either. He guessed he could get used to being waited upon too. Almost like having a girlfriend again, he grinned. But in a way it was almost better than having a woman living here. Lynn would never nag at him or have opinions about the way he dressed. Or ask him where he had been or be jealous if he looked at another woman. Lucas could just ignore Lynn as much as he wanted to and if he annoyed him he could make him regret it without anyone meddling in his business. And Lynn would always do what he was told. Keeping him would actually be quite nice, Lucas thought, but he couldn’t, unless… We’ll see, Lucas thought as sleep overtook him, we’ll see… >>> * <<< Lucas left the unemployment agency unusually early. No use in hanging around when things were never changing. No use in just sitting there, doing nothing, waiting for a miracle. So he left to check something else out. And now he was standing outside this shady looking bar not far from where he lived, hesitating. The bar was hidden in a back alley and had a rather discreet looking entrance; only a small sign reading "Lava" told of the place’s existence. Lucas had passed this place many times but never been into it. It was a gay bar so there really had been no reason to visit it before. At least he thought it was but he really had no insight in the gay community of Flora. He felt a bit embarrassed and looked about him. He didn’t want anyone to see him going in here. Not that he thought anyone would care really. In this part of the city it was ‘anything goes’. He found it embarrassing nevertheless. The street was empty. Not many people here in the middle of the day. He knew there would be people inside though. Most bars were open 24/7 in Shamrock and there would always be someone in there. He hesitated still. Shouldn’t he just go home? But then he took a deep breath and stepped inside before he had time to chicken out. Inside it was dark and foggy with cigarette smoke. There was some low music on in the background and he could see about 30 people at the bar and a few more in the booths further in. Most of them were men, of course, but he could spot a few women as well. Or were they transvestites? He couldn’t really tell. He felt even more embarrassed just being in here but kept an indifferent look and sauntered up to the bar and ordered a glass of water. It felt better keeping his hands occupied. He would have preferred a beer of course but he was totally out of money now so it couldn’t be helped. He leaned against the bar and starting looking for… well he wasn’t sure exactly what it was he was looking for but he gathered he would know when he saw it. He noticed that some of the men were looking at him and it made him a bit uneasy. Nervous but not surprised, of course they would check him out, they would probably check anything new out. In fact he had expected to be hit on and he had practiced some really poisonous replies should that happen. But they just cast him some discreet glances, and no one came up to him. Maybe it was too early in the day and they were all too sober. After a while he saw something that caught his interest. It was a guy about his own age and about his own size who tried to pick up a blonde guy that was obviously much younger. Lucas sniffed contemptuously at the scene; he couldn’t help that he found all of this strange. Normally looking at a guy trying to pick up another guy would make him embarrassed and maybe even a bit disgusted. And he supposed he was both of those things, but right now those feelings were overshadowed by a certain interest. An economic interest! Lucas hoped the young guy would not fall for it. He didn’t; as soon as the blond got his beer he left, and the other guy seemed to curse silently to himself. This is it; Lucas thought, gulped down the water and stepped up to the guy. He seemed to be just the right guy to approach. He looked pretty average, like a man you would pass on the street every day and never imagine he was the kind of person to frequent gay bars. The man did not seem to be a criminal or a drug addict either, though how could you ever tell? He seemed a bit desperate (trying to pick up guys in a bar at this time of the day?) and he seemed to like them blond. "You like them blond or what?" Lucas said, trying to sound like he had conversations like this all the time. The spurned guy at the bar turned and looked at first a bit surprised. But then he smiled widely and looked at Lucas with open appreciation. "Sure, but I have nothing against brunettes." Lucas felt himself blushing from embarrassment. Of course he had known he would be misunderstood but getting such an obvious pick up line right in his face made him forget the replies he had practiced. "Don’t even try!" he spat. Maybe a tad more angrily than he had intended to. "Well, excuse me! But you actually came up to me you know." The guy looked somewhat hurt and Lucas felt bad. He had knowingly stepped into this place and had to play by its rules. He couldn’t waltz into a gay bar and then get mad because he was being hit on. "I’m sorry," he said amiably, "you misunderstood me but I don’t blame you… it was my fault. What I meant was that I have something at home that might interest you… if you can afford it…" The guy raised an eyebrow and looked amused. Lucas did not feel as confident as he was trying to make it appear. What did he know of things like this? Maybe he was making a total and utter fool of himself right now. And maybe he was insulting this guy too. Wasn’t he just a prejudiced bastard coming in here assuming that all of these men would want to pay for a whore? Though 90 percent of the population in Shamrock was probably inclined to pick up prostitutes, gay or straight! If the man was not interested then he just had to say it and Lucas would be gone. "You don’t say? So what is it that you have got then?" The man sounded ironic but leaned towards Lucas, a spark in his eyes. Oh, he was interested all right. Lucas felt a bit more confident. "It’s a gelding and he’s young, fresh and blonde…" The guy leaned closer. "Really? Is he good looking?" Lucas just grinned. "He’s the best looking boy you’ve ever seen." The man grinned back. He clearly believed Lucas was exaggerating a bit. Lucas honestly didn’t think he was exaggerating though. "Is he very feminine?" The guy wanted to know and Lucas didn’t quite know what to answer to that, because he couldn’t really determine if that would be something that this man would like or dislike. "Well… you know… they cut them when they are kids. They don’t exactly grow up to be very manly. You know he’s small and smooth and all that so I guess you could say he’s a bit feminine, yes. But he’s not… you know… a queen." Lucas hoped again that he wasn’t insulting the man but he just smiled. "It doesn’t sound so bad. I assume this is legal?" Lucas nodded and actually looked a bit proud. "Yeah, of course it is. I own him!" The man still looked a bit suspicious. "People usually don’t own things like that in these parts." Lucas got irritated but tried to hide it. "I got him for almost nothing. He has a few scars but nothing that mars his good looks; it’s not in his face or anything. But you know, those rich snobs only want perfect things." They guy seemed to accept that explanation. "OK that’s good enough for me, what do you want for it?" Lucas hesitated. He really didn’t know what he could charge for a thing like this. He had been thinking about that all day. If he demanded too little people would take advantage of him, and if he asked too much then he would get no customers at all. He only had that one night he had spent with a whore to compare with. He had given her a fifty for a few hours but then she had been an ordinary street hooker. Lynn was special. He really wished he had had someone to ask for an advice in this but there was none. He had been sitting at the unemployment agency earlier, chuckling to himself, and imagining Mrs. Canister’s look if he had asked her. He had finally decided on 200. It was a lot of money, sure it was, but Lynn was special. If people absolutely refused to pay that much he might go a little lower. But they wouldn’t find another one like him around here, that was for sure. He told the guy 200, and tried to sound like it was non-negotiable. "200 ha? That is a little too much," the guy said. Lucas noted that he used the exact same words that he himself had used when the salesman had sold Lynn to him. He tried to be as hard as the salesman had been. "It’s a damn good price. Just you try to find anything like him in these parts! Besides you can have him from 8 until midnight… if you can go on that long." The guy still hesitated. "What can I do to him?" he finally asked. That was another thing that Lucas had been thinking about all day. He couldn’t say he really knew all that much about what two men could do with each other. Though he suspected it really wasn’t much different from what a man and a woman would do. Why else would straight guys like Craig Summers do it? He supposed it was some kissing and some caressing and some sucking and some penetration like it was with all sex. He supposed he preferred leaving that up to the customer… and Lynn of course. After all Lynn was the expert, not him. Lucas was maybe not all clear on what a customer could do, but he knew what he did not want them to do. "Well you can do all the usual stuff," he said, like he knew what he was talking about, "but I want you to be very clear on a few things. I don’t want so much as a scratch on him, not the smallest bruise. I don’t want you to hit him, curse at him or humiliate him. If I get the slightest suspicion that you are causing him pain in any way I will throw you out and keep the money. You could do pretty much what you want, but be careful. And I want you to use protection, too! If you are into rougher stuff I can’t help you." Lucas discovered that he was actually working himself into anger here and took a few calming sips from the water glass. "Gee, you sound like I’m about to fuck your wife or something," the man grinned, "but it’s fine by me. I’m not into any rough play. I’ll be careful and I am interested. But if you don’t mind I would like to take a look at him before I decide anything." Lucas nodded, that was fair enough. "I’ll give you my address. Stop by around eight and check him out. If you don’t like what you see then you haven’t promised anything. But bring the money, in cash, because I am sure you will like him." So he gave the man his address and left Lava. He felt relieved leaving the place but he felt a bit excited too. That had been so easy. He never could have believed it would be that easy. The first person he had talked to had agreed to it and tomorrow he would have 200 in cash and if he succeeded in picking another customer up tomorrow and the day after that… He would have 1400 in a week and 2800 in a fortnight… Damn, he would be able to pay his bills in no time. Mr. Graham would get his rent money and there would be no more shortage of food. Though he didn’t really want to bring a customer every day. He knew that the hookers on the streets took several customers a day, but he didn’t want to subject Lynn to something like that. He wanted him to be able to rest from it. Besides, he didn’t want a constant flow of strangers in his apartment. Suddenly he realized that he would have to let Lynn use his own bed for this. He shuddered at the thought. Seemed he would be the one sleeping on the kitchen sofa quite a lot hereafter. He felt very uneasy all of a sudden. It would not be a pleasant business, and there wouldn’t be all that much money really. Not if he wasn’t prepared to let them use Lynn so much it would wear him out. He didn’t want to wear the poor thing out. So he wouldn’t be rich, it was just a way to make ends meet until he found a real job. He must keep searching for a real job. He could not be sloppy about going to the unemployment agency like he had been today. He couldn’t fall back onto this. It was a damn nasty business, too. He realized that better, now that he had actually started it, than before when he had only been thinking about it. He didn’t like going to gay bars. He definitely didn’t like the thought of lying on the kitchen sofa while listening to "things" going on in his bedroom. What the hell was he doing? This could even be dangerous. What if that guy he had just talked to brought a few friends and robbed him? Not that they would find anything of value but still… It wasn’t very smart to give his address to strangers in this part of Flora. He must be crazy. Though it was too late to back out of it now, and he was desperate for the money. There was no other way to get money, so it wasn’t like he had much of a choice anyway. He just had to be careful and only pick customers up who looked as harmless as possible. It would be best to stick with the gay bars. He supposed they would be the least dangerous ones for the simple reason that they weren’t likely to want to miss out on the sex. Why kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, as the saying went. He though about getting himself a gun though, as he felt something in his stomach that very much resembled fear. What had he gotten himself into? But he realized that this was only a natural development of his life. As soon as he had moved to Shamrock he had started walking down this road. In the long run one was never really safe here anyway. Well, the only thing he could do now was to go home and tell Lynn and hope for that guy to show up. Lucas was equally afraid that the guy would not show up. It wasn’t guaranteed he would. Maybe he didn’t want to spend all that money after all? Maybe he simply wouldn’t be in the mood for sex later on? Maybe he was as afraid as Lucas was? After all, that man might wonder if Lucas had tricked him and would be waiting with a gang of men to attack and rob him. Maybe Lucas was leading a band of robbers specializing in fooling gullible faggots? There were a lot of reasons for why that guy would not turn up and it did worry Lucas. He needed the money so bad. >>> * <<< Lynn had made him dinner and the apartment looked as clean and nice as it had yesterday. Lynn met him in the door and took his jacket without saying a word. Though at least he was wearing some clothes this time, Lucas noted, smiling. But look at those rags. He decided that, as soon as could, he would use some of the money to buy Lynn new clothes. He was worth it. "Aren’t you going to eat anything?" Lucas asked him as he sat down at the table, mostly just to have something to say. Lynn brought the food and answered that he had already eaten and then he humbly asked if he was suppose to leave while Lucas ate. Lucas smiled. "Like there’s anywhere to go. It’s not a castle we live in, you know." He pointed at the sofa in the corner with his fork. "Sit down, will you? I want to talk to you." Lynn obeyed and sat down at the edge of the sofa. His back was straight as a poker but he was hanging his head and he twisted his hands between his thighs. Lucas wanting to talk to him made him nervous it seemed, but there was no reason. Today Lucas had good news for him… sort of. "I found a customer for you today." Lucas said, and stuffed his mouth full of food. Lynn kept silent and didn’t move an inch at this piece of news. But Lucas noticed that he stopped twisting his hands and seemed to freeze. "What… what kind of customer, Master?" he whispered. Lucas realized that he couldn’t know he had accepted his suggestion. As far as Lynn was concerned, Lucas might as well have found someone to take him off his hands. Lucas’s smile was again a bit sad. "A temporary customer Lynn. A man that is willing to pay 200 just to be with you for a night, not bad, ha?" Lynn looked up and smiled a little. "So… I can stay then, Master?" he asked carefully. "Maybe," Lucas answered. "We’ll see how things work out before I can promise you any such thing. I talked to this man and he said he wanted to come here and look at you first. But if he likes what he sees we will get a bit of money and then you can stay… for the time being anyway…" Lucas cut himself short at the worried look on the slave’s face. "What? You’re getting second thoughts? It’s too bloody late for that now!" Lucas got annoyed. It was all he would need, the slave suddenly refusing it. But it had been Lynn’s idea so he bloody well had to stand by his words now. "No, Master… It’s not that." "Then what is it?" Whatever the matter was it appeared to be hard to spit it out. Lynn hesitated to answer. "I was just thinking that… that maybe I’m… I mean I don’t look like I used to and…" he looked away, "I think I’m… too ugly nowadays." Lynn looked like he was about to start to cry but Lucas could not stifle an outburst of laughter in spite of that. Though he got serious again soon enough. He realized it really was a serious matter to Lynn. "Too ugly, ha? Why do you think that?" In a way Lucas thought it was just silly that Lynn was so vain. Like a teenage schoolgirl. But really, it was more serious than that, wasn’t it? Lynn was probably not that vain really, but for such a one as he... Their only worth was in their looks and when that beauty faded, when they got too old or too fat like many of them did, well then they were regarded as totally worthless. Lynn looked like he didn’t want to talk about it but he was obedient and couldn’t imagine not answering when asked a question. He sighed deeply and explained. "Well, I was sold because I got… too old and… and he thought… thought that I was worn out." Lucas smiled. "Oh, what Craig did had probably nothing to do with anything. Craig was just restless by nature, and he was spoiled too. He got anything he wanted; nothing had any value to him. Him selling you surely had nothing to do with you personally. And what do you mean, too old? It depends on what you want, doesn’t it? And you look much younger than you are in any case. Christ, you don’t look a day over fifteen. You really do look like a damn kid, Lynn, so stop whining!" Lynn smiled a little but was still squirming on the sofa as if he didn’t quite believed those words. "What the hell did he mean by ‘worn out’ anyway? I don’t get it," Lucas asked. Lynn looked away again and got red as a beet. "What?" Lucas demanded; he still didn’t understand. "I think… I think he might have meant… meant stretched out, Master." Lynn whispered and got even redder if that was possible. Lucas put the fork down that he had been on his way to put in his mouth and grimaced. Suddenly he got it in a flash. "That’s… that’s the worst I’ve ever… No more details thank you very much! I’d like to keep my dinner." Lynn looked devastated but said nothing more. Neither did Lucas. He finished his dinner in silent contemplation. And later when Lynn did the dishes he came up to him and leaned against the sink. "Well…" he started. This was more than embarrassing. Lucas never could have imagined he would one day discuss things like this with another man. But this was a special situation. Lynn was different from a normal man and foremost he was his property. Lucas should know these things about him. "What you’re saying is that… you could actually… get stretched out?" Lynn bit his lower lip and looked down. Lucas thought it was odd that Lynn actually seemed to think this was embarrassing too. Shouldn’t he be used to talking like this? There was really no reason for him to be shy if you considered the fact that he had been abused in one way or the other all of his sorry life. But it appeared he was a bit shy anyway. "If used often and roughly enough, Master… I guess you could. But those muscles can take a lot really… mostly they just retract if you get to rest for a while. But if you got damaged enough I suppose they wouldn’t." Lucas stared at him. He had never even thought about the physical consequences before. But he supposed it was not so strange. That passage was not made for penetration really, was it? It was not constructed like a vagina. He was almost afraid to ask. "You’re not saying that you… You’re not damaged like that, are you?" Lynn stopped squishing the plates around in the warm water and looked up for a second, a bit of defiance in his eyes. "Master Craig said I was. Said I was more worn out than a 50-year-old street hooker," he closed his eyes, "but I swear, Master, that it is not true. I swear…" The last came in a faint whisper while he was fighting the tears. Lucas shook his head. Poor bastard. "I believe you," he said softly, "so don’t you worry, if you say you have no problems and that you can do this then I believe you. At least for tonight, because if that customer turns up, I can’t throw him out. I can’t afford that, you understand as much, don’t you?" Lynn nodded. "Good. But tomorrow I’ll take you to the clinic further down the street; they don’t charge so much. We can use some of the money we’ll get tonight for that. I guess it can’t hurt to have them check you out. I must be sure, you know… for your sake!" Lucas fell silent. He knew he should say something else, but felt even more embarrassed about that. Not to say awkward and downright ridiculous. But he supposed Lynn really needed to hear it. "And about the way you look Lynn… Well, you really, really have nothing to worry about. Believe me, you look better than most girlfriends I’ve had did. So no more whining about it, understood?" >>> * <<< They both started when there was a knock on the door a few hours later. Lynn from sheer nervous anticipation, probably. Lucas because as long as he had lived here, he couldn’t remember that there ever had been a knock at his door before. God, he had so few friends… or really no friends. Door to door salesmen didn’t come to this neighborhood, and even the religious lunatics had given up on places like Shamrock. Lynn had automatically risen to go and get it but Lucas told him to sit down and went to open the door himself. He put the door chain on and peeped suspiciously out through the crack in the door. It was the guy from Lava, and he peeped back with a friendly smile. "We did say around eight, did we not? I’m too not early am I?" Lucas closed the door to get the chain off and then let the guy in. "Come in! He’s in the kitchen…" Lucas showed him in and pointed at Lynn standing at attention in the kitchen. Lucas could see how nervous he was though; he tried to hide it. But there was a sheen of sweat on his upper lip and a slight tremble over his shoulders. The Lava guy stared openly at Lynn. Lynn held his head high at first so that he could get a good look at him but didn’t meet that stare. After a few seconds he couldn’t bear it anymore, it seemed, and hung his head. "Damn!" The man exclaimed and turned to Lucas. "I must admit that I thought you were exaggerating but damn… You weren’t, were you?" Lucas felt the same kind of strange pride again. "Told you so! So you want to play or what?" The man dug through his trouser pockets and fished two wrinkly bills up and handed them over to Lucas. "I sure do. Damn, it’s almost worth 200 just looking at him! So this is the kind of toy the aristocracy is playing with, ha?" Lucas grinned. "Exactly! You should have seen the place he comes from. The main building alone had over 60 rooms." The man looked impressed but the suspicion was back too. "No offence but how the hell did you get hold of a thing like this?" Lucas grinned even wider. "He was a bargain… Lynn, show him!" Lynn didn’t understand what he meant and looked questioningly at him. "Your back!" Lucas said and sounded annoyed enough for Lynn to react speedily. He turned and pulled the T-shirt up. Lucas thought that Lynn might not like being put on display like this, but all who would "rent" him would get to see it anyway, so… The guy from Lava was startled. "Oh shit, that’s a horrible set of scars… How?" Lucas was a bit taken off guard with that question. He didn’t really know what had happened though he had understood that Lynn had got beaten in some way. "Lynn?" Lynn swallowed but answered obediently. "It happened at the wholesaler’s storage. One of the owners… he had a… a… I think he called it a ‘training crop,’ Master… or something like that and… and he was very drunk one night and I think I might have annoyed him and…" "Yeah, thanks! I don’t think I need to know really." The man from Lava turned to Lucas again. "Some people were just born bastards, right? How the hell can anyone just… Never mind! Well, can I…? And where?" Lucas waved towards the bedroom door. "You can go in there, I’ll send him in, in a few minutes." The man nodded, went into the bedroom and closed the door behind him. Lucas turned to Lynn. "So I guess this is the point of no return… But he’s OK, isn’t he? He doesn’t disgust you, does he?" Lynn stared at Lucas in surprise. That was a question he had never been asked in all of his life before. He had never decided whom to have sex with. Craig had used him when he felt like it and it had not been of the slightest interest to him whether Lynn had wanted to or not. He had lent him out too, to people he knew, and to take any consideration into what Lynn might be thinking about that had never even occurred to him. Lynn had no idea how to answer such a strange question. Finally he shook his head. He couldn’t say that the man disgusted him. He was not that old and was good looking in an average way. "Good," Lucas said. "I mean, I feel kind of bad about this whole thing, you know, and I wouldn’t want you to suffer all through it… I want you to keep a few things in mind, Lynn. I’ve told him he can do all the usual stuff to you, but he is not allowed to harm you in any way, do you understand this? If he gets too rough you have to let me know, get it? And then when he leaves, I want you to change the sheets. I’m afraid you will have to do a lot of laundry from now on, but it can’t be helped. And when you are through with all that, you will come out here. If I am asleep, you wake me up, get it?" Lynn nodded, still amazed. Mr. Hall was a strange man indeed. One could almost pretend that he actually cared. He felt like crying again simply from being so moved, but he didn’t. For a few seconds he wished it were his master that would…and not that stranger in there. Lucas smiled encouragingly at him and pushed him gently towards the bedroom door. Lynn went inside.

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