Abandoned

Yamato clenched his eyes shut and did his best to prepare for the punishment that was sure to come. He had said his name, told his Master what his old name had been. That’s not how things were done. And no matter how nice this place seemed so far, he would surely be beaten now.

However the blows never fell. Instead that gentle touch to his hair returned, and even though he flinched from the touch at first, he was still not beaten.

“Yamato…” his Master said slowly, as if trying it out. A small shiver went up the blonde’s spine at the sound of his name in that deep voice. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Yamato.”

Yamato blinked his eyes open at that and shyly looked at Master’s torso. He wouldn’t meet Master’s eyes; that was one privilege he knew he wasn’t allowed, so for now he’d study Master’s body.

The man who was his master looked strong, but not in an overly obvious way. He was lean but still fit and Yamato could almost sense the hidden strength in that lithe form. From what he could see, his master was tan and just a little taller than him. He wore a simple black button up shirt and pale blue jeans, not at all what Yamato had been expecting.

Nearly all of his former masters had been wealthy business men that wore practically nothing but suites.

His new master had to be wealthy as well due to the state of the room and to have his own healer in residence. And yet he didn’t wear the usual clothes. Master had also asked not to be called ‘master’ and had asked for his name. Yamato felt incredibly uncertain. Surely this was all an act.

Master lowered his hand and then reached over for something on the bedside table.

“Well now that you’re awake, you should eat something,” he said, turning back to reveal a tray of food. Yamato was surprised he hadn’t smelled it earlier but now that he noticed the bowl on the tray smelled divine and Yamato’s stomach growled accordingly. He blushed and lowered his gaze but Master only chuckled before setting the tray in front of him.

“That’s what I thought,” he heard. Master sounded… amused. “Now you are going to be good and eat it, aren’t you Yamato? My chef went through quiet a bit of trouble to make this for you and it would upset me if you don’t finish it all. The tea too, understood?”

Yamato started to tremble. This was the ultimate test. He wasn’t allowed to drink from a cup, ever. Master must know this and was waiting for him to disobey.

“What’s the matter?” Yamato just lowered his gaze and clenched his hands in his lap. There was a sigh and then an oddly spoken. “Speak, Yamato.”

“I’m sorry Master, I want to be good,” he answered. “I’m so sorry…”

“Stop that now, just tell me what’s wrong…” his master sounded uncomfortable, oh no… he was making him angry!

“Forgive me Master… I would never presume myself worthy to use your fine dishware…” and he had to stop there, his throat to scratchy to say anything else.



Tai blinked a few times, and then blinked again. PETS didn’t use dishware? Then what did they eat out of? They didn’t just eat off of the floor did they? Then how did they drink water?

He was beginning to see how much work he had ahead of him with this pet. Obviously he would have to help the blonde unlearn the conventional training of PETS. Taichi didn’t want a slave, even if he had taken in a pet.

Tai shook his head and picked up the now luke-warm tea. No time like the present then.

“It’s ok, Yamato, I’m not mad at you,” he said as calmly as he could manage. This whole situation wasn’t sitting well with him and he was still questioning whether or not it was a good idea to take the blonde in. He took Yamato’s chin, hmm he was going to have to shorten that name somehow, with one hand and placed the mug at his lips with the other. He spoke quietly and looked straight into eyes that still tried to look elsewhere. Gods but the blonde was beautiful!

“It’s ok, Yamato. I know your throat is hurting and you need to drink this. I could really care less whether or not my pet drank from my dishware. I’d rather you were healthy,” he explained, gently caressing the face in his hand. The blonde was still trembling and obviously didn’t believe him, thinking this all some grand trick.

“Humor me, Yama,” he urged softly, enjoying the sound of that name. Yamato’s eyes snapped up to his at that nickname before he seemed to remember himself and lowered them again. So the blonde liked it too. He felt Yamato swallow hard, before opening his mouth just the tiniest bit. Tai tipped a bit of the tea in and watched in relief as Yama swallowed, paused for punishment, got none and then swallowed a little more. As he slowly consumed the whole mug, Tai just smiled and continued to caress the blonde’s cheek in encouragement.

When finally the mug was empty, Tai felt the pet once again tensing against pending punishment. He just placed the mug back on the tray before turning calmly back to Yamato.

“There now, I’ll trust you to finish the stew without help, all right Yama?” he didn’t know what he had been expecting, but the pools gathering in the blonde’s blue eyes wasn’t it. Tai knew at that moment he had made the right choice. Yamato sniffled and then nodded.

“Yes, master… thank you,” he said quietly, his voice already sounding better even though his hands still trembled as he reached for the bowl of stew.

Tai sat on the side of the bed and watched as the pet quickly consumed every last bit of stew, obviously very hungry. He’d tell Mimi to save some of that soup for later.

Once he was finished, Yamato seemed to be struggling to stay awake. Tai smiled gently, even if the blonde wouldn’t see it, and pet over Yama’s hair again.

“Get some rest, I’ll come to check on you again soon,” he said quietly. Yamato started shaking his head and he held back an annoyed sigh.

“I sleep on floor, proper place for me,” the blonde said, his voice wavering as fatigue took over his body.

Tai just shook his head, pushing the pet back onto the bed.

“Not tonight it’s not. Sleep here, that’s a command, Yama.”

The blonde blinked then nodded, settling into the covers and dropping off with a quiet...

“Yes Master.”

Tai left the room after a minute to take the tray back down and tell Sora to wait on changing those bandages. All the while thinking of one thing.

He was going to have to find a way to get the blonde to stop calling him master.

Kuragari: OMG! Chapter! Hope people are still reading, I know I take forever, but inspiration has not been nice and coming to me lately. ><